Just under the wire

Good morning! Today is the last day to play along and enter the Kitchen Sink monthly contest. The challenge this month was: Use school supplies or items to make a card or project. You can alter an item too! Extra apple points for a school themed card. Well here is my try at it. The green card stock is Stampin Up Old Olive, the other card stock is assorted Bazzil. The ribbon is random from my scraps and the boarder punch is from EK Success. The School items I used are a red paper clip and a scrap of a post it note from a pad. The lines are already pre printed on the post it note and it reminded me of way back in the day when you went to school and practiced our writing on our Big Chief tablets with all the lined paper. The samples that the teachers would give out would always start with the dotted line letters to give you an idea of what they are supposed to look like. So I hand wrote Happy Birthday in the lines just like the old days! The ind I used for distressing is Wild Wasabi. And the tie to Kitchen Sink is the Hey Chick stamp that I stamped in Wild Wasabi as a background on the orange panel. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope I win some more Kitchen Sink stamps so I will have some more to play with!!!! Thank you ladies for sponsoring such wonderful contests. Again, I'm sorry the image is so small, but if you click on it, you can see a larger image.

Long Time Ago

Hello All it has been such a long time since I was here and I'm sorry if you have been looking for me. Work and family life took over for a time. I am happy to say that I seem to be having a bit more time lately to get some things done. For instance I was able to play along with two sketches this week. First things first: Tuesday Morning Sketches. I flipped this one on it's side this week and I altered a couple of things. I made the sentiment the focal image because I needed a birthday card for a co-worker and thought this would fit the Bill (that's really his name) perfectly. I didn't get too carried away with embelishment because I wanted it to stay classic and manly. What do you think? The recipe is fairly easy although there were a lot of things in this pot. Paper: Brown - Bazzil, Blue-Bazzil Swiss Dots, Pumpkin Pie, and unknown DP from The Greeting Farm. Ink: Pumpkin Pie. Other: Wavy boarder punch, scrap ribbon. The inside has a small strip of the DP along the right side as an accent. Well I will put up my other sketch tommorrow. Enjoy! Sorry the picture is so small. If you want to get a better look, you can click on the image. Thank you.

Tuesday Morning Sketches on Thursday

I know, I know, I'm late. But hey great work takes time. I received this image and the pattern paper from Melissa in the mail, and I haven't been able to play with the last couple weeks sketches, so I knew that this was going to work this week. I colored this CC Designs Sweet Pixies Gretal with Prismacolor Watercolor pencils, and then I decided not to use the water to blend them but to use the white pencil instead for a softer look. I just love her!! I sprinkled some pixie dust on her wings. Is she not divine? I used the level two Nestabilities to cut her out as well as the Always Artichoke paper behind her. I smudged the edge with some Cameo Coral and everything else got edged with Always Artichoke. I couldn't bear to cover up any more of the DP so I just made the space between the embelishments wider to show it off. Thank you Melissa for the image and the great sketch! Hope you all enjoy. I know I am looking forward to next Tuesday's sketch.

Tuesday Morning Sketches - Play along

Good morning all. Today is the debut of Tuesday Morning Sketches, a blog put up by Melissa Craig here: http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/. Melissa is a good friends sister and she decided to start a blog. She asked her sisters to be her design team and today is the first sketch. You can visit Melissa's blog to check out the sketch and how to play along if you want. I was creating mine and putting it together and I got to the point where I decided that I liked the card SO much more before I put the main image panel on, but if I left it off, it wouldn't really follow the sketch, sooooooo, here it is. The picture is super bad, because it has cut off the top and bottom of the card and it washes out the watercolor I did in the center of the sun, but hopefully you get the general idea. Good luck to Melissa in her new endeavor and hope to see you all next Tuesday.

Recipe:

Paper - Stamping Up: Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Pale Plum; DP is Provo Craft Imaginations

Ink - Stamping Up: Pale Plum, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue, Pretty In Pink, Blush Blossom; Memento Black

Stamps - Stampendous for the main image, Stamping Bella for the sentiment

Accessories - Fine Detail Clear EP, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Swirls

Happy Birthday Peanut!

