Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Listen To The Music

Hello again!
I cannot believe it has been a year since my first
creation for Your Next Stamp.
This is my last creation as a design team member
(not as a paper crafter however)
for Your Next Stamp.
I have decided to take a hiatus
for a bit just to create for the sake of creation itself.
I am telling you if Karen puts out a DT call
go for it she is hands down
the best person to create under.
I have the most amazing assortment of stamps
 from her and they are awesome!

So, let's talk about this weeks challenge  # 50 shall we?
Karen is hosting this week
and she came up with a fun idea of basing
our cards around a song!
We all love music right?

This weeks random draw winner will receive
Boris From Russia!



There is also Top Pick – one lucky entry, chosen by the YNS DT,
 will win $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks (to spend on YNS stamps)
 and the Top Pick Blinkie to proudly display on their blog!
 [You must use a YNS stamp on your creation to be eligible to win the Top Pick prize].

To my delight as soon as I saw this stamp set a song from the past popped right in!
Let's see if you can guess what it is.
Now on to my treat bag:
(click for sharper image)
What do you think of the tissue paper?
It was an old piece I saved from a gift and gave it
an extended life with some stamps and black enamel accents.
Did you know you can iron tissue paper on low to get the wrinkles out?
Eeek! I am turning out to be like my grandmother because I watched
her do just that as a child...how funny!
Detail shot of front panel:

I love this set it, has to be one of my new found favorites!
Trick or Treat Fhiona is 50% off right now
as well as many other so go check out the store!
So Have you guessed the song?
I want Candy by Bow Wow Wow from the
good ole' 8o's!
If you want to see the video, click link below
I Want Candy
Thanks for playing!

Challenges:

StampsRUS Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant  Paper Piecing
Corrosive Challenge  Bats Vampires or zombies
LolliPop Crafts  Recycle it
One Stitch at A Time  Halloween or Fall
Creative Card Crew  Anything Goes
Die Cut Dreams  Gift Box or Bag

Pixie Cottage Challenge # 85

Happy Wednesday!!!
Before I get to this weeks  Pixie Cottage Challenge # 85,
I'd like to say thanks to Michelle the owner of
Michelle's Scrapbooking and More
 and Tanya  for asking me to guest design
this month. I had a great time and I love my stamps!
The sketch for this week is a great one:
The theme this week is "back to school" so you can do either or both.
  I have had an itchin to make Halloween cards
and I used South End Witch digi for this card:
(click for sharper Image)

Having seen how some  leave their image uncolored
 I decided to pull from that and color just the flesh tones.
I also tried a technique of cutting away parts
of the image to allow the background to show through.
Let's call it unpiecing...
Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:
Crafty Pad  Distressing tearing
Pile it on  Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Basic Grey  Anything Goes
Bee Crafty  Chopping and Cropping Digi




Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Pixie Cottage Challenge # 84

Happy Wednesday!
I hope you all had a great week, wow,
has it really been an entire week
since my last posting?!?
Yes it seems so...
Well I had the perfect reason to post today
the new Pixie Cottage Challenge!
Here is the sketch:
The theme for the week is summers night so remember,
you can do both the sketch and theme or one or the other. 

I created a card with an abstract twist of a summer night:
(click for sharper image)

The stamp I used is a South End Girl image,
she's a real darling!
There is a lot going on here that you can see
if you click the image and squint LOL!
I distressed the heart dry embossed circle die cut
that lies behind the paper pieced flower.
The frame behind the Fairy is wet embossed,
which hasn't been attempted in a while because
I cringe when the paper warps!
I stamped the word "dream"
several times in white ink and finally black ink
to give a dreamy feel.
This is a very exciting card to me because
 I feel like I am getting back to where
to where I want to be with card making,
 foot loose and fancy free!
Well thanks for stopping by and
I can't wait to see what you come up with!


Challenges:
Digital Tuesday  Cute and Girlie
My Time To Craft  Here Come the Girls
Papertake Weekly  Die Cuts
Tuesday Throwdown  Dimension and Texture
Crazy4Challenges  Bingo I almost did a blackout minus ribbon
Fussy And Fancy  Use 3 or more Fave Embellishments Buttons and brads
Marks Finest  Embossing I did dry hiding behind paper pieced flower  & wet the black and white frame behind fairy

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Your Next Stamp Challenge 48!

Hello again I am back again with a fun theme
for this new Your Next Stamp Challenge so think
Tooty Fruity!
I decided to make a bag this week showcasing
Yummy Jam.
It came out a bit to narrow to fit my standard cards in
oh darn!
(click for sharper image)

I thought it would be fun to stamp the tissue paper with the smiling toast,
giving  it that Kawaii feel. What do you think?
Basic Grey Offbeat really complimented
the theme and image, I am glad I remembered I had it!
Have you ever stamped on tissue paper?
If not you should try it, it's the perfect way to coordinate and it's
very cheap! I tried something new by adding the sticker border to the
top of the tissue paper, gotta use those up!

Oh enough about me!
I want you to see what you could win:
Isn't he the cutest!!!
Don't forget you can also win some YNS bucks
so why not go a little fruity?

Challenges:
Creative Craft Challenges  Anything but a card
The Craft Garden  Bold, Bright, Loud
Craft Your Passion  Anything But A Card
Allsorts  Anything But A Card
Daring Cardmakers  So Kawaii
Stamp Man  Anything Goes w/ summer colors
Simon Says  Food and drinks

Pixie Cottage Challenge #83

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday!!!!
So what have you all been up to this last week? 
I have been so busy trying to buy up books for my library, 
we have a minimal budget so I have been scouring 
the internet for deals as well as trying by bidding hand on ebay.
Talk about stress!

