Flower Friend Card

Good morning!  Well at least it's still morning here for a little while.  I'm babysitting my grandson, Max today, and he's kept me pretty busy this morning.  Since he's enjoying a little tummy time, I've got time to get my post made for today.  I'm back to the Flower Power release, mainly because I just can't stay away from all the wonderful flower dies.  Especially at this time of year!!  For my card today, I used the Plumeria & Leaves 4x4 die from The Scrapping Cottage.  Those lacy looking cut out leaves are so pretty and add so much interest.  I decided to do this card in shades of ivory and yellow.  I think that's such a subtle, but striking and elegant color palette, and I sure love the way it turned out.  I hope you do, too!!!

I started with a base layer of ivory, and embossed that card stock with a floral embossing folder.  I then sponged the edges of the flowers, and the top of the embossing with ink in the same shades as the card stock.  I added some pearls for embellishment, which I colored in a soft shade of yellow to match the rest of the card, and finished with an ivory organza bow.  A relatively simple card, but one that looks like you spent hours fussing over it.  Now THOSE are my kind of cards!!!!!

I'm so glad you could drop by today.  Have a blessed day, and I hope you get to enjoy some crafty time today, too!

Peachy Keen Challenge #57

 Happy Tuesday, and welcome to The ThINKin' Spot.  It's Tuesday, and it's Peachy Keen Challenge Tuesday at that.  We've got a great sketch to follow for challenge #57, and it's a challenge with a twist of an awesome color combo.  

Here's the card I created using PK-212 Happy Turtle from Peachy Keen Stamps.  I colored him with my Copic markers, cut him out and popped him up on foam dots for dimension.  The card stock for the circles was run through the Big Shot using a textured embossing folder, then punched with circle punches in sizes 1 3/8 inch, 1 1/4 inch, and 1 inch. 

The patterned paper comes from Basic Grey's Sweet Threads paper pad, and the sentiment comes from Stampin' Up!'s Fabulous Phrases stamp set.  I inked the edges of the circles with ink to match the color of the card stock, and finished this card off with rhinestone embellishments.  Below is the sketch and color combo to follow, and I really hope you can play along with us.  It's always fun to see each individual's interpretation of our challenges, and our design team has some wonderful inspiration for you.  Just drop by the Peachy Keen Challenge Blog and check out what they've done with this challenge.  You'll be happy you did.  Be sure to stop by and welcome Cathryn, who is our guest designer this week.  Oh my does she ever do some wonderful things with her Peachy Keen stamps!!!  

Sorry my post is late today.  Seems like I completely lost a week, because I totally forgot today was challenge day!!  I guess I need a keeper!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a blessed day, and happy, happy stamping!

Sew Great!

Good morning!!  How y'all doing on this beautiful, albeit HOT day?  I'm making my post for The Scrapping Cottage today, because I'll be in Chicago at CHA come Friday.  Hopefully seeing and buying all kinds of cool new things!!  For this "sew great" card, I used one of the new Cottage Cutz dies from The Scrapping Cottage, designed by My Little Shoebox.  These adorable dies are made to coordinate with the wonderful papers, stickers, and embellishments that are already favorites of so many.  Adding dies to this already amazing line is a SUH-WEET deal!!

I used the Sewing Machine and Dress Form 4x4 die, and  I cut everything except the dress form with white card stock and colored with my Copics.  For the dress form, I used patterned paper, and just shaded with Copics and highlighted with a white gel pen.  the sentiment is from a set of stickers that coordinated perfectly with this collection from My Little Shoebox.  I actually wrapped the spool of thread with embroidery floss, and threaded it around the machine.  I even added a little hand stitching for added texture and interest.  I really like the way this turned out, and it was "SEW" much fun!!!!  Does anyone else remember sewing machines that were colored similar?  I remember that we had a pink on in my Home Ec. Class.  It's so funny what we randomly remember.

Thanks for dropping by, have a blessed day, and happy crafting!!!

Ginger Painting & Kiss! Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Hello!  We just got back from a trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin to visit Peachy Keen Headquarters, and we had such a wonderful visit with Kathy, Dave, and family!!  Allen is still on cloud nine after spending three days at Rock USA in OshKosh, WI with Dave.  They enjoyed some really awesome concerts, which included Daughtry, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Journey, and Cheap Trick, just to name a few.  The highlight of Rock USA was the closing concert on Saturday night, which was of course, KISS!!  Dave pulled out all the stops with his complete Gene Simmons costume, and he was a HUGE hit!!  After nearly 400 pictures, and a meet and greet with none other than Gene Simmons himself (and the rest of the band), you can understand why neither Allen or Dave will be coming down off of  cloud nine anytime soon!!!   Here's a few photos:

 Dave getting the finishing touches on his costume.

