Pet Sympathy

This is my first sympathy card with the D is for Dog set. I just thought the lab image in that set looked too happy and alive. I went with the tree from Thoughts & Prayers set for my focal point.

This card also uses Mojo Monday sketch #188. In the background is a few things that pup left behind.

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, D is for Dog; Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Bella Bleu DSP; Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip marker; Accessories: Brads, Scallop Trim punch, Circle Scissors Plus, Square Lattice die, Circles #2 die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Missy's Got Some Thanking To Do

So I'm trying to create some thank you cards out of the left overs from the Princess Party Kit.

Some bling, royal wand, crown, glass slipper, thank you pennant flying, and background embossing matching the invitation. I think I hit all the royal-type images I've got in stock.

What do you think?

Stamps: Something Sweet, Artistic Etchings, Things I Love, Warmest Regards; Paper: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Regal Rose DSP; Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Pink Pirouette, Versamark; Accessories: Gold embossing powder, Clear embossing powder, Red Glimmer paper, Rhineston jewel, Clear rhinestone brad, Princess Party Kit, Heart-to-Heart punch, Stars #2 die, Circles #2 die, 3" Circle die, Petal Cone die, Elegant Lines embossing folder, Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrappy Friday: More Creative Crew Challenges

Morning Everyone, I have a couple more samples for May's Creative Crew demo challenges on Splitcoaststampers. Even if you are not a demo, you can always see the challenge cards by searching "creativecrew" in the gallery.

This month's DSP/color focus challenge is inspired by Elegant Soiree DSP, use neutral cardstock with a splash of color. I love this neutral look; it is so elegant! An extra step is to use naturals or confetti cardstock rather than Whisper White or Very Vanilla.

I thought the Elegant Lines embossing folder could look like sea waves, so it was an easy pairing with the Sail Away single stamp from the Summer mini.

I tried to make a less frilly bow, so perhaps this could pass as a masculine card.

Stamps: Sail Away; Paper: Naturals White, Crumb Cake; Ink: Soft Suede; Accessories: Brads, Neutrals Collection button, Early Espresso baker's twine, Baja Breeze seam binding, Elegant Lines embossing folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

The scrapbook focus challenge is to make a vintage scrapbook page using black & white or sepia photos. Fun idea! Personal bookkeeping: it is week 18 of Project 52, and I've created 25 pages.

I had hoped to make a real life, hold-in-your-hands, cardstock page. But it wasn't meant to be. It is rather easy to put together a vintage page with My Digital Studio. There are so many vintage and distressing options. In this case, I only had to use Love Letter DSP, which is already quite distressed.

These are photos of my grandmother and father. I have several more photos, passed down to me after she died, and you can just see the adoration on her face. This is the same grandmother that passed down to me her sewing machine, sewing box, and dining room table which my club ladies stamp on. I think of her often!

MDS elements: Love Letter DSP, Cherry Cobbler Scallop Trim punch, Black zig zag stitching, Red corduroy button, Black grosgrain ribbon knot.

Thanks for stopping by.

3-D Thursday: PCS Sneaky Peek and A Cheeky Chemistry Wall Hanging

Today I will show you this adorable coaster wall hanging, but first, a word from our sponser. ;)

May's edition of the Paper Crafter Sampler will be coming out soon, With This Ring. This issue will have tons of wedding ideas for those upcoming ceremonies. Here is a sneak peek of my project.

Make sure you check it out! Please go to the PCS website, and use code PCSHB or tell Melanie I sent ya. Thanks!

Now, back to the program. I saw this coaster wall hanging on the There She Goes blog, created by Megan Lock. The post was focusing on a "dollar find", where the bargain was the inexpensive cost of coasters. Well, I took it a step further and used free coasters we got from Olive Garden (thanks Casey!) at the 2009 Convention.

Using Sweet Pea DSP and Chemistry and Chemistry 101 sets from There She Goes, I recreated the wall hanging as a birthday present for my chemist brother-in-law.

Click on the photos to check out the funny sentiments. Hopefully he liked it enough to hang it in his office as a conversation piece.

