Get Well Soon Trooper

Ok so you're gonna think I'm crazy and the truth is.....I really am! I made this card for Trooper. Who is Trooper you ask? One of my BFF's dogs. Yep that's right I made a card for a dog. CUCKOO! The funnier part is that he goes to the mailbox with her and brings the mail back in his mouth. Yeah. So he gets to bring his own card in from the MB. You can't say mailbox outloud because he goes crazy. Anway he is the calmest lab you will ever see (he's a mama's boy) LOL and he loves going to the mailbox. He had to have a little surgery on his leg and now has an infection in his face. So poor little fella just isn't felling good. When Troop isn't following his mommy around the house you know he doesn't feel good. So I made this card for him from (the even crazier part) my dog Boscoe. The things you do when you live a boring single life. My BFF will think it's funny and her husband will shake his head and say I'm a dork. Deep down he knows who the real dork is....bahhaaaaa

Here is a pic of the whole tag insert. Isn't this like the cutest dog ever? I colored him with Prismacolors.

Here is the spoiled rotten Trooper. Isn't he sweet? I'm telling you he is the ultimate lab. Get better soon Troop!

Little Last Sheep

Ok so here is my little last sheep. I promise I won't post anymore for "ewe" to see for a while. hee hee. I'm not real fond of how this turned out as far as the red sheep goes but it will have to do. This was another sketch challenge which really helps a brain delayed girl like me out. I was going for black and white with a pop of red but didn't get any warm fuzzies when I was finished. Anyway the sketch again is below:

Told you I've been busy playing with all of Lisa's stamps that she is letting me borrow.......I'm havin' a ball just-a-inkin' and-a-stampin'.

More Sheep

I did this one for the Splitcoast sketch challenge. I just love these little sheep. This one is pretty much self explanatory by looking at it. We have a phrase at our local stamp store that we say "if you can't figure it out by looking at it then ya don't need to be stamping". It was one of those in the class moments and now that's the new coined phrase. Anyway one more sheep to post and then I will lay off the ewe word plays.

Following is the sketch thanks to Julia showing me how to add these.

Happy almost Friday day!

Here's Two Ewe

Baaaa Haaaaa! Don't you just love a good play on words? Ok well maybe it's just me. Look at how busy I've been playing with Lisa's stamps.....thanks again Lisa. See story below if you don't know about the stamps. Anyway I just had to use this sheep stamp and I saw plaid sheep for some reason. What can I say I'm a city girl. I thought they printed out pretty good though on the plaid. I originally went around the card with my white marker but it didn't stand out enough so I added the Stickles over it. I made the scallop with my corner rounder. You have to have one that the paper guide is removable in order to do this. Then I punched holes in the center of each scallop..... and voila City Sheep are born.

Size: A2; Stamps: (Lisa's ha) Annette Allen Watkins; Ink: Black Memories; Accessories: Corner Punch, Felt Flower, Stickles, Shiny Sticky Things?, Paper Piercer

Butterfly Note

Love the colors in this card. The paper actually came from a set that someone gave me for something not too long ago. I stamped the butterflies on the striped paper and then used the circles for the background. I cased this from the Featured Stamper from last week. You take a card from her gallery and then case it putting your own twist on it because you know you can't copy it exactly. That's like Stamper's Faux Paus or something. Anyway the card that I cased from her is here. This is one that I started late and of course couldn't go to bed until I finished it. Yawn! I put Dew Drops in the center of the butterflies which you can't see very well. Then also added them out beside the sentiment. I added Cotton Candy Stickles to the butterflies as well to give them some sparkle. Maybe one day I'll become a better photographer and be able to capture that sparkle a little better. The card size is actually 3 1/2 x 7 1/2. It started out as 4 x 8 but I took the matte off and just used the circle paper and so I wasn't going to waste the piece I had already cut. Anyway I am pleased how this turned out and have been wanting to do a butterfly card for a while. Hope you like it too.

