Sharing a challenge card

Short post tonight because I'm still working on that flower-making tutorial AND planning out tomorrow's K.I.S.S. post. I have some challenges that I'm entering this card in & I thought you'd enjoy taking a peek at it. Base is an A2 card (white), background paper is from Prima, border strip is K&Co punched with the MS doily lace punch, pink pearls are from Basic Grey, and the focal point is....are you ready for this? Toilet paper! *ROFL* Yes, you read correctly...it's an embossing technique that I learned last summer...a form of paper casting that uses Cuttlebug folders. For this one I used "textile texture" & highlighted the embossing with my Tsukeniko chalk inks in pink, soft aqua, & jumbo java.

I want to give a special shout out to Linners - she's the one that mailed me the people paper last summer before we moved. It came NOT in a box, but wrapped very well in Cling Wrap & was completely undamaged in its travels from Georgia to Utah. My mailman thought we were BOTH nuts! *ROFL*

The challenges I'm entering this card in are:
Saturday Spotlight - use something from around your house - toilet paper
Colour Q Challenge #19 - regal rose, chocolate chip, blush blossom, close to cocoa, & white - pretty doggone close!
Creative Inspirations Challenge #47 - anyone for leftovers? - papers are scrap bits out of my stash boxes
Everybody-Art-Challenge #77 - Valentine - I was going for a vintage Valentine (it could also make a cool anniversary card!)
Fussy & Fancy Friday Challenge #4 - Dazzle us - pearls & hey...using t.p. would qualify as "dazzling" you with my creativity! *LOL*
365 Cards - stacked up (at least 3 layers) - background, lace strip, focal point, & pearls

Now I'm off to link this post to all of these challenges. It was fun to see how many of these I could manage with just one card. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

So what if....

the Indianapolis Colts had won the Super Bowl, you ask? Okay, so maybe YOU didn't ask, but someone DID ask that I share the blue and white project I had waiting in the wings for this last K.I.S.S. I mentioned on Sunday that I had a project in each team's colors for my K.I.S.S. project and was waiting for the final score. If Peyton had stayed in peak performance & had led his team to victory, my post would have included this:Very simple but very pretty. I used a distressed blue dotted paper from the Scrapbook/Craft section of King's (a local northern Utah store) that I picked up a couple of summers ago, a white heart paper doily, two blue silk flowers, and a half pearl. I really like how it turned out.

Now this darling image below is "Manga Boy" from Funky Kits, UK. Chris got him (& a few others) for me as an early Valentine's gift and in celebration of the Colts making it to the Super Bowl. I had stamped the image last week as soon as I had him mounted on cling cushion, but didn't get to "play" with him till last night. He's just OODLES of fun to color with my COPIC markers & I've got some ideas to change up his look a bit for future cards. You know, make him not so conservative or traditional and more....Manga. *LOL* Right now, he kinda looks like my scruffy-headed boys!This is another image that Chris got for me from Funky Kits. I just love Leanne Ellis & I've played with her artwork, with her permission, on here before. I'm entering this lovely in Frosted Designs "Valentine Challenge" because they want you to use ANYTHING BUT pink or red. This definitely qualifies! *LOL* I used a brown patterned background paper from MME, paper doily inked with Ranger Distress colors of Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain. I used a blending stump, a bit of water and the same inks to color the image. The hearts & wings are "sugared" with antique linen Distress Stickles.I have also had a request to show how I made that flower last week. Well, when I made one Sunday for the Saints card, I made sure I took pix of the steps I used to make them. I also made some in different sizes, as well. As soon as I have all the pictures watermarked, I'll post them for you.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

One card - two challenges

I was hoping to be able to share two cards with you this evening, but it's been a crazy week & I only managed to finish one of the cards I wanted to enter some challenges with. This one SHOULD qualify for two - Digital Tuesdays challenge #41 (digital image AND embossing); and Copic Buzz challenge #25 (red & pink for Valentine's). I used a darling free image from Inger called "My Valentine"; my COPIC markers (colors pictured below); some K&Co paper; cardstock from The Paper Company (in the pic it looks plum but it's really a deep, blood RED); Prima flowers; Red Stickles (on the flower centers, dusted on the flowers, & the words); my deckle scissors; a cutout & embossing folder from Cuttlebug.I took a bit of the background paper & another glittered piece from the Cuttlebug cutouts & dolled up the inside....
I used all of these colors on that image.
That's it for me tonight...I'll let ya know if I win either challenge! Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Well, I got SOMETHING finished!

