Look at that Sparkle!

Well, I won some blog candy and got myself a Sakura Clear Star gel pen and oh my, is it fun! In the picture, it looks kind of copper colored, but irl it totally sparkles!

I'm so into Unity and Hip Hop Thursdays that I made this card for Thursday's Ways To Use It 189. Some of Unity's stamps are quite large and one will do it! The word bloom is quite big and I felt like I could easily make it the focal point of the card. Unless the Sakura Clear Star gel pen is stealing the card's thunder (tee hee)!

Stamps: Humble Bloom by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Sakura Clear Star Gel pen
Accessories: American Crafts Uptown Khaki ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, corner rounder

All products used are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Hope for the Cure

I am so pleased about how this card turned out. My biggest fear was that the mirror would be too heavy for the card. As it turns out, it is not too heavy. After I made it and photographed it, the mirror sagged (still attached to the ribbon, but not to the card stock) so I bolstered my adhesive. That is a minor price to pay for using a mirror as an embellishment.


The Unity Wednesday Challenge for this week revolved around hope.

H - My sentiment is "hope"
O - I put pink organdy ribbon ON my card.
P - I used dp with Pink in it.
E - I used a mirror for my embellishment that starts with M (mammogram)

One little detail that may not be obvious from just looking is how I distressed the circle and oval behind my mirror. It looked to clean when I pieced them together, so I edged the circle and oval with white craft ink and then smeared it with my finger (okay...and a old sock from the rag bag)!

Here are the details for this card:

Stamps: Autumn Leaf Prints, Dream Tree by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Basic Grey Two Scoops
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Timber Brown StazOn, White Craft Ink
Accessories: Mirror, Pink Organdy ribbon, 1 1/4" circle punch, Large oval punch, glue dots, MM distressing tool
Techniques: Distressing

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

For Shane

My daycare provider's husband in back from Iraq and about to fly in for North Carolina. When I found the fancy napkin at work, I decided to try the paper napkin transfer technique. It's patriotic theme fits perfectly with my need for a card to thank Shane for his service to our country.

See SCS TLC192 for a description of the technique. The only other details about what I did have to do with the stars. I cut out the stars from the napkin to use as embellishments.









Here are the rest of the details:

Stamps: Sentiments O'Simple by Unity Stamp Company.
Paper: Sahara Sand, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Decorative napkin, freezer paper, iron, stencil, stampin' dimensionals
Techniques: Paper Napkin Transfer

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Lots of Work!!!

Do you ever get in a mood where you just have to get it right? Well, I was in one when I made this. It took forever! I fiddle with what to put on each layer, which color to use and what images and embellishments to use and where!

I incorporated 4 different challenges here. First, I used SCS sketch challenge 199. There were two sketches for 199 and I had to decide which one to use. Then came Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #27 to use red or pink as a main color, in combination with the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. On SCS a challenge was issued to incorporate pink into all you cards during the month of October. For the month of October, Verve issued a challenge to emboss! Finally, I worked on a recipe challenge for Unity Challenge Wednesday. The challenge was to use something clear (like a button, acetate/transparency, ghost shape, even Crystal Effects), use some ribbon, and to use something from your latest Unity order.

My embossing is on the largest glittery layer. I stamped the dot background in Versamark, applied Heat & Stick powder and heated. Right away I applied Dazzling Diamonds and reheated to activate my heat and stick powder.

Here are the rest of the details:

Stamps: Short & Sweet, Joyous Snowfall & Distressed Dot background by Unity Stamp Co.
Paper: Very Vanilla, Pirouette Pink, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Pirouette Pink, Versamark
Accessories: Heat & stick powder, heat tool , Dazzling Diamonds, Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Pink Organza Ribbon, Offray pink ribbon, mini glue dots, clear button, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop punch, stampin' sponge, two way glue pen
Techniques: sponging, embossing

All products are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise posted.

Danya Comes Through!

I'm not sure that anyone loves their daycard provider as much as me(except for the parents of the other girls at daycare)! Sweet Pea has been staying at Danya's since June of last year. Danya is wonderful! She takes the kids places, celebrates special events (like going away, moving on to Kindergarten, holidays, using the potty and birthdays), and does fun arts and crafts. I could go on forever!

Recently, I was complaining that the hubby changed his fishing/camping plans without telling me and left me high and dry for one time a month girls night! This was particularly painful because the girls were planning on going out to a nice lounge and listening to a blues band. Something I could really only do with the girls as my hubby just wouldn't be into it! Danya said, "Why don't you just let Sweet Pea spend the night here?". I tell you that woman is worth every penny and then some!

