October 28, 2007

Random conversation

1. I haven't heard back from the winner of my blog candy, Kristina, yet. If I don't hear from her by Tuesday night, I will draw a new name.
2. In other news, I have Strep throat and Tonsillitis. YUCK. I finally went to the ER this morning, after being in severe pain since Friday afternoon. I have a stiff neck, a raging fever, and cannot swallow anything. This is SO not fun. I don't often get sick, and I've never had strep throat before. I wish I could curl up and crawl into bed like when I was a kid. *sniff sniff*
3. Wanna see a stamp room that will make you GREEN with envy? Check this out! I showed it to my husband and he said,"Well, if we move you into the other room (meaning the kids' room currently) I can build it for you." Isn't he the sweetest? I declined, because we plan on having an addition built onto the house anyway soon so the kids can have separate bedrooms. I like my small studio anyway. Everything is within reach!
I will most likely be staying home tomorrow from work, and depending on how I feel, I will get some card made.
4. I was tagged by Julee and Ema and promise to play soon!

October 27, 2007

We have a winner!

Random.org generated a winner for the blog candy this morning (ok, so it wasn't quite at 9AM EST, but it was close).

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
30
Timestamp: 2007-10-27 13:38:45 UTC


So Kristina, you are the winner! I will email you this morning!

Her comment: Kristina said...
I agree with many other posters about masculine sets that don't include hunting, sports, cars etc. Something more modern! I am always in need of sympathy sets that says something besides with deepest sympathy and not a flower! Maybe something a bit more modern looking. Thanks for a chance at the blog candy!ruok72@gmail.com

WOW, so many of you want some fresh, modern masculine stamps. Really, these stamp companies need to get on the ball!
Thanks for playing everyone, I think this was the most comments I've ever gotten in 9 months of blogging!

October 25, 2007

BLOG CANDY TIME!

OK, I've been meaning to giveaway some fun stuff for awhile now, so today is the day!
Here's the loot:
A brand new 6x6 pack of Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding holiday paper, and ONE of the two yet un-released stamp sets from Verve Visual! The newest stamps from Verve will be debuting November 10 and you will want them both! Win one of them here!
Here's what you need to do to win:
1. Leave a comment on THIS post, telling me what stamps you'd like to see in the future. Something that isn't already out there, that you've been looking for. Crazy, weird, normal, anything goes, just let me know what you'd like to see!
2. Make sure your email will be available to me on your comment. Either through clicking your name link, or by actually typing it in. I can't track you down if you leave an anonymous comment!
3. I will randomly generate a winner from all the comments on Saturday morning, October 27th at 9 AM EST.

*As an additional bonus, you could win the OTHER new stamp set from Verve by commenting on my pal Shannan's blog candy giveaway, HERE! How cool is that?!

And now onto today's card. It is the anniversary card for my brother and his wife!
I started with a strip of PP from the new Figgy Pudding Basic Grey pack (NOT the one I'm giving away up above, I promise!) and chose my CS and ink colors from that.
All stamps are from Papertrey Ink. I love this cake set, it's so versatile!
Sky blue and white CS, sky blue ink, and ribbon are from SU, Brown CS is Bazzill. Ink is Colorbox brown, versamagic blue, and Memories darker brown.
I used a white gel pen to color in the centers of the flowers and then used a glitter gel pen when it was dry. They really sparkle nicely, but not in this photo.

Today is my friend Julie's Birthday. Stop by her blog and let her know that turning 30 is AWESOME! (She makes incredible cards and altered projects too, so check them out while you are there!)

October 24, 2007

OS Winter W

I posted an article on the Verve Visual blog this morning about my first time ever making a One Sheet Wonder. It was so much fun!
I randomly stamped an 8 1/2 x11 sheet of white CS using the Winter Wonder stamp set (which is sold out currently, BTW), and then cut it up into pieces and made 10 (TEN!) cards from it!

Here is a sample of some of the cards I made. I used the Seasonal Circles stamp set to add a sentiment and a few highlights to the cards, but I purposely kept them simple and un-embellished. They could be easily adorned with some metal eyelets, extra layers and dimensional adhesive to personalize them. To see all ten cards, go check out my Verve Visual post!
I plan on doing these OSW several more times until I have all the holiday card I need!

