The Simple Life

And no... I'm not talking Paris Hilton here. ;) It's time for a new sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You!


I have to say... I was really happy with this card. I looked at the sketch & then at this felt sticker set that I had sitting on my desk... and the whole thing came together in about 5 minutes. I don't think I've ever made a card that fast that I liked. It was a good feeling. :)

These felt goodies (the flowers, the scalloped border, & the diamond embellishments) are from the 'Together' line by Chatter Box. The sentiment is by Unity (in the Simple Pleasures kit).

Make sure to play along with the 2 Sketches team! There are always fun prizes and a lot of inspiration!

Sugar Bowl Challenge

I made this card weeks ago and almost forgot to post it for you guys to see! This month's Sugar Bowl Challenge was to use the Cracked Glass technique. You can read all about it and see step by step instructions by visiting HERE. :)

I used this sweet little image called Chick-a-dee by Elisabeth Bell. And... you're not going to believe this... but I didn't use Copics for once! I actually dusted off my Prismacolor pencils for this one. :)

I'll be back Monday with another 2 Sketches 4 You project! Hope to see you there! :)

Unity's Inspirational Blog Hop!

I'm glad that you've made it to my stop on Unity's Inspirational Blog Hop! I just love this little birdie from the Giggle Grove set... and the sentiments from the Thank You Words kit are such a great size! Here is a quote that I say all the time & thought I originated: (looks like Mother Teresa beat me to the punch!) ;)

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. Mother Teresa

View the Inspirational Blog Hop by starting at the Unity Blog.

• Your next stop on the hop will be at Julia Aston's site!

Stamps: Unity Stamp Company

Paper: Memory Box, Prism, "Sophisticated": Splendid (Fancy Pants); "Eye Candy": Boom & Grow (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Timber Brown StazOn (Tsukineko); Snow Cap (PTI)

Accessories: MM ribbon (animal crackers), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

You HAVE to check this out!

I just discovered THE coolest paper crafting site ever! I honestly can't believe I've never heard of it! I was browsing through Paper Crafts' blog and was reading about Scrap In Style TV (SIStv). It's a great website that has video tutorials on just about everything new and trendy in the crafty world. They also have classes that you can sign up for (I just read about one coming up called 'Bling out your Blog!' where you can learn how to make your blog look all fancy smancy yourself!!! And... another class teaches you how to make home decor using paper crafting supplies!) There is a great chat forum that includes all pub & DT calls too.

But... you really have to check out their boutique shop! I just bought a bunch of Hambly screen prints for $1 & patterned paper for 25 cents! (And... most of it is pretty new & very trendy!) The thing that made my heart go pitter patter was this KIT that sells for only $24.95!!!

Make sure you click on the picture above to see all of the AWESOME things that are included. I am a sucker for anything vintage... and this is jam-packed FULL of fun things. (like OILCLOTH and vintage trims to add to your paper crafting! Wowza!!!)

Anyway - I just had to tell you about my fab find of the day. :) If you want to check the boutique out, just click HERE or on the SIStv picture on the left column of my blog. You can't miss it. :)

As soon as I get my kit, I'll post some projects and show you everything up close and personal. :)

Feel Right at Home... in a 'Jiffy'!

It's time for this month's Jiffy Challenge! This month, Michele sent us some cute paper from the Bloom & Grow line by My Mind's Eye! And... Lori picked this adorable image from Unity called Neighborhood of Simplicity. :) And... as an added surprise, we've invited Sharon Harnist to play along with us! Make sure to check out the other Jiffy Girls to see what they came up with!

Alli - Michele - Carole - & Lori

Stamps:
- Neighborhood of Simplicity (Unity)
- (sentiment) Boards & Beams (PTI)

More Matryoshkas :)

I just can't get enough of these dolls. :) I LOVE them! And... I just ordered another Matryoshka set from a different company --- so I hope you like them too! You'll be seeing a lot more of them, I'm afraid!

