Martini Time!!

WOW!!! I can't believe it's now 2011!!! So much happened in 2010 - both good and bad so it's nice to have it behind us.  I feel like my stamping has grown leaps and bounds in 2010 and I can't wait for new adventures and opportunities.  In 2010, I had the honor to serve on a few design teams - Skipping Stones Design as well as Clear Dollar Stamps in which my terms have ended for both. I was Mercy's Guest Muse in August and this was such an honor as well. In September, I became a Junior Trendsetter at There She Goes and then Mid November I was invited to be part of Lori Boyd's By Lori Designs DT.  I'm truly blessed to be part of such an amazing stamping community. I have made so many amazing friends over the last year and for that I am truly grateful!!!  You know who you are and I love you all!!!

My Favorite Things knew how to make my year end just right!!! Check out the post here.

In honour of a new year starting, I decided to make a card using Mercy's last sketch challenge. I'm so sad that I won't have Mercy's inspirations on Tuesdays anymore but I understand the time to move on. 

Now who wouldn't love a little Martini time to bring in the New Year right?  LOL.  I've used the MFT Flapper Doodle set called "Cheers to a New Year" as part of this week's MFT challenge at SCS which is to create a card with a party theme. I\ve watercolored the image with my Tombow Markers and kept the card relatively simple.  I also made this card for this week's challenge of "Celebrating" over at Crazy4Challenges. Who doesn't love the idea of celebrating the new year?  Celebrating friends with drinks?  Martinis anyone???  

Happy New Years everyone!!!!!!!

CDS Sneak Peek - Blooming Bouquets

Hey there!! Welcome to the sneak peeks for December's release at Clear Dollar Stamps!! We have a bit of "spring" to show you in the form of flowers. This fantastic new set is called Blooming Bouquets and has a co-ordinating set of dies! I don't have much felt so my colors for my card were based on the felt colors I had on hand. See the dies in action?? Isn't it great?  I am a flower lover so for me this is great. I know that I'll use both the stamp set and dies again and again.   I've used one of the smaller flowers from the stamp set and stamped it in various colors.  I tried to keept the card clean and simple to show the flowers in all their glory.

Stamps/Images: Blooming Bouquet and Blooming Bouquet Dies
Cardstock/Papers:Gina K White, Basic Black, Melon Mambo
Inks: Rose Bud Memento, Studio G Blue and Lilac Pigment Inks
Accents/Tools: Felt, button, linen thread, Cuttlebug

My second card uses one of Jen del Muro's sketches from October and I was inspired by the DP which dictated everything about my card.  I love how it feels like the flower is popping off the page with it's color.  There are so many flowers in this set that are so versatile and can be used in many different combinations.

Stamps/Images: Blooming Bouquet
Cardstock/Papers: GIna K White, Early Espresso, Bazzill Swiss Dots, Scenic Route DP, MME DP
Inks: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Accents/Tools: Crochet Ribbon, Rhinestones, Nestabilities   

Make sure you check out what the other girls on the DT have made with this set.  Candy, Katie, Angela, Christi, Gloria, Lisa, Shell, Linda,  and Barb all have some great eye candy for  you!!! Check it out!!

MOJO165 Feeling Sick?

Feeling a little under the weather?  Well if you are... then this cute set called "Get Well Critters" illustrated by Laurie Wilson from Clear Dollar Stamps is the best.  I have had so much making cards with this set and know I'll be pulling it out again and again.  The layout I've used is this week's Mojo Monday challenge and LOVING it.  I am loving sketches lately - it takes part of the hard work out of it.  Hehehe... Each week, Moxie Fab World has a Tuesday Trigger picture to inspire cards and wow this week's is fantastic and was the inspiration behind the colors for my card.

As soon as I saw the Tuesday Trigger, I knew that the Thrift Shop DP from October Afternoon had just the right look to bring out the elegance with such a fun image. The image has been watercolored with my watercolor pencils.   I kept it pretty simple as I needed to get a few cards made quickly.  My mom hasn't been feeling well this week so I think this card and some soup will be making it's way over to her house.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