 Wonder if there were any Gene Simmons sightings on the road to OshKosh on Saturday night?

 Allen with the band.  He looks so happy to be there!  Those are autographs from the band around his neck.

 But not as happy as Dave!!!!!!!

What a show!!!!

 Now this is Allen's favorite band, and has been since the 1970's.

 Sweet Home Alabama!

Okay, so I know this picture is REALLY tiny, but I had to snag it off of Kathy's FB page, because they weren't quite finished when I left Green Bay, so I didn't get a picture.  Anywho, THIS is what Kathy and I did while Dave and Allen were rockin' out at Rock USA!   These are soooo sweet and were so much fun to paint and paper piece.  A dream come true, I'm tellin' ya!  Painting with the Paint On A Happy Face author!  I never in a million years would have thought THAT would EVER happen, and I guess you it could be said that I'm still on cloud nine, too!  Oh well, Allen and I both like the view from here!!!  ;-)    Thank you, Dave, Kathy and family!  It was a blast!!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you loads of love and happy stamping/painting!!

 

You're Just Ducky!!

Good day, and greetings from Green Bay, WI!  I'm here visiting with our friends at Peachy Keen Stamps, and enjoying the break from the HOT Missouri weather.  It's a cool and comfortable 72 degrees here in Green Bay, and boy, am I loving it!!!  I thought that since I'm making this post from Peachy Keen headquarters that it would be fitting to use one of the adorable Cottage Cutz dies designed by Kathy Jakopovich of Peachy Keen Stamps.  These dies are available at both The Scrapping Cottage and Peachy Keen Stamps. You have a choice of 4 adorable face stamps that are included in the die package.   For this card, I used the Duck with Egg, and Duck Accessories dies.  (TOTAL CUTENESS!!!)  The sentiment on this card comes from the PK-266 Duck Dolls stamp set.   I cut the pieces with white card stock, and colored them with my Copic markers.  All I needed to finish this card was some bling around the goggles and on the inner tube, some ribbon, and a few sparkles on the water.  Now I've got a cute little card ready to go for someone whom I think is "Just Ducky".  :-)

Don't know what we'll  manage to get in to today, but it's looking like there's some coloring, and hopefully some painting in my very near future!!!   Can't wait!!!!!!

Wishing  you a beautiful day, a blessed weekend, and lots and lots of happy scrapping and stamping!

Peachy Keen Challenge #56

 Are ya ready for another challenge?  It's time for another Peachy Keen Challenge, and we're up to challenge number 56.  That is nearly impossible for me to fathom, but here we are, just the same.  Angelica gave us another wonderful sketch, and included some fabulous elements for inspiration.  You'll find the sketch below, and be sure to check out the Peachy Keen Stamps Blog for all the details about prize that you could win if you play along with us.   

For my card, I used the adorable PK-279 Faceless Bugs stamp set. (the set does include faces)  The first thing I did was stamp the bees in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and masked them off to stamp the wings.  I colored these cuties with my Copics, and as per my friend Viv's request, I WILL work on a video for coloring black.  Don't have it for today, but in the very near future.  For the bee hive, I used one of the new acrylic pieces from Peachy Keen Stamps, and I paper pieced it.  It was  a little bit tricky, but what I ended up doing, which worked well, was peeling off the precut pieces of paper one at a time, and  I used them for a pattern for paper piecing the hive.  The small gingham card stock is from A Muse, but the other DP I'm not exactly sure about, as it was in my scrap bin.  The rest of the card stock is all from Stampin' Up!, and includes basic black, whisper white, kraft, and chocolate chip., with the exception of the glittery black card stock, which  is from Doodlebug Designs.  I finished this off with the white grosgrain ribbon, which was a design element for this sketch, as well as the flower button.  The bee's antenna are black rhinestones, and there is a bit of stickles on the bee's wings.  The sentiment comes from the PK-260 Sweetie Pie Peepers stamp set.  Oh, and I almost forgot!  The edges of everything are sponged with Tim Holtz distress ink in Tea Dye.  I LOVE that stuff!!!  ;-)

Here's the sketch for Challenge #56.

Please don't forget to stop by Scrapping Mommy's Blog and give Amy Crockett a warm welcome as our guest designer this week.  Amy's blog is filled with inspirational creations, and she really rocks the Peachy Keen Stamps!!  Our wonderful PKS design team has an amazing line up of cards to share with you using this sketch.  I always look so forward to the day we post, because it just makes me so happy to see their work!!  Head over to the Peachy Keen Challenge Blog and check it out!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I've got a busy day ahead, so I'd better get to it!  Y'all take it easy in this heat, have a beautiful day, and happy stamping!

