My knitting sistah!

My sister is a knitter and I always like to see what she's working on...usually two or three projects going at once, and she always uses fabuloso yarn. Sorta reminds me of myself and my crafting obsession with yummy patterned papers and stamps, wink! She blessed me with a couple of her sweet creations this past month and I've been dying to show them off here on my blog. Well, who woulda thunk my Sketch Challenge 209 card would give me the perfect opportunity to do so?! First, she gave me this awesome felted snowman she'd made during a weekend class and then a yummy bottle of Chardonnay topped with a knitted hat and scarf--darling!

The card below will be going postal to her, of course, as soon as I get off the keyboard today! It uses some fun paper from the Frosty Day collection from SU! along with one of my favorite TCP stamps, the knitting pooch. He's watercolored with reinkers in Kiwi, Tango and Bashful Blue with a dab of Close to Cocoa on his nose. A rather large Kiwi button strung with orange scrapper's floss and two mini brads round out the embellishments on this one.

It's your {meow, meow} birthday!

Anyone remember Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe, specifically Henrietta Pussycat? I always loved her {meow} laden dialogue...let's face it, I just loved that whole sketch! Ah, just give me a moment to reminisce...ok, I'm back! This cute little pussycat is from The Cat's Pajamas Clearly Swanky stamp line made me think of Miss Henrietta, so I aptly chose to use her for my SIL's upcoming birthday on January 1st because she is a cat-lover.

As much as I love TCP images, I always have such a hard time with them and I'm not sure what the reason is. Anyway, after spending way too much time on this card, I'm pleased with the end result. The sketch was inspired by this SFYTT of Jen del Muro's, and the layered snowflake embellishment was inspired by all the cool "layered" snowflakes I recently spied on Sweet Miss Daisy/Anna Wight's blog which can been seen here (she recently added more cool layered snowflakes too!).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Card deets
Stamps: CTMH Happy Birthday; TCP Clearly Swanky Stamps
Paper: Basic Grey patterned paper, SU! Shimmery White
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink Walnut Stain, reinkers--Cool Caribbean, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive
Accessories: felt snowflake, button, linen thread, RHR taffeta, Spica glitter gel pen, Birds & Blooms flower die

What day is it...

...it's Saturday of course, and that means another great sketch from Jen/i{heart}2stamp.com! I've had to really stop and think about what day it really is/was this past week with all of the Christmas hustle and bustle! It's not over for us yet though--my eldest brother is coming this weekend as the inclement weather kept him from visiting last weekend, and we had to reschedule another of our Christmas parties for tomorrow due to a handful of sickies in the family...namely my oldest and youngest! Both are on antibiotics as I type and are on the mend. Enough about that though, let's get to the sketch card.

While we're still not finished whooping it up for Christmas, I have to admit that I'm pretty much ready to move on to a different stamping holiday, so I chose Valentine's Day. I've had SU!'s A Happy Heart for a few weeks now, and felt it was time to ink it up. Although I'm not a huge red-black fan, I do like the combo used in an old fashioned sorta way, so that was the look and feel I was aiming for, and I have to admit that I'm pleased with the results!

I struggled a bit with the sketch, trying to fit a stamped image between the top and bottom horizontal strips. I finally gave up and used a piece of delicious Scenic Route designer paper, letting it stand all on its own, stamping a simple sentiment just below the lower strip, or in this case ribbon & ric rac combo. The large heart is embossed for extra pizazz and topped with a button tied with linen thread. I placed the button just so to draw attention to the sentiment. The upper strip is comprised of folk hearts punched from black card stock with a few of them popped up on foam boosters.

I'm anxious to check out the rest of the girls' creations, curious to see if they've moved on from Christmas as well. Be sure to check them out too, and if you can play along today or tomorrow or whenever, be sure to use the keyword: SFYTT and/or leave a link to your blog on Jen's blog.