I wanted to change the color scheme up a bit and try out a 'fall' look for this card. The card front is about an inch narrower than the card base, allowing some of the inside of the card to peek through.
And... here's what the card looks like on the inside. I sponged some Old Paper Distress ink along the edges. I think I see where it got it's name. :)
SUPPLIES:
Clear Stamps:
- Dolls (Hero Arts)
Ink:
- Old Paper, Walnut Stain Distress inkpads (Ranger)
- Tuxedo Black Memento inkpad (Tsukineko)
Cardstock:
- Kraft, Birchtone Dark (Prism)
- Mango (Memory Box)
Printed Paper:
- Hey Sugar: Candy Girl (Cosmo Cricket) back side
- Noteworthy Audrey Scallop Ledger (Making Memories)
Accessories:
- Silver Precious Metal Hardware (We R Memory Keepers)
- Lemon Pearl (Kaiser)
- Markers (Copic)
- Passport Trims (Making Memories)

It's Sketch Time!!!

Edited to Post: (I just saw this coupon from our sponsor this week!)

DeNami Designs is also offering a special 10% coupon code exclusive to 2S4Y readers!
The Code:
March2S4Y
The expiration is 3/30/09
the discount is good for anything on the website :)

It's Monday!!!! And you know what that means! It's time for another great sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You! Here is this week's sketch by Laura:


This weeks sponsor is DeNami Design. DeNami is a great Rubber Stamp and accessories company! They have beautiful stamps with coordinating paper and other goodies. And... the winner of this week's sketch will win a prize package full of great stuff! Make sure you check out the 2 Sketches site for all of the details!

Here is my card based off of this week's sketch! I got some fun Pink Paislee paper and stickers from Michelle at Paper Addiction and had to try them out. YUM-O! I also used DeNami's Birthday Cake & Happy Birthday stamps. :)

Picture Page

I've been tagged by my blogging buddies Lori & Maren! I usually don't play along with these things... but this one looks kind of fun. So... here are the rules:

•Open your photo folder on your computer
•Open the 6th folder of photos
•Select the 6th picture
•Post the picture on your blog with a description
•Invite six friends to join the challenge
•Link your six friends to your blog post

So... this isn't too exciting... but you can get a peek into my kitchen/dining area. We live in an OLD farmhouse and love antiques and primitives. This little piece of furniture belonged to my husband's great-grandmother. It's all still original, except for the little homespun skirt I made for the front. The dried flower arrangement above was made by my mom. (She grew the flowers, hung them to dry, and made this for me. I love it!) When we moved into our house, we tried to bring it back to what it might have looked like in it's original state. All of the lower walls have been painted and antiqued. (we still have more work to go.... ugh!). And... the floors are original. We ripped up the carpet and painted them a deep red color. It will do for now until we can really re-do the floors. It's always a work in progress!!! And now... I'm trying to figure out who hasn't already been tagged that won't kill me for writing their name down. LOL! Hmm.... sorry guys! :)

• Dawn
• Kim
• Mary
• Bek
• Kristine
• Lulu

Thanks for Being You!

Wow! It's been one of those weeks! Monday snuck up on me and I just realized that I needed to work on my card for this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You! This week, Kazan came up with this fun sketch:


And... here's what I came up with:

I LOVE Kim Hughes' latest set called Forest Friendzy! Aren't these images adorable?!? Make sure to check out all of the designer's cards! I can't wait to see what they came up with! And... I'd love for you to join in the fun and try the sketch out for yourself! There are always goodies to be won on the 2S4Y site! :)

More Nesting Doll fun

I'm really loving these Matryoshka doll stamps by Hero Arts! I wanted to show you another project that I made using this set:

This one took some careful planning and quite a bit of time to iron it all out... but I really love the results! As you can see... I did a LOT of stamping on this one! I used my Copic markers to add color and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink.

If you'd like to see details, just click on the picture above. I'm thinking about accessorizing my craft room with nesting dolls. Maybe I'll take some pictures for you sometime. :) Thanks for dropping by!

