You Are So Polished!

Happy Monday, Friends!  Hope that you are doing well.  I was lucky enough to squeeze in a little stamping time this weekend.  The daughter of one of my co-workers is celebrating her birthday and she LOVES nail polish.  As soon as I found that out, I knew exactly which stamp to use for her birthday card.  I haven't had the chance to play with the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club in quite awhile, so I started there.  Then I grabbed my Polished to Perfection set from My Favorite Things.  My nail polishing gal is colored up with Copic Markers (BG10, BG11, C0, C1, C5, C7, C9, E000, E00, E01, E23, E25, R20, R27, R59, and Y26) and then I fussy cut her out.  She is layered onto a die cut made with the Die-namics Oval Open Scallop Doily die.  All of the patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye.  The other accents include a button with some TCP Cherry Divine Twine and some wide grosgrain ribbon. 

 

Thanks so much for visiting with me today.  I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this month's TCP Tuesday Challenge.  See you then...Toodles!  :D



Happy New Year!!!

 

Happy New Year, Friends!  We are bundled up in our pajamas in the living room, watching Despicable Me, eating popcorn, and drinking Shirley Temples!  The Gajewski Family really knows how to ring in the New Year...lol!  We are actually having a fun evening and I hope that you are having a fun New Year's Eve too!

 

Here is my card for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch.  You can find the original sketch here.  I turned the sketch to better fit my image.  As I said in my last post, I colored up a few of these sweet a' la modes girls from the My Favorite Things You Sparkle set, so here is another one for you.  She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG01, BG05,E000, E35, E37, E40, E41, E42, E50, E53, R46, R59, YG03, YG17, YR20, YR21,  and the Colorless Blender) and then I pierced around the main panel.   I also added Star Dust Stickles to the Christmas lights for some sparkle.  All of the papers are from My Mind's Eye.  I added a Papertrey Ink button and some of their Saddle Stitch ribbon.  The button is tied off with some Baker's Twine finish up this creation.

 

Thanks so much for visiting with me tonight.  May you all have many blessings in the New Year ahead.  Until next time...Toodles!  :D

You Sparkle!

 

Hello Friends and Happy snowy Saturday night!  We came home from late afternoon services at our church, had dinner together, and now it is jammie time watching the snow fall.  I just L*O*V*E winter in New England!  Our area is expecting about six inches.  Tomorrow we can go sledding and build a snowman in the front yard...I can't wait!  I'll be thrilled when the ice is ready for skating.

 

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Our home was filled with family on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas Day.  Everything went beautifully and it even snowed on Christmas morning for a White Christmas!  After everything was cleaned up, I took a moment to stamp four of these sweet images from the a' la modes collection from My Favorite Things.  I have spent my evenings since Christmas night just coloring and relaxing.  It felt soooo good to just sit and color!  My New Year's resolution is to start making more time for coloring again.  I have missed it so!  Even if I don't get the chance to create a card, I can at least color up some of my beautiful images from my stamp collection. 

 

I used the image and sentiment from the MFT You Sparkle set.  I looked at some of the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketches that I have missed and decided that this image would work well with MFTWSC100.  My image is colored up with Copic Markers (B91, B95, C3, C5, E000, E41, E35, E37, E50, E53, R46, R59, YR20, and the Colorless Blender.)  All of the patterned papers are from Echo Park.  The snowflake was made with My Favorite Things Die-namics and I accented it with a Papertrey Ink button and some twine from the Paper Source.  The string of lights has a coat of Star Dust Stickles on the top which takes care of Lisa Somerville's Blogger's Challenge this week (Sparkle and Shine) too.  It has been forever and a day since I have had the chance to play along in that challenge!!  You can find Lisa's challenge right here. 

 

I have three more images already colored up and I just need to pick out a few more sketches to make some more cards.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post again before I head back to school.  Have a wonderful evening and if it is snowing in your neck of the woods, stay safe and Enjoy!!  Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.  Until next time...Toodles!  :D 

You're a Class Act!

Happy Friday Friends!  I’ve missed some of my favorite challenges lately.  Things have been SO busy around here.  Actually, I’ve made cards for some of them, but I just haven’t had the time to post anything or comment on some of my favorite blogs.

