Craving Chocolate?

Oh, come on, you know everyone is going on a diet the day after tomorrow! Luckily, this chocolate has no calories (unless you fill the can with something yummy!). I used chocolate chip, baha breeze and blush blossom. I stamped it all over with these cute little candies and addressed it "From one cocoa nut to another". Here is a view of the lid:

CDS Rocks!

And, now they smell good, too! This set is a Jan. 1 release and is SO cute! It's called Heaven Scent. I used baha breeze and white embossing powder to make these vanilla scented bath accessories. I tied on a cute little perfume bottle charm, just for fun! These were very quick and easy. I gave them to a co-worker as a gift and she loved them.

Another sneak peek!

When I saw this adorable little bear, another image from Clear Dollar Stamps Spring Critter, to be released Jan 1, I thought he'd make a perfect polar bear. But, for some reason, I just felt he wanted to be a little brown bear for this card. I stamped him with black and colored him with copics. The card base is only orange layered with black and basic grey dp. The ribbon is offrey and the sentiment is stamped on only orange, punched with an oval punch and layered with black. The two buttons in the corner add the final touch (this was a sketch challenge for the design team, by the way). I love all the fun polka dots in this card!

Chocolate CDS Sneak Peek

This is made with a new release coming out January 1st at Clear Dollar Stamps. The set is called Chocoholic. It is too cute! I made this cute little rescue bottle, stamping with chocolate chip ink on certainly celery, layered with chocolate chip. I punched the candy bars and bon bons with a small circle punch and the seven days sentiment with a bigger circle punch and hung it as a tag around the neck of the bottle. The bottle is actually a small bud vase I got at walmart. Below you can see the scroll inside the bottle: "Things are bad, send chocolate". Who hasn't felt like that once in a while!

New Releases from Clear Dollar Stamps

This has got to be one of the cutest stamps I have ever seen! I stamped the little beaver from Clear Dollar Stamps Spring Critters set, being released in January, with black ink. I colored him with copics and accented him with a white signo pen. I started with a chocolate chip base layered with kraft and river rock. The dp is cosmo cricket. I cut the clouds out and popped them up with dimensionals. I added some real sticks and built a dam for mr. beaver. Be sure to come back over the next several days to see more new releases from CDS!

12 Drummers Drumming

I got these cute Penny Black 12 days of Xmas stamps the other day. I love this little dog with the Elton John glasses. I colored him with copics and his drum set with stardust pens. The base of the card is Garden green layered with black, red bazzill and this great red and green striped number from the DCWV pet stack. I cut black paper and the bone paper (also from the pet stack) with my curved rectangle nesties. I cut the bone paper and the red and green striped with my oval nesties and the image with a circle nestie. I stamped the 12 drummers drumming and colored the 12 with a copic. I mounted it on black and trimed the edges to match the curved rectangle. I'm doing simpler cards to finish up my xmas cards (running late this year). This one is for my friend who loves dogs and her DH, who played drums in high school.

Yesterday's challenge card

This is one of those cards that didn't come out the way I pictured it in my head. I don't know if I should have made the tree smaller to see if the guitar would wrap around it more or not, but I was afraid that if I did that no one would be able to tell it was a christmas tree. Oh, well. My dd will like it and it's for her. The guitar image is from inkadinkado, the tree is cut freehand. Paper is basic grey and cranberry crisp.

FFIF11

This is today's Inspiration Challenge. I'm so sorry, I don't have time to finish the card that goes with it. I probably won't get it posted today, as my office Xmas party is tonight. I will post it tomorrow - in the meantime, have fun with this painting by Chris Buzelli and upload with the keyword FFIF11!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas posts are going to be kind of sparadic. The only reason I did this challenge is because I need to be finishing my xmas cards! I also have gifts to make, though. And, I still have a few more cards to make. I got these cute Penny Black stamps in the mail today and had to use them. I used BG, red ridinghood (eating my words when I said that some of this year's colors weren't that different from current colors) and creamy caramel. I used my nesties - made a perfectly embossed curved rectangle to go under the hardware and broke my first cuttlebug plate - and then ruin the rectangle and went with a tiny bit of red oval peeking out instead of cutting a new curved rectangle. Oh - just almost posted this without the pic - time to go relax!