So Sweet Pea spent the night and had a fabulous time. She didn't want to come home the next morning and Danya had to remind her that she would be back the next day! After Pea's nap, I had her help me make a thank you card for Danya. I had been browsing some other cards on SCS and spotted this one and decided to borrow the concept. I also used the criteria from LSC190 and a sketch challenge posted by the wonderful ladies at Our Creative Corner.

I stamped the bird image on a piece of Whisper White card stock and should have stamped the sentiment too (lesson learned). I then let Sweet Pea go at it with her crayons. It was tough to make her colors choices work into the card as a whole (another lesson learned). I cut the focal image panel out and also cut out a background panel from the scribbled card stock. On the second background panel, I tried to repeat Pea's color choices. It ended up looking really busy to me.

Of course, Danya loved and said she would like to have a couple more for herself! See what I mean about this woman!

Here are the specifics on the card:

Stamps: Zoofari, Upsy Daisy, Distress Dot Background
Paper: Cameo Coral, Yo Yo Yellow, Whisper White, Crayola Designs by Sweet Pea (just kidding!)
Ink: StazOn Black, Bordering Blue, Only Orange, Yo Yo Yellow, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: Crayola Crayons, Black MM eyelet, Sheer white ribbon
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Stay Off the Roads!!!

So my nephew is turning 16 on Wednesday and I needed a card to put some gas money in!!! I'm certain that he will be a good driver, but I am supposed to warn everyone. He's a great kid and just represented his class at school as Homecoming Royalty. My poor sister is feeling old!

For this card, I tried to encompass a few challenges. I used a sketch provided by Limelight Papercrafts and the emboss resist technique for Verve's October Challenge to emboss something. Finally, I cased this card from Sunday's Featured Stamper Challenge.

I created my mask first by measuring a cutting a scrap piece of card stock to the same dimensions of the Vanilla card stock I used for my focal images. I then punched the three squares as evenly as I could. I laid down my mask on the Vanilla card stock and adhered it with temporary adhesive. Next I stamped my acorn image in Versamark and embossed with clear ep. Then I sponged the a different color ink over each embossed acorn.

I was planning on putting brads under the More Mustard strip of card stock to set off the sentiment. I just couldn't put them through the Vanilla to show on the inside. I know my nephew wouldn't card, but I would. So instead, I grabbed my mat pack and colored in three circles with my blender pen and an ink pad.

Here are the specifics on this card:

Stamps: Birthday Whimsy, Acorn stamp by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa dp, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Versamark
Accessories: Clear ep, 1 1/4" square punch, heat tool, mat pack, MM distressing tool, stampin' dimensionals
Techniques: Masking, emboss resist, distressing

Dream Tree Strikes Again!

This one turned out a little bit plain, but I still like it! I wonder if I would like it more if I had embossed it with clear ep like I had originally planned. I overruled that thought because I felt like I have been embossing everything. Anyway, this is a card for the SCS Inspiration Challenge from yesterday.

I chose the colors from one specific pillow and the elements used on the card came from several other pillows that were posted on the artists site. I used the paper piercing because I needed something else and it seemed to fit with the stitching that would be necessary to create the pillow.

This one isn't too complicated. I stamped the bird first, masked him off and then stamped the tree!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Wild About You, Autumn Leaf Prints, Dream Tree by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool
Techniques: Masking


All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

The Color and The Sketch

Doesn't that remind you of a song title? Well, it does me. I wanted to try this SCS Sketch Challenge and then just decided to use these colors again because I like them! I altered the sketch a bit from the original. I moved my half circle and circle to the right from the center!

If I had thought that my ornament card was tough because I don't have Nesties, this one was really tough! Then I complicated things by putting my ribbon under my top circle, but above the rectangle and half circle panels! Oh yeah, and I forgot how difficult it can be to tie two ribbons together neatly. Of course, it was super late because I was really into it and didn't want to give up!

The top of my card looked empty, so I added a little bling up there!

Here are the specifics for this card:

Stamps: Have a Diva Day by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Basic Black, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Sheer Black and pink ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, glue dot, me & my big idea rhinestone singles, SAMJ

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

For my man!!!