Wow, It's been a very long time since I have posted! Just when I got things under control with being able to upload my cards using jpg files, work went and got a new copier/scanner which does not seem to have that option. I have several cards that I have scanned that are all in Adobe. ARGH!!!!! I have to figure out how to get them up here. I have to get a camera, figure out this technology and than we will be on board. So in the meantime, I have a card to share today for my niece, Olivia, or as I call her..."Peanut". Today is the big day! One year ago, I got the call from my sister - "Dars, it's TIME." OMG - IT'S TIME. So I call my boss, jump in my car and head down to my sisters to pick up my little nephew. She was on her way to the hospital and by mid afternoon we had the good news that Olivia Lea had arrived. She was soooo tiny and beautiful. Fast forward to today. She is ONE! She is still tiny though, hence the "peanut" I made this little card today with her in mind. She is born on the first of July and it really doesn't get toooooo much more patriotic than that, (unless you are actually born on the fourth) so I used the red, white, and blue for the card stock (Bazzil and Bazzil Dots). There is a great collaboration of stamp companies on here: The Greeting Farm with the Wild West Anya colored in with Copics for skin tone, and than Stampin Up markers for her western wear, and hair; than we have Clear Dollar Stamps with their supercute!!! Charlie horse who is also colored in with Stampin Up Markers, and the Giddy Up sentiment is from the same set; and last but not least Kitchen Sink Stamps with 1/2 Pint Playful Alphabet and 1/2 Pint Playful Alphabet Buddy for the Number 1. Congratulations, Peanut! You've come a long way this last year, and today is the first day of the rest of your life! Enjoy

I'm getting very sleepy.........

Good morning, Well, today is a very mellow day for many reasons......It is supposed to be upwards of 90 degrees in town today. I do not enjoy the cold, but to be honest....I'm not much of a hot weather person either. I am the person that sits in the chair in the living room and lets the industrial size swamp cooler "Swamp" me with arctic air while I curl up in a cozy soft throw and watch some TV. I am not motivated to move, because it is cold outside that blanket! And if I turn it off it just gets HOT! Okay back to the reasons. I am exhausted!!! I did nothing super strenuous yesterday and I got a full nights sleep, but I just can't shake the tired feeling. I could literally fall asleep at my desk today. As a matter of fact I am typing this sentence with my eyes closed right now! Finally, I had a lump removed from my left breast yesterday and so I am a tad sore and my exercise for the day consists of going to and from the freezer to change out ice packs! So needless to say, I am going to share a small card with you that was done previously. This card is tittled "Happy Garden" and has very little stamping on it. Just a bit from a Stampin Up set the sentiments were actually cut from a pattern paper that is velum and they were placed over white card stock to make them stand out. The flowers came in a little set purchased at Achievers and the matching corduroy brads make the best centers. Just a little bit of Happiness for a mellow day. Enjoy!

Be Yourself

Hello, So today's card features a sentiment that says, "Be yourself...Everyone else is taken." How fabulous is that??? I think it is just the thing for a pick me up type of day! I think I need one of those today. I don't know why, but I can't shake the "blue" feeling that has come over me. So today, I am just going to concentrate on qualities that make me..... well, ME!
This card was done at the May class for Close to My Heart. We used the Stamp of the Month - Be Yourself. All products are Close to My Heart. Paper's are Smokey Plum, Olive, and Vanilla Cream. Inks are Smokey Plum and Hollyhock (I think). This is a fabulous set and the sentiments included help to portray positive thinking and believing in yourself. I love it and I can't wait until mine comes so I can play!!!!Enjoy

Mother's Day

Well, I am just a tad late with this post, but I have not had access to a computer for the last few days. Mom did get to see this wonderful card and I talked to her on Mother's Day, so at least that got done on time!!! I also found out that my good friend gave birth yesterday evening to her beautiful daughter! Congratulations to her and her husband. So to honor Mother's everywhere, here is a card that I did for my mother. Again I don't know the exact colors or papers I used, but all the supplies were purchased at the LSS (Local Scrapbook Store) except for the Chocolate Chip card stock from Stamping UP! The DP was a whole set of these "seed packet" looking things and I loved this one for mom! Sweet Simple and too the point! I love you Mom!