  Today’s Blogger’s Challenge theme is Back to School.  Click here to head over to Lisa Somerville’s blog to play along.  Having many teacher friends, I wanted to be sure to participate in this challenge.  So, I combined the Back to School theme with the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club.  (Click here to see the sketch.)  I started off with this adorable teacher and sentiment from the My Favorite Things a’ la modes collection called You Rule.  She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG000, BG11, BG13, E000, E00, E01, E23, E27, R00, R29, and R39) and then I fussy cut her out.  The notebook print is from My Mind’s Eye and the other papers are from October Afternoon.  I used the My Favorite Things Layered Rose Die-namics, the Double Scallop Border Die-namics, and the File Tab Die-namics.  My other accents include a Papertrey Ink button, some linen thread, and an older Cuttlebug embossing strip. 

Thanks so much for visiting with me today.  I hope to be back a little later on this weekend to share a few more cards with you.  Until then…Toodles!  :D

Happy Day!

Good Morning Friends!  Hope that you are doing fine and dandy!  Today is the deadline to submit a card for the sketch challenge from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club.   I am cutting things very close, but after the days that I've been having, I am just happy to be able to participate.   If you'd like to play along and squeeze a card in, the link is here.

I started off with this sweet a' la modes girl from My Favorite Things.  She and this particular sentiment are from the Time to Celebrate set.  I colored her up with Copic Markers (BG01, BG15, BG32, BG53, C3, E000, E00, E01, E23, E40, R00, R11, R22, R24, and YR12) and layered this piece onto a Papertrey Ink Kraft layer.  All of the patterened papers are from the So Happy Together collection from Echo Park Papers.  My other accents include the MFT File Tab Die-namics, the MFT Botanical Beauty Die-namics, a wooden button that I colored with my Light Prawn Copic Marker to match my papers, and a bit of Baker's Twine.

I'll be back soon with another card to share.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Until next time...Toodles!  :D

Blogger's Challenge and a Sketch

Happy Friday Friends!  I have two cards to share with you today.  One from myself and one from my niece.  My card is for this week's Blogger's Challenge (use die cuts) and I followed the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club.  (Just click on the bold words for the link to play along.)

My image and sentiment are from the MFT You Anchor Me set.  I colored her up with Copic Markers (C1, C3, E000, E00, E01, E23, E25, E27, E33, E37, G07, G12, R00, R11) and then I fussy cut her out and used some foam squares to give her some added dimension.  All of the patterned papers are from Crate Paper.  I used the MFT Small Open Scallop Die-namics, the flag from the MFT Die-namics Sentiment Strips, and the anchor from the MFT Die-namics Sea Charms.  My other accents include a button from my stash with some Baker's Twine, some pearls, and some machine stitching (please excuse the wonky stitching on the bottom left...I thought that my sewing machine was fixed...ugh!!!) 

Now onto my niece's card.  She also used the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club (she is hoping to win their weekly challenge.)  She used the MFT Pure Innocence Blowing Bubbles set for her image and the sentiments.  All of the papers are from My Mind's Eye (she has great taste!) and she used watercolor pencils to color up this cutie.  I think that she did a great job for her first try on her own.  She even did the chocolate brown fussy cutting!  Now I really know what to get her for her birthday next month!

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.  Have a beautiful weekend!  Until next time...Toodles!  :D



Graduation Time and Jazz with John Pizzarelli!

Hello Friends!  How are you?  I hope that all is well in your neck of the woods!  Last night, my darling husband and I had the pleasure of meeting John Pizzarelli.  (If you live in the New England area and have heard the Foxwood's Casino song, then you have had the pleasure of hearing John Pizzarelli.)  We went to Sculler's Jazz Club in Boston (a belated celebration of my 40th birthday) and had a simply wonderful evening!  John Pizzarelli is an amazing jazz guitarist and he is (rightfully so) part of the John Pizzarelli Quartet, which is also quite talented.  They played some of the new songs from their latest recording, Double Exposure, and some of my favorite Frank Sinatra standards.  It was just a marvelous evening, and to top it off, we had the chance to meet with him for a few moments after the performance.  All and all, being forty is looking pretty good!

Now, onto my card.  I just didn't have the time to post yesterday because of all of the celebrating that was going on after school.  So here I am, a little late, with this week's Blogger's Challenge (Graduation theme) and I combined it with the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club.  (You can click on the links above to play along too.)  One of my co-workers needed a graduation card for her daughter, and this is what I came up with.  The My Favorite Things a' la modes Grad Girl is colored up with Copic Markers (E000, E00, E01, E13, E15, E40, E41, G02, G07, R11, Y32, and Y35) and layered with black card stock.  The patterned papers are from the Portrait Collection from Crate Paper.  My other accents include the Die-namics Double Open Scallop Border, Satin Ribbon, Classic and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, and a Pearl Flourish from Recollections.  I hope that this will be perfect for Nicole's college graduation.

Thank you so much for taking a moment to stop by and visit with me.  Have a beautiful weekend!  Until next time...Toodles!  :D 

For Baby!

