TMS#74

Good morning! This will be our last challenge of the year from Melissa at the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog. Our sponsor this week is Soft Pencil...aren't these sailors adorable?

This card is pretty straight forward: the image is colored with pencils and the sailor's eyes are dotted with a black gel pen. The DP is by My Mind's Eye. I added some red brads for interest and scored a few lines with my Scor-Pal to add a bit of texture to the card base. The image panel is popped up.

Image: Soft Pencil Digital Stamp
Ink: Sakura Black Gel Pen
Paper: G.P. 110, PTI Hawaiian Shores, SU! Ruby Red, My Mind's Eye DP
Embellies: Spare Parts Brads
Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Scor-Pal, EK Success 3D Dots

I can't wait to hop on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog to check out the rest of the DT's creations! Please join us and give this week's sketch a try!

Thanks for stopping by!

Angela

A Christmas Thank You....

Good morning friends! Well, here we are...the big day has come and gone. I hope you all had a wonderful, safe holiday with your loved ones. I don't know about the rest of you, but now I can relax a bit and just enjoy Christmas break with the kids.... It's nice that the hustle and bustle is over....

I wanted to share the card my 10 year old son made for me last night after we got home. He worked on this for a loooong time! This morning he showed me 6 "re-do" cards too! I was very touched that he spent the time and this is so very special to me; it will go into my box of treasures. Just wanted to share some Christmas cheer through the eyes of a child....

Today I am cleaning up my craft area. It makes me a bit sad to be putting all of the beautiful Christmas papers away; I have decided that I will try to make a couple Christmas cards each month though. I know of some people who do this and then they have a nice collection by the time the next Christmas rolls around. I guess it is time to go to work on the Valentine's! I looove pink!

Holiday blessings to you! Thank you for stopping by!

Angela

TMS#73: Embellish It!

Good Tuesday morning! Melissa at the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog has another challenge for us...this time no sketch, the challenge is embellishing! Specifically, use your favorite DP and add embellishments in a non-traditional way. Sounds fun, right?! Our sponsor this week is Paper Maniac and the prize is a $20 gift certificate!

One of my favorite Christmas DPs is last year's line from Making Memories; I was lucky enough to find more this year. My non-traditional embellishing would be the buttons used as tree ornaments. Funny thing is...there is no stamping on this card!

Paper: PTI Vintage Cream and True Black, SU! Cranberry Crisp, Making Memories DP
Embellies: Assorted Buttons (Foof-a-la, PTI), Black Grosgrain Ribbon (my stash)
Extras: Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Tim Holtz Embossing Folder, PTI Tree Die/True Black Felt, MFT Green Felt, DMC Floss

If you hop on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog, you can see what the rest of the DT came up with. I would also like to see your efforts, so please play along and show us your creativity!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Angela

Merry Christmas to All!

Good Monday morning; I hope you had a great weekend! I am slowly plugging away at all the things that need to be done before Christmas...time is running out! One of the things that I didn't get done this year is mailing Christmas cards...that is pretty sad coming from a cardmaker! I stive to be like Martha and I always seem to fall short; maybe I need "staff"!

Friday night there was a wonderful package waiting for me when I got home from work. It was the "reveal" from the Secret Sister swap. My Secret Sister was no surprise to me, since I hosted this round, but the package sure was. What a wonderful assortment of goodies! A package like that can only be chosen by another stamper....

I have all the goodies layed out in my work area, and they distracted me this morning. Instead of working on my list, I "had" to dig in and make a card. I figure I was able to satisfy my urge to create and also to wish my blogging friends a "Merry Christmas"!

Sentiment: PTI Communique Curves
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: SU! So Saffron, Basic Grey "Jovial" Collection
Embellies: Hero Arts Poinsettia, Me & My Big Ideas Rhinestones
Extras: Scor-Pal, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, PTI Dressform Die/True Black Felt

Friends and fellow bloggers, this one is dedicated to you! May you have the merriest of holiday seasons and a happy, healthy new year!

Thanks for stopping by; enjoy your day!

Angela

A Little "This and That"....

