Thursday, September 30, 2010

Christmas Rose - Fred She Said Blog Hop


Good Morning and welcome to the Fred She Said Blog Hop. This is my first blog hop as a New Design Team Member and I'm so excited to show you some of my artwork with these fantastic Images.

 If you came here from Tracey Lynn's blog, then you are on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, please go back to Tracey's blog so you start from the beginning. You want to follow in order and collect a word from each of our blogs to make a sentence. You will get instruction on the last blog as to what to do with your sentence and  be entered into a random drawing to win $20 CAD from FSS Store AND $20 GC for CropStop.  What a fantastic Prize!!!

We love to hear from you so please leave a comment on each blog before moving to the next. Your input is greatly appreciated.

My card was inspired by a sketch from Midnight Madness.

I used the Digi image called Christmas Rose. It contains Christmas Rose and Christmas Rose & Candles digis, 4 Ready-to-print sheets, and BONUS Christmas Sentiments Set.

My image was colored with Copic Markers. However, if you prefer, you can also purchase the colored image pack. The rose and leaves were printed two extra time, colored, cut out and layered with foam tape for more dimension

The DP is from the Mistletoe collection from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching was done with Matching Embroidery Floss

Now hop on over to Shelly's Blog. But before you do, my word is FOR

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Smiley Snowman - SC300


This is going to be a quick post. I wanted to have this card finished this morning but isn't that the way things usually go when you want something done by a certain time. It never happens. AND, I have another card to make yet tonight and post it tomorrow morning for a Fred She Said Blog Hop. So, please stop by tomorrow and hop along with us to win some goodies!!!

So here is evening alreay and too dark to take a photo of it so I had to scan it. But, that's OK. It will just have to do. The snowmen were coated with Liquid Glass and then Diamond Dust. This doesn't show up at it's best in the scan.

The inspiration for this card came from a sketch challenge over at Split Coast Stampers.

The Digi Image used is called Smiley Snowman from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I printed out one snowman, then scaled one down slightly and printed them. Then I copied the small snowman and printed it Mirror image. I hadn't intended to use three snowmen. It started pout as one and had two others to cut and layer for a 3D affect, but as I had three snowmen laying there, I liked what I saw.
By the way, if you prefer clear stamps over Digi'sa, this stamp is also available as a clear stamp set.

The DP is retired paper from Close to my Heart. The embossed cardstock is Dutch Blue and Gypsy, boith from CTMH.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with White Embroidery Floss to resemble snow flakes!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

FSS Fall Flowers & Paper Pricking Template


Today I have a card designed with one of the four Fall Flowers and Paper Pricking Template from Fred She Said. I used the Chrysanthemums, but also in the set are Asters, Black Eye Susan, and Sunflower. I love to color images with my Copic markers, but my card today is made with the pre-colored images. I figured I'd give myself a break since I was cutting out so many of them for this arrangement. Sometimes you just need to cut corners. Especially when the pre-colored images are as gorgeous as this.

If you love my card or this image, you'll want to hop on over to Fred She Said Store and pick this set up while it's on sale this week for 40% off. You have a choice of the Digi's or the pre-colored. But heck, for that price, why not get them all!!!

Fred She Said is also the sponser at Creative Card Crew wher the Challenge is FLOWERS!!! Play along with this cahllenge  thius week and you could win some  Gorgeous FREE Fred She Said Images!!

The inspiration for this card came from a Sketch at Basic Grey. I love Basic Grey Papers and when I saw this fantastic Sketch, I knew I had to play along. And to make life even sweeter, I had this perfect image to use for it.

I printed out the Frame Template and pierced all the holes. I was undecided when finished whether to use the printed side or the side that just shows the pricked holes. It can be used either way. I cut the center out of the frame to expose the paper underneath for more contrast. The section with the flowers was a separate frame I printed and cut out to use for the base of the flowers. I off-set it to fit the sketch.

The pearls, cardstock, & ribbon is from Close to my Heart. The DP is Basic Grey.Ambrosia collection.

I used matching Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching around the card.

If you’d like to see another card I made with this set, Check out my Blue Asters card. This card was made with the Digi Image that I colored with Copics.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes
Challenge up your life - Lace & Pearls
Drunken Stampers - Fall
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Stitching
Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes
If the Shoe Fits...Scrap it! - Flowers
Stamp Something - Fall Colors
Stampin' B's - Paper Piercing
Stamp It Crazy - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Fall colors
Flourishes - Fall Colors

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Scarecrow with Wagon - Squigglefly group on PCP Sketch Challenge

 
(Click on Picture to see details)

Good Morning!