Scattering Kindness

Today's WT Challenge from Splitcoast Stampers is "going green!". Those of you who read my blog regularly already know this.... but, I have two boys who love to play hard and wear holes in their jeans all the time! Instead of throwing them away, I've starting using their denim in my paper crafting projects. I know I've gotten a lot more mileage out of their pants than they ever did! LOL! On this card, I sewed a strip of the fabric directly onto my card front. (Their jeans aren't too heavy, so I've been able to use my regular needle without any problem.)

This sweet image is Elisabeth Bell's 'Scattering Love' from Sugar Nellie. (sentiment is called 'kindness' by Penny Black) I drew in the grass and colored the image with Copics.


The chipboard button is by Jenni Bowlin from her Farmer's Wife collection. I'm a country girl, so as soon as I saw this line, I knew I 'had' to have some of it!

SUPPLIES:
Stamps:
- Scattering Love by Elisabeth Bell for Sugar Nellie
- "...kindness..." sentiment by Penny Black
Ink:
- Tuxedo Black Memento inkpad (Tsukeneko)
- Walnut Stain Distress inkpad; Pesto Adirondack inkpad (Ranger)
Cardstock:
-Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI)
- Buenos Aires (Bazzill Basics)
Patterned Paper:
- "Out on a Whim" Country Apron (Imaginisce)
Accessories:
- markers; black multi-liner (Copic)
- twine
- denim
- The Farmer's Wife Milk Caps Chipboard Button (Jenni Bowlin)
- Sewing Machine & white thread

Dear Santa

I know, I know! Christmas is MONTHS away... but I recently made this little holiday card using another one of my Gorjuss Girls! There's a challenge going on right now on the Sugar Nellie blog & you have to make a Christmas card using one of their images. I love the versatility of this stamp! It could be for Valentine's day or Christmas... AND would be perfect for one of those "Just a Note" kind of cards!

I've been seeing some of these fun paper embellishments around blog land and wanted to see if I could figure out how to make them. I'm not sure if I'm doing it "right"... but I just fan-folded a tiny piece of paper and adhered the ends together. The tricky part is getting it to lay flat. It took a little extra adhesive... and then I added a chipboard star to cover up the center and ends.

This paper was part of my recent CARDS magazine goodie box. I REALLY love it!!! (It's called Roxbury Scrap Strip by Scenic Route.)

This Gorjuss gal was colored with Copics (surprise, surprise) and her hair was highlighted with a gold Spica glitter pen. (just click on the pic if you want to see it up close & personal.)

Grace Girls & a New Sketch!

It's hard to believe that another week has flown by! This is this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You!!!

We were lucky enough to be sponsored this week by an awesome stamp company - Starving Artistamps!!! I really love their images (especially the Doodle Factory line) and was so excited to get to ink up this image from the Grace Girls set! The bold lines in the image makes it so fun to color!

I used some fun paper from the Friendly Forest line by Colorbok. (I found this at Michaels on SALE!!!) To make the ruffle at the top, I just cut a thin strip of paper, wet it slightly, and then gathered it together. Then, I sewed the bottom edge to secure it in place and sandwiched it between my card front and base. (I kind of like this little technique! I used it on the card in my previous post too.) :)

I hope you can find time to play along with the sketch challenge! It's always a lot of fun & usually a weekly prize is given out to one of the participants. Make sure you check out what the other designers have come up with! Their blog links can be found on the left column of my blog.

Happy Monday! :)

It's Been a 'Gorjuss' Day!!!

Hey guys! :) Wow! It has been a GORGEOUS day here in the midwest! The temp's in the 70's and it feels so good to have the windows open! We needed some fresh air desperately! So... I got a lot of Spring cleaning done and then made some time to play with one of my new obsessions -- the Gorjuss Girls collection by Sugar Nellie. These images are just so sweet! I just want to keep stamping and never stop!

This fab layout comes from Jen del Muro's Sketch For You To Try. I just got a box of goodies from CARDS magazine and wanted to try out some of the papers and embellishments. The paper is all from S.E.I.'s Oasis collection. Aren't the colors fun?!? And... the ribbon is from the same company (Alpine Frost collection).

The word bubble and sentiment are all by Kim Hughes.