Ugh

Nothing like Monday after a long weekend, huh? I am exhausted - I did do a few envelopes for some cards I sold on ebay, but no cards to post today. I'm going to go relax in front of the tree! Maybe I can drag myself out of bed early tomorrow to participate in the challenge.

Today's challenge and another sneak peek

How does Christmas inspire you? I love Christmas and I want to get everything I can out of it, so I have to stay organized! So, today's project made with the new Clear Dollar Stamp releases, Christmas Tree Delight Wheel and Tree Delight Tag set. So, today's challenge - how does Christmas inspire you. Post on splitcoast with keywork FFIF10.

Time for another CDS sneak preview!

This gift ensemble was made with the Clear Dollar Stamps new release, Christmas Tree Delight Wheel and Tree Delight Tag set . Other supplies include: a composition notebook, mini lunchbox, lip gloss, candy kisses, pen, ribbon, K & Co. DP, baha breeze paper and wild wasabi prints, and LOTS of bling. I had so much fun decorating all those cute little trees with gems! Hope you enjoy!

Here's a close up of the card, which I made with my new curved rectangle nesties:

Monday

We have a lady who comes into our office once a week (or more if we need more help), who helps out. She's 79 and she can work hard! Last week she came in and announced the birth of her very first great grandchild. She said: "I've always been a great Grandma, but now it's official". So, I made this card to wish her congratulations on her brand new grandbaby. The image is one of the only baby images I have, mostly because I don't know alot of people who are having babies. It's from Bundle of Joy, from SU. I stamped the little bear and colored him with several different shades of brown, then went over him with ivory, using my copics. The card base is pirouette pink, layered with kiwi kiss and basic grey lily kate. I cut a circle with more lily kate and a scallop with kiwi kiss. I mounted the bear on it, grounding him with a ribbon, tied through the hardware with the matching sentiment. I think doodle this goes well with the bundle set, so I stamped a swirly and added a cute little flower.

Friday face-off 9!

How obnoxious are those colors? But, how cute? And, besides, that's why they call it a challenge!

I decided to tone my colors down just a little, using the faux linen technique for the bg and mounting it on a kraft cardbase. The images are from doodlefactory's tropical set. I stamped the hut and the small palm tree on glossy cardstock and colored them. I sanded them then added a little bit of cool carribean and creamy caramel and sanded again. I layered it with baha breeze, pumpkin pie and wild wasabi. I colored the large palm tree and this cute little hula guy with copics and cut them out. I mounted them on nestie ovals and scallops in baha breeze, wild wasabi, real red and pumpkikn pie. I tied a couple of pumpkin pie ribbons across the card and mounted the ovals on them. I added baha breeze and real red corners with button brads. I'd love for you to join in and be inspired today - post with the keyword FFIF9!

Ick - I'm sick

No cards today - I could barely drag myself out of bed to get ready for work, let alone whip up a card. I promise to post Friday's Inspiration Face-off, though!

Today's Challenge

Yeah - finally got my Coon Wishes from CDS. This was the stamp of the month the month before I made the design team, but I had to have it! Today's challenge was Real red, kraft and black. So, I stamped the little raccon and decided that he just must have a buddy, so I stamped again! I colored both of the little guys with copics and cut them out. I cut into the one on the right a little so his buddy could sling his arm around his shoulder. Then I started with a kraft card base, layered with black, real red, kraft and basic grey. I cut basic grey and black with my curved rectangle nesties. The black was more than I wanted, so I just cut around the basic grey freehand. Next I stamped Hi, Friend on kraft, punched it with the small oval, added the large oval in black and tied on a ribbon. I also added ribbon to the card and called it done. It felt to me like it was missing something, but I was running late and had to get ready for work.

Today's Challenge

Here is my spin on today's challenge. I do not do stuff like this - all the folding and stuff. But, it was kind of fun for a change. And, it was actually pretty easy. I thought it looked a little like a wreath, so I chose a basic grey holly paper and mounted it on a striped "door", mounted on always artichoke. The cute little bird is from my new hero arts set. The card base is creamy caramel layered with cranberry crisp and another bg dp. I stamped the sentiment on creamy caramel with crandberry crisp ink and inked the edges with always artichoke, then punched it with the large oval punch - they need to make those in bigger sizes. Yeah, I have my nesties, but I still love my oval punches. Then I mounted a circle punch of the holly paper on a cranberry crisp label punch and slapped the oval on the top.

