Twilight inspired cards!

Hello, long time no post. I am so sorry!! Between flu season around my house and everyday hoopla I've been immersed in too many other things to even get a moment to sit and stamp! Wow, I've missed it and I've missed hearing comments from some new online friends.

I recently devoured the Twilight book series. I loved them!!! Really, truly loved them. My fabulous friend and I were supposed to read them together but that didn't work out exactly but she read them also and loved them almost as much as I did. Thank you Kelley for becoming as obsessed as I am in Twilight and the upcoming movie!!!! Anyway, Kelley entered a Twilight fan contest to be part of an MTV audience of a Twilight special taping and participate in a Q & A session with the two main actors and the director, Catherine Hardwicke!! YAH....huge applause she got picked!!! So in true fan nature, I designed shirts and had them made for us to wear and on to the stamping part....I borrowed a couple images so that I could make cards to give to Rob and Kristen, the two main actors!!!! So I wanted to share them with you.

Aren't those cards great??
I loved them and they are truly my favorite cards I've ever made!! The Riley Vampire sparkles just like Edward does in the book and soon to be movie and I thought that Marie's Pink Poison Teacher Anya made a perfect Bella card!! I was able to give the cards to Larry Carroll of MTV and he promised to give them to the actors!! Isn't that exciting. THANK YOU LARRY!!!

The whole event was amazing and though it was completely different than we thought...it was beyond fabulous!!! I met so many fans of Twilight and chatted all day with them. NINE of the cast members came to the taping and answered so many questions. I've never screamed so much in my life. LOL!! I am still on a starstruck high from meeting Taylor Lautner and Jackson Rathbone. It was a night I will not forget!!! No cameras or video equipment were allowed to be brought in so I have nothing else to show you but I have some great memories of a fabulous day and night!

Pink Poison has it going on!!

I was very lucky to get two Pink Poison images given to me. Thank you Nancy for letting me have a couple of these fabulous images!!

Pink Poison/Splendid Little Company has some great stamp sets, and a fabulous and fun blog. Be sure to check out her designs and blog when you have a few minutes...you won't be dissapointed! =) The bird image is from the Xmas Bird set, and it is soooooo much fun to color! I really enjoyed dressing up these two love birds in Baja Breeze and the boy bird is outlined with a little Pacific Point too. I used dazzling diamonds on their belly feathers and some crystal effects on various portions of their winter wear to give them a little more depth. The sentiment is not part of Pink Poison....like I said, I don't own the set, but it is on my wishlist, so I pulled out my SAB set from last year and just used the top portion of the Christmas sentiment. Finally, a nice thick piece of Chocolate Chip ribbon tied it all together. These are not Christmas colors that I traditionally think of but I really like the combo together!



My second card is also a Pink Poison stamp. Meet Angel Anya....Marie has plans to dress her up many ways. Right now she is available as Angel Anya, Nurse Anya and Princess Anya. Superbly cute!! I really liked playing with her. She's a great size and FUN to color!! I used the new SU in color Baja Breeze and Whisper White as the main colors. I used my blender pens to color her up and added Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects to really add some glitz and glamour to her day! I am sending this Anya card to my Chemo Angel patient. She's 6 and battleing kidney cancer. I send her a card or two each week and this card will really perk up her day!!

More Cheers for You stuff!

Happy Thursday to everyone!

I have two more Cheers cards to share. I've had a ton of fun playing around with this set!!! The first card features the martini! I made this for my favorite cousin Travis. I used Kiwi Kiss, textured Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and a hint of Riding Hood Red ink. Travis just turned 28....such a youngun', and I wanted to make him a fabulous card! I used one of the DP from the Summer Home scrappin' kit. I love DP, and haven't purchased any of the fabulous packs featured in this new catalog. I'm missing out. I'm buying some with my next purchase. This layout was something I came up with for a swap a while back and I really liked how it turned out, so I tweaked it a tiny bit and think it turned out great, and quite manly! I loved the olive in the martini glass and decided to stamp the image twice, color and cut out the olive to give it added dimension...so then I layered it in between coats of crystal effects. =)

Finally, my fourth Cheers card is actually the first card I made with this set. I used last weeks sketch SC194 from Splitcoast for my layout. I wanted to create something funky, cheerful and out of my norm! I pulled out the new Tangerine Tango for my base and of course my favorite Chocolate Chip and started playing. I used my trusty old crimper (first I had to dust it off though) to add a little texture to the Tangerine Tango color. The Baja Breeze, YoYo Yellow and Tangerine Tango are watercolor paper and I added the color with sponge daubers, then used the tiniest bit of water to fade them. It was something new for me and yes a little funky. I like to play around with new ideas. You never know what can come forth!