Size: 31/2 x 7 1/2; Stamps: Stampin Up!, $1 bin Michaels; Ink: Black Memories; Paper: K1 Memories; Accessories: Dew Drops, Stickles

Greatest Dad

Nudder Father's Day card and once again no I don't have 3 dads. I haven't even started on my dad's yet. The DAD is actually prettier in real life because it is embossed in gold and the shimmer lost something in the photo. Greatest was printed out on the computer and then I went around the edges with my Gold Leaf Pen. The rest is pretty much self explanatory. This is my last one for the shop so now I can try to get my Dad's done.

Size: A6; Stamps: Darcy's; Ink: Versa Mark; Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder, Brads, Word Punch, Gold Leaf Pen

Father

Well we are having storms today but thankfully not like Iowa had yesterday. My heart and prayers go out to everyone that was caught in those tornadoes yesterday. This has been a very stormy season for us here so far. I don't like them at all. Of course neither does my wimpy dog. Well here is another Father's Day Card. Love the colors in this card. The blues and browns look really masculine. You can't see it very well in the pic but there is brown ribbon separating the two background papers. Didn't want to make it prissy so I didn't tie a bow, I just put a strip of ribbon to separate the two papers. The paper is from The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby of course 50% off) The circles at the top were put there in place of brads for a challenge over on splitcoast. Of course as you see I still snuck some brads in...I couldn't resist. Well hope your day after a holiday is going well. Thank you to all of the veterans out there and to all of the men and woman in our military who have fought and are currently fighting for our freedom. You are truly heroes in my eyes. All of you! Thank you not only for what you do but also for what you are willing to do!

Go Fish Dad

Here is one of the Father's Day cards that I am doing for the shop I have my cards in. These are some more of the freebie stamps that I am getting to play with. I stamped the lures onto the circles and added the white dots with gel pen. Then attached them with pop dots. I stamped the fishy on white paper and then inked with yellow ochre and green. Added the dots with my navy marker. Stamped the Dad sentiment on the plaid paper and added the Gold Dew Drops. I haven't figured out what sentiment I am going to put on the inside yet so I will have to finish that up. Hope to have all of my other Father's Day cards finished by Monday. Have a great and safe Memorial Day Weekend!

Graduation Money Holder

outside view

inside view

OK so I have to tell you this story because it is sooo cute. My friend's son Joe (who are like family to me) is graduating from high school this year. Can't believe it. But I have to tell this story on him. When he was 5 he took me out on a date. He bought me a corsage and everything and we even had our picture taken in front of the TV which is where every date couple got their picture taken before they left. Anyway his mom drilled him and drilled him and told him how to be a gentleman and open my door and order for me at the restaurant (sure can't find any of that these days) anyway and her last instructions were "whatever you do Joe DON'T TAKE HER TO MCDONALDS." So with Joe in the backseat (hee hee) and me in the front we are off to dinner so I ask Joe where he wants to go eat and he says "DaDonalds" and I said "Joe don't you want to go to Red Lobster" (which he loved) and he said "no I wanna go to DaDonalds" So this went on with about every restaurant in town and guess where we went? To DaDonalds. His mom couldn't believe it! Then we went to Toys R Us and bought him a bow and arrow which he later got taken away because he was shooting it at his little sister. Oops. Now my little JoeJoe is going to be heading off to college. They grow up fast don't they? He is a wonderful young man with great morals and character and I am so proud of him. Precious memories...O how they linger. I love ya Joe and I wish you the best! Thank you for the best date I've ever had!

More Grapes

When I was "stomping/stamping grapes" I did several but rather than cutting this one out in an oval I just framed the image. The felt flower is something I picked up around Easter at Hobby Lobby. They were in a package of about 12 or so and of course on sale because I buy nothing unless it is on sale. My Uncle Bub would be proud of that. Hey Uncle Bub...love ya! These flowers are really cute and add dimension to your cards. Hope you like this one too. I'm really having fun playing with all of these free stamps.....weeeeeeeee

Tooty Fruity!

