Tree-iffic Featured Stamper Challenge

I was able to take some time yesterday to play.  It's super snowy and bone chilling cold right now, so I hunkered down in my studio and did the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS.  I chose this card, Masculine Floral?, by UKJem to CASE.

I changed the colours, but stayed with her masculine botanical theme.  BTW, I would challenge you to look at all your Christmas paper with fresh eyes.  The pattern paper I used here is from Christmas Past by Graphic45.  There are lots of ways you can use up the Christmas leftovers without making projects look Christmassy.  Those gift pattern papers?  Birthdays are a perfect time to use those.  Red and green coloured papers?  Think strawberries, roses, and other summery themes instead.  Use what you have because there is always something gorgeous being released just around the corner!!  {Oh!  Happiness!}

I coloured the trees in this image much like the way they were done on the package, because I think was brilliantly done!

It was a pretty simple little copic colour scheme; G21, G24, G40, G85, G94, G99

Ta, for now - gotta run puppies for their vaccinations.

stamps; tree-ific trees (our craft lounge)
paper; christmas past deluxe (graphic45), blackberry swirl (bazzill), antique linen (paper accents)
ink; tea dye distress ink, espresso adirondack (ranger)
accessories; curio buttons (basic grey), black rhinestones (heidi swapp), black floss (bazzill), copic markers

Feature stamper chicken girl challenge

I love Theresa Momber's gallery on Splitcoast because she has such an amazing way with copics. For this week's feature stamper challenge, I cased this card by Theresa. It's sweet and fresh for spring. I tried to be true to her design but I did change it in a couple of ways;

1. I had to change the card size a little to accommodate my longer, narrow image.
2. My colours are a little darker, but I sponged in the same way Theresa did.
3. I added a sentiment and a just a few embellishments.

I really do love Theresa's colours and layout. I chose to keep the same neutral papers neutral - meaning the only distinctive pattern is my abstract floral in the same place Theresa used a flourish pattern. The tiny, itty bitty polka dot paper I used basically reads as a solid orange, so that's why I'm sticking with it. I used 'Just a Note' digi image from Chicken Girl Designs. Now, this is a digi I totally understand! *giggle* I play flute and my DH plays guitar! Yup, it's a happy day!

Normally, I try to stick to life like colours for my images, but I decided to go a bit more whimsical today - must be the lovely weather that's making me feel a bit tipsy! LOL! I coloured this image with copic markers and sponged around the edges. I cropped the image very closely because I wanted the sentiment that comes with the image to be mounted separately. I love the look of this little banner!

Thank-you so much for popping by and have a delightful week!

stamps; just a note digi (chicken girl designs by i {heart} paper)
paper; sugar rush (basic grey), core'dinations cardstock, copic cardstock
ink; sunset orange adirondack (ranger), bordering blue (SU!)
accessories; crepe ribbon (creative impressions), sugar rush brads (basic grey), copic markers

Chicken Girl Designs does the Featured Stamper Challenge

I had a little time this morning so I decided to do the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS. Beth chose a marvelous gallery to CASE - Mutnik!! I chose this card to CASE. I had planned on doodling around the outside but I forgot until I was in the middle of making dinner. Oy Vey!!!



I used Eggstra Special Bunny digi image for this card. I made it bigger than I thought it was so, this is one BIG bunny!!! Whatevah! This pink bunny makes me think of the Pooka Harvey of the movie with the same name starring James Stewart. I coloured this darling bunny with copic markers. I just love that my laser printer ink doesn't bleed with my copics!!! Now, because I have a laser printer rather than a bubble jet I can't do cool things like emboss my image when it comes out and is still 'fresh'. Baby, as long as my copics don't make it bleed, it's a good day!

Now, the beauty of digi stamps is I can make this any size I want AND, as long as my DD holds my hand through the steps, I can alter the image slightly (although, I think I get it now). For this card, I altered the image so the sentiment that comes with this image was removed. I then created a second image and removed the image so that I could add just the sentiment as a feature on the inside of the card;



Yup, digis are a thing of beauty!!! {insert contented sigh}

Have a good week, all!!!


stamps; Eggstra Special Bunny
paper; sugar rush (basic grey), coconut swirl, romance (bazzill)
accessories; easter eggs (the card co), square nesties, ric rac scallop borderabilities, tags 5 (spellbinders), rhinestones (heidi swapp), flowers (prima), dew drops (the robin's nest), ribbon (may arts)

Sugar Creek Hollow preview

Hmm... I just discovered this morning that I made a major ubitz this week - I missed the Sugar Creek Hollow inaugural design team hop. I'm still not sure how I did that, except I can't find my link to the design team calendar... Not in my history OR my bookmarks. AND the card I have for you isn't the quilt set I was supposed to use... *sigh* some weeks are just like that - KWIM?!!! Please, take some time and look at the spectacular projects my SCH stamping friends have made for your enjoyment by using the links on my sidebar.

