Note to say {hi}

A quick post to share a card I posted on the American Art Stamp blog today. The card uses Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday papers along with Karen Stolper's Writing Girl image from AAS. I just love all these leggy girls and noticed many of them along with a slew of other stamps are 30% off right now over at AAS, so check it out!

Amy

A Haunted Hop, TCP Style!

It's a very special TCP Tuesday, folks! It's not only TCP Tuesday, it's also the TCP Haunted Hop, featuring scrum-dilly-umptious treats from the TCP design team along with some of our swankiest stampers. If you arrived here from Linda's blog, you're on the right broom!

Our featured stamp set for our Tuesday challenge is Fright Night which is coincidentally part of this month's Kitty Kat Pack (KKP). The three elements comprising this month's Kitty Kat Pack include Fright Night, Hocus Pocus buttons and Halloween themed glass glitter. The whole KKP can be yours by leaving a comment on each blog of the Haunted Hop, so don't forget to steer your broomstick in the right direction!

Here's my Haunted Hop treat for you!

I have been having a ball with these Bingo boards that I got last week and decided to decorate one for the hop. All stamps are from Fright Night, paper is from the Recollections Halloween pad along with some fun embellishments, including Hocus Pocus buttons, Offray satin ribbon, TCP glass glitter and icons rhinestone stickers from Me and My Big Ideas. I glitterified the bats, cauldron flames and Bingo board edges, using 3M Scapbooker's (clear) Glue, and it holds up well. I've also used SU!'s Crystal Effects with the TCP glass glitter with fantastic results.

Let's get on with the hop, shall we?! Here's the entire Blog Haunt lineup from beginning to end:

Susan – http://susiestampalot.blogspot.com/
Jenny – http://www.onekraftykat.blogspot.com/
Tracy – http://trfalco.typepad.com/
Linda – http://pkod.blogspot.com/
Amy – http://inkaboutme.blogspot.com/
Carol – http://scrapjust4fun.blogspot.com/
Toni – http://toniarmstrong.blogspot.com/
Amanda – http://crazystampinmama.blogspot.com/
Jen – http://iheart2stamp.com/
Alice – http://doublepurr.blogspot.com/
Joanne – http://www.stampedbyhand.blogspot.com/
Julie – http://www.stampinwithjulie.blogspot.com/
Leigh – http://sunflowerstudio.typepad.com/
Alma – http://dancinginpajamas.blogspot.com/

Here are a few more deets before you make your way to Carol's blog...

• The Fright Night Clear Set and Hocus Pocus buttons and glitter will make up the Kitty Kat pack for the month of October and is, coincidentally, the prize for the Haunted Hop!

• The contestants must leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop in order to be eligible for the prize.

• The winner will be drawn on Friday, October 2nd around 12:00 PST and posted on Alma’s blog.

• Alma has a guestbook on her blog for anyone who wants to stamp along with the Haunted Hop!

Jump on that broom and get going now, ya hear?!

Tree Trimming {SFYTT}

I fell victim to the "gotta have it" bug after seeing the new PTI releases on September 15th, and straight up ordered Tree Trimming, Vintage Labels, Stocking Prints and Signature Christmas. In my vow to not let my had-to-have purchases gather dust, I used two of them for this week's SFYTT card--Tree Trimming and Vintage Labels.

My card is a big-un, coming in at a little over 5x7 inches in the colors Aqua Mist, Kraft, Old Olive, Handsome Hunter and Black. Buttons and punched circles trim this tree of circles, and the extra-extras include a die cut acetate star topped with a sentiment circle from SU!'s Circle of Friendship. The half circle at top is stamped with an image from the PTI Vintage Labels set, just because it needed something, sorta like a fancy door, kwim?! I'm looking forward to more PTI holiday stamping, so stay tuned...

For now, let's see what the gang has done...maybe Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas?

Jen & Gretchen
Susan
Kelly
Amy

Next week marks the countdown to WCMD on Saturday, October 3rd. Be sure to stop by the Moxie Fab World blog for lots of eye candy as Cath travels the world in search of stampers celebrating the WCMD holiday!

Enjoy life, CB!

Last Friday (September 18th), one of my bestest stampin' buddies joined {the club}...you know, {the club} that I joined last May?! As Beate so eloquently put it, during one particular happy hour at CHA last July, the 69'ers Club (that is if you were so fortunate to be born in 1969)! Now, I'm going out on a limb, not knowing if my buddy wants this milestone announced to the world, but I'm pretty sure I'm safe here, 'cause I'm pretty sure the whole world doesn't tune in to Ink About Me on a daily basis.

