Follow Your Heart

I used the Splitcoast sketch challenge #263 for the layout of this card.  It's such a nice simple layout and it all went together so smoothly.  I really like how it turned out, but I think that the credit really goes to the Sending Love paper.  The texture of it is what really makes this card special. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

This Might Be a Valentine

It's been a long time since I've done a
Splitcoast sketch challenge in the week the challenge was actually issued.  I feel like I've been challenge deprived, so I decided to give it a go.  I checked out the gallery of all the other cards and I was really struck by the black and white ones.  Somehow they seem to really pop out at me.  I thought I 'd use my Night & Day designer series paper and also added a little pink pirouette to give it a little splash of color.

Although this doesn't scream "valentine's day," I think it would make a really nice one for someone special.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to stamp today!

Blog Silence is Deafening

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I posted anything on my blog. I'm so ashamed! I hate to say it, but I've been so busy these last few weeks, that I actually have had very little time to stamp {gasp}. At the beginning of the month, I was diligently working on getting my new stamping space ready for habitation, then I decided to get all of my Christmas shopping done. (I actually accomplished this!). And then, all of a sudden, it was Thanksgiving and I needed to concentrate on that. Sheesh. But after spending the last several weeks MOJO-less, I decided that, no matter what, I was going to participate in the MOJO sketch challenge this week. I needed a thank you card to send my sister (who bought me a gift card to my local craft store for my birthday) so I decided it was a good time to get back to it. So here's my card:

I love this Medallion stamp, but haven't used it nearly enough. It's awfully big, and it doesn't quite fit the dimensions on the MOJO sketch, but it's close. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday season.

Here's the recipe for this card:
Stamps: Medallion, Wonderful Words
Ink: Melon Mambo, Basic Black
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Night and Day
Accessories: Rhinestone Brad, Circle Scissor Plus

Fall is in the air

It is downright chilly here in Massachusetts. I actually turned on the heat in my house. :( I'm on vacation this week so I broke down and turned it on since I didn't want to be stuck in a cold house. Although, as you can probably guess, I'm not a big fan of the winter, I do like autumn so I was happy to do an autumn themed card for the latest MOJO sketch challenge.

I embossed the leaf in some rather odd-looking embossing powder that I found in my stash. I thought it was sort of a burnished gold, but it came out looking sort of olive. I colored in the leaf with Really Rust and More Mustard markers and the effect (in real life) is kind of cool. The acorns are embossed with dark brown embossing powder and colored in with Close to Cocoa and a blender pen. Thanks for looking, and happy autumn! Here's the complete recipe:

Stamps: Autumn Splendor, non-SU sentiment

Paper: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Apple Cider

Ink: Really Rust, Close to Cocoa

Accessories: EP, markers, ribbon

MOJO107

When I first saw this MOJO sketch I had no idea what I wanted to do. Then all of a sudden, the light dawned and I knew I had to dig out my Urban Oasis paper. I have no idea where the inspiration came from but I just knew that I had to go with it. Turns out, I like this card very much. I love the Kraft and Basic Black together and the shadow effect on the stamped circle is cool in real life. I stamped Upsy Daisy in Sahara Sand first, then using my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped it again in Basic Black slightly to the right. I hope you can see the effect in the picture. I also paper pierced the black band across the front before adding the ribbon. Here's the complete recipe:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Paper: Kraft, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Urban Oasis
Ink: Sahara Sand, Basic Black
Accessories: Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Brads, Dimensionals, Scallop Punch
Technique: Paper Piercing

MOJO106

What a crazy week! Although I made this card on Monday for the MOJO sketch, I'm just getting around to taking a photo and uploading it now. There's a lot of home improvement going on around here and I finally took a break so that I could get back into the blogging world. My niece Rebecca's 18th birthday was last week and I'm heading over to her house in an hour or so for the big birthday bash and this is the card and gift card holder I made her. I've used these colors before and I just love them.