Good Saturday morning! I have some cute packaging to share today...no stamping involved! We found these cute tins at Hobby Lobby and I had the idea of embellishing the handles with ribbon. My daughter had wanted to make some fun tags as well, but that didn't get done. So much to do, so little time....

The assorted ribbons are cut in 4 inch lengths and simply tied on the handle. Super easy and quick to do and it really makes the tin special! First we layed out an assortent of ribbons that matched the tin, next we cut the ribbons and layed them in a pleasing pattern, she tied them on and trimmed the stray threads, last she distributed the ribbons evenly on the handle. I found that the red and white wide grosgrain ribbons needed to be cut at 5 inches, the 4 inch lengths looked too short in comparison to the other ribbons. I was really surprised to find how much ribbon it took....about 60 pieces, so a bit over 20 yards total!

Inside the tin is some green shread and assorted items that young girls like: cute Christmas socks, scented lotion and super sparkly nail polish! She even baked some cookies to include...all by herself! My baby is growing up! That's the third time in a week that she made cookies! I pretty much just let her go to it and stayed out of the way.... Not always easy for a Mom to do...or is that just me?!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Angela

TMS#72: I'm Dreaming of a PINK Christmas!

Good Tuesday morning! It's time for another fun sketch from Melissa over at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Our sponsor this week is Deedee's Digis. I just knew I had to have this flamingo when I saw the image...I love the idea of a pink Christmas card!

First of all, I flipped the sketch so I could make the image work. The flamingo is colored with pencils and accented with lots of sparkle; the DP shimmers and I also added some rhinestones, so this one is really blinged out! Woo Hoo! Pink and bling...just what I love!

Image/Sentiment: Deedee's Digis Digital Stamp

Paper: G.P. 110, PTI Stamper's Select, SU! Passion Pink, KI Memories DP

Embellies: Kaiser Rhinestones, Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter in "Polar Bear"

Extras: Prismas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Nestabilities and Snowflake Dies

This week will be a judged challenge so I hope you will hop on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketch blog for some inspiration and then play along with us! You never know, you could be the next lucky winner!

Thanks for stopping by today; have a good one!

Angela

Happy Mail!!!

Hello! How has your weekend been? Hopefully relaxing.... We had some winter weather, so we have been indoors doing holiday baking and wrapping...good times! We went from rain on Friday, which melted all the snow, to a LOT of snow. Winter is here!

I received a fun package, from a stamping friend, in the mail yesterday. What fun it was to get a surprise! I decided to take some pictures. The first is all the goodies, second is a close-up of the packaging (more to come on that), the third is some flower dies, and the fourth are some mini Magnolia images. Wow, how cool and fun is that?!

The second picture shows a close-up of a fancy box, which was full of Hanglar and Stanglar images. The image is colored so prettily and there is plenty of shimmer and sparkle! It's really neat packaging...the band slides off to reveal a smaller circle which has a message written on it. The gatefold opens to reveal an oval window and you can see the top image through it. I am realizing now that I should have taken a picture of the inside too, since it's decorated with a coordinating striped DP. It is so cool! And PINK! My favorite color!

Thank you, my friend!

Okay, that's it for me today. I was really hoping to play along with the Mojo Monday sketch, but I am running out of time. Anyone else have that problem?

Thanks for stopping by; enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Angela

"O Christmas Tree"

Good Saturday morning! I was blurfing this morning and came across this pretty card by Amy Rohl; I liked it so much I decided to CASE it.

I wanted to use the PTI tree die, so I hunted for some paper to match the green felt I had on hand. Then I remembered this fun fabric I bought a couple of months ago...I had to have it when I saw the sheet music pattern! How fun! It's cut with a Spellbinder's die. The card came together pretty quickly since none of the layers are matted. I don't know about you, but it takes me quite a bit of time to get the layers even.... If they're not even, it drives me nuts! A little OCD rearing it's ugly head, I guess! Anyone else have this problem? I distressed the edges of the DP with white ink, ran the scarlet panel through the Cuttlebug and tied the buttons with some floss. Pretty quick and easy once everything was picked out.