Jen/Lynn (December guest designer)
Susan
Amy
Shannan
Carole

Card deets
Stamps: SU! A Happy Heart
Paper: Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black; Scenic Route Sonoma Collection
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Black craft
Accessories: Making Memories scalloped organdy ribbon, Offray ric rac, SU! folk heart punch (retired), button, Linen Thread (SU!), foam boosters, black ep

It's December 26th, now what?!

As I was browsing a few of my favorite blogs tonight, many of them had such warm holiday wishes for those who stopped by which made me realize that I hadn't officially wished you all a very Merry Christmas! My sna-foo made me stop and think about the events of the past week and something that has stayed with me. That something was the message in my pastor's Christmas Eve sermon which I will attempt to put into words. Pastor talked about how easy it is to fall in love with a baby, namely baby Jesus; how easy it is to celebrate Him and the anniversary of His birth each Christmas Eve; how easy it is to be thankful for His life, the one He gave to all believers to save us from our sinful lives. Here's the next part, the kicker...you knew it was coming: it isn't always so easy to remember Him every day, every hour, every minute. We may not always love the way He answers our prayers or like the way He guides our lives, but He loves me and you and you and YOU each and every day, hour and minute-- like it or not!

So my post-Christmas message is to love your Lord with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength, each and every day, hour and minute!

~Amy

for niece & nephew...

I quickly put these two gift card holders together using papers from The Angel Co. and Close To My Heart along with some of my favorite Cornish Heritage Farms stamps, one for my nephew and the other being for my husband's niece. I'd seen similar gift card holders made by Alli Miles and then Val Stangle. Click on their names to see the inspiration they provided me! The cards measure 6.5 inches squared, folded in half. Inside is a 4.25x2.25 piece of cardstock adhered on the bottom and one side with a rounded corner to hold the gift card.

We had a great time at a Christmas party for my husband's side of the family last night, and today is my family gathering hosted by us, aaaack! So, I'm going to keep this short and sweet! See the list below for all the deets and have a great day.

Joyeux Noel
Stamps: CHF Joyeux Noel, Christmas Critters
Paper: CTMH Life Delights paper pack
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Celery grosgrain, sponge

Cardinal
Stamps: CHF The Landing Pad, Christmas Critters (Kim Hughes Collection)
Paper: TAC Reese paper pack
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink Walnut Stain, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: American Crafts brads, sponge

Tree-mendous Sketch For You To Try!

Wowza, can't believe it's already Saturday (again), and you know what that means--Jen's SFYTT! For today's card I used an adorable new set from Our Craft Lounge called Tree-mendous Love (what a cute and clever name, huh?!). I watercolored the tree and birdhouse with a small brush and a blender pen, punched a trio of hearts from the designer paper from TAC called Life Delights and tied them up with linen thread and a clear pink button. I didn't want my corner embellishment to overpower the sweet delightfulness of the tree and soft colors of the designer paper, so I kept it a bit smaller than the sketch shows.

Be sure to click on over to the rest of the team and have a wonderful weekend! We have Christmas gatherings on both sides of our family tonight and tomorrow (at our house), so I'd better get a move-on!

Jen/Lynn
Carole
Shannan
Amy
Susan

Christmas Goodies!

I put together a gift ensemble of treats topped with fun tags using Hero Arts and Cornish Heritage Farms stamps with a color scheme of Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red. The large gift bag tag is a 1/4 sheet of card stock using the same stamping as my SFYTT card from this past weekend. I'm desperately trying to use up my Felt Flurries, and love the look of the snowflake next to the adorable cardinal and moose from Kim Hughes' Christmas Critters set.

Below are a couple of close up shots of the tags and goodies. I was inspired by this post of Debbie Olson/Thinking Inking and made her Snickerdoodle Biscotti for the very first time this weekend (my first attempt at Biscotti ever and it worked!). The other goodies include our family recipe of frosted Christmas cut-out cookies and Marshmallow Fudge with lots of walnuts (DH thinks I should've used more walnuts, but I think he just says that so he can keep sampling it to be sure!).

Thanks for stopping over today!

