Stamps, Paper, Glitter!

The Paper Players Sketch Challenge

I had such a great time creating this card for the Paper Players sketch challenge tonight. I'm really getting into this coloring thing! Working with color combinations and blending to create the perfectly sweet cupcake color, while listening to Kenny Chesney...boy, it doesn't get much more relaxing than that :) Well, I could throw in a glass of wine but that's not happening on Weight Watchers!  

I needed some matching accessories to my cupcake stand, so I colored my ribbons & pearls with the matching blue to the cupcake wrappers. Here's a tip if you're going to color your pearls though, use a shade darker on the pearls to achieve a pretty close match to your ribbon. For some reason the color comes out lighter on the pearls. I used B00 on the ribbon, and B02 on the pearls. 

Thanks for stopping by tonight, I hope you find some time to relax tonight :)

 

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Hey stampers! I got some new goodies today from Stampin' Up!, and was lucky enough to have a little time to stamp also! For tonight's card I stopped over at the Stamping 411 blog for some inspiration.

I knew I was going to be using my new stuff, so I just needed a place to begin...that's where the Stamping 411 sketch comes in. I got the Button Buddies set...uuuhhhh, maybe last summer? and hadn't even assembled it yet, so I wanted to give that a whirl. Perfect...there are coordinating brads to match the ribbon and designer paper I got (they're all part of the Everyday Enchantment collection), sweet! I actually took the back off of the brad & attached it to a vanilla button with a mini glue dot for the center of the flower. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but I stamped the flower 4 times, cutting 3 of the layers out & adhering them with dimensionals to well, give it some dimension ;)

Thanks for stopping by tonight, I hope you're inspired to stamp something
soon!

Tag It - Paper Players Challenge

For today's card I checked out The Paper Players for some inspiration, and they're challenge for this week is a clean and simple card with a tag. Clean & simple, I can do that! I've been playing around with my non-SU! markers lately, oh how I love coloring! I won't name names but if you've been around papercrafting for any time at all, you can probably guess what I'm using ;) I'm trying to become proficient, but boy it takes a lot of practice to get just the right look...I'm working on it!

So I've always loved the Cheers to You set, and for this card I just had to dig out some old Green Galore? cardstock for a little pop to match my umbrella. I added an extra cherry after the sentiment, because really, doesn't every drink need extra cherries?!? I also added a little Crystal Effects to the glass, and some sparkle on the lemon with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Valentine's Day Card

Happy Sunday friends :) I hope you've had a great week and you're taking a little "me" time like I am today. It's been a busy week! Besides work, I've been on the hunt for a sheltie puppy for my dad. Since my mom passed away in September my dad has been on his own. We've offered for him to come live here, and my sister has offered for him to move to her house in Maine, but he's content where he lives for now. He would like someone to come home to though...perfect solution, a puppy! Long story short, we're meeting with a breeder in Connecticut next weekend and he'll probably have his puppy by summer.

For today's card I decided it's time to make a couple of Valentine's. I used the set Ain't Love Grand, along with some non-SU! markers. I colored the self-stick pearls with the markers to match also. Off to see what challenges are going on out there in stamp land. The boys won't be home from snowboarding for a couple more hours so I think I'll stamp a little more :)

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Brrrrr...it's freezing cold here in Massachusetts today, it's a whopping 16 degrees right now! Jeff and the boys are snowboarding, so what better place for me to be than my stamp room?!?!

For my inspiration today I turned to the latest sketch challenge from Stamping 411. I found this sweet little stamp set from a long time ago, but I think it's still cute as can be :) I stamped the baby image on Shimmery White card stock, and colored it with an Aquapainter & Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, Blushing Bride, So Saffron & Daffodil Delight classic ink. I added some Crystal Effects & Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the bubbles.

Thanks for stopping by :)

More Stamping :)

Wow, stamping TWO nights in a row?!?! I don't remember the last time that happened, but I'm enjoying it :) Hmmm, maybe I've been bitten by the stamping bug again, awwww shucks lol!! Jeff is away on call for a storm coming in tonight, and the boys are with the dreaded xbox, so I snuck down to my stamp room for a little me time.

For tonight's inspiration, I turned to another favorite blog I visit, The Paper Players. They're having a theme challenge this week, and the theme is LOVE. That left it pretty wide open in terms of layout, so I turned to two of my most used sets, both are oldies & goodies, Baroque Motifs & Always. I know Always is retired, but that's not stoppin' me :)

I layered about a million different colors onto Shimmery White card stock (okay, 7 colors, but still), using stampin' sponges, leaving a brighter section in the middle behind my heart and gradually getting darker towards the outside edges. The heart is stamped in Black StazOn on Whisper White card stock, then I applied Versamark, Heat & Stick powder, heated it up, added Dazzling Diamonds glitter & heated it again to really melt it on. I love the sparkle...it's much sparklier in real life :)

Oh yeah, I also sponged some black ink onto Linen Thread to tie my tag around my heart.

Hey, thanks for stopping by again!! Btw, thanks for all of the fabulous comments & emails I received after last night's post. I really appreciate your support...stampers are certainly some of the most caring people I've met :)

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Oh my, it's been MONTHS since I've stamped *gasp*! First of all, this effort is for my friend Selene, because recently I thought I was done with stamping, and after seeing her blog & facebook posts over the weekend, I gave it a second thought :) Last year was a very rough year for our family, and it's been very difficult getting back my desire to stamp. I find myself wanting to be with my husband & boys at all times, and even though I've loved stamping for many years, I found myself avoiding the alone time that comes with creating in my stamp room. Anyway, enough of that, I gave it a shot and came up with something.

To be honest with you, I was almost stumped as to where to begin...you know my favorite place for inspiration is Stamping 411, so I started with a sketch. Once I picked my stamp set, I have to admit I actually had to dig out my catalog & make sure it was still current! I bought this set (Snow Much Fun) because I loved it so much, and never used it...I'm sure none of you ever buy stamps then don't use them right?!?!

So I loosely followed the sketch, and here's what I came up with:

Keep in mind, my camera is on the fritz, so I took this picture with my phone. It is kinda cute in person :)

Thanks for stopping by...hopefully it won't be another month or two before you hear from me!!