Food for the Soul

Today I decided to ink up one of my new Kraftin' Kimmie stamps, Lucy!

She has GOT to be my favorite Kimmie stamp ever. I am something of a bookworm myself so this stamp SCREAMED to come home to me:) I didn't have anything particular in mind when I set to making this card, I just started coloring and thought I'd hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmies Blog and see what their weekly challenge was. This week, we're supposed to use SPRING colors so I picked out these papers from the Report Card collection by October Afternoon and started putting this together:) The little tabs on the stamped image are new dies from Verve called Charming Oval!  The die I used is the middle sized oval. I think this card is actually going to make it in the mailbox! I made this for a special friend and have made a deal with myself to send cards out more often, just because:)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Recipe:

Stamps: Lucy (Kraftin Kimmie Stamps)

Ink: Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa (Memento), Copics

Paper: Vintage Cream, Summer Sunrise (PTI), Report Card (OA)

Accessories: Charming Oval dies (Verve), flourish edge punch (EK Success), square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), pearls (Kaiser), buttons (PTI), twine (The Twinery), lace (manf unk)

The LAST Mystery Monday:(

It's a sad day for me today, my last cards for the Club Anya & Friends team! Club Anya & Friends is going away and in it's place will be something HUGE and EXCITING so make sure to check out the TGF Blog for details!

Today, we're CASE'ing this awesome card from Joni--

I love her black and white coloring but I'm no where NEAR brave enough to try that, lol! Here's my card, I stuck with her awesome layout--

Oh, hey! Her HAIR is black, yeah! LOL! This is Twirl Anya who was release last month. I really love her and her short, sassy 'do! I stamped her on some Copic X-press cardstock in Tuxedo Black and colored her in with Copics. The patterned paper is from BG's Hello Lucious (love this stuff!) and the sweet tag is a die and stamp set from PTI.

Okay, I totally slacked and forgot to post my Saturday Sketch card on my blog, so I'll go ahead and do that now and then we'll just pretend it's been here all along, it'll be our secret;)

That's Hat's Off Anya (probably my favorite TGF stamp EVAH! I love her!). The paper is from BG's Hello Lucious again (see, told you!) and the sentiment is from Chicks Rule by Verve and was a new release on Friday.  You can see the Saturday Sketch challenge post HERE. Come play with us!

Okay, well that's it from me. I got Apple TV yesterday and am having WAY TOO MUCH FUN watchin' my shows on the big scree, yay!!!

I want to say a HUUUUUUUGE THANK YOU to Marie and Jess for the amazing opportunity, I had a GREAT time and will forever cherish the friendships I made with my fellow DT Members! Speaking of which, hop on over and visit their blogs for their MM post. I'll be seeing you around in the new TGF challenges:)

Club Anya Blog

• Elena -- March Guest DT
• Jessica Diedrich
• Anna Maria Nilsson 
• Kristy Young

Taylored Expressions Sketch

**This is my second post today, please scroll down or CLICK HERE for my Verve Spotlight project!**

Hey everybody! Have you heard the GREAT NEWS?!  The Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge is BACK!!!  New sketches will be offered on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month and there will be a PRIZE DRAWING each time!  You will be able to get all the sketch info both in the SCS TE Forum and on Taylor's blog.  You are NOT required to use TE stamps to play, but there's a bonus prize available if you do! We're kicking it off today with TESC135!!

Here's this weeks AWESOME SKETCH!

Fabulous, right? I had so much fun with this one! Here's my card-

I used the super cute "Oh Nuts" Ala Carte stamp set, I just love that squirrel! Everything on this card is from the March Key Ingredients kit, except for the brads:)

I cut four holes in the yellow cardstock and then masked a piece of vanilla cardstock and stamped the squirrel in each of the holes and colored him up! I've been a subscriber to the Key Ingredients kit for a few months now and I just love how everything coordinates! Don't you love that wooden button? It comes with a bunch of them!