I made this card for Unity Challenge Wednesday. Wednesday night at my house is band practice. So after I put the Pea to bed, I work on cards. I was out of coffee (gasp!!!) and so I made some tea, but didn't have enough milk. I threw my coat on over my jammies and went out to face the band! As I pull open the refrigerator in the shop and reach for a gallon of milk, one of DH's band members said, "Sorry Toni, we drank all of your beer!". The light bulb went on, I graciously accepted his apology (as he knows full well that I am not a beer drinker), I went into the house, made my tea and shot up to my craft room to start the card.

The task was to create a masculine card and I think I did it! At least, my dh liked it and he picked out the background colors and approved the brads. We agreed that it shouldn't have ribbon on it, but I went ahead with the linen thread because I felt like it needed something to balance it out!

I embossed the (wine) bottle with Versamark, Classic Chocolate Chip ink, and clear ep. I sponged a lot of Creamy Caramel on the edges of the bar tab panel, the image panel and the edges of the dp on the base! Mostly, I did it for interest! You can't really get all kinds of foofy on a man's card!

Here are the details for this card:

Stamps: Rough Edges Alphabet, Good Times by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, PC Rob and Bob Studio
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Linen Thread, brads, clear ep, heat tool, stampin' dimensionals, stampin' sponges
Techniques: embossing, sponging, distressing

Basic Pirouettes

If you know me well, then you know that I love a good game! The SCS challenges are that for me. It isn't that you win or lose anything, but it is just fun to play! The challenges also get me in my craft room and that is a good thing!

This card is based on the colors from CC188 which included Basic Black, Whisper White and Pink Pirouette. I wanted to use some of my cool new Bella Rose DP, but I just couldn't make it work. So instead, I embossed the flower image on vellum and adhered it to the black card stock. When I finished the card, it reminded me of chalk boards (Does anyone still know what those are?) I repeated the colors and layer in the tag sans the vellum. My sentiment was an old Making Memories rub-on that I had hacking around my craft room!

I felt kind of tricky about how I hid my glue dots on the vellum. I put two behind the embossed white image on the bottom and covered up the two on the top with the ribbon!

Here are the details for this card:

Stamps: Humble Bloom by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Pirouette Pink, Basic Black, Vellum
Ink: Craft White
Accessories: Clear ep, heat tool, White Offray ribbon, 1/8" circle punch, large oval punch, small oval punch, MM spring rub-ons, mini glue dots
Techniques: embossing

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Featured Ornament

I just love the way that this card turned out. The seed for this card was a challenge posted by Our Creative Corner to make an other-than-square/rectangle-card. I thought that I would do a circle shaped card and then began paging through the Featured Stamper, Anne Ryan, gallery for this week. I spotted this card and had a great idea! I decided to make my card look like an ornament. I was sure this wasn't an original idea, but I also wasn't CASEing any specific card/sketch. I went to work on the card. I had to use a circle stencil because I don't happen to own any Nestabilities yet! I punched a strip of brushed gold card stock with a scallop edge punch and trimmed the rest of the paper to make it look like the top of an ornament. I embossed the design with gold ep on Versamark. I set an eyelet in the brushed gold card stock and tied some gold cord through it.
I stamped the sentiment on the inside of the card (something I rarely do) with my gold encore pad and called it good! There just wasn't a good place on the front of the card and I like the patter so much that I didn't want to cover it up!

Here are the rest of the specifics for this card:

Stamps: Growing in Unity Tree by Unity Stamp Company, All Year Cheer
Paper: Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold
Ink: Versamark, Encore Gold
Accessories: Gold ep, heat tool, crop-a-dile, gold eyelet, gold cord, scallop edge punch, circle template, paper snips
Techniques: embossing

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Friendly Inspiration

This is the card that I created for this week's Inspiration Challenge on SCS. I looked through a bunch of the artists watercolor painting and this one suited my purposes best. I can't believe that after years of not using Cameo Coral, I am reaching for it again and again!! Nutty, I tell you!

I chose to include the "friend" sentiment to qualify for this week's Stamp Something Challenge which is sponsored by Unity Stamp Company. They are such a fun group of people, you really must check them out!

Anyway, on to the details of this card. I wanted to watercolor this card, even though that particular style is not my strong suit! I tried! I suppose that even the pro's in this are were no better than me at some point in the their career!