Look at me. I'm playing with the stamps that I posted below that my new friend Lisa is letting me borrow. Whewhoo! Go ME! Ok anyway thought I would "stamp out some grapes"...ha get it? Ok so maybe I'm a little fruity today but hey it's a holiday weekend so I'm entitled. I colored the stamp with Marvy Markers and then spritzed with water for muted watercolor look. I chalked around the oval to tone down the white. The sentiment is embossed with Bridal EP and I added the lines around the edges and ribbon to fill in the blanks.

Stamps: Rubber Stampede; Inks: Versa Mark, Marvy Markers; Accessories: White Gel Pen, Ribbon, EP

Doggie Days of Summer

Here is another card I did with white ink on dark paper. I did this one a while back. This is called the pencil over technique. You stamp your image in white ink on dark paper. Then you color with Prismas coloring over the outlined image. Hence the name pencil over. This gives it that highlighted, neon look. Pretty neat look huh? My favorite card with this technique can be found here. Love it. Anyway it's a different look than the norm- black ink on white paper. Hope you like. Give it a try!

God Is, And All Is Well.

How awesome is that statement...Pretty much sums it up for me! Wish I could remember that more often when I am in a frantic worrisome state. Anyway I saw a card over on Splitcoast in hbrown's gallery where she had done this technique and so I had to play too. You can see the sparkle better in her pic. I have had this stamp for a while and never used it so I thought I would break it in, ink it up and get it dirty. You stamp your image on dark paper with white ink. Then I put stickles on the leaves which you can't see in this pic but they are all sparkly. I love stickles. Really dresses up and pops things out. Very easy and fast card and you know that's what I'm all about.

Well Hello!

Just wanted you to know that I am still alive. I have been very busy and haven't been able to make many cards lately. But I should have several to post in the upcoming days. I stole this stamp from my BFF one day when I was babysitting her doggies....I do that a lot....not babysit her doggies but steal her stamps..hee hee Isn't it great to have someone to steal stamps from? Anyway I have since returned it thank you very much. I colored the stamp with markers and then spritzed with water. Needed more color for me so I chalked the flowers to give them a halo and did the same with the Hello. Very simple card as I most always do but liked the outcome. It's rather different and a one dimentional card which I rarely ever do anymore.

Am I Lucky Or What?

Check this out! Ok so I got a call last Friday from a girl I don't even know but who knows someone I work with. Anyway you know how stampers and scrapbookers are so we talked about everything under the sun and turns out she stamps but is going to school and has no time to use them right now so check this out.....she sent all of her stamps up here to work for me to use. Yep that's right probably over 150 stamps and she just boxed them up and sent them to me to use for a while until she gets time to get back into it. How cool is that? I still have not ever met her except by phone. Wow! So I have laid them all out and will sort them eventually by theme and start playing. I'm still in shock. I mean how crazy is this? How sweet of a person does she have to be to let someone she doesn't even know be in charge of her stamps like that? Of course I'm a little OCD so I will most definitely take extra good care of them but this is AWESOME! So thanks a bunch Lisa and I hope to meet you soon! Aren't stampers and scrapbookers like the easiest people to get to know? Have you discovered that? I'm in stamp heaven right now!

Time Spent With Friends

I have been trying to download this card for months and it just didn't want to do it for some reason. Anyway.....tadah...it finally worked. The theme was time and at the time (ha get it) I didn't have any clock or time related stamps except for the sentiment. So I found these cute clock faces by Spare Parts and so I put them in the center of the flower with a heart brad. All of the stamps used are from Stampin' Up! Also at the time I didn't have the spiral punch so I used a business card punch that allows you to put a business card in a rolodex and tried to eyeball it to make it as even as possible since I needed more than two slots. Worked like a charm. I colored in the friends and flowers with a marker and added Glossy Accents to make it shine. Also added jewels to the flower centers, the I, and on the ribbon for added jazz. The large flower was ebmossed with Copper EP and then colored in with Prismacolors and blended with Gamsol. Enjoy the time you spend with your friends and cherish every moment. Life goes by too quickly.