You have 2 weeks to enter this challenge and I hope you'll play along with us!  Are you ready to hop around and see all the samples created by the TE Sketch Crew?  Let's go!

• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Taylor Van Bruggen
• Jami Sibley
• and special guest Amber Hight (winner of the TE SCS Grand Opening Gallery Challenge)

Would you like to join the TE Sketch Crew?  Taylor is looking for a new sampler for the team.  If you'd like to be considered please play in this week's sketch and upload your sketch card featuring TE images to your SCS gallery using keywords:  tayloredexpressions, TESC135, TESampler2011 

(be sure to use a comma and then a space between each of the keywords as shown)   

Note:

• To be entered into the prize drawing you MUST upload to SCS with keyword TESC135.  
• To be considered for the open spot on the Sketch Crew you MUST upload to SCS with keyword TESampler2011
• To have any creation featuring TE stamps show up in the Taylored Expressions Gallery, you must upload using keywordtayloredexpressions (no space)

Verve Spotlights - Day 3, Chicks RULE!!!

Hey you! Thanks for coming back! I bet you're anxious to get your hands on some new Verve after seeing all the previews, aren't you? Well, tonight is your lucky night! New Verve will be available HERE tonight at midnight!

Also, don't forget about our Release Party! We'll be CHATTIN' IT UP in the Verve forums starting at 9 pm EST! Come and chat with us, we ALWAYS have a blast:) Click the banner above to go to the party thread!

Today, the Diva's are spotlighting the adorable new set called Chicks Rule and another new die, the Flutterby die!  This die matches the adorable butterfly stamp in the Chicks Rule set! 

Let's get to it:)

I used the the large butterfly from Chicks Rule and the small butterfly from Egg-stra Special, along with the new Flutterby die for this card!  To start out, I cut a bunch of butterflies out of the card front using the die. Next, I stamped the large butterfly, in the negative space created by the die, in Fresh Snow ink. 

I stamped some small butterflies on the card front in white ink, and then colored all the butterflies with an R22 Copic marker. I like how it creates some contrast:) I added the little antennae with a brown marker, added some pearls, and a couple pieces of ribbon and a bow! I stamped the sentiment in Rich Cocoa ink, I love that  font combination, don't you? For a last detail, I cut a piece of clear cardstock *just* smaller than the card front and glued it to the inside of the card front. Here's what it looks like flat...

I think you're REALLY going to love this set and that Flutterby die, they're SO FUN!

As you know, we love to celebrate here at Verve, so we've hidden a prize along the hop today! One lucky commenter on one of the Diva Hop Spots below will receive today's featured stamps and dies...Chicks Rule and Flutterby die! The deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, March 25. Winners will be announced during our ReLeAsE pArTy that night! 

1. Maureen 7. Sankari 2. Amy 8. Tosh 3. Amber 9. Julee  4. Janelle 10. Andrea 5. Teresa 11. Charmaine 6. Laurie

Thanks for stopping by today, see you in the party thread tonight!!!

Verve Spotlights - Day 2 is EGG-STRA SPECIAL!

**Click on banner to go to party thread (that won't be hoppin' until Friday!)**

Hello bloggers! Back for more, are ya? I can't say I blame you because the Diva's have MORE prepared for you with another new stamp set called Egg-stra Special and some new A Cut Above dies!

I just got my dies in the mail today, so I didn't have time to use them yet! But I know the other Diva's have them and can't wait to show you what they do!

For my card, I started by stamping a whole bunch of eggs and then coloring them with Copics! I cut them all out and popped them up on dimensionals. This is a textur-iffic card, believe me, lol! If I mail it, it's going to have to go in a box, lol! I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white cardstock and then cut the corners to make a tag, which I then tied onto the ribbon with some green twine!

I also tied a Bling Button from Bazzill onto the ribbon bow, isn't that thang gorgeous??? It's so sparkly! 