I whipped out my watercolor crayons for this task. (After I tried stamping on the watercolor paper with Staz-On and didn't get a clear image!)I colored my circle stamps with the black wcc, misted it with water and then stamped it! The result was acceptable. (This isn't my favorite card, but challenges stretch you in a way that hopefully you grow. Sometimes growing pains happen!) Next I colored directly on the watercolor paper with the wcc (Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Orchid Opulence and Cameo Coral)and moved the color around with my Aqua Painter. The black smeared a little bit, but oh well!

Here are the rest of the specifics:

Stamps: Three For You, Retro Circle Boogy by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Brilliant Blue, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Offray Coral Colored Ribbon, small oval punch, large oval punch, stampin' dimensionals, WCC, aquapainter, water mister
Techniques: Watercoloring

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Christmas in October?

I wasn't sure how well I would like the Changito images. I mean they look totally cute when other people use them, but I wasn't sure if I could pull it off! So I tried and I like it! I also didn't really think that I would be one to be making Christmas cards out of season, but I liked that too! Maybe I should work on a few Christmas cards all year long?

Okay, this was about a challenge from Stamper's Dream. The challenge was to use glitter on a card. This wasn't too hard. I like glitter and have been using it quite a bit lately. I have to glitter up another card really soon! Stamper's Dream sells this little guy too! I used Julee Tilman's mojo sketch #55 this time around. It worked with the image I wanted to put on the main panel.

Here are the details:

Stamps: Changito Santa by Stampendous, Short & Sweet
Paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Ski Slope dp
Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Gold Sharpie
Accessories: Two way glue pen, DD, stampin' dimensionals, black brads, aqua painter

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

As Spooky As I Get

It feels like cheating when you use such a nice dp! I probably could have done more to this, but I didn't want it to feel too busy! I made this card for the Unity Wednesday Challenge to make a card other than your standard A2 size.

I wasn't sure what stamps that I wanted to use or even what colors I wanted. I just started thumbing through my dp and this sheet popped up! Instantly, I had the idea for the Growing in Unity tree and the color combo. I'm limited in my Unity verbiage/sentiments, but I will remedy that soon enough! In many places, I had seen how the sentiment has been framed with mismatched punches. However, today I was browsing Dawn Easton's blog and was reminded about this type of frame for the sentiment. So I went ahead with the look!

Here are the specifics for the card:

Stamps: Growing In Unity Tree by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey Scarlet's Letter
Ink: StazOn Jet Black
Accessories: Sheer Black Ribbon, 1" circle punch, small oval punch, large oval punch, stampin' dimensionals
Techniques: Distressing

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

WCMD Color Challenge

This challenge was titled Lemon Lime Twist. The individual who posted the challenge has the perfect dp and used Halloween stamps to create her card. Oops! I don't really have any Halloween stamps and don't have that dp. This was so stinkin' hard! I finally just inked up the letters with the colors and used the Basic Gray for the background. I got out my MM stapler and Yellow staples. Too bad you can't really see that the staples are yellow. Maybe the green staples would have been more visible?

Here are the details for this card:

Stamps: Humble bloom
Paper: Going Gray, Green Galore, Very Vanilla
Ink: Going Gray, Green Galore, Summer Sun, Basic Black, Only Orange, Gable Green
Accessories: MM colored staples, Black grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

WCMD Technique Lover's Challenge

This challenge was to use a flower on your card, a la "nested circle". I was excited about this one because I knew that I would use Unity's Humble Bloom on the card. I also knew that I wanted to do something pink and that would work for flowers. I busted into my Basic Grey Sugared dp and my Bella Rose dp and some other papers I had hanging around my craft room.

You can check out the link above for the tutorial or directions about how to make the flower. I modified the outside circle to create a petal-like look. I also attached a half-back pearl in the center on top of the brad to match my soft look. The scalloped paper at the bottom of the card is like a mulberry paper. I couldn't punch it without tearing it, so I had to draw on the scallops and then trim with scissors. That had its troubles due to the glitter circle on the paper!

After I was done and had shot the photo, I thought it looked a bit plain. It looks like it needs piercing or a row of pearls somewhere! There is always later!

Here are the details for this card:

Stamps: Hugs & Wishes, Humble Bloom by Unity Stamp Co.
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Bella Rose DSP, Basic Grey Sugared, JoAnn's Scrapessential pack
Ink: Mellow Moss
Accessories: random brad, glue dots, pretties kit, paper piercing tool, scallop & circle stencils, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch
Techniques: Nested flowers

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

WCMD Limited Supply Challenge

The challenge here was called No P's, please and that meant no patterned paper or pastels. At first, I thought it would be no problem. Then I sat down at the desk and it became a little bit harder.