GS64 A holiday of Splendor

I can't believe how much I've been posting this week... are you enjoying the eye candy?  :-)  I've been in card making mode because one of my brother's friends who owns a local hair studio asked me if she could buy 20 Christmas cards and of course I said yes... Then I realized I only had about 10 made so of to Santa's little workshop aka my craft area I went and I  have been getting busy... only 3 more to go!! Wahoo!!!  This is one I started yesterday and finished off this morning.  The layout is from this week's Get Sketchy Challenge - I have never participated in their challenges before but I know I will again - yup... I'm addicted to sketches lately.  The stamp set I've used is called Snow Flourishes from Clear Dollar Stamps. It's great for quick easy cards and that's what I need, quick and easy!  I've stamped various snowflakes in different SU ink colors and then as my focal image using the MFT Snowflake Die I made snowflakes. They didn't turn out exactly as expected.  I should have used the more glittery glitter I have than the one I did use for a bit more sparkle.  This card ended up costing me a lot of money.... Hehhe.... I only had a little Xyron (1.5 inches) and it wasn't quite big enough for the largest snowflake so off to Michaels I went and I came home with the 5 inch Xyron... Bigger than I needed but I know I'll be using it more in the future (you can get cartridges to make magnets, laminating etc). 

I have to start getting ready for work so I'll add all the details later.  Have a wonderful day!!!

MTSC99 Peaceful Wishes

Hey there everyone!! I hope you are taking time to remember those who have fought for our freedom.  Because it is considered a Statutory holiday in Canada, I have the day off work.  I'm not used to having a day off during the week so I'd been eye-ing up Mercy's Sketch Challenge for this week and decided I had to play.  I've used the set, The Light of Winter (illustrated by Kim Teasdale) for Clear Dollar Stamps and have watercolored it with my Watercolor pencils.  The DP I've used is from Cosmo Cricket's Wanted pad which has a more distressed feel to it, so I've dry embossed the DP using some of my Cuttlebug Embossing Folders and then sponged the edges of it.  I still wanted the card to look somewhat crisp so I haven't sponged the Ivory or Kraft layers of Cardstock.  Hope you like it!!!

Stamps/Images: The Light of Winter - CDS

Cardstock/Papers: Gina K Kraft and Ivory, Wanted by Cosmo Cricket, watercolor paper

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa

Accents/Tools: Watercolor pencils, waterbrush, Nesties, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, Clear detail embossing Powder, Sponges, Ribbon, Buttons, Linen Thread

Techniques: Watercoloring Dry embossing



FS196 Got Sniffles?

I'm back... twice in one day if you can believe it!!! I rarely do the Featured Stamper challenge at SCS but when I saw that it was the super sweet and awesome Tobi Crawford aka jazzytobi I decided I HAD to play.  I had the honor of meeting Tobi last month when she came to an event that my BFF Kim and I were hosting.  All I can say is that Tobi is an absolute sweetheart and talent exudes from her. Tobi has such an amazing gallery that it was hard to choose but I eventually decided to case this card.  The rules of the Featured Stamper challenge are that you have to change two or more things so here it goes: the things I changed were: DP, image, shape of card.  I have watercolored one of the images from the recent release at Clear Dollar Stamps called Get Well Critters. Yup - you've seen the turtle before but it's just so darn cute that I wanted to use it again.  The image has been watercolored with Watercolor pencils. 

I noticed this week that one of my stamping idols is back creating, yeah!!! I've so missed "The Spotted Chick - Jeanie Whitmer" and her amazing eye candy!!! I've almost missed "That's Krafty Thursday" with my love of Kraft, I had to play with this week's "That's Krafty Thursday" Challenge. 

Hope you like it!! Have a great evening! 

SUPPLIES: 
Stamp set: Get Well Critters by Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper: Gina K Kraft, Old Olive, Upsy Daisy Designs DP, Watercolor paper
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Wheat Versamagic
Accessories: Nesties, Watercolor pencils, waterbrush, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug EF, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Pop Dots

CDS Sneak Peek - The Light of Winter

Welcome back for Day 2 of sneak peeks at Clear Dollar Stamps. All of the sets will be available on November 1st.  Kim Teasdale has created this gorgeous candle set called "The light of Winter".  I plan on making this a set of 4 cards to give to my mom (She's always asking me for cards so I know she'd appreciate getting them so she can give them to friends).  For my first card above, I decided to use one of the sentiments from the set and make a simpler card.  I kept the Nestabilities in place and sponged around it with Crumb Cake and Vintage Sepia.  I love the simplicity of the card.

For my second card, I used the candle image that I watercolored with Tombow Markers. Another simple card here to highlight the beauty of the set.  (Sorry about the shadow from the bow - I was taking this pic later at night and couldn't get a great pic of it). 