Oh, and did I mention there's a prize??? We love to celebrate here at Verve, so we've hidden a prize along the hop today! One lucky commenter on one of the Diva Hop Spots below will receive today's featured stamps and dies...Egg-stra Special, Charming Banner Die Set and Charming Oval Die Set! Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, March 25. Winners will be announced during our ReLeAsE pArTy that night! 

Here's the hop order, get to hoppin'!

1. Laurie 7. Julee 2. Charmaine 8. Sankari 3. Jackie 9. Janelle 4. Amber 10. Maureen 5. Tosh 11. Teresa 6. Andrea 12. Amy

Are you ready for some NEW VERVE???

**Click on banner to go to party thread (that won't be buzzin' until Friday!)**

I hope so, because you're going to be able to GET some new Verve on Friday!!!!!!!!!! w000t! It's been a couple months since we've had a new release and I know you guys are all comping at the bit to see what's coming! I know you're going to love this release, it's so sweet! Today, we're spotlighting a couple sets. The first one is Lucky Ducky, a super cute set with little ducky's and some sweet sentiments, and a new Plain Jane called Hope Perches. I have a project made using each of them, so lets hop to it!

My first card uses a couple of the ducks from Lucky Ducky!

I really wanted this to be a St. Paddies day inspired card, because of the "lucky" sentiments, but couldn't find any really good St Paddies day papers! I settled for a couple greens and yellows from the Modern Homemaker paper pack from October Afternoon! 

I stamped the middle duck once on the white cardstock and then again on the polka dot paper. I paper-pieced the middle duck, I just think he looks FABULOUS in polka dots;) The sentiments in this set really "quack me up" and I think you'll agree that this set is a MUST HAVE!

Okay, next up is the Hope Perches Plain Jane!

I stamped the PJ on a label cut using the Classy Label die by Verve and then sponged Creamy Brown ink around the edges. The papers are from Reflections by Prima, don't you love them? They really work well with this sentiment! I added a bunch of lace, twine, a doily (PTI's parisian lace doily die), and did a lot of sponging!

Okay, that's probably enough chitchat.  Here's the official hop list for today. 
On your mark, get set.... HOP! :)

1. Charmaine 7. Teresa 2. Janelle 8. Amber 3. Laurie 9. Tosh 4. Jackie 10. Amy 5. Sankari 11. Andrea 6. Julee 12. Maureen

Tuesday Trigger--Button, Button!

Hiya friends! Fly-by post from me today!

I stumbled upon the Tuesday Trigger challenge for this week and was instantly inspired! I just love the earth tones, the buttons, the ribbons, EVERYTHING! It made me want to pull out my new Button Boutique stamp set from PTI!

Obviously I took the inspiration challenge quite literally! I love all the button cards I've been seeing so I wanted to make one of my own:) All the buttons, ribbon and cardstock are from PTI, the pearls are from Kaiser, and the lace is some I got from the 100 Yen store here in town. 

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! See you later:)

Viva la Verve! March Week 4 -- Kind Words

Hello chicks! I'm back today with a card for this week's Viva la Verve! sketch challenge:) This week, Jackie Pedro is our hostess and she came up with an AWESOME sketch for you! I really loved this one and can't wait to use it again:)

Click on the sketch to be taken to the challenge thread! There, you can find all the challenge details and rules:) If you play along with all five sketches this month, you'll be put into a drawing for Verve's WHOLE next month's stamp release...a prize WORTH playing for;)

Here's my card using Kind Words--

I stamped off the flowers from Kind Words once on scratch paper and then again on the sentiment panel, I wanted the flowers to be subdued and this is the best way to do that, then I stamped the sentiment on top! That sentiment panel is supposed to be tall and skinny but my sentiment was a bit too wide for that, I think this still resembles the sketch;) Another fun little detail I added was to stamp the largest flower center from Petals and Stems on the far right edge of the card, so it looks like scallops! I thought this was a fun little detail to add, seeing as I hate to leave white space, lol!