Details
Stamps: CHF Christmas Critters; Hero Arts clear alphabet
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: Kraft, KK, RHR, CC, Vanilla, Frosty Day DSP, Scenic Route Sonoma
Accessories: wide red striped grosgrain, Scallop Edge punch, Curly Label punch, Vintage mini brads, jumbo eyelet, Top Note die, Horizontal Slot punch, Felt Flurries, Rope Twine, Season of Cheer Rub-ons, piercing tool/template

Season's Greetings Sketch For You!

I thought I'd throw out one more Christmas card using this week's SFYTT. Since I was using my Kim Hughes Christmas Critters set, I tried to emulate a little Kim Hughes style by leaving the bird and moose images "open" and overlapping the solid tree. I just have to tell you--I love the way this turned out, so call me a copy-cat, but why mess with the master?! I adore Kim's style and Kim's stamps, 'nuf said!

All stamped images are from the Christmas Critters set, available through Cornish Heritage Farms. Jen's double band portion of the sketch made for a perfect spot for the sentiment with a length of SU! rope tied and frayed for added attention to that area. Last but not least is a button topped felt snowflake with a little faux thread stretching beyond on either side.

Be sure to check out the rest of the SFYTT team sans Amy S.; no worries, she'll be back next week!

Jen/Lynn
Carole
Shannan
Susan

Details
Stamps: Kim Hughes Collection Christmas Critters
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Kiwi Kiss, Scenic Route Sonoma Collection
Accessories: Felt Flurries snowflake, Basic Grey button, SU! rope

Leftovers are good!

I finished up my SFYTT card for tomorrow and decided to use up some of the scraps to make this quick holiday thank you card for a wonderful volunteer at our school who brought in the most delicious tray of treats for us this week. The sentiment is a SU! rub on, paper is Kiwi Kiss, Naturals Ivory and more of that delicious Scenic Route Sonoma collection. Ribbon is from Taylored Expressions tied with a button and hemp. That's it--so simple, but I love it!

Have a wonderful Friday and be sure to pop in tomorrow for Jen's Saturday Sketch For You To Try--more of these wonderful papers and colors, featuring one of Kim Hughes' fun holiday sets. That's all I'm saying!

Anna Mae!

Isn't she adorable?! She is Anna Mae, a fun new girlie with lots of interchangeable parts available from Our Craft Lounge. Be sure check out Anna Mae and the rest of their sweet new stamps by clicking right here.

I paired her with a piece of Scenic Route Sonoma Collection paper on top of a Regal Rose base. Anna Mae is watercolored with reinkers and an aquapainter and layered on Regal Rose and Old Olive cardstock. Ribbon from TayloredExpressions adds a little polka dot fun and a Heidi Grace stick pink secures the tagged Happy Birthday sentiment.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Fabulous Sketch!

Thank-you-Jen for the fabulous sketch this week because it totally enabled me to dig into more of this seriously fun paper from Scenic Route's Sonoma Collection! Lots of layers going this way and that with a big old sentiment desperately trying to overcome the beauty of the patterned papers. I highlighted the sentiment panel with retired copper brads from SU! as well as curling up the corners as I went and sponging the edges with Ranger Distress Inks in Walnut Stain and Old Paper. The sketch called for an embellishment of sorts in the lower left hand corner for which I called upon my Birds & Blooms die birdie layerd on a Felt Fusion flower, all tied up with Linen Thread.

Be sure to check out the other SFYTT gals as well as Jen and her December Guest Designer, Lynn Put, by clicking on the links below! So happy to have Lynn joining us for this joyous month of December--we're in for another month of sah-weetness from her!

Amy
Carole
Shannan
Susan
Jen & Lynn

Have a happy weekend all, and don't forget to "just not fret" over the upcoming holidays...listen to me, I've been stressing all week, so I guess it's time for a little of me own medicine!

Seriously...