With the weekend coming, what kind of exciting plans does everyone have?

Have a great Thursday, and hope to see you all tomorrow! =)

Cheers to crystal effects!!

I can't believe it's been a whole week since I posted. Yikes! I am sorry to go missing in action! I've had a busy week, but have missed blogging way too much, so I'm back! First thing I wanted to point out was I got a new watermark! I've wanted one since day one, just hadn't found the right person to work with. I heard about Dina through another friend, she did a great job. Visit Dina's blog and check out all her available designs! She was super fast, very cost effective and wonderful to work with! Thank you Dina, I love it!!

One thing I was busy with this last week was coming up with a swap card with my local group of demonstrators and many new found friends. Originally, I had planned to use my Pocket Silhouettes set but.....my first order from the new catalog arrived and I had splurged on the Cheers for You set! Wow! What a great set! I've made four cards so far (I'm going to share 2 today and 2 tomorrow) and have many more ideas swirling around in my huge head. Seriously, it's a great set.

The first card I'm sharing is a version of the swap card I sent out. My friend Nancy Morgan shared a great idea with me about using chunky sprinkles and crystal effects. What a great look! I broke open my Summer Home Simply Scrappin' kit and used the designer paper and textured cardstock! My favorite piece of this card is such a tiny detail you may have missed it. The straw in my Blue Margarita is paper pieced with a tiny piece of designer paper. I put this detail in between the first and second coat of crystal effects. It appears to be floating don't you think?

For my second card, I wanted to dabble a bit with a white card. I've seen some amazing designs and have been quite envious. White cards look so crisp, clean and sophisticated. I pulled that riding hood red and white designer paper back out and grabbed a piece of Papertrey 110 lb basic cardstock that I borrowed. This was the first opportunity I've had to work with this cardstock but what a thick, crisp, and super white base it provided! I used my red square fire rhinestones (which I need to pull out more often) and painted on my versatile and trusty crystal effects. I wanted to add some pop to it so what better to use than Dazzling Diamonds sprinkled into the wet goo! So pretty! =)

What do you think? I love the detail the crystal effects provided. Don't forget to stop by tomorrow on your blogging expiditions and check out the other two creations I made with this set.

Wednesday already!

Wow, this week is flying by. I can't believe how quickly it's zooming through. When I was a kid, it felt like weeks went on forever, but now as an adult I realize what my parents said was true...never enough hours to do everything I want or need. LOL!! Back to school and fall brings on so many events. My favorite fall event as an adult is to root for my children at whatever sport or activity they are into. Last night I went to cheer for my oldest daughter. She is a freshman at North Bend High and is on the freshman volleyball team. Volleyball has been a great team sport for her! Anyway, five games into the season and they are undefeated. The girls are all the same as last year except for one addition. The girls have greatly improved in their skills and communication on the court! Woo Hoo...keep going Dogs!! On Thursday my middle daughter's first practice for soccer season begins, we love soccer. The crisp Saturday morning games with a HUGE cup of hot tea or coffee. Scarves wrapped around your neck and mittens covering your frozen fingertips while you clap and cheer. I promise to share some pics soon of both the girls doing what they do best.

Onto the card. I made this for a gentlemen that is retiring from my husband's work. I've dinked around with my Cricut that my husband graciously purchased for me for Mother's Day and feel awkward with it, have destroyed gorgeous designer papers and am unsure about half the capabilities it has, but today I used it to simply cut out 2 stars to layer together. WOO HOO!!! I then pierced the edges of them and layered my 1" circle punch right on top. They edges aren't perfect I eyeballed them but it gave it an extra touch. The color combo is one of my favorites for "masculine" cards. It's bordering blue, chocolate chip and very vanilla. I used Circle of Friendship and Print Pattern background stamps and am pleased with the finished card. Clean, heartfelt and of course handmade, always a great combination!

Today's question. What is your favorite fall pasttime? I shared mine, now it's your turn.

