Stamp TV Sketch Challenge

Have you checked out Stamp TV with Gina K Designs yet? If you haven't, you'd better head over there and watch her videos. Although I've heard of and/or tried most of the techniques before, seeing her demonstrations reminds me of what fun they are and inspire me to try them again. The old becomes new again! Plus, I think Gina K is one of the sweetest people out there in stamping land.

They also post challenges on Stamp TV, so I thought I'd give the Thursday 3/26 Sketch Challenge a try. My version turns the sketch sideways.

One of the techniques Gina teaches on Stamp TV is Coloring with Odorless Mineral Spirits. I've been so wrapped up in my Copics, that I hadn't touched another coloring medium in ages. It was fun to get out the Prisma pencils and OMS and give this a try. I used the same stamped image as does Gina in her videos, which comes from the Stamp TV Floral Frenzy Kit. It was easy to follow along with Gina's instructions to get the technique flowing again. It's fun! I'm going to have to use my pencils more often.

My card uses Gina K's new base weight Chocolate Kiss paper (a few sheets come in the kit), and one of the green layering cardstock pieces and sheer vanilla ribbon that also come in the kit. However, the DP is Die Cuts With a View called Once Upon a Time. That glittery corner was serendipity!

While I was at it, I made a second card with this image just for fun. Everything here is from the kit except the brads, which are from SU (More Mustard). I also tried the double layering trick that Gina uses so often, and I love it!I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world. And don't forget to support the Non-Raffle for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal!

Question of the day: If you were able to master a talent that you don't already have, what would it be?

For me it would be to play the piano. Oh how I wish I could sit down and play anything I wanted!

Happy Saturday!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I'm happy to say that I've actually had some time to stamp, although my mojo is taking awhile to warm up. I almost didn't share these cards, but then decided "what the heck."

The first card is one I actually did a week or so ago when I thought I'd have time to do all of the March Viva la Verve Sketches. It wasn't to be (sad face), but at least I did two of them (see March 17 post for the other)!
This was for the March Week 1 Sketch. I set this card aside for so long because I could not figure out if the buttons looked right, and I also could not figure out where to put a greeting. Oh well. Sometimes you just have to call it good and move on.

But at least I got to play with this adorable Riding Hood Anya digital stamp by The Greeting Farm, which I colored with Copics. I just love The Greeting Farm images, and Marie has the most fun blog called Splendid Stamping with The Greeting Farm. You should check it out. I love the way she does the Question of the Day. I think I'm going to start doing that. It's a fun way to get to know your blogging friends.

The paper is from the Hog Heaven collection by Sassafras Lass. The pattern is pretty busy... but I thought it appropriate for Little Red Riding Hood to appear as though she were in the forest, on her way to Grandma's House. Besides, I love the phrase "Hog Heaven." That's a good place to be, don't you know! LOL

The next card is from a set by Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper Designs called Bo Peep's Sheep. (I'm sensing a pattern here... children's stories...hmmmmm). I actually won this set from Anna herself as surprise blog candy!!!! Woo hoo!!! Not only is Anna one of my very favorite artists, she also blogs about life on her farm in Texas, which I find absolutely facsinating. Which is so funny because I am NOT the outdoor type. But I love her stories and videos about the animals (lots of baby chicks these days), and of course her artwork is always fun and inspirational.This card was for the TCP Tuesday Sketch, which I saw on Jen del Muro's blog.I don't have any TCP stamps (frown), but I liked the sketch and thought I'd give it a whirl. Unfortunately, it isn't quite as eye catching as I thought it would be (not the sketch... my version). For one thing, I should have embossed the yellow strip with a CB folder. (Don't you hate when you figure stuff like that out too late?) For another, I think the paper washes out too much. It's the cutest paper by SEI, but perhaps too soft. I don't know.

I hear the dryer buzzing, so off I go. Thanks for stopping by, and PLEASE don't forget to make a donation to the Non-Raffle for Victorian Bushfires Appeal and encourage your friends to donate, too. This is a very worthy cause, and we need your help! Not to mention the fact that it gives you chances to win some awesome prizes. Have you seen the prize gallery lately? Wowser!

Before I go, here is my Question of the Day (inspired by Marie):

What is your favorite coffee drink?

Mine is a Starbucks Grande Vanilla Latte, which is what I'm drinking right now!

Non-Raffle for Victorian Bushfires Appeal Extended thru April 3rd!

Hi everyone! This is a quick post, and I'll be back soon with another, but I wanted to make you all aware (if you don't know already) that the Non-Raffle for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal has been extended through April 3rd. So far, we've raised a little more than $2000, but we think we can do better! We've got approxiamtely 100 prizes in the gallery now. Please post on your blogs and encourage all your friends to donate money to earn chances to win... and help the victims of those devastating fires.

I will likewise extend the blog candy opportunity through April 3rd.

Thanks so much for your support, and I mean that most sincerely.

I actually have a card or two to share, so I'll be back soon!

My New Blog Look... and Two Cards!