Quite often I decorate the inside of a card (especially when I use dark cardstock). However, I almost never remember to take a photo. I did this time. I love the way it came out. Here's my card recipe:

Stamps: Great Friend, Framed with Love, On Your Birthday

Paper: Basic Gray, So Saffron, Whisper White, Walk in the Park

Ink: Basic Gray

Accessories: Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Modern Label Punch and Sizzix Die

MTSC40

As I hoped, I have transitioned from Halloween to Christmas. Let's hope it sticks! I just love this Christmas Cocoa DP and I think I'm going to use it a lot this holiday season. This particular paper that I used in the background (soft suede with diagonal lines) reminds me of corduroys. It's just gorgeous. Anyway, this is my card for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge. The recipe:

Paper: Soft Suede, Real Red, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa
Accessories: SU Elastic Cord, SU Real Red Ribbon, Sizzlit Snowflake Die

I Hope This is My Last Halloween Card

I can't get enough of this Halloween stuff, but I think this is the last of it. I can't tell you how much I love this From the Crypt stamp set. That skull is awesome! I'm not a huge fan of the whole "trick or treat" thing, but I love anything that is Halloween themed - the scarier the better! I decided to make this card using the sweet sunday sketch challenge. Thanks for looking. The recipe:

Stamps: From the Crypt, Best Fiends
Paper: Sage Shadow, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Nouveau Chic
Ink: Black Stazon, Versamark
Accessories: Silver EP, Clear EP

MTSC39

Wow. Two cards in two days. I'd like to think I can keep this up, but I don't think so. :( I don't know about you, but one thing I love to do is check out the new challenges on the days they are debuted. It's so fun to see what's in store and to see if I can get my creative juices flowing. Sadly, that is not the case here as I don't like this card so much. Let me say that I LOVE the Christmas Cocoa paper. The colors are fabulous, the flocked paper is totally awesome, but I just couldn't come up with something equally fabulous for this card. I love doing Mercy's sketch challenges, so I'm disappointed that this card came out rather bland and boring. I do like the square rhinestones and the ribbon. And I dug out some old SU red embossing powder, which is kind of cool. (Remember when they had a bunch of colored EP? That was a long time ago). Anyhoo, thanks for looking. The recipe:

Stamps: Delightful Decorations
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Real Red, Christmas Cocoa
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Red EP, SU Ribbon, Rhinestone Brads

MOJO104

This is the first time I've used watercolor paper. I think I need more practice. Although I think it came out okay, I've seen such beautiful watercoloring on other cards, I can clearly see that I'm a novice. I'd like to achieve the variations in color that I've seen. Back to the drawing board, I guess. I used the MOJO104 sketch for this card's layout and I chose a somewhat unusual color combo. I wanted to use Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay, then kept picking other colors (with the help of the SU Color Combo machine) until I got one I liked. Thanks for looking. The recipe:

Stamps: Asian Artistry, Matchbox Messages
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Watercolor paper
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Old Olive, Black Stazon
Accessories: Texturz Plate, Ribbon, Brads

Happy Birthday Aunt Vangie!

Tomorrow I'm going to a {surprise} birthday party for my Aunt Vangie. (Don't worry, there's no chance she will see this before then, or ever actually). I had been kicking around some ideas for a birthday card in my head, but nothing seemed to want to translate itself to ink and cardstock. Then I remembered that I had this DSP (which is so gorgeous I mostly want to just stare at it) and all of a sudden, I had a card (with some help from Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge). The recipe:

Stamps: Greenhouse Garden

Paper: Baja Breeze, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Parisian Breeze

Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Sizzilit Little Leaves, ribbon

Not So Spooky

Pink for Halloween you might say. You bet. I just think that pink and black and white look really cool together and I wanted to do something a little unusual for a halloween card. This is what I came up with. I used the MOJO103 sketch for the layout. I think this proves that my job is interfering with my stamping! Here it is, Monday morning, and I've already made a card for the challenge. I'm not sure you can tell in the pic, but the skull is embossed. It really makes it pop. Enjoy your labor day and thanks for looking! Here's the recipe:

Stamps: From the Crypt, All Holidays
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Night & Day
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Black EP, Dimensionals, Ribbon

Only 114 Days Until Christmas

Every year I tell myself that I'm going to start my Christmas cards early so that I can get them out of the way and actually enjoy the holiday season. However, every year this does not happen. I wonder if I'm the only one who wishes that I could be a little kid again trying to stay awake at night to hear Santa come and deliver all those cool Christmas presents. Remember how you felt when you believed that Santa had actually come to your house and left behind some of the things on your wish list? I do, and I wish I could know that feeling again!! Anyway, I have so far surprised myself this year by making two, count 'em, two Christmas cards already - and it's only September 2nd! I'm not sure I love this one, but I made it for the Splitcoast color challenge CC233 and for the Lizzie Ann Designs sketch challenge #88. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Season of Joy

Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red

Accessories: Real Red ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Rhinestone Brads

Christmas in August

I took a break from my Halloween contemplations to make this card for the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge. For some reason, I felt like doing a Christmas Card, but I'm not sure what about this sketch lead me in that direction. I've done nothing the past couple of weeks but think about Halloween goodies, so maybe subconciously I needed a break. In any event, I like how this turned out. Clean, simple but colorful. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Season of Joy
Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Ski Slope
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Versa Mark
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Ribbon, Scallop Border Punch, Crystal Effects
Techniques: Embossing

With Fiends Like This.........

