Twinkle Twinkle

It feels so good to be back participating in the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge this week! Last week was a tad hectic as I tried to get ready to head to Vegas for a few days so it is nice to relax after work and get a bit inky! As you can see, I've still got my Seasons of Love - Tags set out. Why did it take me so long to get this one? I plan on using it a lot this Christmas! I chose the Dutch Girl papers in honor of our trip to Holland this time last year. We still talk about how much we loved our trip and can't wait to go back!
Supplies: Stamps - Seasons of Love - Tags (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Patterned Paper - Dutch Girl (Cosmo Cricket), Cardstock - Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Ink - Bashful Blue/Riding Hood Red/Going Grey (Stampin' Up!), Rhinestones - Michael's, Twine - Crafta

You're Sweet

Back after a long weekend in Las Vegas where I was reunited with 25 of my Chi Omega sorority sisters from USC! What a wonderful trip - lots of hysterical memories, singing, laughter, and the crazy feeling that we somehow very easily picked up where we left off 18 years ago! Crazy!

Prior to leaving on the trip I worked my fingers to the bone making cards for a big card call. Now that submissions have been selected for publication, I have a few I can share. This sweet card was my first foray into lace and I think it turned out pretty cute. I definitely have to work on my technique since I couldn't really get it to lie flat. Never fear, foam squares to the rescue!

Supplies: Cardstock - Riding Hood Red (SU!), DP - Garden Variety Paper Kit (Cosmo Cricket), Stamps - Garden Variety (Cosmo Cricket for Unity), Ink - Riding Hood Red (SU!), Lace - Joann

All My Love is Yours

The theme for this month's waltz is masculine cards and I made this one for my hubby, incorporating this week's sketch into the design. Yes, I know it is pink and red but he will love it! If you've just happened by, head on over to Claire's blog or the 'Mouse house to get started! Even though the Seasons of Love set has been around for a little while, I just got it and haven't had much chance to use it yet. The heart stamp coordinates perfectly with the heart nesties and makes such a beautiful focal image. Of course I couldn't leave it alone so I added some blingy rhinestones to the edges of the scallop and the center of the white heart.

Why a bear you ask? Well, a long time ago my hubby and I started calling each other "bear" (kinda like dear I suppose but much bigger and, um, hairier? lol) Anywho, the nickname stuck and one of our wedding gifts were towels embroidered with Mr. Bear and Mrs. Bear. I've had this bear charm kicking around for a while and thought it would be the perfect touch for the card to "my bear."

Supplies: Seasons of Love (WMS), Riding Hood Red, Blush Blossom, Whisper White cardstock (SU!), Riding Hood Red, Basic Black ink (SU!), DP My Mind's Eye, Rhinestones (Crafta), Twine (PTI), Bear Charm (a great bead store in Phoenix that I will never be able to remember the name of!)

Birthday Wishes

I made this card for the Embellish Magazine Color Challenge and really like the way it turned out! I loved the leather hair clips inspiration photo and mulled quite a few ideas over in my head before settling on this one. I've not used much coral in my crafting before and really like it! I did mute the color of the ribbon a bit with some distressing ink and think it blends in with the card much better. The yellow panel in the center has some flowers stamped directly on to it (I stamped off once before stamping on the panel). I also stamped some flowers in versamark onto the coral cardstock, cut them out, and adhered them using foam.

Supplies: Stamps – Asian Gardens (WMS) DP – Garden Gala (Webster’s Pages) Ink - Chocolate Chip (SU!), Melon Berry, Tea Dye (PTI)Cardtsock – Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Melon Berry (PTI)Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, SpellbindersMisc - rhinestones (Crafta), ribbon (PTI), Corner Chomper (Crop A Dile), Foam Squares (3M)

Celebrate the Day

I made this card for this week's Mojo Monday challenge and really like the way it came out! I just got the Basic Gray Cappella collection so I can start working on our wedding album (yes, 3 1/2 years later...) and thought I'd make a card for my hubby to give to him once I get our album finished.

You can't really see it in the photo but I used some Glimmer Mist and some Stickles on the center of the flower to give it some bling. There are a couple of different layers popped up and the fussy cutting of the leaves give the card a lot of dimension.

