A Frog or Two!

I have to start off by sending a huge THANK YOU to Nancy and Tracy! These two sweet ladies have nominated my little ol' blog for the *Excellent* Award. I haven't quite figured out how to get the little photograph over on my blog, but y'all will be the first to know when I do! Thanks ladies! You've really made my day! :D

It is so nice to have a sketch challenge card completed before 4:30 in the afternoon! I am loving school vacation week...lol! I always love the sketch challenges over on SCS. Roxie does such a beautiful job picking out wonderful cards for us! For some reason, mine never seem to follow the sketch as much as I would like them to. The Lovely Lilac panel on this card should be a little larger and then it would be a bit more true to the sketch. I guess the most important thing is that I took time to stamp...right!?!? My goal is to get at least one card made with all of my new Elzybells stamps from the Friendship Collection. I've already ordered some from the Spring Collection so I need to get some card making done before they arrive! I loved this stamp as soon as I saw it. The frog is so cute! I think that many of us can relate...you may have to kiss a frog or two before the right one comes along. *wink*

Elzy and the A Muse sentiment are inked in Black Stazon and stamped onto a piece of Papertrey White. I then colored them up with my watercolor pencils and used my Stampin' Up Blender Pen. The Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery, and Cool Caribbean colors are all pulled from this Creative Imaginations patterned paper that I picked up when I was on the Cape last summer. I added some Hero Arts pearls, Star Dust Stickles, a Making Memories clip, and some of my favorite May Arts ribbon to finish it all off.

I will be pulling the BLOG CANDY winner this evening! If you'd like a chance to win, scroll down a few posts and enter. So glad that you could take the time to stop by...Toodles! :D

Double Challenge!!

Things have been so busy lately around here, but thankfully, this week is school vacation!! With vacation, comes a little more time for stamping!

Last night, I finally had a few moments to really poke around the new A Muse Addicts site. If you love all things A Muse, Elzybells, and Saltbox Studio then this is the place for you! I decided to participate in this week's challenge which is to use doodling of some sort in your creation. Never having been the best of doodlers, I went with little doodle dots. I'm not a huge fan of empty space on my cards, so sometimes I add a little clup of polka dots here and there to fill in the space. It works for me...lol! I also paired up this challenge with Sweet Miss Daisy's Sketch Challenge. I am trying to maximize my time this week and I have been wanting to do that one for awhile now.

Now onto the details...Elzy is inked in Black Stazon and stamped on Papertrey White Card Stock. She is colored up with watercolor pencils and a blender pen and then I added the little dots with a fine tip marker. My A Muse sentiment was punched out with my Mini Scalloped Oval Punch from Punch Bunch and I sponged a little Pumpkin Pie around the edges. The Pumpkin Pie and Night of Navy colors were pulled from my Chatterbox Patterned Paper (Light Poolhouse Vines and Stripes). I just love how Michelle Wooderson can always put such beautiful patterns together, so I thought that I'd give it a try! Some Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain was added to the side, and there you have it...my Double Challenge card!

I couldn't quite figure out how to leave the blog candy that I am offering at the top of my blog, but if you're interested in some Studio G Clear Stamps, head on down to the previous post. So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

BLOG CANDY!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! As much as I'd like to send you all some actual candy, I can't...so I thought that I'd share a little bit of BLOG CANDY!

There is a little mistake is yesterday's post. These sweet little Studio G clear stamps were purchased at AC Moore...not Michaels. Oops! Sorry for the confusion. I typically find them at Mike's, but this time AC Moore was the lucky shopping spot! This is such a cute series...lots of springtime images and a few Easter ones as well.

Would you like these new stamps added to your collection?!?!? Seeing that it is Valentine's Day, all you need to do is leave me a comment and tell me your favorite romantic movie. Mine would be, "You've Got Mail". I love "Sleepless in Seattle" too! (I guess I'm a big fan of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies...lol!) I'll draw a winner on Wednesday evening (February 20th). Good Luck! I'll try to figure out how to keep this post at the top of my blog. I'm still learning about all of this technical stuff, so no promises...lol! So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Get Whale Soon!

Look what Mr. Brown delivered today!!! Whoo Hoo! Pun Fun was definitely a "must have" for me when I saw Stampin' Up's new catty! The images are soooo cute!!!

I apologize for not posting for the last few days...I am substituting for the month of February in a kindergarten class. For some strange reason, I am just too tired to stamp when I come home from those sweet, little munchins...lol! I'm sure that I'll be in the swing of it all soon. Today, our day started off with a two hour delay because of snow and freezing rain. Then I received a telephone call saying that school was cancelled!!! I never know who is happier...the children or the teachers...lol! I know that I was happy today because it gave me the chance to stamp!

After checking out Splitcoast Stamper's Sketch Challenge, I decided to make a card for the teacher that I am substituting for. She had foot surgery and I thought that if all of the kiddos signed this for her, it might just brighten her day! My retired Dots & Dashes designer paper was calling my name once I chose this adorable whale image. I then added some Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise card stock. I also used Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon, Making Memories brads, and some button from American Crafts.

It seems like some blog candy is in order! I was able to get my hands on some more Studio G Clear Stamps! These packs will be perfect for Spring and Easter. Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, it seems like a great day to share! I'll post the blog candy then. Thanks so much for stopping by...Toodles! :D

The Block is Broken!