...do you love this paper, or what?! I'm in hog heaven! It's some new Scenic Route paper--Sonoma Collection, and this particular card uses the Scrap Strip 1, my Top Note die (big surprise), yummy Regal Rose grosgrain and a birthday sentiment from CTMH's Happy Birthday set. The matching envelope is layered with a narrow strip from the same piece of patterned paper and a row of dots using PTI's Faux Ribbon set in Kiwi Kiss ink.

This little ensemble was for SCS's WT195 challenge to use an envelope in your design. I obviously took the easy route with my simply decorated and now matchy-matchy envie. I hope my SIL loves it as much as I do when she receives it in the mail this week!

Thanks for peeking in tonight and be sure to scroll down for one more card featuring Mr. Top Note that I posted earlier this evening!

{Thanks & Idgie!

Just a quick card and post today. I made this one a few weeks ago while I was in my Top Note craze and forgot to share it with you. I think it's a good example of a card that is quick, simple and uses up some of your patterned paper stash...you know all that paper you "just couldn't live without"?!

I keep forgetting to share pictures of the newest addition to our family: Miss Idgie! She's a Miniature Dachshund, full of energy and keeping us on our toes! (Excuse the green eyes, I couldn't for the life of me..ahem maybe a lack of patience... get the red eye tool to work for me, ugh!)

Miss Idgie


Amy, Idgie & George

Deer Sweet Friend

I have two projects to show you today, both of which use adorable Kim Hughes' sets, Christmas Critters and The Birds and The Bees, along with some awesome (awesome!) new paper I ordered from Paper Addiction last week. The paper is October Afternoon Hometown: County Library and it reminds me a bit of Basic Grey's Urban Prairie collection which I {heart} very much! To the left you can see a closer shot of the embossed bee flying toward that anonymous black flower. I usually have a hard time doing anything "free hand", but I gave it a whirl with my bee trail and am quite pleased with her path!

The journal uses many things I really love: this paper, my Top Note die, chipboard letters (I know I don't use them very often, but I love them!), that cute bee, a few stitches and a button! I'm also becoming very fond of flowers and have been incorporating them into my work more and more lately. I'm not quite sure what this album will house...maybe some {sweet} pictures of my family?

I decided to put a card together with some of the scraps of the County Library paper along with my latest CHF set, Christmas Critters. I love that this sentiment and sweet deer stamp can be used for non-holiday cards as well! My deer was colored with reinkers and a combo of blender pen and Aquapainter with a few extras including a layer of acetate behind the main image, buttons and some felt ric rac I've had sitting in a drawer for too long!

I hope you enjoyed these projects as much as I did making them, and thanks for stopping over today!

Deets
Stamps: CHF The Birds & The Bees, Christmas Critters

Paper: October Afternoon Hometown: County Library, Basic Black, Naturals Ivory, DCWV textured cardstock (Top Note die layer)

Ink: Colorbox Pigment Ink in Citrine, Black Craft, Versafine Onyx Black; reinkers: Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Pink Pirouette

Accessories: Top Note Bigz die, Basic Grey buttons (Urban Prairie collection), Making Memories ribbon & album, SU! chipboard letters, Offray ric rac

Figgy Pudding Post

I just can't get enough of Winter Post this week, so what better way to finish off the week than to use it for Jen's Saturday Sketch For You To Try paired with Basic Grey's yummy Figgy Pudding papers?! The encircled image is stamped and paper pieced using various papers from the Figgy Pudding paper pack, topped with another circle of acetate and edged in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The sentiment is a combination of sticky letters from the same paper pack along with "Christmas" spelled using a Hero Arts alphabet. A few wonky stitches and snowflake brads hold it all together.

Can't wait to see what the SFYTT team has for us in store today, especially Jen's November Guest Designer, Becca Feeken--her designs have been ultra fabulous this month! Thanks for playing along, Becca--each of your designs has been nothing short of a feast for the eyes! Be sure to check out the blogs below and Jen's blog as well for her and Becca's samples. If you have a chance to play along, be sure to use the keyword: SFYTT if you upload to Splitcoaststampers so we can see what you've created!