Thanks for checking out my sneak peeks for today.  Check out the rest of the team's peeks - you'll love them.

Everyday Jar-gon Additions: Laurie, Katie, Cassie, Barb, Lisa
Rooster Sunrise: Laurie, Trudy, Katie, Gloria
The Light of Winter/Let God's Light Shine: Kim, Angela, Katie, Tricia
Thankful Pockets/Thankful Pocket Quote: Laurie, Katie, Nancy, Cassie

CDS Sneak Peek - Get Well Critters

For my TSG Blog Hop posts, please scroll down a bit.

I'm so excited for this month's release at Clear Dollar Stamps - available on November 1st.  Each of the illustrators has come up with great sets and it was so hard to choose which ones to work with.  But when I saw "Get Well Critters" from Laurie Wilson, I immediately knew I had to have it.  It's flu season and it's always nice to be able to give someone a card who isn't feeling well - just brightens their day to know someone is thinking of them.  There's also a companion set to this one that is full of great sentiments.  For my first project, I decided to make one of the tissue box covers that is over on SCS right now. The box was incredibly easy to make and I'm sure I'll be making more of them.  I've used My Mind's Eye DP (I ended up using two different patterns between the 4 sides because I didn't have enough of just one DP to do all 4 sides the same).  I've watercolored the turtle with Tombow Markers - have you noticed I'm trying to color with different mediums to see which one I like the best but I'll admit I'll always come back to my Tombows. 

Stamps/Images: Get Well Critters

Cardstock/Papers: Kraft, Early Espresso, MME DP, watercolor paper
Inks/Markers: Versafine Onyx Black, Tombows - will add later
Accents/Tools: Ribbon, Nestabilities, Button, Linen Thread, Embossing Powder
Techniques: Tissue Box Cover - Tutorial - http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/tissueboxcover/

For my second card, I wanted to use the mouse - it was too cute to resist!  We all get boo-boos every now and then.... some more than others I think.  The image has been watercolored with my Tombow Markers and the DP is from Basic Grey - Olivia pack. 

SUPPLIES:
Stamps/Images: Get Well Critters

Cardstock/Papers: Gina K White, Basic Black, Olivia Basic Grey DP, Watercolor paper
Inks/Markers: Versafine Onyx Black, Tombows - 912,N79, N89, N65, 772,451 SU Cameo Coral Marker
Accents/Tools: Nestabilities, Ribbon, Buttons, Linen Thread, Corner Chomper
A few sets are being shown today so make sure you check out all the eye candy.

Get Well Critters: Laurie, Angela, Katie, Tricia, Barb, Christi, Shell, Lisa
Get well Sentiments: Katie, Shell
Healing Scriptures: Laurie, Katie, Nancy, Stacy
2 Cor 10:3-5 : Katie, Stacy

Check back tomorrow as I have another sneak Peek for you.

MTSC94 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.... no - not yet!!!! I'm notorious for saying I'm going to get Christmas cards out and year after year life is way too busy so I decided this year if I get a little head start on it, maybe I'll actually send some... We'll see...  I've used Mercy's Sketch Challenge for this week to create this cute card using the "Silly Goose SOM" at Clear Dollar Stamps.  I've watercolored the image with Jovial Basic Grey DP and then paper pieced the box with the same DP.  Antique Linen Distress Ink has been sponged around the edges.  Just a quick card to share with you this morning as I have to get ready for work now.

Another Christmas card down!!! Wahoo!!!

FTL110 Simply Snowing

I was in the mood to do a little stamping last night but didn't have the time to do any coloring so I decided to go clean and simple with this week's Fall to Layout (FTL110).  I've stamped the various snowflakes from Snow Flourishes (a new release from Clear Dollar Stamps) in Soft Sky and then added blue rhinestones to the center of each snowflake.  I decided to for-go (did I spell that right?) the sentiment because I haven't decided if this will be one of my Christmas cards this year or not.

Stamps/Images: Snow Flourishes

Cardstock/Papers:Kraft, Baja Breeze, Gina K white
Inks/Markers: Soft Sky
Accents/Tools: Rhinestones, ribbon, button, embroidery thread

 Hope you have a great day!!!