I could go on and on about all the love and support this gal has shown me in the past 2 years that I've known her, but I won't. I could also go on and on about what an all around All-Star mom, friend, wife, stamper and, in general, woman she is, but I won't. I think you probably all know who I'm talking about here, so let's give her a shout-out, three cheers for my friend, so dear!

This little bingo board is going postal to my dear friend very soon...as soon as I can find my favorite fine tip Sharpie that is, so I can write her a sappy little note on the back side!

Happy belated birthday wishes--you're a rock star!

Best of Breed

I have two cards to share with you today, both of which use another hilarious Emerson Quillin image from American Art Stamp, Best of Breed. The first card uses this week's Mojo Monday sketch, and the second card uses a pretty standard layout with the addition of what else--a circle! I seem to be sticking circles in everywhere lately. Both images are colored with reinkers and colored pencils with sponging around the edges.

The gals on the American Art Stamp design team have been posting some really great cards on the AAS blog, so be sure to check them out!

Bless My (TCP Tuesday) Blossoms!

Yep, it's Tuesday and that means a fun challenge from The Cat's Pajamas! Joanne Basile is our hipster hostess with the mostess, and she's got a grooovy color combo for us to try:

Of course, I thought "Halloween" when I first looked at the color combo, but I needed to take a quick break from Halloween, so I pulled out Hearts and Flowers and got to work! My sweet lil' flower fairy is colored with a combo of markers, reinkers and colored pencils with a bit of added sparkle to her flower and wings using a Stardust Gelly Roll pen. The other extras include Foo-fa-la buttons, Jenni Bowlin patterned paper and wonky stitches in the round.

Head over to Joanne's blog for all the swanky deets and come play along!

love you to {button} bits!

Everyday Button Bits was one of those sets I just had to have at CHA this past July, and while I used it quite a bit initially, it's been neglected as of late, so I inked up the flower stems for Jen's SFYTT. A few other PTI sets used are Faux Ribbon and Background Basics: Text Style, along with my current favorite argyle embossing plate from SU! (Backgrounds I).

I've been wanting to incorporate the scruncy-ruffled ribbon treatment and the stitched rolling landscape that I've seen so many of my favorite stampers using lately, and think I did ok with them. The ribbon is attached with sticky strip and secured on each end with a staple. My rolling ground was first stamped with Text Style and then free-hand pierced and sponged with PTI's Vintage Touch Inking System. I also pierced flight lines for my punched butterfly for a bit of added whimsy. All buttons are tied using SU!'s linen thread.

Now, let's fly on over and see what the SFYTT gals have done with another fabulous sketch from Jen:

Jen & Gretchen
Amy
Kelly
Susan

Have a peaceful weekend!

Ingredients
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Text Style, Faux Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Handsome Hunter (SU!), Old Paper Distress Ink (Ranger), Vintage Touch Inking System (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Aqua Mist, Kraft, Spring Moss (PTI)
Tools/embellishments: buttons (PTI & Foo Fa La), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), Spring Moss Swiss Dot Satin ribbon (PTI), linen thread (SU!)

hey dude!

I {heart} Kim Hughes and all of her adorably fun images! I realized how long it had been since I'd inked up any of my KH images and chose this hilarious frog prince and sentiment from her Little Guy set and matched it up with this week's sketch challenge over at Splitcoast (SC246). It's a great sketch, one that I'll be using again and again!

The legs and belly of mr. frog are paper pieced using scraps of Ripe Avocado (PTI) and retired Kiwi Kiss (SU!). To give his belly a little depth and blend the two greens, I sponged around his belly (a sponge bath of sorts, ha!) with my PTI Vintage Touch inking system, using the darker of the two inks. His eyes and crown are colored in with watercolor pencils with bits of a Stardust Gelly Roll pen on his crown tips and toes. Although it's hard to see, the Kiwi layer is dry embossed with an argyle-like plate, the same one I used on my TCP Tuesday card posted yesterday.

Thanks for stopping by today, it was great having you!

Knit One, Pearl Three

Toni is our Hipster Hostess with the Mostess for TCP Tuesday 76, and she's challenging us to use bling, embossing and at least 3 circles of some type in our swanky creations this week. I wanted to also incorporate this week's Mojo Monday sketch, and the circles involved fit right in with Toni's challenge.