Happy Friday Friends!  I'm actually posting Blogger's Challenge on the correct day...imagine that!!  I even combined this week's challenge (Baby theme) with the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club.  To play along with Blogger's Challenge, please visit Lisa Somerville's Blog and to play along with the sketch challenge, please visit the My Favorite Things Blog.

I started with this fun My Favorite Things a' la mode girl.  This set is called, "Oh Baby!"  She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG10, BG11, E000, E00, E01, E31, E33, E35, R11, R81, R83, R85, Y21, Y26, and YG93.)  All of the papers are from the Hazel collection from My Mind's Eye.  The accents include a heart made with the MFT Die-namics, some Aqua Mist buttons and ribbon from Papertrey Ink, and some machine stitching on the main panel.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today.  I hope to be back this weekend with another card to share.  Until then...Toodles!  :D

My Favorite Things Sketch!

Hello Friends! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend. Ours was on the quiet side, which was just fine with me. I made this card tonight for the weekly sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club. You can find all of the details to play along on the MFT Blog.

I started off with this sweet a' la modes girl from the MFT Miss You a Latte set. She is colored up with Copic Markers (E000, E00 E23, E31, E33, E40, E55, R11, R29, YG13, YG63, and the Colorless Blender.) All of the patterned papers are from The Girls' Paperie and the Pure Poppy and Kraft card stock are from Papertrey Ink. My other accents include the Die-namics Let it Snowflake die and the Die-namics Simply Scallops die. I also added a Papertrey Ink button, some Baker's Twine, a length of red grosgrain ribbon, and some A*Muse Twinkles.

Thank you so much for visiting with me this evening. Enjoy your week...Toodles! :D

If At First You Don't Succeed...Try Again!

Happy Tuesday Friends! I have two cards to share with you today. The first card is another version of the card that I made for the sketch from The Cat's Pajamas. (You can find the sketch here.) The other card makers out there really made some beautiful cards with this sketch, but I struggled with my design. So, after I posted, I decided to change things up a little bit. I removed some of the accents from my original design and I added a sentiment. I'm much happier with the results. The image is from the Kick Some Grass set from The Cat's Pajamas. I used Prisma Color Pencils (True Blue, Pink, Limepeel, and Seashell Pink) to color up this adorable bunny. The sentiment is from the Birthday Bunny set from TCP. The patterned papers are from October Afternoon. The Kraft card stock and the buttons are from Papertrey Ink. I also used the Flower Button CutUps from TCP. The blueish green card stock is from Core'dinations and I used the Seeing Spots embossing folder on the circle that I made with Nesties.

My other card is for the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club. This sketch was a little easier for me to work with. (You can find it here.) I used one of the newer a la modes from My Favorite Things. This set is called Talk Nerdy to Me. She is so adorable! I colored her up with Copic Markers (BG10, BG11, C1, C3, E000, E00, E01, E08, E19, E23, E25, R11, R81, R83, Y21, Y26, and the Colorless Blender.) The patterned papers are from the Blink of an Eye collection from My Mind's Eye. I also used Kraft card stock and a button from PTI on this card. The seam binding is from Stampin' Up and the ovals were cut with Nesties. I hope that you enjoy your week! Thanks so much for visiting with me...Toodles! :D

Mixing Things Up!

Happy Monday everyone, and to my friends here in the States...Happy Labor Day! It has been a busy weekend, so it's nice to have a day off from work and do a few things around the house. It also gives me some extra stamping time. I have two cards to share with you today. They combine some of my favorite challenges too. First up is this adorable penguin trio from the Hello Pumpkin set from The Cat's Pajamas. The TCP Tuesday challenge is to use an image with wings, so I went with penguin wings. I used a few Copic Markers (YG13, YG17, YR15, YR16) to color up the small areas of the image. My sketch is from Jen Del Muro's September Sketch For You To Try. The patterned papers are from Memory Box. I added a Papertrey Ink button with some TCP Divine Twine to the sentiment and then I used the Button CutUps from TCP to dress up the bottom corner of my card.

My next card combines the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club with the My Favorite Things Guest Designer Contest. This month's contest is to use ripping and rolling in our designs. I took care of the ripping part by using a ruler to rip the straight edges on my Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 patterned paper layers. I also ripped a few of the card stock layers. I used a distressing tool to clean them up a bit. The rolling part was easy. I used the MFT Die-namics Rolled Rose die with some MFT Banana Wool Felt and a pearl for the center of the blossom. My other accents include the MFT Die-namics Simply Scallops Die with a few pearls and the sentiment was stamped onto a die cut made with the MFT Die-namics Textile Rectangle set. The star of this card is this lovely girl from the MFT a la modes - Cheers set. She is colored up with Copic Markers (B0000, C7, C9, E00, E23, E25, E40, R11, Y21, Y32, and the Colorless Blender.) A touch of Star Dust Stickles on the champagne flute complete my creation.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today. Have a wonderful week...Toodles! :D

Back to School!