Jen/Becca
Susan
Shannan
Carole
Amy

Stay tuned...we added another member to our family yesterday, so I'll try to get a picture or two uploaded to show off Idgie (named after a character in one of our favorite movies, Fried Green Tomatoes)!

Card deets
Stamps: Winter Post (SU!); Hero Arts alphabet
Paper: Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper pack
Ink: Stazon Brown; Ranger Distress Inks Walnut & Aged Paper
Accessories: Making Memories snowflake brads, sewing machine/thread, acetate, circle punch, Dazzling Diamonds, SU! rub-ons Season of Cheer

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to pop in to wish you all a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving today! I'm also going to quickly share two versions of a card I made for SC204 (Wednesday Sketch Challenge) over at SCS yesterday. They are pretty much the same with changes in colors, paper and ribbon.

Click here for all the deets on card #1.

Click here for all the deets on card #2.

Click here to see my friend Kelly's (atomicbutterfly) SC204 card featuring Winter Post in a whole different color scheme. Kelly is the reason I ordered Winter Post in the first place--gorgeous samples!

{Love} Postage

Kim Hughes has done it again--another "must have" set called The Birds & The Bees, available through Cornish Heritage Farms. For a couple of weeks after its release, I convinced myself that I could wait to order it, but of course that didn't last long as you can clearly see.

There are so many key-ute samples using this set in the CHF Gallery and I wanted to do something a little different with it, so I stamped the bee images with a sentiment from PTI and numbers from Hero Arts to create an oversized postage stamp. Pretty simple, straightforward stamping as you can see, so there's not much else to chatter about! I'll list the materials I used below.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving all, and thanks for stopping by Ink About Me today!


Details
Paper: Basic Black, Vanilla, Mustard DSP (Level I hostess); Daisy D's Autumn Collection 6x6 pad

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Ranger Distress Ink in Walnut for a bit of sponging

Stamps: CHF The Birds & The Bees; PTI Faux Ribbon; Hero Arts Alphabet

Accessories: black satin ribbon (recycled from somewhere!), Heidi Grace stick pin, My Pretties bead and pearl, jumbo black brads, Fiskars decorative scissors

In love...

...with my Birds & Blooms dies that came with the Big Shot bundle I ordered recently! It all started with the Believe Journal I created using Jen's Saturday SFYTT this past weekend. The more I used that sweet bird and the accompanying blooms, the more I liked 'em. Silly me, thinking I didn't really care for that whole set of dies, I'd just wanted the Pillow Box and Top Note Bigz dies that also came in the Big Shot bundle, ha!

If you'd like to see the evolution of my love story, scroll down to Saturday's post and then back up--there's a plethera of cards (ok, just 3 of them, but I love that word!) using the Birds & Blooms dies, as well as Mr. Top Note!

Today's card uses a bit of the retired Spring Silhouettes DSP along with retired Soft Sky cardstock. I guess I was on a roll with retired products as the stamped sentiment and frame are from the retired set, Noteworthy. In hindsight, I should've aptly named this post: Something Old, Something New?! Back to the card...just a couple more details to share: the edges of my love bird are lightly sponged with (retired!) River Rock ink with Linen Thread tied around the 5/8" grosgrain and sentiment layer; pearls are from the My Pretties kit; and the flower is from that bag of unmarked flowers, so I have no source for them, but I can tell you they're "prima-like" in nature!

Here's something for you to try--pair up something old with something new today!

So Thankful...

...for my Big Shot and Top Note Bigz die! I know what you're thinking--enough of the Top Note die already, but I'm just not ready to move on. It's been the mainstay of my go-to sketch lately, and that's a good thing! I'm also so thankful for Kiwi Kiss! I tell you that color goes with everything and for every season. I sure SU! takes a second look at KK and integrates is somehow into their color family(s)...perhaps as a new neutral?! I paired Kiwi with patterned paper from Daisy D's Autumn Collection 6x6 pad, a Chit Chat rub on, and a die cut flower using the Birds & Blooms dies. A button tied with linen thread finishes the flower and this one's ready to head out to the mailbox!