This is one of my favorite Poochie images, knitting the day away, so talented that he probably doesn't even need to bother looking at a pattern. In fact, he probably just makes up the patterns as he goes, don't you suppose?! I colored Poochie's sweater with reinkers and aqua brush in celery, sky and navy. Continuing with the knitting theme are my embossed argyle-like background and trio of pearls (do they count as bling?)...get it--knit one, PEARL three? Ahh, I crack myself up at times!

Hope you have time to play along with our TCP Tuesday challenge, and when doing so, leave a link over at Toni's blog, and/or upload to SCS or PCP and use the keyword: TCPTUES76.

Now, back to my knitting...

It's your {birthday party} day, George!

We're celebrating George's 2nd birthday today, although his actual birthday falls on Monday. This summer he developed a strong love of baseball, and we hit/catch/run after the ball each and every day it seems. I took this photo of him getting ready to bat and thought it would be the perfect photo to incorporate into his birthday card. Just as it happened, Jen incorporated a circle layer in today's SFYTT card, and it worked perfectly as a "baseball", what luck!

My colors scheme is Kraft, Real Red and Not Quite Navy, and I used the happy birthday sentiment from Amazing to Zany (SU!), along with two sets from PTI: All-Star Team and Star Prints. The chipboard 2 is from Basic Grey and was smooshed in Real Red craft ink to give it a little color. When I asked my husband what color I should make the 2, he told me, without hesitation, "red, so it will show up better, because he's going to be 2 and that's the most important part...". Duh, why didn't I think of that?! I think he made a good call Ü

Can't wait to see what the rest of Team SFYTT has done with this awesome sketch, so let's play ball!

Jen & Gretchen
Amy
Kelly
Susan

Have a great weekend and be sure to play along with us. Don't forget keyword: SFYTT when uploading to SCS and/or leave a link of your post over at Jen's place!

Best Friend

My friend Barb is one of those best friends who'd do just anything for you and your family. She's also a dog lover to the core, so this one's for you, Barb! I'm actually home with George today because he's on the mend from a case of tonsilitis, and wouldn't you know, Barb offered to pick up George's birthday cake for me--see, I told she's like that!

I used this week's SCS Wednesday sketch challenge (#245) along with a sweet lil' dog stamp I've had for ages (Stamp Craft). I stamped and layered him three times for added dimension, and so he wouldn't get lost among all the yummy colors and patterns of this CTMH Perfect Day paper. Sentiment is a combo of Amazing to Zany (best) and Mega Mixed Messages (friend).

Gotta run, birthday preparations to do and hubby's home, so I'm sure he's wondering how in the heck I have time to be stamping!

Happy {belated} Birthday, Anders!

My sweet and tough nephew, Anders, turned 11 on September 4th, and I'm finally getting around to making his birthday card. He actually got his birthday gift last May, so at least it wasn't late! We'll be celebrating Anders' birthday along with George's this Saturday (eeek, I'm spinning in circles with so many things to do and don't know where to start...as I sit here blogging, aaaack!).

I was so inspired by Kelly's All Star SFYTT card last weekend and used it as my inspiration piece/starting point. Thanks for your never-ending inspiration, Kelly!

I've had this football textured paper for quite some time and was so excited to finally use a piece of it again. I paired it with PTI's Perfect Plum and Kraft card stock, with accents of black (Purple is our town's school color, thus the Perfect Plum choice). I loved how Kelly used the patterned paper and numbers to create the football field, and since I didn't have the same paper in purple, I simply scored lines every 1/2" and then stamped my numbers using PTI's Fresh Alpha.

My All Star set from PTI had yet to see ink, and I've had it for months, so I was sooo pleased that it worked out so well here. The chipboard letters are from Basic Gray and are actually lower case L's, but I think they work just fine to create an "11". I feel like I'm rambling, so I'll wrap this up, but I just want to point out the star in the circle/number cluster area. I somehow wanted to incorporate the happy birthday sentiment from SU!'s Amazing to Zany, and couldn't find the right spot, so I stamped it repeatedly on a purple scrap and then punched it out with my SU! small star punch. I think it's my favorite part of the cluster!

Thanks for hanging with me through all my chatter today!