What a fabulous morning we are having here today. The 90° weather and high humidity slipped away last night and it’s going to be in the 70’s today. It was a great crisp fall morning.

Making this card was so much fun. I LOVE these new images from Squigglefly. I had a little problem with this one only because I wanted to keep the image large because of all the detail, but I wanted to play along with the sketch challenge at the Squigglefly group on Paper Craft Planet. What a fabulous sketch and challenge with a mystery twist! So my card ended up to be a little larger then it started out.

I planned on posting it here on Friday, but I wasn’t totally satisfied with it. There was just something missing. It was too flat for me. If you are familiar with my work, you know that I usually have the image layered and popped. However, this image has so much detail that I didn’t do that. But, since I can’t post something that I’m not 100% satisfied with,
I printed the wagon with the pumpkins and flowers a second time, colored it with Copic markers and cut it out. This doesn’t look to difficult until you get to cutting out the spaces between the spokes of the wheels. So I used foam tape to layer but kept the bottom of the wheels grounded.

Then I used Liquid Glass on the pumpkins and faux flower soft on the flowers (with a wee bit of glitter) and center of the BIG Sunflower.
I wanted to add brads in the hub of the wheels, but forgot to do so before adhering, so I used gray pearls instead. I used chalk for the blue background.

Other then the Pumpkins for sale sign, I really didn’t want to add any other sentiment so I used a spellbinders fancy tag, wrapped some matching ribbon around it, added two buttons with matching floss and two bitty sparkles and a bow.

I needed to balance out the bottom left corner so I added three green flower sparkles.

The green squares looked a little plain so I cuttlebugged them. All pieces were distressed with Dessert Sand Ink.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Speedy The Cat's Friends - Pumpkins
Stamp, Scrap, Doodle - Stitching
Drunkin Stampers - Fall
Crazy 4 Challenges - Bling

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Fall Arrangement - SSS75

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

Here were are the beginning of Fall already. However, here in PA we are still having 90° weather. They say a cold front is coming in tonight and that the warm weather and then the cold change will help turn the leaves. We'll see!

Sorry this post in late but I was having a problem with a card that I wanted to post yesterday but never happened. So, this card got pushed to the side and took longer to complete than I expected.

This card was made for the sketch over at The Sweet Stop Challenge Blog. Korin has such fabulous sketches so if you have never played along and you need some inspiration, try this one.

This Digi image I used is called Fall Arrangement from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. The problem I was having with this card was that all of my fall cards lately have all been green, orange and brown. I wanted to change it up a little so I added some purple. What do you think???

The image was printed three times, colored with Copic Markers, cut out and layered with foam tape for lots of Dimension.

The papers are from the Olivia paper pack, new from Close to my Heart. The Brads, ribbon and ribbon slide are all in the “Pear” Mini Medlies, also from CTMH. The purple papers are Gypsy CS. Now that it’s finished, I think these colors go great together.

I used Faux Flower Soft on the centers of the sunflowers and the purple flowers. And a little stickles in the stamen of the lily.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Paper Playtime - Autumn
Kraftin' Kimmie - Orange, Green & Purple
Stamp, Scrap, & Doodle - Stitching
Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge - Use A Pumpkin

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Old Truck, Pumpkins & Sunflowers - MMSC72

Well, here we are with the first Day of Autumn. You wouldn't know it since the temperature was 90° today here in PA.


My card today was inspired by the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge this week. I love playing along with Priscilla's sketches.

I used two fabulous images from Fred She Said. The first is the Old Truck and the Other is the Pumpkins and Sunflowers. Her images come as Digi's or PreColored.
I printed a very small bunch of Pumpkins and put them in the back of the truck. I also printed the Pumpkims much larger and just cut out the sunflowers from it.
The papers, pearls and ribbon is from Close to my Heart.

I made some Faux Flower Soft for the centers of the sunflowers.

I used matching Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching around the card.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
A crafty Place - Brown, Green & Orange
Cards for Men - Transportation
A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes
Scrap Creations - Fall
Cupcake Craft Challenge- Transportation
Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - nything Goes
Paper Playtime - Autumn
Creative Card Crew - Fall
Everybody Art - Autumn

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sunflower Fence and Mr. Straw

Good Morning!

I’m so delighted to be able to share this card with you today. I was the top pick for my FSS card using Pumpkins and sunflowers at the Delightful Challenges last Wednesday. That win entitled me to be the Guest Designer this week at Digital Designs by Louby Loo. What an honor.

