Long Time, No Post!

Hi guys! Sorry I've been away so long with no word. It's been one of those weeks. I am on my way out for the weekend so I am in a big hurry but I wanted to show you a card before you forgot about me. LOL!

Here is one of my entries for the Verve Release Challenges. It uses their new free digi image of Winter Mittens. Love it! I hope they do more digi images in the future. So, here ya go...

I used some of the Polar Expressions collection DP by Imaginisce and the sketch came from the Release Challenge Sketches on the Verve Forum. I love those colors together! I colored those adorable mittens with my Copics and that little loopy border is a Martha Stewart edge punch.

I'll be back Monday with my supply list and lots of new things to show you. I have several challenge cards and even some new tag sets so be sure to peek back in next week. Have a great weekend!

Soaring By...

Updated to add my supply list below...

Hi folks! I am in a hurry today but I wanted to share a card really quick on my way out. I am working very quickly to finish my card entries for the Verve sketch challenges in time for the release party tonight. Rush rush! So, I will post today's card and pop back in later with my supplies. I will go ahead and mention that my sketch came from Jen Del Muro's SFYTT on 7-24-09. I love her ideas! If you have any specific questions, post a comment for me. Make sure to stop back by over the next few days because I have 5 new challenge cards that i will be posting as well as several new cards that I finished during my blogging break. Have a great day!

Here is the inside of the card...

I hope you like it. See ya back here later for my materials list. Enjoy your Friday! :)
Papers- Little Yellow Bicycle Round About; SU Rose Red Pattern Pack; DCWV CS. Stamps- Verve Up, Up, and Away. Inks- Memento Tuxedo Black. Tools- Sizzix small cloud die; Coluzzle oval dies. Pens- Zig (denim, pure black, white chalk writer) Copic (R37, W5, W1, E25) Marvy blender pen. Font- Andy 20pt (inside 28pt). Sketch- SFYTT on 7-24-09.

Heartfelt Thanks

I guess I am in a thank you note mood lately. It seems that every card I make ends up being a thank you note. It may be time to pull out some trusty cupcakes and stamp a few birthday cards! As you can probably tell, today's card is a thank you note too. I went the square route again. I am loving large, square cards lately. They just look so substantial. The only thing I hate is that the envelopes for them are so expensive! So, take a look so I can tell you more about it.


For papers, I used SU's Delicate Dots series. I will be very sad when I finish these papers. They all look so good together, in any combination, and they are so versatile! They work well for a variety of card themes and look good with all sorts of stamp images. My card arrangement just sorta evolved in my head. I had a sketch out to copy but it just wasn't working so I played with it and ended up with a final result that looks nothing like the idea I was CASEing so I will take credit for this one.

I have found that I turn to sketches so much more since I have been blogging than I did when I was making cards just to make them. I think when the pressure is on to create within a certain time frame, my creativity takes a bit of a nose dive. The other reason is that since I have been blogging, I do a lot more blog surfing and see so many more ideas that are "copy worthy." You just would not believe all of my idea journals! I have one for actual photos of cards I like and one for card sketches and then another 2 for scrapbook page sketches and actual photos. I can't forget all my quote and title notebooks either. If I see a phrase that would work for a sentiment or a cute pun, I jot it down for future use. Sometimes, they are the only way to get those creative juices flowing.

So, enough about creativity or the lack there of :-)...I will leave you today with my supply list and a sincere wish for a lovely day. Stop back by this week for some birthday cards and maybe a wedding card too. I have some ideas running around in my head and I think I feel an all nighter coming on! Ciao!

Papers- Colormates Med Belgium Blue CS; SU Delicate Dots DSP; Colobok taupe CS; lt yellow by Bazzill (name ?). Stamps- Verve Heartfelt Thanks Plain Jane; Stampabilities Fresh Flowers; Sandylion clear borders. Inks- Memento Tuxedo Black; Colorbox Frost White. Tools- Fiskars apron lace edge punch; corner rounder; Coluzzle oval templates. Pens- SU Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand.

Up, Up, and Away

Yesterday, my latest Verve order arrived in the mail and I immediately sat down to ink it up. This set is everything I hoped it would be! Those hot air balloons are simply adorable and so easy to color. I wanted to make a card that was a little masculine because I know I haven't made any cards fit for boys in a long time and I also figured something inspirational...maybe for a new graduate...would be in order. When I saw the balloons during the Verve release party, I thought the set might be good for that. I was right! Check out today's card...