Fall is coming and Our Creative Corner Challenge

I love fall. It's probably my favorite season. Oh sure, I love summer but it gets too hot towards the end and I start feeling all woozy. LOL!! Autumn though is warm during the day, and crisp and cool during the mornings and evening. The feel of the crisp morning air on my skin, feels like mother nature's kisses. I think of warm apple pie and the turning of the leaves are just a gorgeous beauty that I love to admire. My favorite memory when I was a kid was the leaves when they fell...we had three large maple trees in our front yard. My brother and I had to rake them all, but first we could play with them. We would rake them into pretend walls, with cutout doors and have our own "house" on the front lawn. We would spend all our time hanging out there, goofing off! I was driving home from Canyonville last night and though I really don't like that curvy Hwy 42 but I love looking at the river covered with all the trees and bushes. Well, of course there are hints of changes in store and it really brought back my days of pretend. It was so beautiful to see the rust colors mixed in with the greens. I wish I had brought my camera. On splitcoast and many of the blogs I've surfed over the last couple weeks I've been seeing signs of fall also in many designs. I've stalked the Our Creative Corner blog for some time. I've admired many of the cards that the designers have made! I decided it was time to participate myself. This weeks challenge was great....a sketch challenge!! I enjoy sketch challenges because they give me new ideas and layouts that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of. I decided to turn the Our Creative Corner Challenge into a fall colored card. I bought this pack of DP at the end of the last catalog and truly love the papers in it!!! I've been hoarding it, but now is the time to break it out and use it up!! What do you think?

So I've been frequenting Splendid Stamping with Pink Poison and I love her designs (Check it out when you get a chance, as a matter of fact she is giving away a free stamp set each week this month!!) and one of the great things about her blog is that asks a daily question. I thought how great that would be to incorporate. So, I'm going to give that a go too.

Thank you to all the recent visitors and comments!! This is a kick and it is so fun to see your happy thoughts!

So on to today's question...Do you have a favorite season and what about it makes it your favorite? Can't wait to hear your favorites!

Have a great Monday...see you Wednesday!

Another fabulous weekend sketch by Beate!! WSC57

I love Fridays!

It culminates the end of a work week, gives me a reason to take it easy for a couple days and look at Beate's blog and check out her weekend sketch. Todays seemed simple enough, clean lines and lots of room for creativity. It took me a while to decide on stamps, on colors, even on techniques. Maybe I needed more structure. LOL! I tried something different. I used the emboss resist technique with my Flight of the Butterfly set. For a first effort it turned out ok, and I'll give it another go or two some time. I like that set a lot, but have a hard time making it fit together like it is in my mind....oh my mind can be a cluttered place. LOL!! I pulled out my For a Friend (retired hostess set) set to add a sentiment. That set is great and I used it a lot!!! I used retired colors of Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky and balanced them out with the new in color Pink Pirouette. That color is fabulous and I don't think I will ever tire of it. I used my scallop edge punch and pierced the pink cardstock and then finished the edges off with my new favorite technique of sponging and added some piercing around the edge of the soft sky cardstock. Finally, I added three bright pink dew drops and grabbed my camera and headed outside.

It's pretty overcast this morning on the Oregon Coast, but almost always it burns off and turns out great! September is a beautiful month here.

I want to again say thank you to all my visitors, family and friends. This is a fun new thing and I appreciate every comment....don't be shy, let me know what you think!

Hugs and have a great Friday, T

Happy Wednseday!

Good Day to everyone!!! It's Wednesday already! The days just fly by so quickly now that my girls are back in school. Monday seems to be a hard day for me to post. I'm hoping to get my routines ironed out so that I have some me time.

For me stamping is about a relaxing moment to create something. Since I am creating something for someone it gives me pleasure in completing a project. Last night I created two cards just for the joy of trying a couple challenges. I stretch my creative mind and hopefully come up with some fun stuff. I have two recipients in mind for my cards. The first one is going to one of my chemo girls. She loves red and I thought this was a good card for her. She likes grown up things....doesn't care for baby stuff even though she's only six. I incorporated the sketch challenge 192 (click to see all the fabulous creations submitted) and this weeks color challenge 183, except that I picked the wrong green, (it was supposed to be green gable and I used garden green) riding hood red and going gray. I didn't even realize it was the wrong shade until I went to post it, oh well, I like how it turned out. Every stamp is from my Always set. I love that set, but have yet to use the bird in it. You can't tell very well but I covered the cirle with crystal effects to give it a coat of gorgeous shine. IRL it stands out well!