October 23, 2007

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to my brother!

Today is my brother Lindsay's anniversary. Last week was his birthday. I'm a little behind, so I'm posting his BD card today! This was CASEd from the Papertrey Ink gallery where I saw this bright, fun card and turned it masculine.
My brother is the best. He's 14 years older than me, and has always been the "coolest" person I know. He married a fantastic girl (Laura), whom we all love. They have 4 kids. The oldest is my favorite niece of all time (She turned 16 on the same day as her dad!), the next is almost 4, and then there are the twins, who aren't yet 2. This is a photo of his three youngest with my two boys this summer.
Happy Anniversary Lindsay and Laura!

October 22, 2007

Blender pen!

I used a blender pen for the first time! What a fantastic tool! Why has no one ever told me I needed one of those before NOW? You just dab it on the inkpad and color...it's like having markers in every shade of ink you own!I stamped the image 3 times with Ranger Black Archival ink and then used a blender pen to color the images. So simple, but quite pretty (if I do say so myself)! Looking at the photo here it looks like the coloring doesn't match, but it is perfect IRL. I used a glitter gel pen (from the Stardust Galaxy set I bought at Verve Visual) to add highlights to the berries, but you can't see it too well here. It really adds a nice sparkle.
Just a simple card for the head of the daycare where our youngest goes. She's an amazing girl and has been helping me a lot recently.
All stamps and CS and ribbon by SU, Ink is SU, Impress, and Ranger.

October 20, 2007

a Cool holiday

I was looking for inspiration for an UBER-quick holiday card and I found it in an ATC I received in a swap last week. I just enlarged the design, changed the stamps and Whahlah!
This card took me under 3 minutes to make (I timed it!). Score and fold your white base, cut a piece of PP, punch out an oval, stamp it, add some glue, sprinkle with glitter, punch a hole in the top, tie on a piece of ribbon, stamp the sentiment!
The glitter is hard to see in this photos but it is the nicest, most sparkly glitter I've ever used. I bought it at Verve Visual and really like the brand.
Penguin stamp from SU, sentiment from Papertrey, PP from DCWV, ribbon from my stash, Ranger archival black ink.
To "up" the design, I might add a black mat under the PP next time, and maybe stamp the sentiment on a piece of raised red CS. But for quick and simple, this was perfect.

October 19, 2007

Green Smoothies and pumpkins

Let me preface this card by saying that I am not the best color-er! I know how I want it to look in my head, but can't achieve it on paper.I stamped the pumpkin from Papertrey's Spooky Sweets set on white with Versamagic chalk ink three times and cut them out. Then I glued them onto a larger piece of white CS, overlapping to look like they were in a pile. I then attempted to use prismacolor pencils to color on top of them to give depth and shading (no laughing allowed!). I added the stems, the face, some sponging around the edges, the sentiment, and some "dirt" to ground them and then matted the whole shebang with black.
Because I only have one small oval punch, I had to hand cut the other two to mat the BOO sentiment. Add some ribbon, a few eyelets and it's done!
I'm not sure of the color of the card base, but I know it's SU. I love this pale apricot color so much! It's the color of the walls in our living room (actually, it the color of the paint that I bought a few years ago to paint the living room with, it's still in the cans at this point *rolling my eyes*)!

I have the day off today, because it's Superintendents day for our 8 year old and there is no school. Our littlest (2) has been asking for a week now to go "pumpkin shopping", so I want to take the kids to pick out pumpkins. I also need to buy some groceries. I hate when we run out of soymilk, bananas and spinach! We drink a raw green smoothie every morning for breakfast at our house. The first words out of the 2 year old when I wake him up in the morning are"Mommy gonna make smoothie?" as he wipes sleep from his eyes.
I promise it's not as gross as it sounds...want my recipe?
Dana's Green Smoothie
In a high powered blender (we have a Blendtec but a Vitamix would work as well), put:
2 cups washed baby spinach leaves
1 cup torn kale leaves
2 peeled bananas
1-2 cups of any other fruit (we use what's in season, so right now it's apples and pears)
2 cups fresh water
1-2 cups ice cubes (we only use these if the bananas aren't frozen)