Market Street Stamps Challenge #4

 Oh, ya gotta love these challenges, and there's a new one over at the Market Street Stamps Blog.  This month, a color challenge is what is on tap, and I honestly thought I might struggle a bit with this one.  Once I opened my new Market Street Stamps, though, inspiration hit me, and I knew this color challenge was going to fall right into place.  Isn't this little camper the cutest?  I just love this Gone Campin' stamp set, and can't wait to play with the rest of the images!

 

Here's the Color Cue Challenge as shown on the Market Street Stamps Blog.

 For this card, I used Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, and Sahara Sand card stock, which is all from Stampin' Up! I chose to use some DCWV patterned paper from their Green Stack.  The image was stamped on X-Press It Blending Card (recommended by Copic), which is THE BEST choice for Copic coloring.  I just can't stress that enough.  If you want great results with your Copic coloring, then you've gotta use excellent quality card stock, and this is THE BEST I've found.  People ask me all the time, and my answer remains the same.   It allows for beautiful blending, and it's well worth every penny.   I colored this image with Copic markers and added a few highlights with a white gel pen.  The grass is a new Cottage Cutz die released with the Flower Power designs at The Scrapping Cottage.  I LOVE this new die!!!  For the clouds, I used a cloud die from A Muse.  I seriously entertained the idea of adding some button flowers behind the camper, but I cut myself off, and decided it looks good just the way it is. 

I'm so glad you could drop by today!  I hope your week is off to a fabulous start.  Wishing you many happy blessings, and lots of happy stamping!  

Scrapping Cottage Challenge Christmas in July

 Good morning!  Happy Saturday and weekend to you!!  I have a card to share with you today that I made for the latest challenge on The Scrapping Cottage Blog.  I'm hosting the challenge this month and the theme I chose is Christmas in July.  Might as well get started on those holiday themed pretties, since it IS only 168 days till Christmas!!  Good grief!  Can you believe that?  Where on earth has this year gone?????  Well, I do love decorating and making holiday cards, so here's what I came up with for this challenge.

I used SU Cherry Cobbler card stock for this card, and the patterned paper is from Crate Paper's Snowy Day collection.  The inside of this card says "Sparkle".  I added plenty of sparkle to the outside of this one with the rhinestones and glitter, so the inside of course had to have sparkle, too.  The polka dotted stitched grosgrain ribbon is from Stampin Up!, the snowflakes punched with a Martha Stewart punch, and the image and pocket die are both from The Scrapping Cottage.  The sentiment comes from Peachy Keen Stamps, and I think it's out of the PK-412 Too Sweet To Eat stamp set.   Of course, my trusty Copics were what I reached for when it was time to color this cutie.

You can find all the details about this challenge here.  Sure hope you can play along.  That countdown to Christmas is ticking away!  ;-)  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!  Happy stamping!

Exciting News!!

 Hello and happy Friday!!  I have some exciting news to share with you today.  Our friends at The Scrapping Cottage have teamed up with our friends from My Little Shoebox to bring you the newest release of Cottage Cutz dies.  These adorable designs are designed by My Little Shoebox and coordinate perfectly with their just released Summer 2011 paper and accessory collection.  Be sure to head over to The Scrapping Cottage to place your preorder for the new dies.  You can visit the My Little Shoebox website to see all of their wonderful collections and find information on retailers near you who carry all of the beautiful My Little Shoebox papers and accessories.

Check back soon to see some samples of cards and projects made with these beautiful designs!  I'll be back tomorrow with a card to share with you for The Scrapping Cottage monthly challenge.  It's my turn to host this month.  See you tomorrow!!!  Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a blessed day and happy stamping!

Love 8x8 Layout

 Hello and happy Friday!   It's a red hot Friday morning in Missouri, and I have a red hot scrapbook layout to share with you today.  ;-)  Red had become one of my favorite colors, and I find myself using this Cherry Cobbler card stock from Stampin' Up! more and more.  For this creation,   I pulled out some of my dies and stamps from the Valentine release and paired them up with one of the new dies (Bird with Flowers) from the new Flower Power release at The Scrapping Cottage to bring you this fun 8x8 layout.  From the Valentine release, I used the Label 1 die, and the Frame 1 background stamp, as well as the Valentine sentiments stamps.  I got the sketch from the current Scrapping Cottage challenge. There's still time for you to play along, as you have until the 8th to upload your creation for a chance to win a great prize!!

Here's the page map to follow for the current challenge, and you can find all the details here, to link up your work.  We're sure looking forward to seeing your fabulous creations!  Good luck, and thanks so much for stopping by today on this beautiful day.  I wish you a safe and happy 4th of July weekend, and lots of happy stamping and scrapping!!!