My second card was my husband's favorite. It's a sketch challenge given to my by Nancy Morgan for our hostess club for this month. I loved it!! I used an image that I stamped at a recent luncheon (Dreams Du Jour) and the sentiment is from the Always stamp set....they worked really well together. =) I definitely moved that stamp set up on my wishlist. Originally I pulled these colors out thinking I was going to make a Halloween card, but my vision redirected itself.

Anyway, I'm off to do some laundry and other domestic goddess duties. Hugs to you all and I'll post again on Friday!!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #56

Sorry I didn't post on Wednesday like I planned....I don't know what I was thinking. It was the first day of school for my kids and I was busy! LOL!! Anyway, I missed posting and but I'm back! HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Today my card is inspired from Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. This is my first attempt at one of her fabulous sketches even though I have drooled over many creations from various participants!!

This is the sketch we were to follow

It's great, isn't it? I had tons of ideas floating around with this one! Thank you Beate!! =)

After playing for a while with colors and ideas....I came up with this card. I decided to make a 5-1/2" square card and used Chocolate Chip as my base. Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette jumped in as my complimentary colors. I really like this color combination!! Together they are elegant, warm and just inviting each other to play together! I relished in my new found love of softening the edges of all the cardstock with my sponge daubers and coordinating inks. I inked up my Eastern Blooms set for the first time on Shimmery White paper and cut them out. I layered up two to make a fun little blossom. Then I took my trusty scallop edge punch and my paper piercer and mat pack and added some extra eye catchers. The brad is from the silver hodgepodge hardware kit....that kit has everything I love in it! I'll be pulling it out more often and using it, instead of hoarding all the cute little items in it. Finally, I bought this chocolate chip ribbon at the end of the last catalog in the discontinued SU Theater set and thought that I would use it on everything, but nothing felt right....today was the day and I think it just added the finishing touch.

Hugs to everyone and hope you really do enjoy your weekend! See you Monday!!

Happy Labor Day!!!

Hello friends and family!!! I'm still in Eugene with my girls. We've had a blast shopping and just enjoying ourselves. This year I decided to treat them to manicures and pedicures. Yep, even my 4 year old got one!!! It's so much fun to just spend time me and them....making memories and enjoying one last weekend together before the school year starts! My girls start on Wednesday so we will take tomorrow and unpack and just relax a little. I try to always make a special dinner the night before school starts also....little things that I hope they remember when they have a family of their own.

All three of these cards are traditional size and are from the Wanted SU stamp set. Well, except for the "Howdy" stamp....he's from AMuse stamps....super cute and just blended right in!!! This was a super fun set to work with and though not my traditional style I think they turned out pretty good!!! I have a friend in Kansas that requested some blank cards and these are some ideas I came up with. I don't take all credit....there are some great inspiration cards over at the Wanted Splitcoast Gallery....take a peek for other ideas with this set.

Have a great holiday and I hope you get to enjoy some family time too!!! If anyone wants details leave me a comment and I would be happy to post them, I'm just in a hurry right not to get back to hanging with the kiddos. =) See you Wednesday!!

New stamps!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!! I am so excited....Tomorrow, I'm taking my 3 girls and headed to Eugene for some girl time, school shopping a couple of fun surprises and just plain sillyness!! I am lucky that my husband will stay home with our foster boy and let me have girl time (Thanks Darth) I love creating those special moments with my kids and this weekend will be a blast!!

I got two new stamp sets and a new ink color this week!!! Oh, how I dream of owning everything in the new catalog!!! Hint, hint to any of my family looking to buy me gifts. LOL!!

Today I got a chance to play with the Pocket Silhouettes set. What a cute set and so easy and fun to play with. I used basic black as my base card and then added some Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette....both new in colors! I love them...they are so sweet and a perfect color combination! I loved all the new in colors but these were my favorite! On my stem/floral stamp I used my markers/blender pen to color it up, which is a great way to get a variety of color on the stamp. I softened the edges with my sponge dauber and finished it off with the scallop edge punch....THE BEST TOOL EVER!!! Ok, maybe not the best, but my favorite for now!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Watercoloring with Markers

Wow, I can't believe it's already Wednesday!! I had a fabulous weekend. At my house it's never complete if we don't have visitors and this weekend was no exception. I was lucky enough to have some long time friends stop by for a visit and of couse there is always an extra teen or two amongst the mix around here! I've been too busy catching up on chores to relax and stamp.