I wanted to make my card set up a bit flashy so I used some of the tissue paper (this PARTICULAR tissue paper was wrapped around some BRAND NEW STAMPS that will be released next week! Just WAIT until you see them:) Peeks start on Wednesday!!). I love the sparkles in the tissue paper, don't you? Julee always wraps each package with love, and I can think of nothing FUNNER to unwrap than some new Verve!

I hope you can play along with us this week! Like I said, click on the sketch above or HERE to be taken to the challenge thread! See you around chickies;)

TE Challenge--Belated Birthday

Hello out there! Sorry to be a stranger this week, but it's my last week with my sweet hubby before he takes off for Iraq...I'm sure I can count on all my friends to understand that;)

He has been out-processing the past couple days so when he's gone I've been sneaking a few minutes here and there to create a card:) I do so miss it when I'm not in my stamp room!

I've been a Kit Subscriber of Taylored Expressions for about 3 months now and was SUPER excited to hear that they're Splitcoast's newest Member Company! There is nothing like having all my favorite stamp companies all in one spot, and that spot being my little home away from home, Splitcoast Stampers!

As a welcome to SCS challenge, Taylor wants us to flood the gallery with all things TE! Well I've had these adorable Ala Carte stamps for a couple months and wanted to get them inky!

I love this sweet stamp with these little birthday birdies,, they're called "Belated Birthday-Stand Out" stamp is actually of only four birds, so I stamped it repeatedly along the card bottom and then colored them in with Copics. I wanted this to be a relatively simple card, that's why I went with stamping right on the card front, but then I needed to add something to the top so I pulled out some papers from the January Key Ingredients Kit . The ribbon and buttons are also from the January KI kit! The big scalloped border with the fun holes is from EK Success.

Here's what I did with the inside of the card:

That sentiment also comes with the birdies:) I also added a fun picket fence using the Picket Fence Border die.

Okay, that's it for me, time to think up something for dinner *yeah, nothing like waiting until 5:00, lol! Later, gators!

Mystery Monday featuring Lynda!

Hello! It's Monday, and that means time for another Mystery Monday Challenge over on the Club Anya & Friends Blog! This week is MY turn to be the hostess and I picked this fun card by Lynda Nielson to CASE:

I love the layers and really like the wavy piece behind the main image, but couldn't get mine wavy:( So I just kept that piece straight...here's my card:

I used a new release, Twirl Anya, and some papers from Stella & Rose by MME! I REALLY love these papers, I think they're from Hazel...

Here's a close up of the coloring, I really love her short hair! So summery! I used a sentiment from Flower Fusion #1 from PTI and the ribbon is also from PTI.

She was stamped on Neenah Solar white cardstock in Memento's Tuxedo Black ink. Here are the Copics colors I used to color her up:

Stop on over to my team mates blogs and see what they came up with! 

Club Anya Blog

• Elena -- March Guest DT
• Jessica Diedrich
• Anna Maria Nilsson 
• Kristy Young

For challenge details, see the CA&F Blog. Thanks for stopping by:)

Mojo Color Q!

Hey there! I sat down and created another card today while Billy was off enjoying his last round of golf for awhile. I went golfing with him yesterday (rode along in the card and read my book, actually, lol!), so I let him go with his guys today:)

I sat down with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and the Color Q color challenge and came up with this!

I thought these colors were SO bright and happy and wanted to pair them up with one of my favorite HAPPY sets by Verve called "Dream Big"! Don't you love those flowers? I love them, and I also love the stems, the leaves almost look like hearts:)

I added a Basic Gray fabric brad to the center of the Pumpkin Pie bloom, it just matched PERFECTLY! The Pumpkin Pie dp is from SU! and the Pumpkin Pie prints pack! 

Not only do I love the flowers in this set, but I also love the font combinations in the sentiments! 

Well, that's all I have for you today:) Billy and I have been enjoying every last second we can with each other:) He's probably leaving on Tuesday so pray for us. Pray for him in Iraq and of course for me, that I don't go insane from my lonesomeness:) 

Getting Sketchy with MFT!