CDS Sneak Peek - Snow Flourishes

I'm a sucker when it comes to holiday stamps and even more so when it comes to Snow Flakes. I don't know what it is about snowflakes but I love them. Oh wait... I don't like them so much when they keep falling from the sky and you get stuck inside the house because there's too much snow to go out.  Well, Clear Dollar Stamps has a wonderful new set coming out on October 1st called Snow Flourishes which you will absolutely love. They make for quick, easy, clean and simple cards that pack a punch.  If you're like me and leave your Christmas cards to the last minute,  this set will enable you to get beautiful cards out quickly. 

For my first sample above, I used one of the snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folders on the top half of some Kraft Cardstock.  I then layered a dark brown matting and on my white Cardstock stamped a variety of snowflakes using Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette inks.  It makes for a very pretty card in some unconventional holiday colors.

For my second card, I decided to go with a "sparkly" look that hasn't translated in the photo. Each snowflake was stamped in Versamark and then embossed with some Glittery Embossing powder.  In real life, it packs a punch... in a pic not so much.  What I love about this stamp set is that it has so many snowflakes and so many sentiments that it is a must have for your Christmas stamp collection. 

To see the full set, look at Lori's blog and then check out what the DT has for you today.

Snow Flourishes: Laurie, Katie, Angela, Shell


Snow Tweet: Trudy, Katie, Lisa, Stacy

Filled with Cheer: Kim, Katie, Nancy, Cassie, Christi

CDS Sneak Peek - Silly Goose

You Silly Goose!!!  Hehehe... I love this set by Laurie Wilson called Silly Goose.  This is October's Stamp of the Month at Clear Dollar Stamps available free with a purchase of $50 starting on October 1st .  I had so much fun creating a more masculine sample (card above) and  a girly sample (below).    Both have been totally inspired by my DP choices. I have to tell you... I love Basic Grey DP!!! It's the best. 

Both images have been colored using my Tombow Markers (I'm so bad about putting away my markers as soon as I use them but I promise I'll start listing the numbers soon).  These were so much fun to make and I have a feeling I'll be using this Silly Goose again soon!!

There are a few sets being shown today. Go to Lori's blog to see what the sets look like and then check out what the DT has come up with. 

Autumn Blessings: Trudy, Katie, Tricia


Something to Crow About: Laurie, Trudy, Katie, Barb, Gloria

Jabez Prayer: Candy, Katie, Shell, Stacy, Cassie

Silly Goose (SOM): Laurie, Katie, Angela, Christi

MTSC91 Going Vintage

We all know I love Mercy`s sketch challenges and I know I keep saying they get better and better each week but it`s true... they really do!!!  Mercy is most definitely the ``Master`` of sketches.  She`s absolutely brilliant!!! I never have enough masculine cards so I decided to pull out the CDS stamp set called ``Measure of a Man``.  I`ve watercolored the image with my Tombow Markers and then decided to use the Cracked Glass technique to make my card feel a little more vintage.  After all... Vintage never goes out of style right.... 

Mercy... thanks for rocking the sketches each week!!!

A little penguin bringing presents

I've been so busy lately but this past weekend I had some extra time so I wanted to get some Christmas cards made.  Every year I always have the intention of making Christmas cards and sending them out.... and as many typical stampers, we never get around to it and we don't get them out - am I right???  

So when I saw this weeks' sketch at Card Patterns, I knew I wanted to play with this UBER cute penguin from the Clear Dollar Stamps set called Winter Critters.  I've watercolored the image with my Tombow markers (surprise surprise right???).  This card actually came together quite quickly (if you don't count my coloring time) so I think I may be cranking a few more of these out - so if you're on my Christmas list.... don't be hurt if you get a duplicate k? 

Yeah!!!!! Another Christmas card down!!!

SSSC85 Enjoy your day... with Remotes!!!

I had a bit of free time last night so I decided to take the time to make a quick card with Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch - it just called for the remote controls from Kim Teasdale's "Measure of a Man" set from Clear Dollar Stamps.  The DP used is from MME and Bella Boulevard and I thought were perfect for this man card.  This was an easy peasy quick and easy card!!!  With how busy I've been, it was something I needed.

Enjoy your day!!!

MTSC90 All decked out for Christmas

I had such a blast last month as Mercy's Guest Muse so I've made it my mission this month to make sure that I participate every week... no excuses.  Mercy always has amazing sketches and they just keep getting better and better. I don't know how she does it.