I wanted to play with this week's OCC Challenge so I decided to keep my sentiment inside the card so that my arrangement stayed true to the sketch. The second photo is of the inside of the card. I chose a paper from my stash. It is an old Scenic Route print and I have always loved it, just never pulled it out. The girls at OCC gave us a great sketch, huh? I like the clean lines and symmetry. I realized while I was working that I don't very often make "even" cards. While I always strive for balance, I very rarely have a card that is symmetrical. I like this one though! The quote I chose is one of my favorites. I think it works beautifully here.

Well, I'm off! I still have lots of vacation stuff to do. Have a wonderful weekend...what is left anyway!

Papers- Scenic Route Forest of Plaid; CS by the paper Studio. Stamps- Verve Up, Up, and Awy. Inks- Memento Tuxedo Black. Embellishments- Mark Richards gold metalliques #1983. Pens- Copic E35, G99, B39, B000; Zig Root Beer Float. Font- Gigi 24pt.

Have you seen my Mojo?

Hello, hello! I'm here and I have a challenge card to share with you. I was very happy to be able to play along with the Mojo Monday #86 challenge this week. I even pulled out some of my lovely Verve stamps in honor of the occasion. Today's card is one of those all purpose, no sentiment kind of cards that we make to have on hand for those last minute notecard situations. I left it without a sentiment and it may even get sent to someone that way but there is still a little room for a short sentiment to be added. We'll see I guess! I made a few extras to sell in my Etsy shop and I guess I will leave those blank unless otherwise requested. So here it is...

I loved the sketch when I saw it on Monday so I knew I had to make a card using it. Sometimes, I just seem to crave even little blocks and symmetry. I found the papers at my local Michael's a few weeks ago so they were right on top of the desk piles. The prints worked perfectly with 2 SU colors too. I inked the flowers to match and I love how they came out. I was worried that the ink would look mottled on these paper flowers because the original dye job was pretty uneven but it came out really nice, in my opinion. Verve stamps just beg me to color them in but I decided to leave these as outline images which works here since the rest of the card is somewhat bold. I felt like the uncolored look made the image a better focal point.

I will do my best to keep current here but just as school is ending for my kids and my schedule should calm down a little, I received 2 rather large custom orders to work on. I can't complain about money being earned but I am a little panicky that the end I thought was near just got pushed back even more. Thank you ever so much to my loyal readers who poke in whenever I get the time to update. I am always tickled pink to see a new comment or to get an email that mentions something I wrote here. You all make my day!

I am off now to get ready for our anniversary dinner out (14 years of wedded bliss!) so I will leave you with my supply list and a cheery good night. Thanks for stopping by!

Papers- Heidi Grace Celebration of Love and Cherish & Love; SU Pale Plum and Perfect Plum CS; Bazzill bling CS. Stamps- verve Miracles Blossom. Inks- Graphite Brilliance; SU Perfect Plum & Pale Plum. Tools- SU scallop edge punch; SU spring bouquet flower punch; piercer. Embellishments- Kaiser paper flowers; misc buttons; DMC metallic silver floss.

Verve is Always on My Mind

Not really but I sure do love these new Verve stamps of mine! I keep pulling them out to use even though I have new sets that have never seen ink. So today, when I got some time to stamp, after laundry and cleaning and cooking and errands and...I decided to try a Mojo sketch and use some of my new floral sets from the last Verve release (prior to this week). My card started out using this week's Mojo sketch but it ended up more from last week's sketch. Loosely anyway! I changed quite a bit to accommodate my image and materials. I like it though. Here it is...

I used some of the new BoBunny paper from the Alyssa collection. The colors are fabulous and I love the prints too. They remind me a lot of the work of Mindy Terasawa...so much in fact I am wondering if she designed them for BoBunny. Mindy has a lot of kits listed on Designer Digitals and she also designs for Autumn Leaves. Anywho! I love the whole collection and you will see me use them again. Not much of my print shows with this card anyway.

For the sentiment, I typed it on my computer in a font that is new to me. I don't know how I have missed this little beauty. I love this font! You will see this again as well. I listed the name below as well as my other materials. Have a wonderful day!

Papers- Bazzill black and romance; Bo Bunny Alyssa Twirls and Ocean Dot. Stamps- Verve Miracles Blossom. Inks- Brilliance Graphite Black. Tools- EK ( 1 1/8, 1 1/4, 1 3/8) circle punches. Embellishments- Mark Richards black crystal stickers #1934. Pens- Copic BG10, R35, RV23, YG13, YG25; Zig Ocean. Font- Johanne's Hand 20pt bold.