I'll have some terrific quilt projects for you this coming week though, I promise, in both paper and fabric. Slowly but surely I'm getting my sewing back in line which has been a major part of my life for years. Bridal season is coming so quickly, and I've already got a dress and a wedding party lined up for May and June along with a grad dress that I am making for a very special friend. *grin*

The puppies are growing SO FAST and I want to get some new pictures up of them in short order. I just discovered yesterday that Cassiopoeia is a HIM!!! I must have quickly lifted the same puppy twice while checking. I haven't made that mistake before... So, for the litter, we officially have 7 boys, and 2 girls. The 2 girls are the 2 biggest and loudest puppies too - Gemini and Venus - which makes it easy to spot them.

So, that said, you know more about me for those who have popped by from Sugar Creek Hollow. Here is my card for the Feature Stamper challenge on OCC;


I cased this card by Laurie Tirone (HamiltonGal). I had to flip her sketch on its side to accommodate this precious sentiment. I kept the background texture that was in the original card and the simple colour layers that Laurie has along with her ribbon placement. Her card is go'jus!!!

For the record - I love my Bow Easy and use it all the time. HOWEVER, this martha stewart twill ribbon I used and my Bow Easy do not get along, and I don't recommend using them together. This ribbon doesn't have enough give to make a pretty bow - it turns out kind of boxy and gross. Use a more flexible, forgiving ribbon.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!!!

Feature Stamper tribute

I saw this card from Riley and it was a no brainer CASE for me. I kept the touch of pink and used polka dot paper like she did, but my polka dot pattern is much denser. I have the same layout, including images up the left side and I popped up my images as well, like Riley. A totally cute card there GF!!!

I used a new stamp set from i {heart} papers chicken girl design, released last Friday. Totally adorable images on the Just Skating By set. I keep having visions of a pink elephant winter card, so we'll see if I can make that happen or not in short order here!

stamps; just skating by (CGD by IHP)
paper; eskimo kisses (basic grey), garnet pearlescent cardstock (paper accents), brown, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; espresso adirondack (ranger)
accessories; ribbon (SU!), petite ocval and scallop oval nesites (spellbinders), chablis rhinestones (bazzill), snowflake charms (embellish it!), copic markers & glitter markers



I made this card for a class I taught on emboss resist. I cased myself because I had a specific request to do this card. It's one of my favourite layouts, and the new SU! set, Pendant Park is perfect for the embossed panels running along the edges of the card. Love it!

stamps; serene snowflakes, pendant park (SU!)
paper; coconut swirl, splash (bazzill), 24kt pearlescent cardstock (paper accents)
ink; versamark (tsukineko), pool, ocean aqua, antique linen (ranger)
accessories; labels 2 nesties (spellbinders), ribbon (SU!), clear ep, diamond stickles (ranger), goldenberry dew drops (the robin's nest)

FS136 Way to go Shannan!

I have had my card on the go since Sunday when I found this card by Shannan Teubner, this week's featured stamper;


I started going through all my stamping bella stuff, since it seemed like a perfect fit for Shannan's CASE. I love my Kettos, so I focused on them. Then, I found 4 that had tiaras and I knew I was off to the races. My horse tripped coming out of the paddock, people.

I am one of the ones affected by the new Stampin' Up! IDA. It's not a comfortable place to be. I feel like my stamping drive has been firmly squashed by all this hoo haa haa. I'm not willing to spew about what is going on here on my blog or anywhere else, truthfully. Stampin' Up! is going to do what they are going to do, and I need to decide what is best for me and my family first, then what will best impact my sphere of influence. May I just say, this sucks!

And so, we are 2 days later and I have finally got this card done, and I'm happy with it. I used copics to colour my Kettos and I knew what I wanted the sentiment to be so I pulled out my trusty Just Rite alphapbets and made it. I'm not sure if I should have used a smaller font, but *whatevah!*


I used sparkle all over the place on the Kettos, like I usually do. Something about these adorable girls begs for blingification!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the latest i {heart} papers stamp release from both the Petal Pushers and Chicken Girl Stamps line.

{{hugs}}

stamps; maisy, margarita, flamenca, missmatch ketto (stampingbella)
paper; sincerely yours (flair designs), elephant, skyline, pear, salt dotted swiss, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; symmetrical rhinestone flourish (Zva), soft suede ribbon (SU!), square and scallop square nesties (spellbinders), curlz font (just rite), glitter pens and markers (copic), diamond stickles (ranger)

ODBD Feature Stamper Challenge

We usually go to worship on Sunday morning so it is rare that I get to the feature stamper challenge. This saddens me because I am blessed by the galleries that are featured and I admire the talent that is showcased. This weekend is different though because we went to the Saturday evening service this time and I nearly slept in this morning instead!