Hope you're having a great weekend!!! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Nesting Dolls Tag

I am so excited that 'folk' design is starting to become trendy again! I don't know what it is about it, but it just makes me all warm and fuzzy! I've been seeing Russian nesting dolls popping up here and there on Etsy and on some online fabric stores and was SO excited to see these images for the first time as a stamp! I was at Archivers the other day and saw these clear images by Hero Arts. (I'm still crossing my fingers that my friend Kim Hughes will draw some up for a set one day! I think her's would be THE ultimate nesting doll design! Mmmm! Can't you just see it now?!?)

I wanted to try something different, so I stamped this image directly onto Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky-Back Canvas & then added color with Copics. Just to antique it a bit, I sponged Tea Stain Distress ink on top of the canvas. This stuff is really fun to use! I can't wait to play around with it a bit more!
If you'd like to see this tag a bit closer, please click on the picture above. I added a little Jenni Bowlin floral embellishment to her hair. :) And... I added stitching everywhere!

I found TONS of Martha Stewart ribbon on clearance at Michaels for 50 cents each! Whoot!!! The 'skirt' of this tag was made by some of the wide ribbon. I just kept gathering it together as I sewed. And... to top it off, I ripped a strip of my son's jeans to embellish it more. (Don't be scared! He wore a HUGE hole in these pants months ago, and I've been using bits and pieces of it here and there. I think I've gotten more use out of them than he did!)

Thanks for checking out my tag! :)

SUPPLIES:
Stamps: (clear design) Dolls (Hero Arts)
Ink:
-Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
- Tea Dye Distress ink (Ranger)
Cardstock: Parsley (Memory Box)
Printed Paper: Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box collection (K & Company)
Accessories:
- Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Sticky-Back Canvas (Ranger)
- Maraschino Pearl Flowers (Jenni Bowlin)
- Jumbo Eyelet (Stampin' Up!)
- 1 1/2" Brick Wood Grain ribbon (Martha Stewart)
- markers (Copic)
- Friendly Forest Epoxy Accent (Colorbok)
- denim
- Melissa Frances Vintage Transfers rub on (Heart & Home Collectibles)
Tools:
- Sewing machine + red & white thread
- sandpaper

Count Your Joys

Ahhh! I just LOVE getting my hands all inky with new crafty goodies! Mmmm! This is another image from the Miss Anya set from the Greeting Farm. I think they have the sweetest faces! And... they're just so fun to color! :) (just click on the picture to see her up close and personal)
Well... I've got to keep this one short and sweet. My 3 yr. old is screaming at me from the bathroom needing some assistance. ;) If you need any details, just drop me a message! (I mean details about the card... not the bathroom.) LOL!

Have a good one!

Retail Therapy!

Well... it's Monday! And you know what that means! (Besides having to go back to work. Bleck!) There's a new sketch posted on the 2 Sketches 4 You blog!!! This week, it was Kazan's turn to sketch it out!


I was SUPER excited to open up my box and see who our newest sponsor was this week! We got to play with some great Teresa Collins paper with our new mini Scor-it!!!! How cool is that?!? I can't wait for you to see what the other girls came up with!

I've never used a Scor-it board before, but it really makes a great impression. I think it would be perfect for when I like to use the embossed score lines as part of my design. I chose the cute pink Teresa Collins Crush folder as my main piece for my project. (I sealed the sides so that I could fit a little gift card inside.) Fun, huh? :)

I finally found a store that had these Miss Anya stamps in stock. I think they are sooo cute and really fun to color! I've been hoarding these little Amy Butler purse embellishment stickers for awhile too and was glad I broke into them. :)

Stamps:
- Miss Anya (the Greeting Farm)
- Say Charge (MFT)
Ink:
- Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
- Snow Cap inkpad (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock:
- PTI
Printed Paper:
- "Crush" Noteworthy (Teresa Collins)
Accessories:
- Amy Butler Sola Purses (K & Co.)
- Plastic Flowers Love (Heidi Grace Designs)
- Copic black multi-liner
- Copic Markers
- Black Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
- Long Rectangle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)
Tools:
- Sewing machine without thread