My card was inspired by a sketch at Card Positioning Systems and two Digi Images from Digital Delights. The first image is called Sunflower Background and the other is Mr. Straw. I printed the sunflower background twice, then resized smaller and printed that twice, then Mr. Straw once. Colored them all with Copic Markers, cut out and layered with foam tape. I used white liquid appliqué on the clouds and heated to puff them.

The word Hello is a clear stamp from Close to my Heart. It was stamped with New England Ivy ink then heat embossed with Clear Detail EP. The papers are from a newly released paper pack called Olivia, from CTMH.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other challenge Blogs this card was made for:
A crafty Little Place - Brown, Green & Orange
Creative Card Crew - Fall
Everybody Art - Autumn
Paper Playtime - Autumn
Creative Craft World - Fall

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Marigolds - SSS74

Sorry this post is late today, I'm actually vacationing in Canada and thought I scheduled it before I left.

Anyway, this card was made using the Sweet Stop Challenge blog's sketch with a spin. The spin is to use mustard yellow and deep red. As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew the marigold stamps set from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps would be perfect for it.

The image was stamped twice, colored with Copic Markers, cut out and layered with foam tape.
The ribbon is retired from Close to my Heart and I believe it says, "Take time to sit and watch the leaves change." I don't have the card here since I'm away. 

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Winter Friends - SCS 298

This card was made for the sketch challenge over at Split Coast Stampers. Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is hoasting the challenge this week.
This card was made with one of the new releases from Sweet 'n Sassy called Winter Friends. Instead of coloring it in this time, I did paper piecing on it then went over the papers with the Spica Glitter Pens. There's a slight glimmer as you move the card.

The papers and ribbon are from the Mistletoe Creative Basics pack from Close to my Heart. The glitter on the snowman is Diamond Dust and the Snow under the snowman is Faux Flower Soft and prisma glitter.

There are red sparkles for the holly berries.
The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

FSS Pumpkins and Sunflowers


This morning I'm sharing with you a Newly released Digi Image from Fred She Said. It's called Pumpkins and Sunflowers. I really love this image. I printed certain portions of it five times. There are four layers of pumpkins and the fifth is the sunflower above the Hello. The Hello is from a set called Fancy Phrases from Waltzing Mouse.

The inspiration for this card came from a sketch at Our Creative Corner. Unfortunately, this is their last sketch of the year. They have some great sketches and they will be missed.

The Papers for this card are from a new paper pack from Close to my Heart called Olivia. I just LOVE these fall papers. The tiny button brads and the ribbon are form the Sunset Mini Medleys, also from CTMH.

Now for the fun element. If you click on the picture of the card to enlarge it, you will be able to see the faux flower soft that I made for the centers of the sunflowers. I used the Chocolate CTMH reinker and sone styrophome shavings to make this.

I used a matching Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching.

Other Challenge Blogs I made this card for:
Delightful Challenges - Fall colors and Ribbon
Stamp Insanity - Elements in 3's
Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge - Fall Colors
All Sorts - Colors of Autumn
A spoonful of Sugar - Autumn
Creative Card Crew - Autumn

Monday, September 13, 2010

A Gift for Snowman


Happy Monday!  Hope you all had a great weekend. I sure did!

My card for today used a Digi Stamp  called "A Gift For Snowman" from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.
The inspiration for this card came from a sketch at Clean & Simple Stamping. I thought this image worked perfectly with this sketch. I don't always put a sentiment on my cards if I'm not making it for a special person or occasion. This card is not only for Christmas, but can be used for a Birthday Card during the winter months.

 I sized him to what I needed and printed him out, cut him with a Nestie and colored him with Copic Markers. I then left the Nestie in place and sponged around the inside with Desert Sand Ink. I coated the snowman with Liquid Glass then added Diamond Dust so he sparkled. I then used the liquid glass under the snowman so I could apply the Faux Flower Soft and Prisma glitter as snow.

I used some retired papers from Close to my Heart, and a Martha Stewart Punch for my borders. I punched the borders in Cranberry AND White CS and layered them.

I used White Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching around the card. I did more stitching then I normally do, but I wanted it to resemble snow flakes. OK, so you may have to use your imagination on that one. *Ü*

I thought it still needed a little something so I added a row of flat back pearls, also from CTMH, across the top and bottom to finish it off.

