Mojo Monday Week #80 Sketch

Here is my card for the Mojo Monday #80 . I am really liking these sketches..they help me make cards really fast (for me that is LOL). I get to focus on the papers rather than the layout of the card..which is a big help.

I used That's Amore Paper, Cocoa grosgrain ribbon, Friendship Wordpuzzle SS
(which didn't stamp as well as I would have liked) Chocolate ink and some of CTMH Clear Sparkles. The other sparkles are from Walmart. The butterfly was cut with a Nestabilities die and distressed with chocolate ink and some shimmery chalk.

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Enjoy!

Notebook Layout...

I totally fell in love with this paper from the winter 08 CTMH catty...Notebook. However when I got it I found it challenging to use. I am very weak at Layouts but I thought I would have a go with this paper. I loved these photos of my daughter Amy with her 'boyfriend' Jordan...esp his face in the car! This is what I came up with. I also used some Rub ons and various embellies. The result is busy...but hey I am learning this as I go along!

Hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday..it is very, very windy here in Iowa today.

Enjoy!

Another Case'd Card....

To say I love Tresa's Fabulously Artsy Blog would be a serious understatement. I enjoy her art and her tutorials SO much! I decided to try one of her 'swinger' cards. So easy and so much fun. The kiddo's love them! This card is copied from this card.

I have been working on my goodie prizes and should be getting them in the mail here in the next day or two so I had to look through my cards for something to post.

Hope you all had a safe and fun Monday.

Enjoy!

Well I Guess The Random Number Generator Fairy...

....liked me LOL, as I actually won something! Over at Cuttlebug Challenges Website here.
I was reading through the post and I see a winner called Sarah...SOOOO I click on the link and it takes me to my blog???? What's up with my puter I think! Then it finally dawns on me..I left a comment on one of their projects and I got picked..woohooo. Sadly I didn't actually win by creating anything..that would have been awesome.
Just wanted to share LOL it was such a surprise.
Have a great night.

Altered Composition Book.

If you have access to the CTMH BB you will probably have seen this posted. I wanted to post some art today and couldn't post what I have been working on (as it was the First 5 to Comment Post goodies).
This is a composition book I altered for Amy for school. I used CTMH's Pansy Purple textured cardstock and adhered it with liquid glass as I wanted it to stick! I colored the dimensional elements alphas with Pansy Purple and Petal ink and a sponge dauber . Then I stamped the flowers with Cottage Floral SS, cut them out and misted them with some water so I could curl the edges. Then I added some buttons for the centers and stamped the stems with the Celebration Bouquet SS. I stamped the leaves and lightly misted them too, so I could curl the edges. Looking at it now I should have framed it or something..it needs something more. However I knew it would take a licking in Amy's desk soooo I did try to keep it somewhat simple. Everything was adhered with CTMH's liquid glass so it would stay put!
Hope you had a great weekend
Enjoy!

Jean is offering...

...a chance to win some of her cards! She has done a wonderful job of making some cards and a memory keeper box for a Mothers Day project. If you vote for which one of the cards you like the best you have a chance of winning a set of her cards. So go visit Jean here.

Lion card, Quick and Simple...

That's what this card is, simple and unadorned. It was a birthday card to my nephew/godson in the UK. It was done using CTMH Autumn Terracotta textured cardstock and the a lion stamp from a previous SOTM which I can't for the life of me remember the name of. I also used my sewing machine (GASP)! I colored the lion with my CTMH pencils. Very simple card.

Enjoy!

The Flower press...

and a surprise..I found flowers in it LOL
A couple of people asked to see a pic of my ancient flower press so here it is. My Mom bought this for me when I was a kid (purchased in Mothercare a UK shop that sells kids clothes etc) . I tried to find one here in the US but it wasn't as easy as I thought. Then I tried to make one (too much hassle). So mom brought this one over on a visit...When we opened it up it had flowers in it from YEARS ago LOL.
As I was taking pics I found that it had flowers in it from 1-2 years ago. They are soooo thin. I bought some Modge Podge for the first time So I will see what I can do with it.

Hopefully I will have some art to post later

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Enjoy!