Not my laundry tho, it's incessant! *LOL* Ahhhh, the joys of washing clothes for five people! Gotta love it!! My magic laundry hamper has not only spewed forth more clothes for me to wash, but in the last couple of weeks, it's learned how to REPRODUCE! If I'm lying, I'm dying -- I went to bed one night with a near-empty hamper, woke up the next morning to not one but THREE hampers in my upstairs bathroom, literally overflowing with laundry needing to be washed. There has GOT to be a way to harness this technology & hook it up to my empty wallet!!! (is this technology alien? could be - I'm the only female in this house & men, as we all know, ARE the most alien creatures on this planet...) *LOL* C'mon, ya gotta admit that having a wallet that could fill back up with spendable dough would be really nice. Think "endless craft shopping spree!" *ROFL* I'm SO there!! I put that right up at the top of the priority wish list with dishes that clean & put away themselves!

*sigh* Allright, allright...back to the "real world." I did get a bit of craft shopping in today - that was nice. Money's been a bit tight lately, so I haven't really done anything other than the necessities in quite some time. I stopped first at Hobby Lobby & picked up my very first set of Spellbinders Nestabilities in the Classic Oval at 40%off (dork dance with me!), along with a Script Cuttlebug A2 folder, and a pad of Memento black ink. Then I went up the road to Michaels (had a 50%off coupon burning a hole in my pocket) - couldn't locate my lacy heart MS border punch that I had so badly wanted, but instead picked up a MS lattice/gothic-type border & a regular MS punch that makes 3 smaller Classic Butterflies to go with my bigger single. Walked out with 2 punches for what I would have spent on one! Not bad for an hour and a half of crafty power shopping! *LOL* I also managed to make a card today. Used bits and pieces that I had laying about & I think it turned out nicely:

I started out with some lovely soft, smoky blue textured cardstock that my BFF, Sharron, sent to me. She said it made her think of me (Awwwwww!). Thank you, Sweets, it really is lovely!

I had a piece of white paper that I had used with my Cuttlebug A2 die - took my Copic BG72 (ice ocean) & colored it. Single layer of color on the ampersand; 4 layers of color on the words. Then used my Sakura Stardust glitter gel pen on the ampersand for some "thparkle."

This little square is a bit of chipboard that Sharron sent me a while back. It was meant to cushion some CDs, but I just LOVED the robin's egg blue color & wasted no time in putting it to use! I took the Copic BG72 around the edges, along with a little 0 (colorless blender) to "fuzzy" it up some. Then put a cute rhinestone heart on with some MS "frond" punches and some Jesse James sugar coated flower buttons. I used the Stardust glitter pen to make some veins on the leaves.

Also had this lovely thparkly sheer ribbon & a couple more Jesse James button flowers. Not bad eh? This is going to be a Valentine card to my gramma in Oklahoma - my sister and eldest aunt located her yesterday. My mother & youngest aunt had led us all to believe that she was somewhere in Texas, near Houston, and had kept her from contacting us for the last TWO YEARS. Can you believe it?!? My sister went off of a gut feeling that she had, made a couple of well-placed phone calls and...BINGO! One happy reunion...that is, until Mother finds out about it. My nose isn't itching just yet & my sister hasn't called to tell me that she's had a really bad confrontation, so for now, all is well.

Well, I'm off to play with my new toys. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

2 cards, 1 box, 1 challenge, & 1 award

*ROFL* How's THAT for a title? Yup, that's everything I've got in store for ya today, so it's gonna be a long post, AND this is what I get for not posting for two days!