You might like it! We love them, and even my husband likes them. In the summer we use different seasonal greens (dandelion greens, mizuna, mustard greens, choi, red-leaf lettuces, etc.) and different fruits (but ALWAYS 2 bananas) like blueberries, kiwis, pineapple, grapes, etc.
Grapes and apples are a good combo with the greens, as are pineapple and kiwi. And I toss in whole washed organic strawberries in the spring too, don't bother hulling them, the green part is good for you! (our oldest is allergic to strawberries so I don't use them for him.)
Have a great Friday!

October 18, 2007

Retro holidays

When I was growing up my mom decorated the entire house for Christmas in orange and pink. She hated the color red (must be where I get it from!), but loved orange and a nice deep hot pink. She still uses the same decorations in those two colors today. I remember my stocking (which she made) was from this gorgeous paisley orange/pink/green fabric. I still have it. Of course, she likes those colors year round also, as she has an antique settee in the living room that is covered in orange corduroy, and a small loveseat sofa that is covered in pink velvet in the library. I always thought that was normal until I visited friends' homes and saw that everything was brown and beige. How boring!

Anyway, I made this holiday card with her in mind! The PP is from Cosmo Cricket's Hey Sugar collection and you can get it from Verve Visual, as is the snowflake that I used on the background (it's from the Winter Wonder stamp set). The main image is from SideShow stamps, and is embossed with white EP and the reindeer is colored in using a brown Zig marker. The sentiment is from Papertrey ink, the CS is SU and Bazzill, the snaps are from MM.

October 17, 2007

Mojo Monday and an award

This is for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch of the week. I switched the shapes around, but otherwise stuck to the sketch. I realized I don't often put things "front and center" and I've now done so 2 times this week already!The PP is from Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar and you can get it here. I LOVE Cosmo Cricket, and have been collecting (hoarding really) their paper collections for at least 3 years now. They used to be called Comstock Collection (and I LOVED their stuff then, too).
The main image was stamped with palette hybrid ink in Bordeaux on vanilla CS. The sentiment was embossed with chocolate EP on vanilla and both stamps are from Oxford Impressions. I used a clear Studio G dollar stamp to make the finials on either side of the oval using versamagic chalk ink. In real life, the ribbon matches the bordeaux color of the stamp perfectly.

And In other news, I've been awarded the "You make me Smile" award by Abi at Musings from Tenerife! I love reading her blog, she always has something fun to share and her cards are adorable. Thanks Abi!
I'm going to nominate a couple folks too.
1. Tammy at Tammy's Recipes ALWAYS makes me smile. She shares her delicious recipes, gorgeous food photos, frugal tips, and amusing daily life with two small children on her blog. I LOVE checking out her frequent posts!
2. Lisa from The Bunny Log is not only an amazing artist, photographer, and seamstress, but she's also a new mom! And the photos and journaling on her blog could bring a smile to even the hardest of criminals. You must check out her adorable daughter, Sienna.

October 16, 2007

Snow falls on the Bayou

So, have you had a chance to check out the newest Verve Visual stamps yet? Aren't they gorgeous?! I love snowflakes, and the sentiments that come in the Winter Wonder set are my favorite of all time for the winter/holiday season. I just know I will be using them time and time again. I like that the circles in the Seasonal Circles set can be used year 'round too. Makes the stamps multi-functional! And how awesome is it that you get them in a jewel case WITH an index sheet all for $10! (That's my favorite part! Hee hee)

I made this card in anticipation of the VV releases last week, but then decided not to use it for my DT commitment. The snowflakes were embossed with clear glitter EP and then cut out and raised with pop dots. ( I inked them with Versamark first, THEN lightly tapped them onto my Blue Bayou SU inkpad to pick up some color before stamping and embossing them. Worked like a charm!) The PP is from Webster's Pages winter wonderland collection. CS and ribbon from SU. The sentiment is embossed with gold EP to match the gold cord hanging the snowflakes. This card was based on THIS one (the second card) I saw by Kwarner.