Butterfly Congrats

Well I have to say that I'm not too proud of this one but was running out of time. This is for the shoebox shuffle tomorrow and I have to make 12. Well actually you make one prototype but then cut the paper and bag up all of the embellishments so that each person can make the card themselves using your stuff. Anyway it's lots of fun but as I said a few days ago have been having daily headaches and so I have gotten majorly behind. So I was going to dup a previous layout and change paper but am not really excited about the end result but like I said it's tomorrow and don't have a lot of time left to get it done. I may try to tweak it a little bit more tonight if I get time but for now this is it. I thought it might be a cute graduation card though. I will post the cards that I make Sat. next week. I'm sure they will all be adorable. We have a group of really talented ladies. The butterfly and congrats are embossed with Cranberry embossing powder.

I Dream Of Paris

Gettin' down and dirty on this one as you will see below. I made this card for our local monthly card swap. This is the one where I had the ideas floating around in my head for a month but couldn't put them all together. Well, here is what I finally came up with. The theme was "in your dreams". So I thought what better dream does a person have than of Paris. The Eiffel Tower is actually embossed with Black Diamond embossing powder which makes it sparkly but you can't tell that in the pic. I started out with a 4x6 cardstock and embosssed the tower. Then I stamped all of the major stamps clock, girl, postage, key masking each one as I went along. Then I went back and added the background script and diamonds. Stamped journey in remaining open spot and then added color with my distress inks. Very involved and got very dirty. I had ink everywhere. All over my hands up my arm, on my nose...because you know your nose itches every time you get your hands dirty right? I printed the I dream of Paris on computer and cut strips and folded them in half. Added color with inks to highlight dream and Paris. Then I added color to girl's lips, eyes, cheeks with Prismacolors.

Size: 5x7 Stamps: Stampland, Stamp Camp, Cornish Heritage Farms, Stampabilities, Inkadinkado, Just for Fun, Dawn Houser; Ink: Distress inks- Old Paper, Scattered Straw, Aged Mahogany, Pine Needles, Memories Black; Accessories: Black Diamond Embossing Powder, Ribbon

Told ya I got dirty. My BFF is LOL right now and shaking her head because it was not but just a few months ago when I saw cards like this that I said...."I'm not doing all of that....that's too involved." Be quiet Tanya!!!!! I hear ya! :)

Way Behind

Well I am waaaaayyyy behind. I haven't stamped in a week. I have a card swap on Friday (6 cards) and a Shoebox Shuffle on Saturday (12 cards). So I guess I better get busy. I'm having stamper's block I guess and then there is the whole time factor. I've had ideas floating around in my head since the last swap but I just can't seem to put them together. When I try to "stamp" out my ideas they just don't work out like they do in my head. Then I have been having headaches every day so that doesn't help. So I'm hoping that this week will be a productive one and that my ideas come together on a card. Otherwise I'm going to be in big trouble. I would love to hear any suggestions of how you get yourself back on track with stamping when you get out of the mood, unmotivated, or just plain stamper's block. Hope everyone has a great week and hopefully I will have some more stuff to post at the end of this week.

Bright and Simple

I was needing something cheery and bright to send to one of our client's who found out she has lung cancer so I started playing around. To do the circles I colored the end of a pencil eraser (unused of course) with a marker and then stamped it on the card. It makes a perfect circle every time. The flower stamp was also colored with markers and then spritzed with water before stamping. You can't see it very much but I scored the card on both sides of the circles to give it more definition.

For the card on the right I did the same thing with the heart stamp and here you can see the scored lines better. This was a medium size pencil. I need to find some larger pencils but I love using a pencil eraser to make circles. It's fun, fast and easy. You'll love it once you try it.

Please add Wanda Roberson to your prayer list as she battles this horrible disease. They have given her about a year.