ETA: I decide to whip up one more using the same layout and same Daisy D's paper pack. Here she is:

Have a great Sunday and don't forget to be So Thankful for something today!

Believe...

Christmas can be such an overwhelming affair...if you let it. I gave a bit of advice to a dear friend and relative of mine who was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of everything she'd like to accomplish before Christmas. My advice was to write things down, make lists, check things off or eliminate items that just don't merit the anxiety that accompanies them. As I sat down to work on Jen's SFYTT, I decided to use the sketch for the cover of a journal/notebook of some sort for her in hopes that she'd take my advice (am I full of myself or what?!) and ultimately ease her mind.

What luck--I'd picked up this 5 1/4 x 7 1/8" chipboard album on clearance at Target yesterday and it was perfect for my project. The album was actually part of a Halloween album complete with die cuts, ribbon, etc. that I'll put away for next year. I covered the album with Cosmo Cricket's Wonderland patterned paper and stamped minimally using stamps from PaperTrey Ink's Out On A Limb and CHF's Joyeux Noel sets. The die cut bird is Stampin' Up's Birds & Blooms and the flower peeking out is another from an unmarked bag of die cut blooms I picked up at my LSS last week, no source.

Be sure to check out Jen and Becca's sketch samples at iheart2stamp.com, and then look for more inspiration from Amy, Carole, Shannan and Susan. Last but not least, don't let the upcoming holiday season overwhelm you, do what you can when you can!

{love note} sketch

This is a challenge combination of SCS's Tuesday Color Challenge (193) and Wednesday Sketch Challenge (203). The colors this week are Kraft, Real Red and Basic Black, and a link to the sketch challenge can be found right here.

I'd read Taylor Van Bruggen's blog yesterday about using good old Crayola colored pencils to color an image and decided to do the same. I colored my image with Stampin' Up's watercolor pencils and then blended with a blender pen. I can definitely use a lesson or 10 in coloring, and I almost didn't upload because of my inept coloring/shading {skillz} but decided that it's ok to show my weaknesses to the stamping world. Please go easy on me!

If you haven't participated in some sort of stamping challenge this week, get out there--find one that you like--go for it!

{Happy} Holiday Inspiration!

Ever wonder where the {inspiration} comes from? Well, I'm going to share with you the inspiration for today's cards that I'm about to show you. The first card was inspired by a cool photo card I found on Shutterfly and the second card was inspired by an ad in People magazine (11/24/08 issue) for a Hallmark Channel Original Movie~An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving.

Click here to view the inspiration from the Shuttefly card called Holly Chocolate. After much searching, I was unable to find the exact ad for the Hallmark Channel movie, but it featured a soft navy background with white snowflakes alongside a picture of Jacqueline Bisset in character with the movie information. Sorry about that, but if you click here, you can get all the deets on the movie!

Be sure to look around...there's inspiration everywhere!

Sugar & Spice

Jen gave us a fun sketch to work with this week, and I decided I'd get a head start on my niece's birthday card using it. My niece is definitely sugar & spice, and she's sort of into horses (what 7 year old girl isn't though, eh?!), so I combined two Cornish Heritage Farm sets, For The Men and Little Gal. I also dug through my stash of patterned paper to find this retired SU! Rebecca paper pack. Not a whole lotta stamping here, but sometimes less is more!

You can look for more sketch inspiration over at Jen's blog as well as the original sketch. She and Becca no doubt have some fabulous cards ready for your viewing pleasure. Then scoot over to the other sugar & spice gals on the SFYTT team to see what they've been up to!

Amy
Carole
Shannan
Susan

Have a great weekend all!

{PMS) trio

I'm sure you're wondering what PMS stands for, but it's not what you're thinking! PMS in this case stands for Purchase More Stamps, and that's the name of a stamp club of which I act as the SU! demo. PMS is not just your ordinary group of stampers, it's a close knit group of friends and rellies whom I really enjoy spending time with, stamping or not! The stamping part just gives us an excuse to get together on a regular basis, wink!