I am SO glad that Mercy decided to start her Tuesday sketch challenges again. I wasn't able to participate in last week's challenge, but I wanted to make sure I made a card this week. I dug out one my all-time favorite Halloween stamp sets for this one (as well as some old in colors). I've been thinking so much about some fun things I'm going to make for Halloween that every card I think of has some kind of Halloween theme. I hope you like it. The recipe:

Stamps: Best Fiends, Sanded

Paper: Vintage Violet, Basic Black, Whisper White, Halloween Night

Ink: Basic Black, Vintage Violet, Basic Gray, Blush Blossom, Real Red, Old Olive

Accessories: Vintage Violet Ribbon

Technique: Sponging

Chocolate Dreams

I started this card by picking out that gorgeous designer paper. I know it's from Stampin Up!, but I have no idea what it's called or how old it is. I suspect I've had it hanging around for at least a year or so. When I saw it in my scrap pile, I knew I wanted to use it to make this MOJO sketch card. I don't do a lot of sponging, but I think I sponged this vanilla circle pretty well and I like the effect. Now, I titled this post Chocolate "Dreams" because part of the photo near the felt flowers looks a little fuzzy to me. I had a smudge on my camera lens that I didn't realize was there until I uploaded the photo. So I've decided to pretend that it's the same effect they used in old movies for dream sequences where the scene had a soft, fuzzy look. Yes? No? I can dream too! Here's the recipe:

Stamps: All Holidays, Baroque Motifs

Paper: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, ? DSP

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Brads, Damask Texturz Plate, Flower Fusion Too, Photo Corner Punch, Sponging

Greenhouse Garden Birthday

Greenhouse Garden is such a pretty set. I seem to be drawn to floral sets, and I think this one is my favorite (so far, anyway!). I used the layout from the Stamps, Paper, Glitter sketch challenge, but I chose the colors because I haven't used these in quite a while. I just love the line of brads on the ribbon. That was a last minute inspiration. The recipe:

Stamps: Greenhouse Garden, French Script, Birthday Whimsy

Paper: Bordering Blue, Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla

Ink: Rose Red, Basic Black, Bordering Blue

Accessories: Kraft Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Sizzix Die, Brads, Dimensionals

Inspired Asian Artistry

It's only Wednesday and I've managed to make a card, take a photo AND upload it here. I wish I had more time to play with my stamping stuff, but unfortunately duty calls and I have to go to work every day. That doesn't leave a lot of time for stamping, but I try to squeeze it in whenever I can. I made this card for the MOJO96 sketch challenge. When I started thinking about this card, it was not going to have an asian influence, but somehow when I gathered up my supplies this is what emerged. Go figure... The recipe:

Stamps: Asian Artistry, Embrace Life
Paper: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla
Ink: Garden Green, Soft Suede
Accessories: Crushed Curry ribbon, Markers, Dimensionals

GIMP Me!

I have been messing around with watermarks lately but I didn't have a program to add them to m pictures. Then I read about this free software here and decided to give it a try. I am a complete novice about this type of photo-editing software, so I can see that I've got a lot to do before I figure it out. Not to mention that the proportions of my watermark are all off. Oh well. Back to the drawing board. But anyway, this card is for the MOJO95 sketch challenge. The recipe:

Stamps: Petal Pizzazz, Year-Round Cheer, Sanded

Paper: Old Olive, Orchic Opulence, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP

Ink: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive

Accessories: Rhinestone Brad, EK Success border punch, Old Olive Ribbon

More Goodies

Despite the fact that it is not raining here in MA (3 days in a row whoo hoo!) and I have a ton of things to catch up on outside in the garden, I still have managed to scrounge up some time to play with my new SU stuff. This is the Cottage Wall DSP which is so pretty. The colors are really lovely together. I decided to try it out for the Splitcoast sketch challenge 236. And I also tried misting the cardstock with water before running it through the Big Shot with the Texturz Plate and I think it made a big difference in the impression. I remember reading about that tip somewhere in blogosphere but I don't remember where. Thanks so much for looking. The recipe:
Stamps: Best Blossoms (no one can make me "retire" this set!), Artfully Asian
Paper: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: Old Olive Ribbon, Perfect Details Texturz Plate, Dimensionals