So, on to stamping news. Leslie Miller has a fabulous blog and this card came from reading through her wonderful coloring tutorials. Here is a link directly to those tutorials. Thank you Leslie for some fabulous coloring ideas!! I know I will be using those tutorials again soon!!

Every week Splitcoast has a color challenge and this week looked fun!! I enjoy trying to step outside my norm and try something different. You can click the link to go directly to the gallery....some fabulous stuff was created this week! CC181 was to use Basic Black, Rose Red and Kraft or Creamy Caramel. I don't have Kraft at the moment so Creamy Caramel was up to bat! I watercolored with markers. I enjoy this method of watercoloring. I've been practicing this for a few weeks now after learning it hands on from my SU demonstrator Nancy Morgan. After that I thought it definitely needed some softening and a little more brightness...so I revisited Leslie's blog and worked with the sponging chalks on my background, used my tearing tool on the watercolor paper, then finally I distressed all the layers with my handy distressing tool!!



I was going for a subtle look and I like the finished product. I really don't grab for my chalks very often but this was fun, and I definitely want to do it again!!

I'm off to spend time with my kiddos...I hope you all have a great day and I'll see you for another post on Friday!!

p.s. Don't forget to leave me a comment...I love hearing from all of my family and friends!! =)

Zoofari Fun!!

First I want to say thank you all for the kind comments, I really appreciate my friends and family! I look forward to sharing many more projects and ideas with you....for today I wanted to share this super cute creation!

I can't take credit for this design or even the production but it's sooooooo cute!!! I saw and wanted to CASE Lorri Heiling's card!! Isn't it cute!! I saw it and instantly thought it was a fabulous idea. Instead I was too busy and put the thought aside.

Last week I showed it to my 15 year old Alexis and she thought it would be perferct and made it for my little Piper who was getting ready to have her tonsils and adenoids out. Didn't it turn out cute!! There are so many super cute stamps in this Zoofari set. There is a little cheetah with his spots....I thought oh how cute it would be to do a pink polka dotted card featuring her. So here it is....

The best part is, this card could be tweaked a little and made into a baby shower card, a party invitation or just simply a card to cheer someone up. Which is what I made the cheetah card for. I belong to a group called Chemo Angels . It's a fabulous organization and one I am grateful to be a part of. Currently, I am a card angel for two six year old girls going though chemo treatment for very different forms of cancer. Every week I send a card to each girl which always have a silly saying or a fun joke inside, I try to type a short letter and usually a small project or at least some images to color in each card as well. It's a fabulous program and I love bringing a smile to my new friends!

Thank you Lorri for a fabulous idea. I haven't used this cute stamp set nearly enough....and now the ideas are flowing!! =)

Hugs to everyone!!

Welcome!!!

Hello, I am so excited to start this blog and share some of my creativity and ideas!! I was jealous of all the fabulous blogs out there and wanted to join in the blogging fun!!! I'm a chatter so be prepared and lastly, bear with me as I learn to navigate the world of blogging!! =)

I recently signed up as a Stampin' Up demo under a fabulous gal!! Nancy Morgan!! Woo hoo!! She's taught me so many techniques and I owe a ton of my inspiration and creativity to her!! If you've haven't seen her blog be sure to check it out Paper Smiles It's fabulous!!

Wednesday I went to a luncheon and met some fabulous SU demos. One of the great things about SU is meeting new friends and Wednesday was no exception. Thank you Kim for hosting a fabulous afternoon and luncheon!! We shared images together and just had a great time chatting!! When I got home I was pumped to start creating something. Thank you Cami, Gail, Kim and Nancy for sharing all your fabulous stamps and supplies!!

I look forward to everyones comments and thoughts!! =) Thank you for stopping by!! Come again soon =)

Recipe for card:

Stamp Sets: A Flower for all Seasons, Heard from the Heart and Merci (Retired Sale-A-Bration '08 set)

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White

Ink: Black StazOn and Versamark

SU Markers: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Blush Blossom and Going Gray

Tools: Scallop Edge punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Mat Pack and paper piercing tool

Accessories: Pumpkin Dew Drops, Dazzling Diamonds and dimensionals....I love dimensionals!!