Frenchy's OUT!

OK - sorry no cards the last couple of days. I did check out the challenges - and of course, they were simple ones I could have definitely done! However, I've been SO busy! We're going to my dd's baptism this weekend and I've been busy getting ready for that. Plus work has been crazy - but good. Yestereday, I got everything marked off my TO DO list (well, that day's to do, Monday, there will be a whole new one!). Anyway, away for the weekend, so no posts until Monday! Have a great weekend - will return with the FFIF next Friday!

Today's Challenge

This is for today's sketch challenge at scs. It is also for my dd's baptism, this weekend. I stamped "Sometimes you're the bug" from clear dollar stamps, adding the cross and "saved" on license plate from the matching set, "Heaven Bound". I colored the image, using copics, stardust pens and a glaze pen. The base of the card is taken with teal layered with certainly celery, bayou blue and this really cute basic grey dp (notice it has lady bugs on it). I cut the squares along the bottom using a coordinating basic grey dp then matted them with taken with teal and black. I tied this ribbon around it (can't remember where I got it, but isn't it pretty?). I cut the bug out and mounted it with dimensionals. Then I stamped the sentiment on certainly celery and punched it with the small oval punch, matting it with the large oval in taken with teal. I added a few primas and a dew drop, just because it need SOMETHING! The inside says "best taken with God". I sponged all the layers, including the sentiment with bayou blue very lightly. I just dabbed it heavily in ink and with the card laying flat on my su grid pad, I dab the sponge along the edge, just to give it a speckled, distressed look to match the BG DP!

Today's Challenge

Today's challenge really was a challenge for me. I just don't like using grey. But, I did - it's in there, I promise! For this card I used the basic grey snowflake sticker, put it on some GREY cardstock and cut it out. I stamped Santa Collage with versamark and embossed it with silver. I inked the edges just a bit with chocolate chip, then matted it with pacific point, also inked in chocolate chip. Then I added little gems to each circle on the snowflake. The card base is certainly celery, layered with basic grey (see, I told you I used it), pacific point and basic grey dp, all inked with chocolate chip.

Today's Challenge

Yeah - today's challenge was posted early enough for me to get it done this morning before work! Sorry there were no posts over the weekend. I was crafting like mad, but it was for a design team deadline and I can't show you anything - yet!

So, for today's challenge we got to make a cute Christmas tree box. I made mine out of, what else, basic grey. I actually wanted to use some old SEI dp I had, but I didn't have enough. Maybe I'll trying reducing the size and making one with it later. I cut a strip of white with mini scallop scissors and added glitter to it. I got these cute hero arts stamps this weekend, so had to use one. My dd loves penguins, so this will probably be for her. Cute, huh? I used silver paper with my cricut to cut the stars (the instructions called for the large SU star punch, which I don't have) and this polka dot ribbon.

FFIF8

Here's this week's inspiration for the FFIF8. It's a great room with cute lambs and the sweet color combo of so saffron, black and white. Have fun with it. Here' s my sample card:

I started out by sponging certainly celery and bashful blue onto white cardstock. I used a stamp from watercolor mini's with wild wasabi to make the meadow's ground cover. The fence is simply tiny little scraps that were on my desk. I stamped the sheep jumping over the fence (very fitting, since I couldn't go to sleep last night) and then stamped it again on white cardstock. I made black swirls on his body, cut it out and mounted it on the sheep jumping over the fence. I matted it on so saffron and black, to which I added white dots with a white pen. The card base is so saffron, layered with black (dotted with white pen), white (dotted with black pen) and then another layer of so saffron, all tied up with this cute black ribbon with white polka dots.
Hope you have fun with the challenge - don't forget to upload with the keyword FFIF8!