I chose Adieu Pink Pirouette by Joanne Travis (aka sleepyinseattle) to case. I love the soft loveliness of her card and her layout is divine. I decided to stay within the colour palette she used, but I decided to do a more is more kind of case. I kept the ribbon, but layered it and added two more ribbons to it. I love her buttons, so I kept those as well, but added one. I decided to frame my sentiment, but it almost isn't there since it's really more like a window frame that you can see through - KWIM? Am I clear as mud?

I like that Joanne's card features a sentiment, so I used one to from the newly released 'Jesus' set by Our Daily Bread.

Have a marvelous day!!!

stamps; Jesus (ODBD)
paper; smoky, coconut swirl (bazzill), lilykate (basic grey)
ink; basic gray (SU!)
accessories; petite oval & scallop oval nesties, foliage frame (spellbinders), buttons (basic grey), adhesive rhinestones (heidi swapp), white floss (bazzill), blue taffeta ribbon (SU!), white ribbon (offray), wide pink silk ribbon (may arts)

FS111 Beate's Jardin Botanique

I cased Beate's 'Soft Baja Flower'. I was messing around with this idea for a workshop, and I found her card and thought how stinkin' perfect is that?!!

Since it's a case, here are my changes; I don't have the SU! punch yet so I used the martha punch I own, and I like the SU! punch better for this. I used different embellishments and I made this card 6x6. I did use the same general colours and the Parisian Breeze paper. DOne early on this one. Yay!!

stamps; Le Jardin Botanique, En Francais (SU!)
paper; sea breeze, oxford, salt dotted swiss (bazzill), kraft (paper accents), parisian breeze (SU!)
ink; mellow moss, always artichoke (SU!), antique linen, tea dye, vintage photo, walnut stain (distress ink by ranger)
accessories; clear skittles; (the robin's nest), doily edge punch (martha stewart), white satin ribbon (offray), scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle, 1 1/4" circle punch (SU!),

FS105 Thank You!

Well, I was so close to finishing this card when I had to set it aside temporarily. You know, sometimes real life firmly gets in the way of my ART *snort*. Here's what happened;

I've been babysitting my dad's dog while he is away for the winter. I will admit that in in my house there are currently 9 dogs. 6 are still in quarantine though, so it really doesn't feel like that many. And 5 are only 9 days old - they really don't roam or anything yet.

My dad's dog is 16 and she is losing it. My front room is her personal potty when I go into the garage to take of the fosters since she doesn't understand why she can't come with me. Friday, she peed in my basement 3 times. Ummm... I was ticked. She was yelled at. I know dogs don't understand yelling; I lost it, it was my fault. She barred her front teeth at me (this dog has serious attitude - all 14 lbs of her!!!) and I stopped cold in my tracks. I sent myself to my room for a brief cooling off period. Very brief. I was already cold. I scooped her up, set her on the table and looked at her front teeth. *sigh* A (likely) cancerous melanoma has displaced her front teeth. She is eating fine, but this looks like it is caving in her jaw directly under her nose. I recognize this malady because the dog my husband bought me for my birthday when we were first married was put down 3 years ago with the same illness. Her's was on the side of her mouth, was removed but regrew in short order. We put her down when she was having trouble eating and accidently bit the growth and it bled for quite some time.

I taught a card class Saturday afternoon in my home. Saturday evening I took my kids to church and I taught the junior high bible class. I kept thinking I must be wrong about her mouth. She's old and her teeth are rotting out and I need to get her to a vet for some TLC.

Sunday morning by bright morning light I rechecked her mouth. Nope. I was right. There wasn't that funky rotton smell. Her one front tooth is seriously displaced by this growth, and it looks bad. *sigh* I called my dad and told him what I found. It's a little uncomfortable for her, but she is still eating, so if I don't have to be the one taking her in to be euthanized, I don't want to be. What a balancing act, eh?!

While I was on the phone with my dad, my DH came home from his wanderings. I didn't get back to this card for the Featured Stamper challenge until today. I cased thank you by K Dunbrook. I love the elegant simplicity of this card. I didn't do as well as Karen on double stamping to produce the shadow, but it's okay.

Pets, can't live with them, can't live without them...

stamps; upsy daisy (SU!), vintage butterflies (saturday evening post by CHF)
paper; salt, brown, coconut swirl (bazzill), kraft (paper accents), blue awning (K&Co)
ink; antique linen (distress ink by ranger), espresso (adirondack by ranger), vintage sepia (versafine by tsukineko)
accessories; clear detail ep (ranger), antique copper brads (making memories), doily edge punch (martha stweart), white gel pen (sakura)

FS104 So Sweet n Sassy!!!