So, let's talk about stress reducing activities
such as crafting, no I haven't forgotten what that is...
not totally anyhow. 
Today at The Pixie Cottage Challenges we have a great new sketch:
Happy Birthday is the theme so you can chose to do either
or both if you so desire.
This week I chose to use this gorgeous Little Mermaid stamp(I love the lashes!)
I happened to notice she is on sale at the shop.
(click for sharper Image)

We sure hope you play along!


Challenges:
Tuesday Taggers  Anything Goes
By The Cute & Girly  By The Sea
Card Makin Mamas  Birthday

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Happy Birthday Your Next Stamp!!!!

Hey everyone and Welcome to YNS' 2nd Birthday Blog Hop, we are so happy you are here celebrating with us and our wonderful guest designers! If you have just stumbled across my blog and want to join in all the fun and games you can go to the start at Peggy's blog.  If you have been hopping along and are arriving from Cindy's blog then you are right on track. (let me tell you I get so nervous following Cindy because her work is of impeccable style and practically perfect in every way!)
Today I have two creations to share, the first is a card
using a new image Sun-Sational


For my next project I found a rendition of a Tall Purse
at Mel Stampz.  If you have never stopped by her blog
you are missing out! For my purse I used You're Fabulous!
(click for sharper image)



(detail of front panel)

What is a birthday party with out games and some AMAZING prizes? Well we have a fun little puzzle for you to solve along the hop and when you do you will be entered into the draw for one of TWO amazing YNS prizes!  Not everyone has a puzzle piece so you need to pay attention, and click on the puzzle pieces, and follow the directions as you find them along the way. [3rd party cookies must be enabled to do the puzzle] When you are done put them all together at the end of the hop for your chance to win!  You have until Monday, August 15th at Midnight EST.
Here's what you could win:



There are also lots of amazing deals right now in the YNS store to celebrate and you don't need any code!  The next stop on the hop is Jen R's blog, you are going to love her style!
Good luck and happy hopping!




YNS Birthday Puzzle Piece



Challenges:
Card :
Basic Grey  Sizzling Summer

Tall Purse:
A Spoonful Of Sugar   Happy Birthday
Anything Goes Challenge   Happy Birthday/Celebration
Tuesday Throwdown  Birthday
Craft Your Days Away  Birthday
Design To Delight  Bling
Raise The Bar  Anything Goes
Crafty Purple Frog No Cards



Pixie Cottage Challenge

Hello there it's time for another Pixie Cottage Challenge!
This weeks sketch is:

This weeks theme is "saying it with flowers",
you can  to do either or both.
For this card I chose to use
South End Girl by Andrea T Seiler.


I love this little lady she's so classy!
 I stamped her image using Stazon on this fun floral ribbon
and then applied some decoupage
 on the back of the ribbon and allowed it to dry.
This helps control fraying when piecing her dress.
Well thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

 Challenges:
Sentimental Sundays  Flowers and Sentiment
Sparkle's Forum  One For The Girls
Ellephantastic  Add Some Layers
Mark's Finest  No standard sized card
Lawnscaping  Distressing


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Storm Chaser!!!

Last night we had an impressive long line of storms pass over
 from around 8 PM until 4 AM.
When I first realized what was going on I told the kids I 
was heading out of town to get  some photos.
I never before wanted to chase storms however I 
saw Tornado Alley at the IMAX and now...
I love the rush you get from not knowing!
Here are some images:

First came the clouds







 Then the lightning:





It settled down for a bit:




It started back up again and again all night but I decided not
to tempt fate twice in one night.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Beautiful Borders

click here for Pixie Cottage Challenge

Happy Wednesday!
I am back with another Your Next Stamp Challenge
and for the next two weeks we'd
like you to use border punches or dies.
Thanks Peggy for this terrific challenge!

Here is my card using Kai from Hawaii
(click for sharper image)

Are those black waves wicked or what?!?

As always there are 2 fabulous prizes for you to win:

1. Winner – one lucky winner will be chosen by random.org to win the adorable Kyle cling stamp and the Winner Blinkie to proudly display on their blog!

2. Top Pick – one lucky entry, chosen by the YNS DT, will win $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks (to spend on YNS stamps) and the Top Pick Blinkie to proudly display on their blog! [You must
use a YNS stamp on your creation to be eligible to win the Top Pick prize]
We can't wait to see your creations!

 Challenges:
Creative Craft Challenges -  Summertime
Sweet Stamps - Hot time in the summer
Try It On Tuesday  -  Beach-related card
Tuesday Throwdown - Summertime
Artistic Stampers -  Men/All things male themed
There She Goes - Summer
Craft Your Days Away  - Summertime
ECP Challenges -Summer Theme

I'm a guest DT for...

Thank you Tanya for inviting me on board and a 
huge thanks toMichelle, 
the owner of
who generously  supplied me with some 
terrific rubber and digi images!
As you know, there are 2 parts 
to the challenge and you can choose 
either or both to play along with.
We have a fabulous sketch and our theme this week is
A Time To Learn (share a favorite technique)


I created a card using this fantastic digi Mystical Mushroom by ARTish
(click for sharper image)

For more fantastic inspiration and Mr. Linky

 Challenges:
Just some Lines  outdoors
Lawnscaping  Distressing
Make it Monday w/ Kraft  Walk in my garden
Gingerloft  Make it sparkle
Opus Gluei  No Sentiment