Hey there! I was searching all my favorite haunts today looking for a challenge (yeah, feelin' tough!) and happened upon MFT's weekly sketch challenge! I TOTALLY love this sketch and had so much fun making my card! First things first, the sketch!

I love it:) Did I already say that? Ha! I did change a couple things around, but all the elements are still there, and basically where they're supposed to be, lol! Here's my card using the amazing "Inspired by Butterflies" set (I can't find it in the store so it must be out of stock right now)--

I seriously had so much fun making this card, I was in my zone and loving just sitting there, happily gluing away:) I stamped the butterfly on a square of Vintage Cream cardstock and then stamped it again on a piece of patterned paper and then cut it out. I mounted the butterfly on top of the stamped cardstock and then stamped the sentiment! 

I cut two more butterflies out with the Butterfly Die-namics and mounted them on top of the big butterfly. I sprinkled the middle one with some chunky glitter and added some pearls to the smallest. You can also see, on this detailed shot, I used my Faux Crochet Border Die-namics and framed the cardstock square.

I got my NEW COPICS in the mail today, yeah baby! The only thing I hate about new colors is having to redo my color chart, lol! It takes forever!

It's pretty when it's all filled out though, huh?:)

Okay, that's it for me today, I'm off to make some TACO's and then we're going to watch Mega Mind!! We still don't know what day Billy is leaving, so we're living each day as though it were our last, lol:) See you guys later!

Out of this World

So I'm in the middle or a huge re-organization of all my clear stamps. I started today, on a whim, and now I'm in so deep that there's no turning back, lol! I was really in the mood to make a card, but my stamp room is absolute chaos so it was ALMOST impossible, except for I had colored this image by Technique Tuesday in a couple days ago, so I decided to make a quick and easy card with it:)

This cutie and the sentiment are from a newly released set called "Tin Man"! Isn't he the cutest robot you ever saw? You know what I love about robots? They're SUPER easy to color, lol! They're just gray! How easy is that? Ha! I stamped him on Neenah Solar white cardstock in Tuxedo Black ink and colored him with my C1 and C3 copics (the metal part), and BG72and BG75 (for the middle computer part). I didn't want to just cut him out with a square die, so I pulled out my Labels 15 dies from Spellbinders and then sponged the cut image with Creamy Brown ink! I finished it off with some black twine from The Twinery and an Ocean Tides button from PTI! OH, and let us not forgot the three black brads, my tried and true finishing elements:)

Thanks for stopping by today:) Hopefully I get all my Verve stamps organized tomorrow so I can use them! I'm going to organize my PTI and MFT stamps the same way, but I have a feeling I'm going to need a week break or so first, lol! I'll post pics when I'm done! Have a goodie:)

Mystery Monday featuring Sharette!!

Hello! Happy Monday:) Okay maybe some of you aren't happy, I know I could be quite a bit better, but we just have to deal with it, huh? There's nothing like a little stamping therapy to make you feel better:)

It's a Mystery Monday on the CA&F blog and you know what that means! One of the DT girls choose a card they love in the gallery and the rest of us CASE it! If you play along and add your card to the appropriate gallery (see the CA&F blog for details), you could win a free digi single! Today, Anna Maria is our hostess and she chose this beautiful card by Sharette for us to case!

Isn't it a beauty? I love her layering here and the fun ribbon tabs, which I really love as an accent:)

Here's my card using the newly released Cheeky Beach! 

I loved the melon background she had so I decided to break into my Hopscotch papers by Basic Gray! 

The sentiment is from Let it Shine by Verve.

Here's a close up of the coloring in case you wanted a closer look:)

As always, she was stamped on Neenah Solar white cardstock and colored with Copics. Here are the colors I used--

You definitely want to see what the rest of the girls did with this challenge, I can't wait to see them myself! We have such a talented team, I love all my co-DT girls:)

Club Anya Blog

• Elena -- March Guest DT
• Jessica Diedrich
• Anna Maria Nilsson 
• Amber Hight 
• Jen Shults 
• Kristy Young

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Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope you get a chance to play along with us!