Grateful Day

Good day to all. Did you ever have one of those days where you realize that despite all that you could be complaining about, you are grateful for those wonderful things that you have, and grateful for the wonderful people in your life? Well, I am having one of those mornings. I am grateful to have my friends, my family, and my pets. I am grateful to have my job. I am grateful that a recent mammogram/ultrasound shows that it is most likely a benign fibroadenoma and just needs to be monitored over the next few years. I am grateful to go to lunch today with a wonderful woman who crossed my path through work, but is easily a friend. I am grateful to be able to share my work in this forum. So let's get going. Today's card is for the aforementioned friend. It is made entirely of Close to My Heart products: Card stock is Juniper and Sorbet, DP is B&T Duos from the Unforgotten Paper Pack II and the chipboard is covered with another sheet of DP from the same pack. The sentiment is stamped in Juniper ink. Ribbon is from the Sorbet Collection. The card was made at a workshop a couple of months ago, but was waiting for the right time. Today is the day. I am grateful to know those of you that read my blog as well. Thank you and please take a minute today to think about what you are grateful for!

Back in action

Good day to all. Sorry I had a rough(busy)week last week. No time for stamping. Not to mention that I thought I would have lots of time to get some stuff done at a crop on Saturday night, but the weather put us all off until next Saturday! Oh well. I was able to use a couple of cards I had previously done for all of yesterday's birthdays. Happy birthday to the following: Grandpa Pagliasotti - 86 yrs, Grandma Cavnar - 85 yrs, and my good friend Cesar - 34 yrs. What a busy day. We also attended a benefit concert for a local charity called Lifeboat 14. It was lovely. I hope all of you had a good weekend despite the weather too. Well here is a card I made recently as I learn the technique of brayering. It is so beautiful and for someone who HATES sponging (I get crabby when my fingers get crampy), it is such a beautiful way to create lovely backgrounds. I need to work a bit on blending the colors together, but I actually like the hard lines in this scene. I used Stamping Up inks Night of Navy and So Saffron to create the moon and the night sky. I used the same inks to dye some ribbon and the same colors of card stock. The tree was a random stamp from Archivers and I used a white gel pen to highlight the tree. I stamped the sentiment in Night of Navy and we are off. I made four of these and my daughter used this one to give as a birthday card to her step father in early December. I "borrowed" it off his board so I could get a proper picture of it. This is one of my favorite cards I have ever made. I hope you all enjoy it as I do. I will be back before weeks end with some other projects to share. Thanks to you all.

Happy Easter Wishes

Hello all. Well, my company is giving us Friday off as a "holiday", so I won't have access to Blogger over the weekend. I decided to give you all something to look while I am away. A co-worker asked me for an Easter card for her mother, so I put this together the other night with my BFF's help, well actually her stamps. I was so honored to be able to ink them up before she had the chance to do it. I doubt that will happen very often ! I am fairly happy with the way it came out. This is from the Multi-Step Lily set from Kitchen Sink Stamps (http://kitchensinkstamps.bigcartel.com/products). There are 5 steps for these flowers - that's a lot of blue! I also stamped some ATC's for a Thank you note set I am giving as a gift to the mother to be at the shower this weekend. I was a stamping fool I tell you. I used Archiver's Card stock - Wildberry Pie for the mat and the card and I used SU Whisper White for the image and the background. I used the Scor-Pal to make a grid pattern embossed on the background panel of card stock. I didn't have a Happy Easter sentiment so I just made one! I used Ballet Blue for the sentiment. The recipe for the flower is (Soft Sky, Almost Amethyst, Bordering Blue, Ballet Blue, and Pacific Point) the stem is (Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, and Garden Green). I wanted to put ribbon on it, but I didn't have the right one, so I went with Bling. My co-worker said that her mom would like that, so I'm glad I went with that decision. Well, I am co-hosting the baby shower this Saturday and hopefully going to see my nieces and nephews on Sunday. I hope you all have a great weekend and I will make sure to take pictures of the diaper cake I am making for a future post. Until next time.... Happy Easter!