I love this Sweet n Sassy card by featured stamper Bev R. Totally sweet and I love the way she colours. She uses a white gel pen to highlight quite a bit. A very nice touch that I may adopt in the right situation.

I changed several things from the original card. My colours are similar, but 'earthier' was the word DH used to describe it. That man is a keeper! After I made the diagonal cut, I realized I did it opposite the original, so that made my layout reversed. Oops...

I used the same image, and coloured her close to the original, but with slightly earthier colours to co-ordinate with the dp. My embellishments are different, but echo the feel of the cased card. I opted out of having a sentiment on the front. It's a decision I'm still debating, but I wanted to get this cutie patootie thing up because who knows what the rest of the day holds!

stamps; sweet n sassy (sugar nellie)
paper; sugared (basic grey), lima (bazzill)
ink; espresso (adirondack by ranger), tea dye, vintage photo (distress ink by ranger)
accessories; button, brad (SU!), large rectangle and scallop rectangle nestabilities (spellbinders), branch punch (martha stweart), ribbon (unknown), ancestry adhesive rhinestone (K&Co), prima flowers

FS98 Chocolate Bubblebella

I cased Wind Down by Paula Tracy, this week's featured stamper. That girl has got some major colour mojo happening there!!!

I kept the theme of her card and the layout. I used similar 'pop' colours as she did. THe only tub stamp I have is this cutie patootie bella I haven't used in ages. She was in need of getting dirty this week *grin*

I used some of the new swiss dot bazzill paper - that stuff is so many shades of marvelous!!! The dots are subtle, but you can't miss them!. I coloured the image using the gamsol magic technique, and I think the rest is pretty self-evident.

Merry Christmas!!!

stamps; bubble bella (stampin bella)
paper; rope swing, mud puddle swiss dot, brown, coconut smoothie (bazzill)
ink; black onyx (versafine by tsukineko)
accessories; beads (unknown), quickie glue pen (sakura), crystal glitter (art institute), fancy corners dies (provocraft), white twill ribbon (martha stewart), kraft taffeta ribbon (SU!), prismacolors, odorless mineral spirits

FS97 And Laura's card

I found this card in Cards_by_America's gallery on SCS. I thought - how absolutely lovely! I can do that good and quick right after I go through all the Christmas loot I've bought for my kids, to refresh my memory so I don't buy the same thing twice, and I won't believe you if you say you've never done it too! *big breath* I know I was supposed to be in bed. I know. But I was going nuts that I couldn't remember what I had bought! My mind is slipping in my old age *grin*

So, I started hauling stuff out, and my plan was to make a list. Instead, I started pulling stuff out and while it was out on the table, why not just get the wrapping done. No, my DH was not home to 'manage' me. He was at church with our kids, so it really was the best opportunity I had to do this. I got my clock out of my craft room and set it in front of me so I could keep track. On your mark - get set- GO!!!!! I was almost done when I heard the garage door open.

*aside* It's -40bajillion outside today with a wind chill warning. Do you have any idea how happy I am we have a garage now??!!!!!!!!

I stood in the garage as DH drove in, and told him to go take said kids for hot chocolate, and if he loved me, bring some back for me. That gave me an extra 25 minutes. There's a Starbucks very close by, but we are a crowd and it would take time for the ONE person to make all these hot chocolates.

I got through the rest of the wrapping with no more than about 2 minutes to spare before the garage door opened the second time. *WHEW* baby.

*aside* DH came home with an extra hot (wasn't by the time he got home, but it's the thought that counts) peppermint hot chocolate - my favourite, and I am LOVED!

Instead of going to bed, I took my almost warm hot chocolate and went in to stamp. It didn't last long. I finished off my drink in record time, and was dopey like a baby. Nap time.

I finaly finished this card after supper.

stamps; Christmas Expressions (CHF)
paper; sugar daddy, flat broke, (bazzill bling), cryogen poison (unknown), sophisticated frost dp (gdc studios)
ink; sepia (versafine by tsukineko)
accessories; bronze rhinestones (kaiser), half back pearls, chocolate satin ribbon (SU!), adhesive pearls (K&Co), tear drops punch (ek success), oval, scallop circles, labels two nestabilities (spellbinders)


I have to be honest. I worked on this for a bit yesterday afternoon. You think I'm stamp ADD? I'm project ADD too. I get too many things running around in my head and they all try to come out at the same time.

This is just a fun Christmas card for a fun young lady who just turned 18 and just got her driver's licence. It's uber sparkly, just like this girl. Too much fun!!!

stamps; 3 little trees (stamping bella)
paper; sprout, coconut swirl , ruby red (bazzill), pink chiffon (paper accents), swell noel (K&Co)
ink; versafine onyx black, versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; irridescent ice (SU!), snowflake brads, rhinestone brad (making memories), snowflake punch (martha stewart), reinkers