Swedish Collage

Ok, Swedish Collage is totally not my style, but...a couple of summers ago my oldest son went to culinary camp in Lindsborg, KS at the Stockholm Restaurant and Tea Room. Lindsborg is

rich in Swedish culture and Stockholm Restaurant is no exception. Well, last weekend when I went to help my dad at the Victorian Tea in St. John, the owner, Irene Nielson, was the speaker. She did a great job and I sold her cookbooks. As a thank you, she sent me a beautiful swedish crystal hummingbird. So, this is my thank you for the sweet gift.

The image is from starving artist stamps. It is the horse from the doodle factory fairy tale set. The card base is pacific point, layered with white and basic grey dps. I punched the corners for today's wt191. The chipboard letters spell "thank you" in Swedish.

Don't forget to join me tomorrow for Frenchy's Friday Inspiration Challenge!

Night Shift again

OK - I'm home, dinner has been made and eaten and the oldest child is now doing the dishes. I actually finished this card this morning since Gage didn't have to go to school until 9:00. I just took both boys to school at the same time, so I did have a little time to work on the challenge. But, I didn't have time to post it. Better late than never The image is Santa Collage by rubber stampede. I stamped it in cranberry crisp. It is matted on cranberry crisp, beige bazzill and almost amethyst. The next layer is basic grey dp, cranberry crisp and almost artichoke. The last layer is basic grey dp, almost artichoke, beige bazzill and it's all on a cranberry crisp cardbase and tied up with some sheer cranberry ribbon.

The Tuesday Evening Post

Ok, looks like my posts will be evening posts. I was up at 5:00 am with Kai B. But, alas, the challenge wasn't posted until much later. So, I started it this morning, worked on it a little at noon and just finished up. Also, I had to go to Hobby Lobby this evening - they had all kinds of beads on sale! How fun! So, here's my spin on the color challenge. The color combo lent itself perfectly to a Christmas card, of which I need plenty, so I chose Charlie Snowhorse for my image. I colored him as Charlie Horse buried in snow this time, with ornaments hanging off his "arms". He is mounted on nested ovals and oval scallopped in The Three colors - kiwi kiss, pink pirouette (I was out of pretty in pink) and ridinghood red (which I love, even though I was skeptical that these colors were much different than current colors when I first saw them). The card base is ridinghood red layered with pink pirouette, kiwi kiss & basic grey dp (got it in the mail yesterday, isn't it yummy?). I ticket punched the corners and added little pink gems. I tied on a sheer pink ribbon and stamped the sentiment on pirouette pink, oval punched and layered with ridinghood red. Then, just to give this simple card a little something more I added three more little pink gems on the red oval. Hope you enjoy! See you tomorrow for the Wednesday evening post!

Better late than never

I got this fun comforter set from Target right before my surgery, back in August. I'd been meaning to replace the light blue candles I had that matched my other comforter since then. So, I finally got to it. I used some flourish stamps (I don't remember the brand) and SU Best Blossoms. I stamped them on tissue paper with Chocolate Chip and Pink Passion. I then wrapped the tissue paper around the candles and then heated with my embossing gun. The embossing gun melts the candle just a bit and the tissue paper like melts into the candle. It is awesome and SO easy! The best part about it is that those super cheap $ store candles work great for it. So, if you're looking for an Christmas gift idea - this is a good one! Here's a close up look of the candles:

And, here's a look at the kitty that seems to be neglected by my blog, Citrus (AKA Cityboy):

Well, for those of you who are wondering - I had a great first day at my new job! The people seem very nice!
I did look at the Technique challenge this morning and while I loved it, I had to skip it, because I don't have any corner punches. Maybe Santa will put one in my stocking! But, I will be sure to join in the color challenge tomorrow and maybe even TCP (The Cat's Pajamas) Tuesday!

