my own shades

Had to try the shades card while I have Amy's crimper. This is what I ended up with. I may have to drag out my camera as my scanner didn't catch the texture or shading on the image.

Find a vase ...

Splitcoast challenged to find a vase at Bellacor and use it as inspiration. Here's the vase I found and the card I made. My original intent was to have a cupcake whereever there was a dot but that card may need to wait.

Update ... I added a ribbon to the top with brads and made this into a purse for a birthday card for a friend. It turned out really cute.

Birthday again

My camera didn't do this one justice, it is actually very bright and cheery. Another birthday card for my daughter.

Old McDonald better think again

Spring is sprung and popped up bright

Sparkling sunny days

WIth skies of blue and clouds of white

Sparkling sunny days

With a sun beam here and a sunbeam there

Here a spark there a glow everywhere you go go

Spring is sprung and popped up bright

Sparkling sunny days

Summer days are lazing by

Picnics, walks and fun

Hummer birds and bees that buzz

Dancing in the sun

With a buzz and a hum and a buzz and a hum

Buzz hum buzz hum Everywhere a buzz hum

Summer days are lazing by

Soon the summer’s done.

Lady fall is set to flower

brown and orange and red

And all the trees are dropping leaves

Down upon your head

With a red one here and an orange one there

Here a yellow, feeling mellow, happy fellow fall fall

Lady fall is set to flower

Brown and orange and red

Old man winter’s on his way

Oh my oh oh no

With ice and snow and wintry day

Oh my oh oh no

With a snow flake here and a snowflake there,

Here a flake there a flake everywhere a flake flake

Old man winter’s on his way

Oh my oh oh no

Mothermark had a challenge (click here) to change the Old McDonald song and make a card .. but I got carried away ( what else is new ) and made a calendar instead. I need to wait till Amy gets back from up north to borrow her snowflake stamps since all of mine are in Florida!

School meetings all day

Oh my gosh, I need to go to work today! I had kind of forgotten what it was like! The scary thing is, I am trying to decide when to schedule office hours around which day I really want to have my mornings for CARD CHALLENGES. Thinking office hours on Thursday so I can still play Tuesday mornings!

I gotta admit

You may recognize my "cow" paper from Tuesday - I think it looks great on a masculine card. I gotta admit I started out to do The Fresh Batch challenge SASSC26 (http://sasthefreshbatch.blogspot.com /2009/07/stamps-and-smiles-sketch-challenge_30.html) but it got away from me. This is the card I am sending to Bob - see my sidebar - he is the nicest guy I know and has been working on houses for Habitat for Humanity for more years than I can imagine. I have worked with him and he is just the sweetest most caring person - so if you have a moment to spare, PLEASE send a card for his birthday!

The inside of my card has a SU saying ... "You came, you sawed, you fixed ..."

It's a cupcake kind of day !

Splitcoast wednesday sketch ... and my interpretation. I need to get going on these cupcake cards, I begin mailing them on Sept 1. Amanda will get a card a day for 30 days till her big 3 0 birthday ...

My scanner is off color - the background is really a pretty blue.

How Now Brown Cow ?

Just in case anyone was wondering, if you put bleach on black paper, you do NOT get nice white blotches that look like cow skin. At least not on the black paper I tried - I did get some interesting brown blotches.

So ...I made this card for this week's teapot over at mothermark's blog. Somehow I think I made this one more involved than it had to be! I made the denim for his pants by rubbing 2 blue ink pads across some lighter blue cardstock and adding gel pen stitching and marker for the wrinkles at the seam. I used my scor-pal to do checkers on the red shirt, then rubbed it with white. My cow ( YES it is a cow, what did you think it was? ) has a Martha Stewart punched udder and feet ... my revenge on Martha for her years of being organized while I was .... not ... and an Elemental Doodles stamped hat of course. I word processed the Moooooo. I thought Snickers looked kind of like cow fur so I used her for a background. The cat whiskers sticking out do not add to the illusion of cow.

Sunflowers !

The prompt at 365 cards was to do a card with sunflowers ... and I got a little carried away.

Birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees ...

Well, no, actually, it is just birds and bees that are the challenge today at CCEE. ( http://cceestampers.blogspot.com /2009/08/birds-bees.html) Since it is a rainy day and I can make cards, clean the house or paint the basement, I think it is a great time to do some challenges, don't you !

This one has some branchy doodles and text from Elemental Doodles ... I just got the email that I am on the new design team! I had the card done BEFORE the email came, I want you to know !

Inspiration room ... well, messy dresser

This piled up dresser is the inspiration over at 365 cards --- lots to look at, kind of like my house. I love the wicker baskets underneath, although around here there would be a cat in each of them. I chose to double the flower vases and used wigglies from Elemental Doodles to create my flowers intending to add flower soft. Then I decided I really liked it with just the stamping. If you can't read it, the maxim on the wall is "Relax!" which is exactly what I am doing on this very rainy day in Michigan.

Best way to celebrate ... with CUPCAKES!

Today's FS130 at splitcoast gave me the inspiration for this card http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/995568?&cat=500&ppuser=141637

My time as a designer at SweetPea ends tomorrow but I just had to show you these 3 cards that I made with the newest plate.

Sweet!

My new favorite tool for adding a touch of beach sand to any card is an old dry scratchy washcloth.

Cupcakes ... and ...

Tagged! And another cupcake for Amanda. 365 cards challenged using a tag on your card. This came out very cute, I think.

More cupcakes

This one follows the sketch challenge at Fridaysketchersblog. I used some of the new cuttlebug folders I ordered from HSN. Fun fun! Here's a link to the site ... http://fridaysketchersblog.blogspot.com/

Un frog etable Two-fer

Two-fer one ... the teapot challenge and 365 cards --- here is my un-frog-etable card. Background recipe -- xyron or double stick tape tin foil to cardstock; alcohol ink to color; let dry and cuttlebug; then clear emboss it all.

From turtles to cupcakes

I did the turtle card for FS129 at Splitcoast ... but then just had to switch it over to being a cupcake card !

Surfside Stampers

Ahhh to be in Florida and have Surfside Stampers meetings the 4th Monday ... it is really something I miss when I am in Michigan. Today we did 3 projects - each one cute as can be

The top is a little purse, maybe 4 or 5 inches tall -- and I have the template to make more ;)

The middle one isnstamped and colored then put through a crimper and lightly rubbed with stazon black to look like a shade. The bottom one is punched in front then uses a template to do the stamping, versamarking and sparkly embossing inside.

Sketchy Sunday!

Here is the sketch from 365 cards and the birthday card for Amanda that I made with it:

Black and white just isn't me!

I saw a card I really wanted to imitate on splitcoast but somehow MY cards came out much much different. I just can't do black and white I guess.

New Playground

Found a new place to play ... First stop on a blog hop is http://www.embellish-online.blogspot.com/ and while I don't scrapbook much, the card sketch was kind of fun and challenging. Here is the card I made for it.

Amanda's Gone, Camera's gone

Amanda and I are having a great visit in Florida. However, today she is off to Sebastian Inlet and took MY camera along. So I will had to use my old scanner to post a picture of the "Welcome Home" card I made to have waiting in her New York City mailbox when she returns. I used sketch 238 from Splitcoast. There's more of my shaving cream background on the inside of the card.

Snail Pal

This is the card, inside, kind of inside and the outside that I made for Mike -- he is running a race on Saturday and I won't be there to cheer him on. The card reads:

Speed matters not when the race is long

The winner is he who finishes strong

It was inspired by the Tuesday Teapot over at Mothermark's site ... mothermark.blogspot.com/

New York Inspiration

Amanda brought me this card from a Japanese shop in New York called MUJI. The card came flat and fits in a flat envelope to mail. Isn't it the coolest thing! I can't wait to try one.

Shaving cream mess!

Oh did I have fun making shaving cream backgrounds today - what a mess! My fingers might be blue forever!

Here is the card I made for the 365 days prompt of using a quote - Mark Twain is my favorite author.