Thank You SEW Much!!!

Wow! Thank you all so much for all of your sweet comments! You made my day! :) This is the sketch of the week from 2 Sketches 4 You! I'd love for you to play along too! And... one participant will win some fun goodies from Sakura!!!

Here's Kazan's #19 sketch:


And here's my card:


I've had these bright pink rub-ons by Hambly and really wanted to try them out. And... I've been hoarding this paper by October Afternoon & finally found a good reason to cut into it. Don't you just love newsprint??? The sentiment is from Gina K's Many Happy Returns set. This set just rocks and that's all there is to it.

Supplies:
Rubber Stamps:
- (sentiment) Many Happy Returns (Gina K Designs)

Ink:
- Onyx Black Versafine inkpad (Tsukineko)

Cardstock:
- True Black CS (Papertrey Ink)

Printed Paper:
- "Lockwood Lane" (back side) Laurel (Scenic Route)
- "Norm's News" Hometown Collection (October Afternoon)
- "Houndstooth" (back side) Poolside collection (Making Memories)

Accessories:
- Pink Silhouettes Rub-ons (Hambly Screen Prints)
- White Organdy ribbon (Stampin' Up!)
- Harvest pins (Fancy Pants)

Tools:
- Paper punch (office supply)
- Sewing machine and white thread

Good Clean Fun!

Yeah. This is a card I made the other day when I SHOULD have been cleaning instead. ;) It's so much more fun to stamp vacuums than use them though! :)

I paper pieced the vacuum bag and the dress using some of my hoarded Lemon Grass paper. :) For the slippers, I applied just a bit of Liquid Applique and then heat set. Voila! Instant fluffiness! I love that stuff! The rub-ons are from the same Crate Paper collection.


Below is the inside of my card. I found this sentiment in one of my favorite Gina K sets. (Perfect fit, huh?) :) I love the off-balanced font. It looks like it came from an antique typewriter.

Supplies:
Stamps:
(clear): Domestic Goddess (Hanna Stamps)
(rubber): Way to Go (Gina K Designs)

Ink:
- Rich Cocoa Memento ink (Tsukineko)

Cardstock:
- Core'dinations CS

Printed Paper:
- Lemon Grass Collection (Crate Paper)
- Snowflake FaLaLa (Making Memories)

Accessories:
- Lemon Grass Rub-ons (Crate Paper)
- Copic Markers/Spica pens
- Liquid Applique (Marvy Uchida)
- Copper Precious Metal Hardware (We R Memory Keepers)

Tools:
- Sewing Machine

Retro Chic

I had a lot of fun with this one! :) I LOVE Gina K's Many Happy Re-turns set! The classic images are so 'in' right now! It was designed by artist Rupa Shevde... which makes it an even GREATER set in my book. When I met Gina at CHA last summer, she told me a little about Rupa. Rupa loves the Lord and uses the talents that she was given to help others. (She gives most of her earnings from the sets she designs to charitable organizations such as Food for the Hungry.)

How many of us use our talents to gain esteem or personal recognition? Rupa's life and attitude are truly aspiring. :)

So... here is the first card that I've made with my new set:

I wanted to use this fun green shade because it reminded me of the color of old appliances from the 50's. :) The main image is embossed in white and cut out with a Spellbinder's die. The little bottlecap letters reminded me of the old type font... so I HAD to use those too. :) Finally, I punched some holes on the side panel and snipped them just a bit to look like that fun binding punch from Stampin' Up! that I've never forked out the $$$ for.

Thanks for visiting!!! :)

SUPPLIES:
Rubber Stamps:
(typewriter) Many Happy Re-turns by Gina K Designs
Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko
Cardstock:
Caribbean, Licorice CS by Memory Box
Printed Paper:
Night Light Sugar Dots by My Mind's Eye
Accessories:
White Detail Embossing Powder by Stampendous
Labels 1 die by Spellbinders
Spare Parts Bottlecaps by the Paper Studio
Card Sayings rub-ons by Making Memories
hole punch (office supply)

I'm So Excited....

I'm So excited... and I just can't hide it! (does this make anyone else want to run and put on their leg warmers?) I can't believe the day is finally here! Last summer, I submitted some card samples to Gina K to be considered for a Guest Designer position on her site. Months later, my phone rang and I just about peed my pants when Gina K HERSELF was on the other line! And she said YES! (or something like that!)

To be honest, it was a really crazy day. I was SO excited because I had the house to myself for the first time in ages and I had planned on spending the day stamping away. Right as I sat down at my desk to start creating, I saw something from the corner of my eye. A mouse had just darted from one side of my craft room to another! I ran out of there as fast as I could and called my brother to come rescue me (the only person I could think of that wasn't at work that day).

Now... I have a TERRIBLE fear of mice. We live in an old farm house surrounded by fields... but I hadn't seen one of those terrible critters for a long time. I was shaking and trying to figure out what to do. That's when my phone rang. And I THOUGHT it was my brother calling me back. Um... no. The sweet voice on the other end of the phone was The Gina K.

I really have no idea what I said to her on the phone that day. All I really knew was that several months later, I would get to be one of her Guest Designers.

So.... without further ado.... check out my first day with Gina K! :)

Oh How Painful!

This week's Bloggers Challenge was a color challenge: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, & Brilliant Blue. Yikes! I honestly looked at the 'assignment' three times because I couldn't imagine putting those colors together. I kept thinking I was reading it wrong. LOL! For one, I NEVER use Brilliant Blue. The good thing was... I had plenty of paper to play with - since it's never been touched. :)

Looking at the finished product... I guess the colors are not as painful as I first thought. :) We're getting a snow storm tonight and it makes me cringe! I am SO ready for Spring! When I was in California for CHA, I was amazed to see beautiful blooming flowers everywhere. I guess if I can't have real flowers right now, the next best thing is a stamped one.

I was looking through my stamps and realised that I hadn't used this one for awhile! I love this image (found in the Simple Pleasures set) by Gina K. I used my Copics and then highlighted the blooms with Stickles. For the vase, I applied Ranger Glossy Accents to create the illusion of 'water'. It looked like it still needed something, so I ran it through my Cuttlebug to emboss it.

The Pomegranate panel is stamped using CHF's Pretty Pattern BG. The sentiment is also by CHF (from Kim Hughes' Silhouette Blooms II set).

I have been dying to do one of Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketches! This is based off of this sketch of hers. If you want to see what other bloggers did with this funky color challenge, just click on the link on my sidebar. :)

Sandy Claws

One of my Mom's friends asked me to make a Christmas card for her to send out. The only request was that it had a "beach theme" -- because she was sending it to the family that rents a condo to her (on the beach) in the Summer.

I knew right away that I had to use Gina K's Sandy Claws!!! How perfect! One of my girls (Alli Miles) sent me a few images (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!) to work with.

I used an oval Nestabilies die to cut and emboss the little lobster. Then, I used Copic markers and Spica pens to add color and sparkle. I FINALLY used my Copic Airbrush system and added a blue border (by using a smaller oval as a mask).
The water is from a scrap of printed paper that I've had in my stash. I just trimmed along one of the waves and... voila!

I hear she was really happy with the finished product. Yeah!!! :)