It Is Spring....

and I have a couple of things to share with you today, that have to do with spring. Firstly my pressed flower bookmark.
I don't know if any of you have ever pressed flowers but it is SO easy and SO rewarding. I have a yard full of perennials (I love to garden...I do NOT have green thumbs though LOL), and a way to preserve these beauties is to press them. You can add them to cards, layouts, and gifts. I have even framed them as pictures. The new bride can preserve her wedding bouquet for ever in a LO by pressing the flowers. I found that the CTMH Window Charms were a great way to highlight these blooms.
I will have to take a pic of my Flower Press..I have had it since I was a young girl!
for now here is a quickie bookmark I made with my pressed flowers.

Now the second thing I have to share.

My dad in the UK is an avid photographer and loves his new Nikon fancy schmancy digital camera. He sent me these pics today of the nesting box he has on the side of the house. They love watching the Blue Tits (YES they are birds in England) preparing to nest in the box. He has this neat thing called a gorilla pod that grips the camera in weird places. Anyways I thought I would share the pic of the Blue Tit and the camera and it's gorilla pod for anyone who might be interested.

Any questions about flower pressing or anything else just shoot me an email. Thanks again for visiting and commenting.

My first five get a prize 'pay it forward' post has now reached 5 comments!!! Thanks so much for your comments..I will be wracking my brains for something yummie to send you all!

Enjoy!

Christy A Very Talented Artist...

moved her blog and is offering to design a custom image for you if you leave a comment
here So head on over and check it out!

MY First Ever Card For a Sketch Challenge...Mojo Monday #79

After seeing all the wonderful cards everyone does for these sketch challenges out here in Blog Land I decided to give it a go. It is FUN. I tried the Mojo Monday #79 (woohoo the embedded linky thingy worked...thanks to all those who gave me pointers!)
here is the sketch...

And here is my card!...My first ever Sketch challenge and my first ever using non CTMH rubber stamps. This is Princess Anya! I have to say I am spoiled with the CTMH stamps. I must have stamped this 5-6 times before I got it right.

I used CTMH Daydream Lv 2 PP. The sentiment is a CTMH rub-on. The ribbon is also CTMH. The little froggy (who she 'believes ' and 'dreams' will 'become' her Prince... ok ok it's for my little princess Amy who is 7), is cut out from the Daydream paper. I almost left him off but the sage advice from my 2 critics (Allison and Amy) was to leave him there. The border of the black CTMH CS is done with the much used Martha Stewart Punch.

The bling around the sentiment is from Walmart.

I used Stickles to color her wand and crown and to make her dress sparkly. Anya was colored using Copics. I was so good at staying in the lines until the last bit then I went and blew it so I cut her out LOL. I paper pieced the dress from the same papers I used on the card. I don't know whether to add something in that top right corner....or to leave it alone.

I was inspired to get these stamps from looking at all the amazing cards over at Sparkles blog.

Well I hope you like this...I am quite proud of myself (that doesn't happen often.)

Enjoy!

My First Five to Comment Prizes...

came in the mail today..Yahooooo! I was one of the first 5 people to leave a comment on Rachel's blog http://wonderfullywhimsy.blogspot.com/ and so I got a personal, one of a kind goodie made for me by Rachel. To qualify for this yummie you had to do the same thing on your blog and give the first 5 commentators on your special post their own goodie! What a way to pay it forward! I still have 3 spaces left for people to leave a comment!!!! I have already sent goodies to two people.

Here are the wonderful clothes pegs (if you are English) pins (if you are American) photo holders I got from Rachel today. I can't tell you how cool it is to have these in person!!!!

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE.... One of the wonderful people to leave a comment on my blog was the Very Talented Nellie over at This little blog of Mine http://nelliemaeii.blogspot.com/

She left a comment which meant that I had to make her something and send it. She posted the same giveaway on her blog as well. I snuck over to her blog and left a comment so I could get something from her!!!! hee hee hee. I believe she also has some comment space left as well. If I were you I would head over and find that post ASAP.

Nellie sent me the most precious card, notepad in a holder and my own personal pack of embellishments. It was like Chritsmas here today LOL.

I forgot to take a pic of what I made for Nellie so you will have to just go on over there and have a look see!

http://nelliemaeii.blogspot.com/2009/03/lets-get-lyricaland-sarah-wow-thanks.html

SOOOO both Nellie and I have space available for some more comments...do you feel like paying it forward???? I am telling you it is GREAT FUN!!! Just find our posts and leave a comment. Then do the same on your blog.

Enjoy, I certainly have today!!!