Other Challenge Blogs I made this card for:
Fussy & Fancy - Christmas Colors
Stamp Something - Spots and Stripes
Diecut Dreams Christmas Club - Children's Christmas
Digital Tuesday - Dots and Stripes

Sunday, September 12, 2010

FSS Blue Peony Birthday Card





It's amazing how one thing leads to another in card making.  I started out with gorgeous Peony Digi Stamps from Fred She Said. I then found a sketch at Cards and Things that inspired me with these images. But, I wanted to play along with a few other challenges so I made a gate fold card using the same sketch.

The Sentiment is from a stamp set from CTMH. Now here is tyhe coolest thing about Digi's. When I Opened the flap, the one peony hung out over the flap, which is was supposed to do. However, I didn't like that you could see the white cardstock from it when you opened the card. So, I printed them again and reversed them so it was a mirror image of the one on the front.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs I had in mind while making this card:
Project Tuesday - Gate Fold Card
Stampin' B's - Pink, Blue & Green
Stampotique - Birthday
Our Creative Corner - Fun With Folds
Totally Gorjuss - Flowers
Creative Cottage - Celebration
Cuttlebug - Birthday

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Smiley Snowman - SSS73


My card today was inspired by our sketch at The Sweet Stop Challenge Blog. Korin gives us some of the greatest sketches to design with. So, why not hop on over there and pick up the sketch and play along with us this week. If you don't have Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, you can use whatever you have.

The Digi image I used is called Smiley Snowman from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Isn't he just the cutest thing!!! I printed him out two times so I could cut out one of them and layer with foam tape for dimension. I colored him with Cioouc markers and added liquid glass and Diampond Dust to his body for addede sparkle. The start was outlined with glue and prisma glitter added to that.

The papers are from the Mistle Toe collection from Close to my Heart. The ribbon is from the Mistletoe Creative Basics Collection.

The Hand stitching around the card was done with my own unique design with white Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs I made this card for:
Christmas Card Challenge - Christmas
Corrosive Challenge - Olive and Red
Gingerloft Challenge - Anything Goes
The Creative Cottage - Celebrations
Fussy and Fancy - Christmas Colors

Friday, September 10, 2010

Making Friends - Tuesday Morning Sketches




I just had to make this card today since I fell in love with this digi image called Making Friends, from Sassy Cheryl's Digi Stamps. As many of you know, I'm addicted to snowmen stamps and images. And, you can never have too many. Right???  But how cute are they!!! Three snowmen building more snowmen friends.

The inspiration for this card came from a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. And as soon as I saw it I knew I had to use it for this image.
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I printed the image three times and cut sections out of two and layered them with foam tape for lots of dimension. I glittered all the snowmen with Prisma glitter.  I attached some matching blue ribbon through the middle and attached a snowflake button on the left side.

I used matching Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching around the card.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog - Let it Snow
Bunny Zoe's - Vinyage
Artful Inkables - Distressing
Christmas Card Challenge - Christmas
Stampin' For The Weekend - Vintage or Shabby

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Emma in the Leaves - MMSC70


Even though the temperature was almost 90° yesterday, Fall is right around the corner.

This card was made with a Digi image from Fred She Said called “Emma in the Leaves.” This image is on sale until Monday at 30% off. This reminds me of my 3 yr old granddaughter. Like I said, the temperature yesterday was 89° and she wore her snow boots to my house.


The card was also inspired by the sketch challenge from Midnight Madness. I have honestly never used so many brads on one cards in my life. But, I didn't have enough bitty brads nor tiny pearls for it so I used mini brads. The Fall Leaf Buttons I had in my stash for at least 8 years.

The papers are from a new paper pack from Close to my Heart called “Olivia”. This is the prettiest fall paper CTMH has had in the past few years.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other challenge blogs for this card:
Fab 'n' Funky - What 'eva
Freshly Brewed - Some Brown
Paper Pretties - Brads or Eyelets
Wild Flower Patch - Scallops & Buttons
Tuesday Throwdown - Celebrate Fall

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Blue Asters - Sketch Saturday

I am so into making Christmas cards already and trying to get myself back into flower mode. I couldn’t resist this image with the paper piercing frame. I’ve had this Digi image from Fred She Said since early Spring and finally got around to using it. It’s called Fall Flowers Digi Set with bonus Paper Pricking Frames. It’s a set of four different flowers and several ways of doing the frames.


My inspiration for this card came from Sketch Saturday. I thought this image worked almost perfectly.

This is one of the first cards in a while that I didn't add hand stitching to. But, this card was very time consuming with cutting out all the flowers and I figured the stitching might take away from the paper piercing.