First up, the cards. This is a freebie image that I downloaded from Squigglefly. I colored it with my Copics, used a diamond nesting Coluzzle to cut it out after I rotated the image 90degrees for a different look, and distressed the edges. I used two antique copper brads to mount it to the red cardstock (8.5"x5.5" sheet, folded in half). The chipboard "hi" is from the Jukebox line of Thickers by American Craft.This one (below) is a Valentine's Day card with a more masculine feel. I literally made it entirely out of scraps that were laying on the table in my cardmaking carnage. *ROFL* Finished size is 4" square.

This little box (2 pix below) is something that I picked up at Ben Franklin last month. It's the first box I've ever covered with paper - usually I slap acrylics on & do something with my decorative painting. It measures 4.5" square & has a cute little accordion album inside (I'll show THAT part of the project later this week when it's complete). I had 2 coordinating scraps of paper that I used for the box itself. On the lid I did a Cuttlebug tag in a lovely robin's egg lightweight chipboard that came in an envelope of CDs (thanks Sharron!); a brown rub-on from Heidi Grace; a swirly rhinestone from that set I picked up at Wally World; an antiqued pewter brad from JoAnn's; a bit of twill tape with a staple; two adorable crocheted flowers (thanks again, Sharron!); some Frosted Lace Stickles in the flower centers; a dragonfly charm outta my copious button collection; and two antique coat buttons (a final thanks to Sharron!) with linen thread in their centers. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.



My challenge came originally from Deb, then I got the "snowball treatment" and got smacked last night by Maw and Sharron! I'm feelin the love now!! *LOL* The rules for this challenge are - Go to where you store your photos on your computer. Go to the SIXTH folder and pick the SIXTH photo. Post that photo on your blog along with a SHORT story about it. Tag SIX people and leave a comment on their blog or email them letting them know you chose them. Here's the photo that I ended up with:This was taken Mother's Day 2005. That's all 3 of my munchkins (then ages 2.5, 8.5, & 10) attacking their Dad in the backyard. I was up on the deck (11 feet off the ground - YIKES!) watching all the chaos. It was one of those rare times when they all wanted to do the same thing & actually had fun doing it! Just HAD to capture that on camera!! *LOL* Now, it's my turn for tagging. Think I'll get:
1. Kristine
2. Holly
3. Di
4. Vicki
5. Calv
6. Joy


The award comes from my Canadian "sister from another mister" - Kristine. Isn't it cute? It's, I assume, for making lemonade outta the lemons that are handed to us in life & I love it!! Here are "Da Rules": 1. Put the logo on your blog or post. 2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude! 3. Link to your nominees within your post. 4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. 5. Share the love and link to this post with the person from whom you received your award. So, my ten would be -
1. Andrea
2. Sharron
3. Calv
4. Charlene
5. Maw
6. Vicki
7. Joy
8. Di
9. Holly
10. Lisa

'K! That's enough for me today!! Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

It's Holly's fault!!!

*ROFL* Okay, OKAY, it's really not, but I thought it would be nice to blame, uh, I mean, give CREDIT to Holly for inspiring this card. {hee, hee, hee} I left a comment on one of her posts the other day about Valentine's Day cards and how they didn't HAVE to be red and pink (thanks for agreeing with me, GF!), and well...this one just kinda happened. I had some ideas for a card for a "friend" for Valentine's Day & the last thing I wanted to do was red or pink. Well, keeping in mind what I'd said to Holly, THIS is what I ended up with:

I started with a birch color pre-made base; took some vintage-antique-grungy blue polka dotted paper from a pad I picked up at Hobby Lobby (the PaperStudio line) & stitched it down with my sewing machine; an unfinished chipboard swirly from K& Co covered in white pigment ink from a ColorBox cat's eye pad; a tag I cut out on my Cuttlebug (inked the edges with Copic Brick Beige); an antiqued copper brad that I found at JoAnn's to anchor the tag; a bit of narrow lace from The PaperStudio down the side; some plain antique copper brads to go in the center of the paper flowers from KAISER (colored with Copics to coordinate with the label); AND a small piece of peachy-pink-vintage-grungy paper from the same pad as the polka dot and on top of the pink, finished with another Melissa Frances vintage label.

So, whaddya think? I guess it really doesn't have to be for Valentine's Day, either, it could really be an all-occasion, but that's what it was made for. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!