I just made my own patterned paper with Versamark, embossing powder and a cool retro circle stamp by Unity! Other than that, the card is pretty straightforward.

Here are the specifics for this card:

Stamps: Retro Circle Boogy (Good Times) and Hello (Tiny Trinity) by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black and Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Versamark, Basic Black
Accessories: Winter Wonderland ep, heat tool, Black & white gingham ribbon, mini glue dots, corner rounder
Techniques: embossing

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

WCMD Inspiration challenge

Okay, this is the kind of challenge that I rarely do because they are soooo wide open, I cannot ever decide where to go with the inspiration piece. This time around I was motivated to make all 7 challenge cards for WCMD, so I just buckled and did it!

I like it!

This wasn't hard and it turned out pretty. The masking took a little patience, but with good scissors it wasn't so terrible! I scored the four lines to create the rectangle in the middle. Then I stamped, masked, stamped, masked, stamped, masked and sponged. Got it?

Here are the details for the card:

Stamps: Hugs & Wishes, Tiny Trinity by Unity Stamp Co.
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Basic Brown, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Scoring blade, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, mini glue dots, post-its, blender pen, stampin' sponges
Techniques: masking, scoring, sponging

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Tree of Hope

This is the card that I created for the TREE-mendous challenge on SCS for WCMD. I knew that I wanted to use this tree today. It's an amazing image. My color choices were based on the gloom outside today. It's just pouring. So then the only sentiment that worked really well was "hope".

I started by stamping my tree in Versamark ink and them embossing with some clear ep! Then I sponged color from the center out. I feel like I need more sponging practice, but it is what it is! The end result has a camouflage feel to it!

Here are the details:

Stamps: With Gratitude, Growing in Unity tree, by Unity!
Paper: Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories: Clear ep, heat tool, stampin' sponges, mellow moss taffeta ribbon
Techniques: embossing, sponging

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Featuring Humble Bloom.....

The featured stamper for WCMD is Sherry and you can see her gallery here. I picked this card to case as it was simple and sweet. The whole process went pretty smoothly after I decided on the image that I wanted to use. I chose some flowers from a Unity Stamp Company set called Humble Bloom. I won this set two weeks ago during Hip Hop Thursday!

I recently had a card party where I used this color combination and my bucket of supplies was just sitting by my side. I scooped it up and went to it! This is what I came up with.

Maybe the only thing I did that wasn't obvious was using the regal rose marker to make the dots on the flowers.

Here are the specifics for this card:

Stamps: Short & Sweet, Humble Bloom by Unity
Paper: Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Apricot Appeal DSP
Ink: Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose
Accessories: Vanilla ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Scallop punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, paper piercing tool, stampin' dimensionals, blender pen
Techniques: paper piercing

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.

Killing three birds with one stone...I mean card!

Happy WCMD! Challenges overflow today, so I thought I had better combine some of them! I worked three challenges into this one. The OCC challenge Bling on the BLING (or did they mean BRING on the BLING) calls for anything shiny. I used silver card stock, Dazzling Diamonds, rhinestones and a sentiment with Bling in its title. Gina K. Designs had a release party Thursday night and Challenge #2 asked for a project with red, white and another color. I used red, white and silver. The third challenge is a sketch challenge from the SCS WCMD festivities. AJ's sketch is here.

Here are the details:

Stamps: Have a Diva Day (Unity)
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Silver, Real Red DSP
Ink: Real Red, Silver Sharpie
Accessories: Sheer Red ribbon, wired silver ribbon (both from JoAnn's), Dazzling Diamonds, two way glue pen, me & my big idea rhinestone singles, glue dots

In case it is hard to tell, I edged the white and red layers of the main image with the silver sharpie!

As always, all products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted (you know, like the Unity stamps!).

Do you know about Unity?

This is a fun-loving company with great stamps!!! Check them out - tomorrow is Hip Hop Thursday (oh wait, today is Hip Hop Thursday). I used the Unity Challenge Wednesday sketch to map out this card. Then I inked up a couple of my new Unity stamps (Tiny Trinity and Distressed Dot background) and followed Kristina Werner's lead for colors. Unfortunately, I was taking the picture after dark and you can't clearly see the color of the Kiwi Kiss ribbon on the chocolate layer. Oh well, at least I know that it is there!