These Cards Were Inspired By...

these cards over at Kwernerdesign blog http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=686. I used the Unforgettable Lv 2 PP. I also used the Nestabilities Circles dies and the Cuttlebug. It was a lot of fun putting these together. If anybody knows how to put these links into words like "here" I would love to learn that ...

I am chillin on the Sofa with my little Amy. She is such a trooper. She had her tonsils and adenoids out today as outpatient surgery. She didn't shed a tear and was so brave. There is nothing worse than having a child have to have any kind of surgery or procedure, or be sick! I would so rather it was me! Anyways I hope you are all having a wonderful day. Thanks again for every comment you leave!

Enjoy!

I Can't Take Credit For This Card.......

BUT I totally fell in love with it when I saw it on the CTMH Bulletin Board. This card was part of a posting from the Humble Artist swap and it was done by a CTMH consultant called Yvonne Wickham. Yvonnes card had some twine down the side, which I didn't add as I didn't have the goodies to add it. BUT I did my best to CASE it in every way. All the cards in the swap were out of this world, however this one caught my eye with the beautiful sunset. I tried to do it justice but the original is much better.

I might be a bit quiet over the next few days as my youngest daughter is having surgery tomorrow (nothing major..but it's still surgery) so until next time, Thanks for visiting and thanks for your comments!

Enjoy.

Treat Holder Using CTMH retired Fancy Cuts Baskets

I ordered these Fancy Cuts Baskets from CTMH's online sale a while back and thought I would have a go at making something with them.

I distressed the box with some bamboo ink then stamped the Intrinsic Background Stamp around the basket. I stamped one of the Kanji Phrases on the little tag. I wrapped the Hershey's nuggets in some thin slivers of the Unforgettable PP secured with a glue dot.

These ended up as gifts to say thanks to the wonderful friends that join me for my workshops.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was spent working so I am beat.

I want to thank Rachel for my first ever blog award TAH DAH!!!

I find it hard to believe that she counts my blog as a frequent visit BUT I am very happy. You have to go visit her blog Wonderfully Whimsy it is SO good. You can find a link at the bottom of my fav blog lists (on the bottom ONLY because it is alphabetical).

Enjoy!

Triangle Treat Box

These cute little boxes were inspired by Jen here at Jens scrappy pages.

http://jensscrappypages.blogspot.com/2009/03/weekend-crop-triangle-treat-bag.html

So I built my makeshift light box and am still experimenting with the camera and settings...I am clawing my way up the learning curve.

Here are my flowerpot flowers in the better light of my homemade light box.

And thanks to Jeanne for pointing out you don't actually have to EAT the suckers to get the sticks..LOL. Ohhhh but you do when you want them now now now .

Enjoy!

Cards for Upcoming Workshop

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great Thursday.
I have been working on some cards for my next workshop. We wanted to use the Emporium PP as everyone had just purchased it for our last workshop (trying to be cost effective here). You saw my previously posted card using Mrs Gardener earlier and here are the others.

This card uses Mrs Gardener also, with some bling and some paper piecing. I know it's a little busy. I colored her with copics.

The other card uses Bunny Love (I think LOL) Stamp set

and Emporium creative Basics papers. The bunny is embossed and colored using CTMH colored pencils and the odorless mineral spirits technique.


The other 'card' I came up with is an idea I have had in my head for a while..... this needs tweaking a bit, but for now it will do. A while back I saw some gorgeous flowers made with the Easter eggs stamp set, so I thought I would CASE them (sorry I cannot remember the name of the consultant who made them). Then I tried to make a flower pot with cardstock. Then I got my little Amy to break out the suckers (for their sticks). She was willing to eat all the suckers for my stems, but we ran into 2 problems...1. she took too long and 2. they were soggy ewww. So I opted for smashing the suckers off the ends..LOL. I had planned to wrap them in green floral tape but I couldn't wait to make this so my next one will have it. I was also going to make some leaves but decided to leave them off. I know the little flower on the pot doesn't match and I will change it , but it looked like it needed something.

It actually stood up...I was amazed.
Anyways this was fun to make and I will try and make a more polished one now I know how to put it together.

I really have to get a better camera as mine seems to suck the life out of my cards. I have foam mounting tape and pop dots all over the place on these cards and you can't see the dimension in these pics. Also I used Stickles on the brads in the center of the 3 big flowers but you can't see that either. Oh well LOL

Enjoy!

P.S. The CTMH consultant I got the idea for the flowers from was Katy Donaldson...I just found her name...I want to give credit where Credit is due!