No cards today

Ugh - I'm so tired! I went to church this morning and then immediately drove out to St. John (where my parents live) to help my dad, the hopeless volunteer, with the Victorian Tea. I sold cookbooks from 1:00 to 5:30. My mom warned me, as always to watch for deer - they are lookin' for love this time of year and we all know what that does to your brains, so they forget that they aren't supposed to dash out in front of cars. I promised to watch for them, although, I must confess, I can't see the little boogers. My mom can - she'll even point them out and I never see them until we're right there. Well, on the way home a guy had his brights on and I couldn't see anything, so I flashed my lights at him. He no more dimmed them and I saw a doe running right out in front of me. I swerved (yeah, I know you're not supposed to do that) and, thank God she turned around and ran back the other way, so I missed her, but it was SO close! It scared me so badly! But, here I am, home, safe and sound. I'm starting a new job tomorrow (yeah!) and I've begun to worry about what I'm going to wear. So, I did what all good stampers do - I posted the question over on splitcoast and I'm waiting for sage advice from fellow stampers! I've been working on a project with the December releases for CDS (I know we just had Nov., but that's how it works), but I've finally finished it, so more stamping on tomorrow's blog, I promise! Maybe I'll even do Monday's technique challenge. No promises, though, I promised not to buy things just to do the challenges. See you tomorrow - hope you had a great weekend and will have a wonderful week to come!

Friday Face-off and the last of the sneak peeks

I love the bright colors in this kids' playroom. Here's the card it inspired. Have fun! Be sure the put FFIF7 in the key words when you upload!

I made this card for one of my son's birthdays. The only inspiration I took from the room was the colors, which I thought were perfect for a birthday card. I stamped "Sometimes you're the bug" and colored it a great green color with my copics, then added some brightly wrapped gifts in the back with "In the Bug". The card base is a lime green bazzilllayered with black and basic grey dp. The panel is basic grey, which I cuttlebugged with the birthday embossing folder, matted with black, which I cut with some decorative scissors. Finally, I stamped the sentiment on basic grey, matted with black and punched with oval punches and added some more birthday gifts.

Doesn't Charlie Horse make a cute snowman? This is the new "Charlie Snowhorse" available Nov. 1st from Clear Dollar Stamps. I stamped him and then added lots of glitter for the snow and colored his scarf with, yep, you guessed it, copics. I framed him using this SEI frame from years ago and layered it with baja breeze, ridinghood red, and certainly celery. Then I added this great ribbon and cute charm frame, inside which I put a silver snowflake. The card base is ridinghood red, layered with certainly celery and baja breeze.

Here's another one with charlie snowhorse. I stamped Charlie and this time just added accents of blue glitter. I sponged the bg with bayou blue lightly and added bits of white glitter for snow. I used my nesties to cut him into a circle and matted him with a chocolate chip circle. The base of the snow globe is part of a trophy, which I cut with my cricut using the Disney Cars cartridge. The card base is grey layered with this great SU dp from last Christmas and black with another dp from the same set. I corner punched black and sage shadow and added those to the corner with a little gem.

This is another Nov. 1st release, Rodney Deer. I figured most people would use this for Christmas, so I wanted to give another spin on it. Besides, it was my friend, Cathie's birthday! I stamped the cute little guy on this SU dp and then again on white paper. I colored the white one and cut out the body, mounting it over the one on the dp. I used rub ons to write "Happy birthday (deer image) Cathie, Happy birthday to you!" and the presents are also rubons. I layered this with real rust, more dp and stuck it to the wild wasabi card base.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed the sneak peeks. Be sure to visit again. I'm working on the December projects right now and I'm really proud of how they are turning out!

More peeking and today's challenge

Here's another Lampost Expressions card. This set is just so cool! I did this card for the design team challenge to use glossy cardstock. I liked the faux linen technique I used on the turkey card, so used it again on this card. I colored the image with copics and then sanded, added color with sponges and sanded again. I matted the image with layers of black and real red. The card base is always artichoke layered with basic grey. I tied on a ribbon and added the sentiment from Charlie Snowhorse (you'll see the sneak peek of it tomorrow, along with the Friday faceoff!).
Today's challenge on SCS was to get crackin'! I tried out the cracked glass technique with my mom's new scarecrow stamp. I told her that stamps don't stay uninked for long in my house! This poor ol' scarecrow isn't scary - so now he's free! I stamped the images and colored with copics. Then I did 4 layers of clear embossing powder and through it in the freezer for a bit. I made the sign with more mustard cardstock and the card with old olive, chocolate chip and SU halloween 2007 dp. I stamped the sentiment on pumpkin pie, layered with chocolate chip and old olive. I added a strip of brown polkadot ribbon flanked by two pieces of green polkadot ribbon. The flower was white, so I colored it with copics and added the brown polkadot ribbon. After I got the image out of the freezer I cracked it up and then mounted it on chocolate chip and old olive.