October 15, 2007

BOO! No metal?

I bought my first wood mounted dollar stamps from ACMoore last week! I've been avoiding those bins for ages, knowing I would loose all self-restraint once I looked.
Can you believe I only bought 3??! This fun spooky house with the moon drew me in. Isn't it fun? *grin*
The sketch is one from Jen Del Muro's SFYTT collection. I had jotted it down last week, but never got around to using it. When I grabbed this stamp I knew it would be perfect for that LO because it showcased the image front and center.
I wanted to use something other than black so I grabbed some SU Navy and used my Impress inks to match. And of course orange and bright yellow/gold coordinated well with the blue.
I colored the moon in using prismacolor pencils and gamsol, and added Starry Night Stickles to the word "BOO."
The small sentiment is Papertrey as is the dotted border around the circle. Both are embossed with white EP. The ribbon is from MM. And no metal was used in the making of this card!

October 12, 2007

customer request

Recently a customer requested a baby card with a Noah's Ark type of theme. She had made a quilt with animals and the Ark all over it as a gift and wanted a card to match. Well I immediately thought of my "wild about you"(SU) animal set. I only wish I had some sort of boat looking stamp to make an Ark!
The colors are actually more subtle than they show in the picture, the orange BG (Chatterbox PP) is a softer rust color and the greens aren't so vibrant. I added stickles to the giraffe's spots and the bird's wing. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. The rest of the CS is SU very vanilla, celery, banana, and sahara sand.
Happy Saturday to everyone!

Long time no post...

Life has handed me some twists and turns this past week, so thanks for sticking by while patiently awaiting my regular posting schedule. Soon, I promise.

I made this quick card for a baby shower that some friend's of ours are having this weekend.

Not much else to say about it...stamps by Papertrey (PTI), ink is palette hybrid, CTMH, and Ranger archival black, ribbon by MM, CS by SU. It's simple, quick and who doesn't like peas? *grin*

October 06, 2007

Sneaky sneaky...

Happy World Card Making Day! I hope to be glued to my studio today making all sortd of cards! Want a sneak-sneak-peak? Go check out my post on the Verve Visual blog today! I made my own PP for the first time! Go on, go see it. I'm kinda proud. *big cheesy grin*
<--------- OK, fine. Be lazy. In that case I'll share a full card I whipped up in less than 6 minutes using the new Winter Wonder stamp set that will be released on October 10th by Verve Visual!

This was not the card I set out to do. But it's what happened when I made a glaring error and couldn't salvage it! So, because it's not DT material, I'm sharing it with you. Does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, (knowing you are my fall-back) or what?! *chuckle*

I started with soft sky CS (looks darker here, doesn't it?) and then stamped the sentiment in black first. I used versamark to add different size snowflake images around the sentiment and then used stickles to add glitter to them.

Now what I wanted to do next didn't turn out. I wanted a SUBTLE pattern of snowflakes on the rest of the card. I didn't want to detract from the glittered snowflakes surrounding the sentiment, so I thought if I used some clear EP it would actually be clear! Not so. The silly snowflakes turned out darker than the "main" ones that I highlighted with Stickles! URGH. So I added the ribbon and tossed it onto the "reject" pile. Not the "crap" pile that I've mentioned before, but one step away!

If I re-do this card, I will leave off the larger snowflakes and just keep the majority of the front plain. I really like how the sentiment area turned out...wish the rest of it didn't overpower that part!

October 05, 2007

The name game!

Abi at Musings from Tenerife tagged me to play in this fun blog name game. Abi has a fantastic blog that I frequently peruse for her upbeat, bright creations, and fun photos about her family. She's really quite a talented muralist (is that a word?).

The NAME GAME. The name of the game is to list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life, for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing you middle name and game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog.

My middle name is Wadsworth.