ETA: I set this to post tomorrow (Thursday), so I'm not quite sure why it's showing up today?? Please scroll down to see my previous post from today with a fun TCP Tuesday sketch!

TCP Tuesday Sketch

If you follow along with our TCP Tuesday challenges, you already know about the fun sketch that Leigh presented yesterday. My card today uses TCP's You Sick Thing, in the colors: turquoise, red, chocolate and kraft. The chick and soup bowl are paper pieced and highlighted with a bit of Sahara Sand ink for shadowing, as well as some Polka Dot Basics 2 dots on the bowl. I hand drew steam lines with a Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust pen and then pierced each of the steam lines for a little extra sumpin'. The sentiment is stamped, cut and supposed to follow the steam lines, just for fun. Patterned paper is from Bo Bunny Press, Raspberrie Red by Jan Lanoy.

I had so much fun with Leigh's sketch that I also made an American Art Stamp card using one of my hilarious Emerson Quillin images, Single Bar, with a reversed masked cuppa, stamped with PTI's Polka Dot Basics 2 in Eggplant Envy. A bit of added texture with a SU! embossing plate (Texturz Backrounds 1) and a trio of PTI's Perfect Plum buttons and ribbon finish out the extras.

I hope you can find a little time to play along with the TCP Tuesday challenge this week. If you do, please link your upload to Leigh's blog post, and/or use the keyword: TCPTUES75 at SCS or PCP. Thanks for stopping by today!

welcome {sweet pea}

I decided to make a bit of a nontraditional baby card using Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird paper collection, Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set along with SU!'s Warm Words. The baby peas, if you will, are stamped in Real Red ink and then covered with glitter adhered with a mini glue dot. The 'sweet pea' sentiment is tied on with a black button and button twine, both from PTI.

I told DH to give me 15 minutes of "me time" for a quick blog post, so I'm going to keep it short today. Hope you're all enjoying a relaxing Labor Day, for those USA readers popping in today!

Nuts About You {SFYTT)!

I'm just nuts about Fall, so I've been anxious to dive into this new 8x8 Fall paper from Recollections that I picked up at Michael's a few weeks ago. I paired it with The Cat's Pajamas Happy Camper for today's SFYTT. BTW, I just love this sketch and hope you do too, so much so that you come and play along with us this week. If you do, make sure to use keyword: SFYTT if you upload over at SCS, and/or leave a link to your blog over at Jen's.

Just a couple of details include a paper pieced squirrel, highlighted with a bit of added color using my friend, Jackie's Copics (I really need those Copics); a highlighted acorn using a clear bubble sticker; and a fun button topped medallion for the sketch required embellishment.

Let's see what the rest of the gang has been up to, because I'm sure we'll be NUTS over their creations:

Jen & September Guest Designer (I won't spill the beans, or should I say, acorns?!)
Amy
Kelly
Susan

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Labor Day weekend!

Mojo Monday Halloween

I've combined this week's Mojo Monday sketch with an adorable image from American Art Stamp called Cat by Robin Pickens. I also added a sentiment from their Halloween 2 cling set, cutting each word separately to form the rectangle layer of the sketch. Once I started doing things in three's, I couldn't stop! There are 3 buttons representing the horizontal layer; 3 circles forming the main image layer (I'm counting the button as a circle); 3 mini black dots on kitty's belly; 3 larger black dots on the corner; and 3 medium black dots to the left of the sentiment as called for in the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by today, and be sure to pop over to the American Art Stamp blog for more inspiration using their eclectic line of stamps!

TCP Tuesday Witchful Thinking

I just giggle whenever I look at the expression on this frog's face; Alma got it just right! If the frog's expression isn't funny enough, pairing it with this sentiment is an out right one-two punch, in my opinion. Check out the entire Fright Night set at The Cat's Pajamas.

Miss Witch and her cauldron are stamped in Palette Noir Black ink on Kraft card stock and colored with watercolor pencils, blended with a blender pen. Even though it's hard to see in the picture, there are sparkles added here and there with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. Mr. Frog (or in this case Mr. Wrong) is stamped on a scrap of the patterned paper (Recollections Halloween pad) and then highlighted here and there with a couple deeper shades of green colored pencils. Lastly, buttons are also from TCP, found right here!

Be sure to stop at Jen's blog for all the TCP Tuesday deets, and come out and play if you have time this week! If you do, leave a link to your blog post or SCS or PCP upload over at Jen's blog.