Sneak peek and todays challenge

This is another great image that's being release Nov. 1st at Clear Dollar Stamps. The lampost has great sentiments that can go on the sign and cute little animals that can be place on or around it. I made this card for the design team color challenge - tempting teal, going gray and mellow moss. I colored the lampost with copics and embossed it. Then I used my brayer and sponges with several shades of blue to make the sky. I mounted it on layers of mellow moss and black. topping it with a decorative swirl. I stamped the sentiment in tempting teal on going gray layered with black. The dp is from basic grey layered with black. The card base is tempting teal.

This is for today's sketch challenge. The images are from Clear Dollar Stamps. I stamped the tree and used a sharpie to add some length to both ends. I stamped the squirel and added him to the inside of the tree hole. Then I stamped the sentiment on pumpkin pie and oval punched it, layering it with a chocolate chip oval. The waving squirrel was stamped and colored with copics. I mounted the three images on basic grey squares matted with real red. The bg is basic grey and is divided with pumpkin pie ribbon.

One more peek for today

Here's another card made with In the Bug, the great new set that goes with Sometimes you're the bug. I thought it would be funny to have this poor puppy having an anxiety attack over this little boy taking him on a joy ride. So, what does a puppy say in such a situation? Ruh Roh! This card was done for the Clear Dollar Stamps Design Team Sketch Challenge. I used this fabulous Basic Grey dp with only orange, blue bayou and wild wasabi. The letters are plastic - I got them at target a long time ago. The ribbon is SU blue bayou.

Another Eat more ham card. I just love this little turkey. I used more basic grey on this card (love that stuff) with old olive, real red and pumpkin pie. The tree and the fence are basic grey die cuts. I cut the sentiment at the top with my oval scallop nesties. The turkey is stamped strolling along the fence tops and colored with copics.
Hope you're enjoying the sneak peeks! Come see some more tomorrow!

This is one of the new Nov. 1st releases from Clear Dollar Stamps. This little Tom Turkey is just so thankful that you're having ham for Thanksgiving this year. I made this card for the CDS challenge to use glossy cardstock. Now, I have to admit that I have had glossy cardstock for over a year now and it was unopened before this challenge. So, I did a little looking over at splitcoast and decided to try the Faux Linen technique. It was a lot of fun and I liked the outcome - I even used it on another card featuring another Nov. 1st sneak peek, so you'll have to come back and look for that one.

I stamped the turkey on glossy cardstock, colored it with copics, sanded it down (after it dried), added some color with sponges and sanded again. So simple and it gives a really cool effect. I cut the turkey image with my circle nesties and matted it on a chocolate chip circle. I then mounted the circles on oval scallops in pumpkin pie and wild wasabi. For the background I used the same Faux Linen technique. I stamped the "Eat more ham" sentiment and various leaves, colored them with copics, sanded, added more mustard with a sponge and sanded again. I did the same background on a strip of more mustard cardstock and added some green ribbon from walmart. The sentiment is done on wild wasabi ovals matted with chocolate chip ovals and says: "Thankful...to get away"! The whole shebang is mounted on layers of chocolate chip and wild wasabi with a card base of pumpkin pie.

I hope you like the card - the stamps are SO cute! They would make fabulous placecards - even if you do plan to have turkey! Be sure to keep checking back for more great stamps from CDS!

This is for CC190 - Pixie Pink, Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango. Mrs. Claus is sick to death of red and green, so she's decide to adopt this bright color combo for Christmas this year. You all know how much I love the Sometimes you're the bug set, right? Well, now Clear Dollar Stamps has an accessory set to go with it called In the Bug. It has cute little people, animals and accessories to go in the bug. I also added a stylin' hat on Mrs. Claus from the Just Nutty set. The bug is mounted on layers of white embossed with the cuttlebug in the snowflake folder, kiwi kiss & tangerine tango with pixie pink and all tied up with a cute little bow!