Happy Sunday Friends! So sorry for being out of the blogging loop lately. We had a huge yard sale yesterday and it literally took me all week to gather things from the attic and around our home, organize all of them, and then set everything up. We had LOTS of items for sale. Thankfully, many of them are off to good homes. So that's where I've been...how was your week?

I combined two of my favorite weekly challenges for today's card. This week's Blogger's Challenge theme is Back to School (to play along, just head over to Lisa Somerville's Blog) and my sketch is from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club (you can find the sketch on Kim's blog.) My image is from the My Favorite Things a' la modes - You Rule set. She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG000, BG11, BG32, C1, E000, E00, E23, R11, and the Colorless Blender) and paper pieced with patterned paper from the Report Card collection from October Afternoon. My other patterned papers include A*Muse Gingham and the notebook piece is from My Mind's Eye. I used some machine stitching, a heart made with the MFT Hearts-a-Plenty Die-namics, the scallop strip was made with the MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics, and the embossed circle was made with the Sunflower Rosette CutUps from The Cat's Pajamas. I added a Papertrey Ink button with some of my new twine from the Paper Source to complete my card.

Thank you so much for visiting with me. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with a creation for this week's challenge from The Cat's Pajamas...Toodles! :D

A Sketch For You To Try!

Happy Sunday Friends! I hope that you are having a great weekend!

The heat is starting to let up in New England. In fact, it has rained here all morning, but that is just fine with me! I end up with a little bit more stamping time when it rains, so I'm happy.

My niece will be starting high school in the fall. (How on earth did that happen?!?!? It seems like she was just in Kindergarten!) Her birthday is next month. I thought that this new a la mode girl would be perfect for her. I also thought that this image would work wonderfully with Jen Del Muro's July Sketch For You To Try.

My image and sentiment are from the My Favorite Things You Are Unrepeatable set. This sweet growing up girl is colored up with Copic Markers (BG11, BG13, C0, C1, E000, E00, E23, E25, R11, RV11, RV34, YG03, YG13, YG25, YG63, and the Colorless Blender) and then cut out. She is popped up with foam squares and then layered onto some papers from the Lime Twist collection from My Mind's Eye. The buttons were made with The Cat's Pajamas Button CutUps and I used some matching "Happy" twine from MME to tie everything together. A little machine stitching in the right corner finishes this one off.

Enjoy what is left of the weekend! Thank you so much for visiting with me...Toodles! :D

Miss You a Latte!

Good Morning Friends! Hope that you are all well. I missed the sketch last week from My Favorite Things because I was still sick with a crazy summer cold. It was a great sketch, so I wanted to give it a try. You can find the original here on the MFT blog. I heard from an old friend last week. It was so wonderful to catch up with her and I want to make sure that we stay in touch so I made a card to send to her. I started off with this delightful girl and sentiment from the MFT a la modes - Miss You a Latte set. She is colored up with Copic Markers (B41, B45, BG000, E000, E00, E31, E33, R11, R81, R83, Y26, YG13, YG63, and Colorless Blender.) The patterned papers are from The Girls' Paperie and the card stock is Pink Pirouette. My other accents include the MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics, some Papertrey Ink buttons with some Honeydew Baker's Twine, and I used Classic and Scallop Nesties for the ovals. Thank you for visiting with me. Have a beautiful day...Toodles! :D

Let's Eat Cake!

Good Evening Friends! I hope that you had a happy Monday. We're having a heat wave here in New England, so I made sure to sit by the air conditioner and get some coloring done. Here is my card for the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club. You can find all of the details here. I used the a' la modes - Time to Celebrate set for the birthday girl and sentiment. She is colored up with Copic Markers (C1, E000, E00, E23, E40, R11, R81, R83, Y35, YR30, YR31, and the Colorless Blender.) The sentiment is stamped on the MFT Die-namics Framed Greetings Die and then tucked behind the middle layer. I also added a blossom made with the My Favorite Things Pretty Posies Die-namics, a Papertrey Ink button, and some Baker's Twine. All of the patterned papers are from The Girls' Paperie and they are layered onto Stampin' Up's Pretty in Pink card stock. Some machine stitching finishes off this one. Thanks so much for stopping by this evening. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then...Toodles! :D

Cheers!