I printed the frame with the asters inside, then printed two more sets of flowers. Colored them all with Copic Markers and cut out two sets. After the whole card was assembled, I spread them lout and attached with foam tape. I then added Liquid Glass to the centers and added yellow glitter. Papers are from Close to my Heart and are Sky and Sunflower. I used sunflower Grosgrain ribbon for the bow and white half pearls around the frame, also from CTMH.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
Fab 'n Funky - What 'eva

Sunday, September 5, 2010

An Apple for Teacher - MMSC-69


Happy Labor Day Weekend!!!


Since this is Labor Day Weekend and my creations are all a Labor Of My Love for card making, I thought it only fitting to announce a new addition to my stamping family. I have been invited to design for “Fred She Said” Digital Designs. I am so excited about this because I have been a huge fan of this company’s images for almost a year now. And what an honor it is to be on this team.

For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have a passion for flower images. And Tracey Miller, owner of Fred She Said, designs the most beautiful flowers, most of which also come pre-colored. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

So, onto my card. I used a newly released Digi Image from Fred She Said called An Apple for Teacher. This is a fabulous image for that favorite teacher in your life. This card can be used for any occasion, Birthday, Thinking of You, Get Well, Congratulation, or any other time you’d send a card to someone who’s a teacher in anyway.

This image comes with images to print six different ways.

I printed this image once, then printed just the book and apple twice, colored them with Copic Markers, cut them out and layered with foam tape.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.


The inspiration for this card came from a sketch From Midnight Madness. I love playing along with their fabulous sketches every Tuesday.

I hope you all have a SAFE and wonderful Holiday Weekend. We're having the family here for a picnic tomorrow, providing we get the railing on our deck finished by them. After 32 years, we finally decided to add a roof to our deck.
Here's what it looks like right now. It's a long way down if you fall off!!!


Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
Allsorts - New Beginnings
Corrosive Challenge - Color challenge - Olive and Red
Just Scraps - Back to School
Pixie Dust Studio - Back to School


Saturday, September 4, 2010

Morning Glories - SSS72

Well, here it is September already. Where did the summer go. It's Saturday and that means another great sketch challenge over at The Sweet Stop Challenge Blog. How about playing along with us this week.


My card was inspired by this sketch and the wonderful September Morning Glory Stamp Set. The image was stamped with Black memento Ink and colored with Copic Markers 2 times, then cut out and layered with foam take for more dimension.

The papers are retired papers from CTMH. Colors are Dutch Blue and Sunflower. Sunflower Grosgrain ribbon and white pearls from CTMH also.
Yellow and Diamond stickles was used on the flowers.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
Creative Cottage - Celebration
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Flowers & Ribbon
Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Say it with Flowers
Crafty Emma - Floral Frenzy

Friday, September 3, 2010

Rustic Snowman


Well, here I am with another Christmas Card. This could also be just a plain old winter all occasion card.

Isn't this the cutest snowman, or would it be snow lady. I always wonder about that terminology. We always call them snowmen. Must we now change it to snow person??? *Ü*

Anyway I have an addiction for snow people and found this great Digi Stamp from Squigglefly. It’s called Rustic Snowman. The DP is left over Basic Grey paper from last year. I LOVE this paper. I can’t remember the name of it right this minute.

The image was printed and colored with copic markers.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Sweet 'n Sassy September Blog Hop


Good Morning and welcome to the Sweet ‘n Sassy September New Release Blog Hop. SNSS is release 10 stamp sets today!!!

You will hop to each of the DT blogs (below) to see what we have done with our new release, but be sure to read our posts carefully because you might find a surprise along the way......


----- Three of our Design Divas are hosting a challenge on their blogs. For each challenge you participate in, you will be entered to win a FREE stamp set from our new release! If you enter all three challenges, not only will you have the chance to win 3 different sets, BUT you will also be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to the SNSS store!! NOTE: Challenge details will be included in the DT hostess blog post.

----- One of our Design Divas will be sharing a special 1-day-only coupon code to the SNSS store which can be used to save you $$$ on your favorite new releases!

My card is made using the “October Marigolds”. I stamped them three times, colored with Copic Markers and cut out and layered with foam tape for dimension.
I also stamped on the Sunset DP using Sunset ink.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.


The inspiration for this card came from a sketch at sketch & Stash.

Here is the list of our DT. Please hop along to each one and we'd love if you'd leave us all some lovin in the comments.


SNSS Blog
Ceal Pritchett
Darsie Bruno
Janette Olen
Korin Sutherland
Kim Schofield
Leah Cornelius
Lisa Jurecek
Lorie Souther
Nancy Brown - YOU ARE HERE!
Tricia Traxler
Chris Dickinson