W-Water. I'm a Pisces, I grew up surrounded by water and have been swimming since I was still in diapers. I get antsy if I can't be around SOME type of water all the time. Gotta love those negative ions!
A-Art. of any shape , medium, or form. MUST have it in my life.
D-Dance. I am not a good dancer although I took ballet for many, many years. But I love to do it! I also LOVE watching dancing, especially men! I just think it sooooo cool to be able to move your body in such an artistic way. I get goose bumps watching people dance.
S-Sleep. I love to sleep. I get ill without 8 hours each night. As a child I would BEG my mom to go to bed, even if my friends were still visiting. As a result, I never had a bedtime because I LIKED going to bed so much and would always go when I was tired. I still do.
W- Weight. As in "need to lose"! It's something I've struggled with for a long time.
O-Organic. Feeding organic foods to my family is very important to me. We also grow organically, support out local organic farms, and encourage other's to reduce their use of herbicides, pesticides, etc. We need to care about our planet and it needs to start small.
R-Raw. I have a goal to become a raw foodist. I eat 50% raw now and feel on top of the world when I have an all raw day. It's those cooked food addictions that drag me down!
T-Travel. I am a mover. I love to be in a car on a road trip, or flying somewhere new. I want to travel to so many different places. I love new people, new foods, new everything about traveling!
H-Home. I am a home-body. I would rather stay home than go out ANYWHERE. (I know this contradicts the above statement, but it's true!). I LOVE coming home at the end of the week and knowing I have no place to go for the weekend.

Ok, now for tagging others. I hate this part. Ummm, if your name, or your blog name starts with a letter in my middle name (Wadsworth), please consider yourself tagged! Ok? (I really don't like to "force" bloggers to play along, but if you want to feel free!)

October 04, 2007

Where have I been?

I've been so busy for a few days that I haven't even posted to my own blog, much less read anyone else's! This is the first chance I've had to sit down and upload some photos from the past few days. My job ( and life) is kicking into high gear currently, and I have NO computer time! I've been in that "fall" mood lately, with all of our sugar maples and ash trees changing their leaf color. We have many large, mature trees on our property and it's beginning to look SO pretty with the various displays of color. I can't wait to start harvesting pumpkins!

I made this card earlier this week all because I was playing around with my brayer and some old Kaleidacolor pads. I love to do the "plaid" technique on glossy paper with a multicolor ink pad and a brayer. It's simple, quick, and produces stunning results! Then I just chose CS to match! I gold embossed the leaf stamp (SU) onto a piece of the "plaid" glossy paper I made, and then cut it out and adhered it to a piece of chocolate chip CS.
It looks really cool up close, doesn't it?
I love the sentiment stamp too. I try to use it every Autumn when making a card. I think it's from Hero Arts, but I'm not positive because I unmounted it a long time ago! The gold embossed frame stamp is by Rubber Stampede.
The CB embossing folder was a last minute addition as I thought it looked like the swirly path of falling leaves. I always think of the opening scene in Forest Gump with that feather floating lazily all around and catching updrafts before finally landing! Remember that part? I love the music right there too.
Have you been checking in on the Verve Visual blog this week? Those sneak peaks will keep coming until the new sets are released on October 10th! I can't wait until I can post some things I've made here on my blog!

October 01, 2007

No sneak peaks here!

I've been hard at work in my studio this weekend and can't WAIT until I can share some of my projects with you! The new releases from Verve Visual will knock your socks off! *giggle*
Alas, I can't give you a sneak peak just yet, so I'm sharing a card I made weeks ago that was relegated to the "crap" pile.
I have trouble using pastels unless they are on a baby card, so I challenged myself to use them for an everyday theme. I hardly ever use purple, don't know why, I love purple, I just don't seem to use it on cards very often. While this card seemed to be coming together easily, once it was done I was not happy with it. For starters, you can see the glue through the tiny purple grosgrain ribbon, the piercing around the edge of the center piece is crooked, and the same center piece needs another color of CS (maybe black?) behind it to mat it from the base. And then the fun rippled green ribbon started to unravel at the ends AFTER I adhered it!

Anyway, the point is to enjoy what you do, right? This card was lots of fun and outside of my comfort zone, so it meets the requirements even if I NEVER send it out! I had fun using my Verve Visual stamps to create the spikey flowers and stems, and the sentiments both seemed to fit right in. Aren't the eyelets in the center fun? You know...I think this one might be salvageable if I tweek it a bit! *wink*