Tilda February Sketch Challenge

I really have kept true to my word, and I have worked on challenges this entire week...Monday through Sunday! I will post some of my other creations in the next couple of days! This particular sketch was from the Magnolia-licious Yahoo Group that I am part of, and the sketch challenge is viewable here. This is a great group of stampers, and I am also part of their "rain" group! Above all, it is also my month to be rained on...I receive Magnolia cards throughout the month of February. How wonderful it is to get cards with this sweet little face arrive on an almost daily basis!

Here are the details for this card:

Stamps: Throwing Hearts by Magnolia

Paper: Berry Bliss DSP, Choc. Chip, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate all by SU

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: Copics, spica, and American Crafts glitter markers; sparkly brads; MS heart edge punch; Heart nesties; 1 inch SU circle punch; MS ribbon; Cuttlebug Hearts Embossing folder

I also have some fabulous blog candy to tell you about, especially if you love Tilda!! It is the anniversary blog candy over on the Carlz Cardz blog!!

True Love...Ian and Anya style!

I'm still on my challenge quest this week, and I am combining two, but three again! I am seriously stepping out of my box this week. I don't think that I have ever used this many embellishments on one card before! I did the WT204 on Splitcoaststampers, and it was to use layers of embellishments. In some cases, I layered three...impossible, you say? Actually, it just came pouring out of me this time. Perhaps you could have called me embellishment-repressed. Well, not anymore! The second challenge is a Valentine's Day challenge over on The Greeting Farm, and you can see it here. I have to include my little poem for this adorable couple!! And the third is for the stamp something challenge this week!! I love that blog...it gets my creative juices flowing!! Here is the link for the current challenge!

True love comes

but once in your life.

When Ian met Anya,

he knew it was right.

The batting of her eyelash,

the blush of her cheek,

made his heart flutter,

his knees go weak.

The love they share

is a lasting one.

In the game of love,

they both have won.

I have use the following for this 5 1/2 inch square card:

Paper: Bittersweet by Basic Grey, Choc. Chip by SU

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Stamps: Cake Topper by The Greeting Farm

Accessories: Copics for coloring, Iced Lavendar and Pink Shimmerz, Primas, pearls, felt, chipboard from Bittersweet, Top Note die, Paper doily, rub ons

Other: I painted the paper doily with Pink Shimmerz to give it that sparkly sheen.

Shimmery Butterfly

This seems to be my week of challenges and firsts...today's first is my use of Shimmerz!! I keep seeing them, loving them, and when I finally got a little extra money, I thought...have to have them now!! Well, I can't get them locally, so I went on the web in search of them. Lo and behold, I saw that Pamela at Firecracker Designs carries them in her webstore. That was awesome because she lives less than a half hour from me! I called her up, ordered them, and I went to pick them up the next day! I was beside myself with excitement! I had to play with them, even just a little! I used them to paint over the butterfly image from Savvy Stamps. I used Angel Wings over the Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

This card is for two challenges--Splitcoast's SCS214 and the Color Throwdown blog's CTD28. It was so much fun to play both challenges for my Wednesday stamping!

And, I'm so excited that my orders came from The Greeting Farm and Paper Makeup stamps today! I cannot wait to play with them!!

It's Going to be a "Challenging" week!

I'm making an effort to do more challenges, and what better week to start than this one! Yesterday, Monday, I completed TLC206 on Splitcoast, and it was a recessed window (bottom picture). It's a little difficult to tell that it is recessed in my picture, but trust me, it is! This is the first time that I actually wished I had a Scor-Pal! I don't seem to do much scoring, but it definitely would have come in handy. To compensate for my lack of Scor-Pal, I used a pencil and ruler to draw the 2 inch and 2 1/8 inch squares on the paper, scored it with my Cutterpede (free hand, sort of), and I folded it away from the pencil lines. I call it my rather non-traditional Valentine card because of the colors that I chose...Kraft, Not Quite Navy, and Riding Hood Red. I used the liquid pearls that I picked up at the beach last week, and I dusted off my Creative Memories heart punches.

The next challenge (the first picture) is actually two in one...woohoo!! I stumbled across a great little blog that hosts a sketch challenge weekly...Twinkling Tuesday. With the sketch MTTSC8, I used the color combination from CC204 on Splitcoaststampers (Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Gable Green, and Lovely Lilac). It's a bright one, and it is also my very first Anya (The Greeting Farm) card!! This is an image from my friend, but the stamp is actually in the mail for me! I can't wait to play with the real thing!!

Now, for a blog candy opportunity that I came across:

Gramma's House of Cards (if you love Tildas)

Stampin with Style

If you are ever in Myrtle Beach...

...you have to go to a nice stamp store called Artful Legacy. My parents stay in a cute place in Surfside Beach for a couple of months in the winter, and this store is literally a mile away from where they stay. The only stamp store within possibly a hundred miles, and it is that close!! Crazy, I say!! CRAZY!! They make their own stamps, but they have a ton of great tools, papers, and embellishments. In fact, I bought my first Flower Soft there. I can't wait to start playing with it!

In honor of my recent beach trip with Meredith to see my parents, I thought I would post a "beachy" card! Unfortunately, it was really cold, and we never actually set foot on the beach; however, Meredith was able to go swimming every day in the pool at the development where Mimi and Grandpa Don stay. That's all a kid needs!