Ian Baseball Birthday

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. Today I have a card to share in honor of a coworkers birthday and for baseball fans out there - to honor the beginning of the baseball season. My co-worker is from Chicago and a big fan of the White Sox. He does enjoy the game and has been known to "settle" for a Rockies game from time to time, so I decided that a baseball card would be a perfect way to honor his birthday! The image is Batter Ian DS from The Greeting Farm (see here: http://thegreetingfarm.com/index2.php) and was a loan to me by my good friend Angela. (It will be hard to repay as she has WAY MORE stuff than me, so I will have to search long and hard to get her something in return. **smiles**) The rest of the card is fairly simple: the image is colored with Copics (hair and skin), Stampin Up Marker Creamy Caramel (the bat), and a generic black marker to fill in the Black spots. The DP is the Softball from Reminesce and the card stock is Bazzil Black and Stampin Up Creamy Caramel. The little pennant is handwritten because I didn't have a Happy Birthday sentiment that worked there. I used some of the reverse side of the DP to cut out the words for the inside design and just used some more paper to dress it up a bit. Looks like he is ready for the big leagues! Well that's all for me. Hope everyone has a great day. Until next time...

Curl up with a good book...mark!

Hello to all! Well after the "Blizzard of 2009" hit last week, I had a few extra days away from the office for various reasons, but most of them were directly related to the snow that we had over the last few days. We are expecting more this evening just in time for the evening rush hour! I can't tell you how happy I am about that. =( Oh well. For those of you who don't have to be out driving in all the nastiness, you may get a chance to curl up with a good book. I know I have taken to bringing one with me lately so I have something to do when I get stuck waiting at places while other people do their things, like piano practice, or job bids, or even jobs. I have managed to get through quite a few books recently. Of course you never know how much time you will actually have when you are on other people's schedules, so it is ever so handy to have a good bookmark to go with the good book! I did this in December with the intent of giving it as a gift to my stamping buddies, but I didn't get them all out, so I have been using this lately for myself. Seems to fit the weather mood lately. I picked up the stamp at Scrapbook Destination as I needed a cupcake stamp and what better one than this. The paper is Stampin Up Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel, and Whisper White. The snowman is colored in with Real Red, Only Orange, and shadowed with Bordering Blue. I used Barely Banana to highlight the ground and only afterwards did I realize that it was yellow snow! Oh well. I used the emboss resist technique to cover the snowman and his shadow and then I filled in the ground and the night sky with a brayer, did a little sponging around the edge for depth and added some snowflakes/stars with a white gel pen. It is a lovely bookmark just as it is, but I took it one step further and cut a matching piece of Night of Navy, scored it one inch from the top, and stuck it together with some tacky tape, so that the bookmark will fold itself over a couple pages and stand up above the book a bit instead of getting lost down in the book. Hope you enjoy your book and stay nice and warm tonight!

It's A Baby.......Shower!!!!

Good day everyone. Well my good friends Shannon and Cesar are expecting a baby in early May. I am so excited for them I can hardly contain myself. Of course I had to throw her a baby shower and of course I had to do the invitations for the shower. So I got the inspiration for these invitations by checking out the Resources page on Splitcoast Stampers. This is the Double Diagonal Pocket card (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/diagonal_double_pocket_card/)