Stamps: Chemistry, Chemistry 101; Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Sweet Pea DSP; Ink: Going Gray, Basic Black; Accessories: Brads, Jump rings, Circle Scissors Plus, Coasters, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Creative Crew May Challenges

Morning Everyone, Remember I told you I was selected to be part of Creative Crew on Splitcoaststampers' demo side? This is my first month, and the challenges are out there and live in the demo challenge forum.

If you're not a demo, you can't see the challenge forum, but you can still see the cards in the gallery. Just search "creativecrew". There are four challenges each month: catalog, DSP/color, holiday/seasonal, and scrapbook focus challenges.

The catalog challenge is to use distressing tools (sponges, distressing kit, cutter kit, etc.) to age up the project, to make something new look old. I had a couple not-so-straight-forward technique ideas for this one, cracked glass or faux mother of pearl. Actually I had a lot of card ideas, but not so much time. So for my little notecard, I used sponging on the edges, and I also ran my DSP piece through the Framed Tulips embossing folder and sanded the design. There is no problem that can't be solved over a cup of tea, or so I've heard.

Stamps: Morning Cup; Paper: Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Whisper White, First Edition DSP, In Color DSP; Ink: Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Soft Suede marker, Peach Parfait marker, Pear Pizzazz marker; Accessories: Sponge, Sanding block, Aquapainter, Neutrals Collection Watercolor Wonder CrayonsEyelet Border punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Bitty button, Linen thread, Framed Tulip embossing folder, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

The holiday/seasonal challenge for May is his and hers cards, i.e., Father's Day and Mother's Day. Use the same layout to make a masculine and feminine card. Once I settled on a layout, it went pretty smoothly. I am a sucker for circular main images.

Here are some close-ups.

Stamps: The Open Sea; Paper: Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Nautical Expedition DSP; Ink: Soft Suede, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Black Stazon; Accessories: Sponges, Aquapainter, Early Espresso baker's twine, Perfect Details texturz plate, Circles #2 die, Tasteful Trim die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Stamps: Easter Blossoms; Paper: Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Springtime Vintage DSP; Ink: Rose Red, Black Stazon; Accessories: Aquapainter, Brads, Circle Scissors Plus, 3" Circle die, Tasteful Trim die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

I'll share more challenges on Friday. You can peek in my gallery if you can't wait. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

SUOC18 Butterflies!

This week's challenge over at SU-Only Challenges is to create any project with butterflies. There's lot of butterfly options in the catalog, stamps, punches, and dies.

I made a card like this a couple years ago, and I never posted it. I thought I would save it for class or club, and I never got back to it. But it's always been in the back of my mind. So I thought I would recreate it with fresh papers. I made it back when I didn't use lots of embellishments, and I like the clean-and-simple design of it.

Now the issue is if you write your greeting inside the card, you can see it through the window. That's no good! So I improved the design by including a folded 5-1/4 x 8" panel. That way you can still have a place to write your greeting and hide it away when the card is displayed. Then the inside of the panel looked so bare, so I decorated it with a strip of DSP and Scallop Trim.

And as an extra bonus, this one also qualifies for the pirate-themed VSN challenge on SCS from this past weekend, Pretty Polly. That is, use parrot colors on your card, e.g., green, orange, yellow, and splash of blue.

Stamps: Dreams Du Jour, Inspired by Nature, Sincere Salutations; Paper: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Very Vanilla, Beyond the Garden DSP; Ink: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Black Stazon; Accessories: Window sheet, Scallop Trim punch, Top Note die, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fun in the Sun

It's time for some summer fun with the Summer Mini catalog! This is one of the cards I made for the Stampin' Addicts mini swap.

OMGosh, brayering multiple cards in a row. What was I thinking?!? Lots of fun little details here - the sand is speckled with the Color Spritzer tool, the water is texturized and sponged for depth and dimension, and I made my own little buttons.

Stamps: Summer Splash; Paper: Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla, Brights Collection DSP; Ink: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, So Saffron, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point, Crumb Cake marker, Basic Gray marker; Sponge dauber, Sponge, Linen thread, Crystal Effects, Color Spritzer Tool, 1-3/8" Circle punch, Buttons #5 die, Texture Plates Kit #4, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!