Here's a trio of projects I'm planning to do for our upcoming get-to-gether this weekend. All supplies are SU! with embossing on the Season's Greetings card and Big Shot dies used on the Merry Christmas card and pillow box & tag projects. Can't wait to see you girls on Sunday!

Supplies:
Stamps--Snow Swirled, Mr. Twigster, All Holidays
Paper--Kiwi, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Black, Kraft, WW, Holiday Treasures DSP
Ink--Basic Black, Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories--black ep, Felt Flurries, gold cord, RR 5/8" grosgrain, Big Shot, Top Note & Pillow Box Bigz dies

On my mind...

Can't step away from my Big Shot and Top Note die this week, so here's another quick and easy card with lots of punch! Patterned paper is from Daisy D's Autumn Collection 6x6 pad--gorgeous colors and patterns. The sentiment is from SU!'s Upsy Daisy set and the flowers are from a bag of assorted crushed velvet blooms I picked up at my LSS the other day--no brand name, sorry! Everything is set on a base of Really Rust cardstock which has become one of my favorites lately.

Have a relaxing and peaceful Sunday. Give your family a big hug to day and show 'em a little {love}!

Urban Prairie Chica!

I was so excited to find a sheet of the Basic Grey's Urban Prairie paper at my LSS the other day and just had to use it for Jen's Saturday Sketch For You To Try! It's just fun and whimsical, so sweet...or should I saw "tweet"?! I also found a 6x6 pad of Daisy D's Autumn Collection at the same store and by golly, some of those gorgeous papers just happened to coordinate with the BG paper!

I used a combination of Inque Boutique and Cornish Heritage Farms stamps. The scroll across the bottom is from IB's Narrative Elements and the the bird bath and chica are from the Kim Hughes Collection--Mocha Chica & The Landing Pad. My cute little chica is watercolored with reinkers and the flower embellishment is topped with a button and snip of pink gingham. Oh, almost forgot: The Kiwi Kiss grasses around the bird bath are from SU!'s Pocket Silhouettes, and I used a scroll like stamp from SU!'s Carte Postale, kissed it to the inked bird bath stamp for a more ornate look. Kissing is good!

Be sure to check out the other chicas' sure-to-be swell creations as well as Jen and Becca, her November guest designer (I just peeked and they both made fabulous Christmas cards!).

Jen/Becca
Susan
Shannan
Carole
Amy

Now for the deets...
Stamps: Inque Boutique Narrative Elements; CHF Mocha Chica & The Landing Pad; SU! Carte Postale & Pocket Silhouettes

Ink/reinkers: Versafine Black Onyx; Taken with Teal, Pirouette Pink, Ruby Red, Soft Sky & Kiwi Kiss

Paper: Basic Grey Urban Prairie; SU! Kiwi Kiss; Daisy D's Autumn Collection

Accessories: flower, button (source unknown); SU! pink gingham

Good Luck!

First off, I have to apologize for the fuzziness of my photographs...hmm, thinking little George has been checking out the camera lens as well as all of the pictures of himself on the memory card! It's always a challenge to get a good photo in un-natural light as well, so that's probably part of it. I think I'll put a light tent (is that the proper name?) on my Christmas list. Ok, enough about that; onto the card!

As you know from the previous post, I finally got my Top Note Bigz die in the mail this week, and haven't been able to put it down...I really {heart} it! This card is for my dear daughter, Kendra. She's in our local highschool musical which opens tonight, so of course I had to stamp sumthin' up, right?! Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't stamp a darn thing on this card--it's all die cut, rub-on and embellies. I'll list all the deets below, because if you're like me, it's much easier to pick things out of a list versus narrative form.

Here goes...
Paper: Basic Black, Certainly Celery (SU!); A Little Whimsy (TAC)
Accessories: Top Note Bigz Die & Large Oval Punch(SU!), gingham ribbon, rhinestones, rub-on (Creative Imaginations)

If I don't see you sooner, be sure to stop over Saturday for Jen's Saturday Sketch...later, gator!

Top Notes Three!