I thought it was so cute and easy and would be perfect. The colors are taken straight from the nursery design and you would not believe how close the striped paper matches the valance over the window! What a lucky find! They don't know the sex of the baby so I decided to match the nursery colors. The paper is all Bazzil cardstock. The green is Irish Eyes Bazzil Dots and the Yellow is Buttercup (or Buttercream). I forgot to save the tab label across the bottom of the patter paper, but I purchased it at Achievers as well as the baby stamp and welcome little one stamps. The ribbon is from American Crafts and I formatted and printed all the text in Word on the computer and printed multiple copies at one time. I did 25 invites. At least I remembered to do one for the baby book and one for my album!!!!! I have done two other custom invite type orders and both times did exactly the number needed and forgot to save one for me!!!! Oh I almost forgot. Shannon called me and said she would like for people to help build the baby library and so the little red tag has the registry information on one side and on the other has text to read "Please bring a new or gently used Children's book for the baby in English or Spanish. You will be entered into a raffle for a prize." The raffle is sponsored by Shannon so I don't know what the prize will be, but I think this is a great way to promote reading and family time. I am all for it!

I am sooooo excited, I can't wait to be an Auntie again!!! (Well not really, an auntie, but close enough) Congratulations to the happy couple and I'll see you at the shower!

Another Birthday celebration

Good morning,

Happy monday! Well today I would like to share a recent card. I am the official birthday card maker for everyone at work right now. Over the weekend, one of my co-workers had her 40th birthday(Shhh-don't tell her I told you). So I had recently made this fantastic card at a workshop run by my friend Debi Squires. Debi is a consultant with Close to My Heart Products and runs a monthly workshop for a group of ladies. I joined this group recently and I have truly enjoyed the classes, plus it gives me some time to spend with my daughter doing something we both like. I am not certain the names of these papers, but I do know the stamp is from the set "Mom on the Go" and it was colored with Stamping Up markers. The classes are so full that we all bring our own adhesive and she does have markers there from Close to My Heart to use, but it speeds things along if we bring our own coloring tools as well. I don't have a picture of the inside, but it completes the sentiment with "Born to Shop....not to mop". I thought it fitting for my co-worker as she is really a mom on the go. Happy Birthday to a fabulous lady. Until next time.

Another one from the Archieves

Good day to all. Until I get all this technical stuff figured out I can only show pictures of some of my older cards that I have on my computer already. Thank you to those who visited me yesterday for my blog debut - I hope I didn't disappoint you. Well today I'd like to share a card that I made for my mother's 50th birthday a couple years ago. She lives here in Denver, but for her 50th birthday she was with her sisters, brother, and mother at a family reunion in Kentucky. A good time was had by all, but we sure missed her for her birthday. I made sure to get several special made cards out to her from my dad, niece's and nephews, and my siblings. I loved them all, but this was one of my favorites. Simple and elegant - just like mom. Enjoy! Until next time.... Bye.

Welcome To You All!!

Hello and Welcome to my blog. I have followed so many blogs for so long and just wondered how do they do it? How nice must it be to share thier work with tons of folks with just a few clicks of the mouse? Alas, I was scared, hesitant, lazy, whatever you want to call it. I was happy to spend my day searching through tons of blogs and checking out all the creativity and beautiful work out there. Everytime I left a comment for someone, I thought of a card I wanted to share with them. I envied all those who could play along with challenges that required you to "link to your blog" with your take on the challenge and I secretly despised everyone whose entry into said challenges resulted in some fabulous blog candy. Well, I finally took the leap and decided to just get over it and start my own blog! WHO KNEW?? I CAN do it!

I welcome you all to the misguided ramblings that only a select few currently follow and appreciate - you know who you are :) My hope is that the rest of you can look past them and enjoy the work I have been waiting to share with you all. I'd like to share with you a card that I made some time ago for a friend who was having a hard time with some things. I wanted her to know that I understood her trials, supported her through them, and most of all that she was loved. The main image was a sticker I bought at Archivers, I think the paper is Archivers card stock, but it was some time ago so I am sorry I don't know the exact colors. The ribbon is the elastic kind and matched so nicely. When I made this, blogging and receipes were the furthest thing from my mind. I promise I will get much better as the time goes on here. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you come back for more soon. I have a little invitation to share with you for my next blog. Until then....Thank you for stopping by.