Hello Friends! It's another beautiful day here in New England! I hope that it is lovely in your neck of the woods. My card today is for the sketch challenge from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club. I turned the sketch and made a card for one of my co-workers. I used the Cheers a' la modes from MFT. She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG000, C7, C9, E000, E00, R30, E40, Y32, YR21, and YR24.) Her glass of bubbly is accented with Star Dust Stickles. I used So Saffron and Basic Black card stock and the patterned papers are from the Circa 1934 collection from Cosmo Cricket. My other accents include the MFT Die-namics Decorative Doily Duo (out of stock at the moment), the MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics with a few rhinestones, and the MFT Pretty Posies Die-namics with a Papertrey Ink button and some craft thread. The sentiment was made on the computer to personalize the card. Thanks so much for visiting with me today! Enjoy the rest of your evening...Toodles! :D

To My Favorite Teacher!

Happy Sunday Friends! It was a beautiful day here in New England. In fact, the whole weekend was lovely! We had a lot going on, but I still managed to squeeze some crafting time in. It is Teacher Appreciation Week at our school. To celebrate the occasion, my little guy always brings his teacher a bouquet of flowers, some chocolate, and a handmade card, of course. I combined the sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club with this month's My Favorite Things Guest Designer Contest. The theme for the contest is "Blue Jeans and Bling". This sweet a la mode girl and sentiment are from the My Favorite Things You Rule set. She is colored up with Copic Markers (E000, E01, R20, YG11, YG13, YR21, E99, B95, B97, and B99). The denim flower blossoms were made with the MFT Die-namics Flower Trio and Leaf Trio. I added a rhinestone to the center. The leaf was cut out with some of the same gingham paper that I used on the vertical panel from the sketch. The two horizontal strips were also cut from denim. The flowered paper is from October Afternoon and the ledger paper is from My Mind's Eye. I added stitching around all of the patterned paper layers and they are layered onto some Night of Navy. One of the reasons that I love to participate in the My Favorite Things challenges is that I always find myself trying something new. I have always wanted to try these rhinestone flourishes that everyone seems to be using, and if "bling" wasn't part of this month's challenge, I probably wouldn't have given them a try! It's always fun to try new things, and I really like how this all came together. Thank you so much for visiting with me tonight. I'll be back soon with some more crafty things to share. Until then...Toodles! :D

Key to My Heart and Better Get Better!

Happy Monday! I cannot believe that it is the last day of January! We've had so much time off from school because of snow that this month went by in the blink of an eye! February isn't looking much better weather wise either. We are expecting at least two feet of the fluffery stuff starting tomorrow morning! TWO more FEET! ACK! Good thing I'm not the one that does most of the shoveling...lol!

I have two cards to share with you today. I needed another Valentine card so I decided to try the My Favorite Things Recipe for Love Guest Designer contest again. You can find all of the details here. I started off with the MFT a' la mode set called Key to My Heart. This sweetie is colored up with Copic Markers (E000, E00, E11, E25, E29, E40, R20, R30, R32, R35, Y21, and Y26) and then I sewed on a panel of Papertrey Ink Berry Sorbet. To follow the recipe, I used Quite Contrary paper from My Mind's Eye for the one patterned paper, Berry Sorbet and Aqua Mist for the two card stock colors, and my three embellishments are Berry Sorbet Ribbon and Buttons and a little key charm that I found in my stash. I also added a piece of Berry Sorbet that I ran through my 'Bug with the MFT Die-namics Little Open Scallop Strip die on the bottom of the patterned paper. A little paper piercing on the top and the bottom of the card finishes this Valentine off.

My next card follows the My Favorite Things sketch from last Wednesday. You can find the sketch and all of the details about playing along right here. This time I used one of my Pure Innocence stamps from MFT. This precious little one and the sentiment are from the Better Get Better set. She is colored up with Copic Markers (C3, E000, E00, E11, E33, E35, E37, G20, G21, R20, R81, R83, and R85) and then cut out and then added to an embossed circle of Stampin' Up's Pink Pirourette. I then layered that onto a piece of Chocolate Chip that I ran through my 'Bug with the MFT Die-namics Dainty Lace Doily Die. The patterned paper is from Memory Box and I sewed that panel onto a layer of Chocolate Chip and then attached that to a Pink Pirourette card base. The chocolate satin ribbon is from Michaels. This card is for our school nurse. She is having some neck and back troubles, so I thought that this might help her feel a little bit better.

Thank you so much for visiting with me today. Enjoy the rest of your evening and try to stay warm...Toodles! :D