I've used a new release from Clear Dollar Stamps called Winter Critters for my card.  It's such a fun set and I figured I hadn't used the tree image so why not use it now?  I've watercolored the image with my Tombow Markers and then I've added Stickles (Yellow, Fruit Punch and Crystal) to different parts of the elements on the tree. The DP I've used is from Bella Boulevard and one of them is Bazzill Swiss Dots.  I just received an SU order and can I say I absolutely LOVE Cherry Cobbler??? Loving it!!!!

Have a great day everyone!!!

Another Christmas card done.... yeah!!!

CDS Sneak Peek - Measure of a Man

It's that time again... It's Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peek time for the September 1st Release. It feels like I've been gone forever from Clear Dollar Stamps but I'm now back after a 2 month DT vacation. Oh how I've missed my CDS. This month there are a ton of great sets and one of my favorites is Kim Teasdale's new set called Measure of a Man. It has a great sense of humor and sass that any man would appreciate!!! I know for myself that I find I struggle with masculine cards and have very few masculine sets so I had to have this set. 

For my first card, I knew I wanted to use the TV from the set because I just had to use the sentiment.  It's just so cheeky.  I've watercolored the image with my Tombow Markers as usual.  Each layer of the Oliver Basic Grey DP has been dry embossed with my Cuttlebug Embossing Folders for a bit of texture.  Of course with it being a masculine card, I tried staying away from ribbon (I gotta tell you it was hard considering almost all of my cards have ribbon on them). 

For my second card, I decided I wanted to go with a more CAS look to make the remotes stand out. I've stamped them with Basic Black ink.  Check it out... I went with ribbon for this card... exactly what I had been trying to avoid!. 

Make sure you check out what the ladies from the team have for you today for eye candy (see sidebar for links)

Whooo Loves you: Laurie, Candy, Katie, Christi, Lisa, Barb, Cassie, Shell
The Measure of a Man: Katie, Kim, Angela, Nancy, Barb, Cassie
Handstamped Label: Candy, Katie, Lisa, Barb, Laurie
Merry Christmas 3: Katie
You are Special: Katie

CDS Sneak Peeks - Winter Critters

Told you I'd be here today!!! It's Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peek Time for the September 1st release.  I'm so glad to be back designing and creating after a two month break - oh how I've missed my Clear Dollar Stamps.  Laurie Wilson has hit it out of the park with her new set called Winter Critters.  I absolutely love the images from this set.
 

For my first sample, I decided to decorate this gift tin that could be used for a gift certificate or gift card, a piece of jewelry (hint hint honey..) or any other small item.  Believe me when I say you don't want to see my wrap a present (it's pathetic I'll admit).  I wrapped some ribbon around the bottom and added a bow with a button on the front.  The image has been watercolored with my Tombow Markers.  I really wanted to try to keep this simple. 

I have so many friends who love to read so I decided to make a Corner Bookmark.  They are so incredibly easy to make.  I think I'll be making a pile of these to put in stockigngs at Christmas this year.  I've watercolored the image with my Tombow Markers.  The DP is from Basic Grey (it's an old one from a few years ago).  Hope you like it!!!

Check out what the team has for you today: (please see sidebar for links)

Christmas Mouse & All God's Creatures: Laurie, Katie, Trudy, Barb, Shell
Winter Critters: Laurie, Katie, Angela, Tricia, Cassie

Happy Barkday to Lori

Happy "Barkday" Lori!!! It's Lori McCroskey's Birthday and the Clear Dollar Stamps Design Team has decided to throw our amazing owner a surprise birthday blog hop!!!  She has no idea!!! This was definitely a covert operation that's for sure.  Katie had to sneak onto Lori's Clearly iStamp blog to start it all off, and each participating DT member has created a special birthday card for Lori and is posting that creation today in their blog hop post.

If you just happened upon my blog today, you'll want to start at Lori's blog where you'll find Candy's creation.  You should have arrived from the amazing Katlyn's blog where I'm sure you saw some great eye candy. 

For my card, I've used Kim Teasdale's set, Dog Days and Dog Days Celebrations.  I've watercolored the dog with my Tombow Markers and a waterbrush.  I then sponged in a sky and some grass to create an outdoor type scene.  I used a button instead of the balloon to create a bit more dimension in the card.  I love how it turned out. The DP is from Crate Paper and Bo Bunny. I've had it sitting on my desk all week waiting for time to make this card.  It just screams fun!!! 

Thank you for visiting my blog today and your next stop on the blog hop is Sarah Taylor.  If for some reason, there is a break in the hop, there will be a master list at Lori's blog.   

Enjoy the eye candy that the DT has for you today!!!