Well, Monday came this week and so did my Top Note die from Stampin' Up!--triple yeah! Last night I found a little time to start playing around with it and came up with these three cards. Two of them feature sets from Cornish Heritage Farms and the other features Stampin' Up Ski Slope Designer Series Paper and a sentiment from the Snow Swirled set. The one thing they all have in common is the layout using a sentiment banner flocked with embellies. See the details at the bottom of this post for all of the materials used.

Hello
Stamps: Garden Friends (CHF)
Paper: scrapbook basics neutral (Making Memories)
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Accessories: buttons, May Arts striped grosgrain

Bye Bye Birdie
Stamps: The Landing Pad (Kim Hughes Collection/CHF)
Paper: DCWV; Making Memories Ledger paper
Ink: Ranger Distress Inks Walnut Stain
Accessories: Crystal Effects (leaves), staples, button, clear pebble, 1" circle punch

Season's Greetings
Stamps: Snow Swirled (SU!)
Paper: Ski Slope DSP (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: Felt Flurries, button (SU!)

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to have a {top note} day!

Trio of Pillow Boxes

If you read my post from this past Thursday, you heard all about the pity party I was throwing for myself because I hadn't received my pillow box and top note dies from SU! before Halloween. I'd really wanted to use them to make treat holders for the biggest treat day of the year but had to do without them. Well, guess what?! My pillow box arrived on Friday which was still too late for Halloween, but I got a chance to play with it this weekend and came up with this variation on a theme: pillow box ala hand cut/stamped tag. I've been really drawn to my CHF stamps as of late and incorporated them on all three tags.

Sweet box/tag
Paper: DCWV textured cardstock
Ink: Versafine black onyx
Stamps: Kim Hughes Little Gal (CHF); So Very (SU!, retired)
Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain, faux thread, black gingham, black eyelet, Crystal Effects (cherry)

My Guy box/tag
Paper: Basic Grey Recess; Tangerine Tango
Ink: Versafine black onyx, Versamark
Stamps: The Rummage Bin For the Men, Kim Hughes Little Guy (CHF)
Accessories: black hemp, black eyelet, jumbo eyelet, button, sewing machine/thread

Warm Wishes box/tag
Paper: silver, Very Vanilla
Ink: Encore silver, Riding Hood Red
Stamps: Joyeux Noel (CHF)
Accessories: Felt Flurries, silver eyelet, silver cord, 1 1/4" striped grosgrain

hey dude...

...like where did October go?! Is this just another proverbial sign that I'm getting old(er), the weeks and months flying right past me like {dude} here on his skateboard? No need to answer; my question was purely rhetorical in nature...seriously! If this IS the case, remember: don't take life too seriously; enjoy it, have some fun, buy new rubbah!

One of the things I'm enjoying in life right now is Jen's weekly SFYTT and here's another fun one for you to try as well! My skateboarder dude is wearing my favorite color right now, Kiwi Kiss with a layer of Crystal Effects. You can see his trail on the Tempting Turquoise banner marked with PaperTrey Ink's Faux Ribbon with a drip of CE in the middle of each adjoining circle. Why am I telling you this? Because the CE isn't showing up in my photo and it looks pretty gnarly in real life, he he! (ETA: I took a close up shot of my dude that clearly shows his glossy CE exterior!)

Be sure to check out more tantalizing inspiration from my gal-dudes: Susan, Carole, Amy & Shannan! Oh hey, guess what the new month brings us?! A new guest designer for November...be sure to go over and give her some love at Jen's blog! Finally, when you finish your SFYTT card today (see how aggressive I'm getting...I said when, and not if), use the keyword SFYTT when uploading to Splitcoast and/or leave a link to your blog in the comment section of Jen's blog post for today.

Later dude(s)!

Deets
Stamps: PTI Faux Ribbon; CHF Little Guy, Broad Stripe
Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Really Rust, Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Kiwi reinker, TT, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Crystal Effects, color spritzer tool, button, faux thread, black brads, punches: curly label, large oval