Never Too Many Thank You Notes

When I can't decide on a sentiment for a card, I almost always make it a thank you note since I know I will be able to use it myself if it doesn't sell in my Etsy shop. I think out of all the types of cards we make, it is the thank you notes that are best as hand made cards. For some reason, to me, those say "I appreciate what you did for me SO MUCH that I sat down and made you a thank you note by hand." Silly perception probably. Who knows? I love making any kind of card though. I honestly don't know the last time I bought a card for anyone in my life. Many years I am sure. I am hooked on the hand made stuff, that's for sure! So, obviously, today's card is a thank you note. I went for simple and elegant. I have been leaning heavily to the cute/whimsical side lately so I decided a more mature, sedate approach was my goal with this card. The paper was a treasured piece from my endless stash. I go through spurts where I use up lots of old stuff and I think I am one of those stages now. I have been pulling out really old stuff with a pile of "up to the minute" on my desk. Go figure.

My card? Oh yeah, here ya go...

I used some of my new Verve stamps from the Floral Symphony set. I just love these images. They take ink beautifully and I love the endless combinations of stems and blossoms. And did I mention that the polymer is of fantastic quality? They are really well made. I love using something new and being completely thrilled. It doesn't happen as often as you would hope these days. The pearls at the bottom of the card were pure white so I colored them with a Copic to get them "creamier" in color. They aren't so stark with a little pale yellow ink added, huh? I chose a darker ink (SU Night of Navy) for my sentiment so it would stand out better. I like it even though it is darker than the blue in the paper. I think the final result is sophisticated beauty. Not my usual angle but I like it here. I will have to come back to write my supply list. My kiddos have a dentist appointment today so we are off in a few minutes. Afterwards, I promised them lunch and then we have a few errands to run. I am sure they are wishing we had cooler spring break plans for today. ;) Ask me any questions you may have about this card. I will pop in later to update the post. have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Updated with Supply List:

Papers- MM Vintage Antiqued Stripe- ocean; Bazzill blue & green CS; cream CS from Archiver's. Stamps- Verve Floral Symphony; Inkadinkadoo thank you so much. Inks- Stampabilites French blue; SU Wild Wasabi and Night of Navy; Tim HOltz antique linen distress. Tools- EK 1/2inch circle punch. Embellishments- Offray 3/8in spring moss ribbon; 1/2 pearls by The Beadery. Pens- Copic Y21.

A Little Love for Mom

Mother's Day will be here before you know it so I decided today was a perfect day to show you a new Mother's Day card I made. My stamp choice was made for me when I went to my mailbox yesterday and my Verve order had arrived. Yay! After seeing all the gorgeous cards made with their new spring release sets, I had to have them for myself so I ordered Miracles Blossom and Floral Symphony. I am sure you will be seeing me use both A LOT in the near future.

It was hard to pick which image to use but I finally narrowed it down to a couple from Miracles Blossom. I paired them with some of my favorite SU colors for a cute little 4.25inch square card. This size is so much fun and they use a lot less paper. So, here it is...

It is a relatively simple card. I felt like the image was lovely enough to speak for itself. I left my images uncolored since I stamped them in color but I learned last night, while playing with my new stuff, that these images are great for coloring too. I stamped a whole page of different stem and blossom combos and colored them with all different markers. What the heck, Grey's Anatomy was a repeat!

The sentiment is from Stampendous. I embossed it because the plain white ink wasn't prominent enough. The pearls were white but I colored them with a Copic marker to make them coordinate a little better. I felt like it needed some pink at the top anyway. I'll give you my complete supply list at the bottom. I would love to see what everyone else is working on for Mother's Day. Leave a comment on this post with a link to any work you are doing for dear ole Mom. I want to see it!

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Papers- SU Wild Wasabi, Pink Pirouette CS; SU Regal Rose Pattern Pack II DSP; Gina K Pure Luxury. Stamps- Verve Miracles Blossom; Stampendous Mother's Day; Sandylion Clear Borders. Inks- SU Regal Rose & Wild Wasabi; Color Box Frost White. Tools- corner rounder. Embellishments- Mark Richards self adhesive pearls # 1951; Craft Essentials white embossing powder. Pens- Copic RV11.