Supplies: Stamps - Love's Flower (Verve); DP - Cappella (Basic Gray); Ink - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive (SU!), Tea Dye (PTI); Cardtsock - Blush Blossom (SU!), Vintage Cream (PTI); Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Spellbinders; Misc - rhinestone (K&Co), Stardust Stickles (Ranger), ribbon (Michael's), Scallop Edge Punch (SU!), Corner Chomper (Making Memories), Foam Squares (3M)

Bon Voyage, Connie

I just finished making this card for my friend's mom who is finally retiring after talking about doing it since I used to work with them (almost 5 years ago!) I am so excited that Connie will be able to do more traveling and I'm sure my friend will be happy that she can do more babysitting! ;)

Oh, one more detail - since this is a card for her party that a lot of people will be signing, it is 8.5 x 11! Yes, definitely the largest card I've made, by far but I think it came out great!

Supplies: Stamps - Travel (Cloud 9); Ink - Tea Dye (Distress Ink), Tea Dye (PTI), Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red (SU!); Cardstock - Kraft (SU!), Vintage Cream (PTI); DP - Travel Matstack (DCWV); Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Labels 10 (Spellbinders); Misc - Travel Stickers (Jolee's), Twine (SU!)

Just Because

I made this card for the Reader's Choice Color Inspiration Challenge over on Kristina Werner's blog and realized it would also fit the Cinema Saturday challenge to use plaid!

My personal challenge this week was to try and stamp the background rather than relying on designer papers. Don't get me wrong, I love my dp but I also want to incorporate more stamping into my cards. I've had the argyle set for a couple of months now but haven't used it and thought today would be the perfect chance to get it inky! I love how cute the panel turned out!

Supplies: Stamps - A Little Argyle, Beautiful Blooms II, Round and Round (PTI); Cardstock - Chocolate Chip (SU!), Vintage Cream (PTI); Ink - Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Old Olive, Certainly Celery (SU!); Misc - Vintage Sparkler (Webster's Pages), Distressed Seam Binding (DebsSimpleTreasures, Etsy)

Welcome Little One

I utterly adore Waltzingmouse Stamps and can't believe I almost missed the very first sketch challenge! This week has been absolute chaos and I didn't think I'd be able to get it done! But, I got home at 7pm and whipped this card out with life or death urgency! Well, maybe not quite that much but pretty close! I think it came out great for a "quick and dirty."

You only have 12 minutes to participate but head on over to the new WMS Sketch Challenge blog and check it out! I think you'll have another chance to participate this Saturday!Supplies: Stamps - Lil' Buddies (WMS); DP - Ducks in a Row (October Afternoon); Cardstock - Blush Blossom (SU!), Vintage Cream (PTI); Ink - Basic Black (SU!); Ribbon - Crafta; Button - Favorite Findings; Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Nestabilities; Misc - Puff Ball (Michael's), Copic Markers

You're Invited

This week's challenge over at Cinema Saturday is to make something out of the box inspired by Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland!" While you may look at this and think it looks like a traditional card, it posed a big challenge to me to think outside of the box!

I had a stamp of the White Rabbit that I thought would be just perfect but when I pulled the stamp off of the backing, I saw that his scroll was filled in and would always say "You Are Invited." Outside the box #1 for me was making an invitation I was grumpy about. How can I use just one invitation? :)

The next part of my adventure started when I saw another stamp in the set that I realized I'd much rather use in the Rabbit's scroll. Who wouldn't agree that the "congratulations" message is generally much more useful?

Tada!! You can see my outside the box moment #2 below! I used my craft knife to remove the part of the stamp that had the message permanently attached to the scroll! Clever!!

As stampers, it is rare that we find something that is perfect, as-is, and since we are such a crafty bunch, we can certainly tailor things we buy to suit our needs a bit better. I am thrilled with my new stamp and will get a ton more use out of it this way!

Supplies: Stamps - Card Sentiments (Clear Art); DP - Garden Gals (Webster's Pages); Cardstock - Certainly Celery (SU!); Ink - Basic Black (SU!), Tea Dye Chai (PTI); Misc - Distressed Seam Binding(DebSimpleTreasures (Etsy)), Vintage Sparkler (Webster's Pages)