The card is mainly one layer. I used a cloud template from Rosie's Roadshow, and I used Cool Caribbean ink to sponge it. The sun is cut with a nesties template, and it is Summer Sun. Finally, the "water" is Baja Breeze that has Pacific Point sponged on the edges. The lovely lady is colored with copics and spicas, and the sentiment is the priceless part. It goes, "Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever!" Ain't that the truth. I believe that the stamps are from Viva Las Vegas stamps, but I'm not positive. I hope the sunny card and mention of the beach will fill you all with happy, warm thoughts! (cause I'm freezing my Southern butt off here!)

Time is a lousy beautician!

Hopefully I got your attention with that title. It is actually from the sentiment on this card that reads, "Time may be a great healer, but it is a lousy beautician." Ain't that the truth...when we age, everything just seems to permanently go South for the winter!

The two stamps on this card are from Eat Cake Graphics. I love the whimsy and humor in these stamps, and I also love that the creator of the stamps is also a quilter. While my cardmaking obsession usually rules my life, I do come from a long line of quiltmakers. I'm actually itching to create something in that vein, but perhaps I should tackle all of the many unfinished projects that I have in my sewing closet.

Anyway, I digress. When I colored in the image of this wonderfully mature woman, I just had to give her purple hair, or at least the hue of purple. The most priceless thing about her is that she is sticking her tongue out at you...take that! I brought out my new best friend, the top note die for SU by Sizzix. The colors are Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, and Real Red. The designer paper is, you guessed it, from Bittersweet by Basic Grey (should I be getting paid for all of this endorsement?) I used SU punches for the sentiment, and the sentiment is actually done in red embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by today...I really do stalk my post counts. While I realize that mine is not too shabby, the competitive side in me wants more people to visit. So, if you like what you see, tell a friend...I like new friends! Call a friend you haven't talked to in a while...it will be nice to catch up!

Valentine Mailbox

I finally did it! Instead of buying 10 of these and putting them in my closet (ahem, I did that last year!), I actually bought one at Target this year in a kicky metallic color, and I used it. Yay me! I didn't really have a template for how to cover it, so I just winged (or is it wung...LOL!) it. I'm including three pictures of it to show the detailing on all sides. I used the Basic Grey Bittersweet line (can you say obsessed?), and I used a darling little stamp from Whiff of Joy. The coloring is done with Copic and Spica markers. I had to add a little bit of bling for attitude, which is ever so important! Finally, I used the rub ons from the Bittersweet line and some random ribbon I had amongst my enormous stash.
Speaking of a stash, isn't it always the case that no matter how much stuff you have, you will invariably never be able to find something that you need from your stash. Hence, you will have to go out and spend money on something new!
Happy stamping and creating...hug your kid, parent, friend or significant other today--they just might need it!

My Fabulous Little Girl

I do scrapbook, but I haven't been dusting off that part of my craft room lately. The photo is from a recent trip to Portrait Innovations. This picture really captured my heart. My husband says that it looks like her CEO portrait. My mom says she looks like she is wise beyond her years. It's crazy! I just love it!

The layout uses some tone on tone paper from BoBunny. I used the Basic Grey clear stamps that complement their Bittersweet line, and I stamped the background image in SU Craft white ink. I then used the SU set Fabulous Flowers, and I heat embossed all of the flowers in either red, winter white, red glitter, or detail black embossing powders. I then cut each of them out and popped up the smaller flowers. I mounted the photograph on black and Real Red cardstock, and I added some bling (rhinestone stickers). The last element was red grosgrain (it actually came off my new pajamas from Lands End) and black rick rack. The title is Dare to be Fabulous, and it is also from the set Fabulous Flowers.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my scrapbook layout!

My first Mojo Monday Sketch!

Ok...I'm usually a day late and a dollar short, but I honestly feel that is part of my charm! LOL! I have wanted to do the mojo monday challenges for a while now, and I finally did one!! I went back a week, and I found the Mojo Monday Sketch #69...cute (everything is cute today!) I found the stamp for this challenge at Paper Source today. I just love that they opened a location in Charlotte (my pocketbook doesn't!) The paper is Basic Grey's Bittersweet, and I had to buy some of the embellishments that went with it...the brads!! I used my new nesties for the scalloped circles. The ribbon is SU as is the Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, and Chocolate Chip paper. I used Faber Castell pencils and Gamsol to color the image, and the ink is Memento Rich Cocoa. The circles are cut with the 3/4 and 1 inch punches from SU.

Oh, and here is some awesome blog candy from Claudia's blog Pretty Pressings. The stamps are alota stamps, and their website is super cute!!

My Tilda Cutie!!

I just love Magnolias...they're adorable and really fun to color! It's like I'm reliving my childhood with all of this coloring! This particular card is for Splitcoast sketch challenge #203. It was a really simple layout because I always hate to overpower the image. I added the flowers just because it needed a little something extra. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

I did discover some new stamp companies...some are new, and some are new to me!

Shirleys2Girls stamps

Doggone Stamps

High Hopes Stamps

And for paper, PaperTemptress

I have to admit my Stampin Up sets are definitely not getting as much love as they used to. Glad that there is a new catalog to pique my interest! Happy stamping, ladies!!

On a side note, I finally took the plunge and put myself out there for some design teams. It's a long shot, but you never know unless you try. So, I have been stamping and working on projects, but I can't quite reveal them yet. Wish me luck!