Happy Saturday Everyone! If you visited here the other day, you know that I was struggling with some Artist Trading Cards that I needed to finish up for a swap that I am in. Things were just not working out the way that I hoped. This is what I finally came up with. I am pleased with all of my hard work. Let's hope that the others in the group are as well!

This was a swap for Elzybells stamps and the theme was Valentine's Day or love. I went with the love theme and included my favorite new sentiment from A Muse! The ATC base is So Saffron with a strip of Stampin' Up's Sarah Designer Paper (retired). My scalloped rectangle is made from Certainly Celery and my Spellbinder's Nestabilities Die. Elzy was stamped onto some Papertrey Stamper's Select Card Stock in Black Stazon and then colored with Stampin' Up's Watercolor Crayons. The moon and stars just had to sparkle, so I added...you guessed it...Star Dust Stickles! Some striped May Arts ribbon tucked under the edge and a little bit of paper piecing and there you have it...my creative block is broken...thank goodness!

So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

If Friends Were Flowers, I'd Pick You!

I made a card just like this over the summer for a Lizzie Anne Designs contest that Lindsey Botkin was having over on her blog. The only difference between the two cards is that this version has some of those sweet little pearls that I am quickly falling in love with!

I decided to make this card again for two reasons. The first being that I have been working on some Artist Trading Cards for a swap that I am in and for some strange reason, the ATCs are not coming along as I had envisioned them in my head...lol! Has that ever happened to you?!?!? I thought that if I took a little break from the ATCs, then maybe some creative bolt would hit me and then they would come together as I had hoped! I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out! The other reason for this card is that I neglected to send a dear friend a birthday card and I am hoping that this one will make up for my forgetfulness!

This card uses Lizzie Anne Designs Blissful Blossoms set. The flowers were stamped on white scraps, colored with watercolor pencils, carefully cut out, and then adhered with Dimensionals to a white layer that already had the stems and the A Muse sentiment stamped on it. My Ticket Corner Punch was used on the white layer and then glued to a panel of Pretty in Pink. I added some beautiful May Arts striped ribbon and then used some more Dimensionals to stick this layer to a Certainly Celery card base. Star Dust Stickles were added for lots of sparkle!

Thankfully I was able to create something that was on my "Must Do" list. Now, I need to get cracking on those ATCs...ugh!!! I'm so glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge!

I love weekends that allow me to get some stamping time in! There are so many wonderful challenges out there to participate in.

This weekend, I was able to do Sharon's "Pretties" Challenge, Trudee's Inspiration Challenge, and now this is Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge! I was in need of a birthday card for a little family friend that loves baseball. Knowing that the only baseball stamp I own is from Stampin' Up's Toy Box (retired) set, I knew Beate's sketch would be the perfect layout for my card. The 4"x9" card base is made from Night of Navy. The Creamy Caramel strip has stars (same set) stamped in Moonlight White Brilliance Ink. I used a 1/2" punch for the navy circles and added some red brads from Making Memories. Some natural colored hemp was wrapped around the Real Red panel and then I attached my sentiment (Hero Arts) to the hemp.

This card was made for a little boy, but I can certainly see myself giving this to one of the adult baseball fans in my life. Have a very happy Monday! So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Trudee's Inspiration Challenge

Trudee has started an Inspiration Challenge over on her blog. If you love challenges, go ahead...check it out and play along! All of the details are HERE.

When I first saw the photograph, the diamond made me immediately think of this flower from the Jolies Fleurs set by Lizzie Anne Designs. I stamped the flower with Black Color Box Pigment Ink onto a scrap of Bazzill Silver and then heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. After I trimmed it up, I strategically added Star Dust Stickles (after all...this is a Trudee challenge, and that girl LOVES sparkle...lol!) The swirls on either side of the flower blossom are from the same set. They were stamped with Encore Pigment Ink in Silver and then heat embossed with the Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Happy Harmony set (retired) and it went through the same treatment as the swirls. I distressed all the edges of the Cool Caribbean panel and used the Ticket Corner Punch in each corner. The organdy ribbon is from Michaels.

Lastly, I added some little pearls (Kaiser Craft) to each corner to finish it off. I had oodles of trouble with those pesky pearls today! I lost the first two in the cream colored carpeting in my stamping room! Those babies flew out of my tweezers just like the snails did for Julia Roberts in the restaurant scene from Pretty Woman...lol! Luckily, I have a few extras for little mishaps such as these!

So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

My Elzybells are Here!!!

Ain't she purdy?!?! As soon as I saw the Elzybells Friendship Collection release, I knew this one was a *Must Have*! She goes perfectly with this new A Muse sentiment. The two of these stamps touched a very sentimental spot in my heart and I am oh so happy to have them!

I made this card to go along with Sharon's "Pretty Challenge". It's a simple card, but to me it's a pretty one as well. My card base is Stampin' Up's Whisper White. Elzy was inked in Black Stazon and then colored with a mixture of watercolor crayons, pencils, and Cool Caribbean ink. Next, I used my Spellbinder Nestabilities Dies. I added some polka dot grosgrain ribbon and some paper piercing on either side of the Cool Caribbean and black panels. Of course my moon and stars shouted out for some sparkle, so my Star Dust Stickles were called in and there it is...my "pretty" card!

So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D