Ink: Color Box Frost White
Paper: PTI Fine Linen and Scarlet Jewel, Bo Bunny DP
Embellies: PTI Buttons, DMC Floss, PTI Fine Linen Satin Ribbon
Extras: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Spellbinder's Die, PTI Tree Die, Fabric, Felt from MFT

Tips and Tricks:
I ironed some fusible web to the fabric before cutting it with the die. I think adding a bit more "body" to the thin fabric helped to achieve a clean cut. I then cut another circle from white CS and fused it to the back of the fabric, so it was opaque. It was really pretty easy to do, so I think I will be trying it again.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great weekend! We are planning a family outing to finish up the shopping and have lunch; then back home to put up the tree, wrap, and bake Christmas goodies!

Angela

TMS#71

Good morning! Melissa from Tuesday Morning Sketches has another fun sketch for us this week; I like the different shape.... Our sponsor this week is Prairie Fairy Designs.

My image is called "Holly Fairy" and she is colored with pencils and accented with glitter. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but her dress is a very pale pink and her wings have a bit of pink as well. I made a frame out of 2 Spellbinder's dies and put the image behind it. I did a bit of fussy cutting around the parts that would have been hidden, so I could pull them to the front of the frame. The card is embellished simply with some fancy brads. I contemplated using ribbon, but didn't want to distract from the delicate DP and image.

Image: Prairie Fairy Designs Digital Image

Paper: G.P. 110, PTI Fine Linen, SU! Cranberry Crisp, Imaginisce DP

Embellies: Karen Foster Brads, Barbara Trombley's Art Gliter in "Polar Bear"

Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, EK Success 3D Dots

Thanks for stopping by today; I hope you will head over to the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog to see what the rest of the design team has made for your viewing pleasure.

Angela

Pure Innocence Birthday Card and Box

Hello! Hope your weekend is going well! I was unexpectedly put on call today; I'm crossing my fingers that the phone doesn't ring.... We are having a winter festival in our town today, so there are lots of fun things to do. Later today they are having the "Polar Bear Dip" where you can watch the brave take a dip in the lake for charity. It's fun event; sometimes the groups of dippers have a theme. One year some were dressed up like characters from the Wizard of Oz.

I thought I should put my time to good use and finish up a card my Mother asked me to make for her friend's birthday. It's a lot like the one I made for her birthday; I just changed up the layout and DP. I really like the Pure Innocence images; they are just so sweet...and fun to paper piece too!

Image: MFT Pure Innocence "Birthday Princess"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: PTI Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate, My Mind's Eye DP

Embellies: Cream Organza Ribbon, PTI Dark Chocolate Twill, PTI Buttons, DMC Floss, Ranger Distress Stickles in "Antique Linen"

Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Scor-Pal, QuicKutz Blossom Alphabet, EK Success 3D Dots

I made a quick box to present the card it, using my Scor-Pal. The inside is lined with some Warm and Natural batting to cushion the card. This one is going all the way to Washington DC.

Thanks for stopping by today; enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Angela

SC309: Changito "Two-Fister"

Hello; happy Wednesday! I always look forward to the Wednesday sketch challenge on SCS and this week the sketch did not disappoint! These tilted panels are really fun and I've been seeing a lot of them around lately.

My buddy Changito couldn't decide what flavor hot cocoa to drink, Vanilla Caramel or Irish Cream, so he had one of each! Great choice I think!

Changito is colored with pencils and his jammies are paper pieced. I embellished the card simply with some Spellbinder's snowflakes. I like them glittered up and stacked on one another. The gem in the middle is a Martha Stewart sticker (sticker? yes, that's what the package said!) After I was done, I thought it was missing something so I added some chocolate twill which seemed to be what it needed.

Image: Stampendous "Changito Coffee"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Sakura Black Gel Pen

Paper: PTI Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate, Imaginisce DP

Embellies: PTI Dark Chocolate Twill, Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter in "Polar Bear", Martha Stewart Sticker

Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Snowflake Dies, EK Success 3D Dots

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you are staying warm; we have got snow on the ground here! Brrr!

Angela