Hey y'all! That's what my kinfolk say in the south. I love it! I'm actually a little bit southern since my mother was born and raised in Mississippi and I was born in Alabama. But I digress (as usual). If you are reading this in Google Reader or similar, please click on over and check out my new blog design. This wonderfulness is by none other than Veronica McCollum of VK Design Co. I mean it when I say she is the easiest, most wonderful person to work with... not to mention, incredibly talented. She's actually pretty good at reading minds, too! I guess you'd have to be when trying to bring to life something that is a notion in someone else's mind. Anyway, we hope that it doesn't look too much like a pet store (ha ha). I absolutely love it, and am deeply grateful to Veronica for bringing my blog to life.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to say that I'm not really a cat lady, so to speak. I mean, I do have two cats... litter mates from a rescued mama... and had one other cat about 25 years ago. But that's it. One of my cats, a gray shorthaired tabby named Jazzy, is MY cat, though. She chose me as her Alpha and follows me around and "protects" me from the other marauding animals around here (that's her opinion... ha!). When I started getting into Splitcoast a little more than a year ago, I was trying to think of a clever handle. I suppose Jazzy must have been around at the time when The Cat's Meow popped into my head. (If you know me at all, you know I'm the queen of cliches.) So, I changed Cat to Craft, and viola! Not very exciting, but there you have it.

Onto a card! With all the activity of late, I've barely had time to do any stamping... in fact, almost none. It felt strange to finally sit down to stamp because I felt literally overwhelmed... I didn't know where to start or what to do first... and my mojo had completely left the building. So I turned to the best basic inspiration one can get, and that is a sketch challenge. I looked at several, actually, and so far have played with two.

The first is Viva la VERVE! March Week 3. Since I needed a masculine birthday card, I used the black rhinestone swirl from Prima rather than a ribbon. I didn't have room for the three "brads" to the left of the image, so I put them on the image instead in the form of more black rhinestones. This was because of the way I had to line things up to match the stamped image strip at the very top.

All paper, ink and stamps are from Papertrey Ink. The stamp set is Beyond Basic Borders by Pinefeather Press for Papertrey Ink (Heather Nichols).

The next card is loosely based on the current CCEE Stampers Sketch Challenge.


I had colored this digi stamp from Little Paper Shop awhile back and hunted around for some DP to match when I fell upon this scrap from K&Company's Berry Sweet Collection. I couldn't bear to cover up the design, so just skipped one of the sketch layers to make it work. It's hard to tell, but I sparkled up the scalloped mat with some glitter and used my atyou Spica gel pen on her shoes, belt, flower and butterfly. Although it doesn't photograph well, the other bit of bling I added in the corner... I believe that's also by Prima... really added the right touch. Something was just plain missing in that corner!

Please don't forget to support the SCS Cares Non-Raffle for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal. If you haven't looked lately, more wonderful prizes have been added to the gallery. And we really need to spread the word so that people will donate to this very worthy cause... and get a chance to win some wonderful prizes. I'm still offering a blog candy opportunity for those who post the logo and link on their blog.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Splitcoast Cares - Non Raffle for Victorian Bushfire Appeal and Blog Candy Opportunity

I am so excited!!! The Non-Raffle for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal is finally live on Splitcoast! Debbie and I want to thank Jenn Balcer and Splitcoaststampers for helping us gather donations for the fire victims. It means sooo much! And, of course, we couldn't do this without all of the wonderfully talented and generous people who donated the prizes!!! You'll see what I mean when you check out the non-raffle prize gallery. The outpouring of support and generosity has been amazing.

Please feel free to put this logo on your blog with the link and spread the word. I'm going to put together some Blog Candy for all those who do, so please post a link to your blog as a comment to this post and your name will go into the drawing. I will post a picture of the Blog Candy later this evening.

Edited to Add: Here is the Blog Candy I'm offering! Included are: (1) Motivational Centers Stamp Set by Mona Lisa Moments for Cornish Heritage Farm, (2) Rain or Shine Stamp Set by My Favorite Things, (3) Lily & Milo Rainy Days Stamp by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie, (4) Stampin Up Prints Sampler (you can barely see it, but it's underneath the ribbon), and (5) the ribbon bundle from the current Sell-A-Bration offer by Stampin Up!

All you have to do is put the Splitcoaststampers Victorian Bushfire Appeal 2009 logo (above and on my side bar) on your blog with a link to the SCS Non-Raffle page, and then leave a comment on this post with your blog address and you're in! I'll draw the winner on March 25th, the same day that the non-raffle ends.

If you would like to donate a prize to the prize gallery, please email me. The more, the better! But we especially need to spread the word about the non-raffle so that we can collect monetary donations. After all, that's what it's all about... helping the victims of those terrible fires.

Here's a video I found on You Tube that is particularly touching and helps tell the story of the devastation these people have suffered. I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch.



Thank you again for your support!

Verve March Release Challenge!

Happy Day, everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Mine has been full of unexpected, but pleasant, surprises. Life sure can change with one single phone call. But more about that later.

Life, in general, has been up and down for me over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, more down than up. But I trust in the Lord that he puts obstacles in our way to teach us something or to take us in a different (and better) direction.

Of course, in times of conflict, especially with other people, it is easy to fall prey to hurtful and unhelpful thoughts and deeds. In fact, we had a sermon on this very thing at church today... about what "deliver us from evil" in the Lord's Prayer means. I wish you could have been there. But, I digress. The point is that this particular verse from the Bible, which is part of the Verve set called Meditations, has been much on my mind lately. Through the recent trials I've faced, I've tried to keep this verse first and foremost in my mind. Sometimes it's hard to do! But, like anything else, if you "fall off the wagon," you just get back up and go forward.

So, when I saw the Verve Release Sketch Challenge, I decided that I must use a Verve stamp set, and this one practically jumped into my hand!

The cardstock is Pumpkin Pie and Regal Rose from Stampin Up! The main paisley DP is Making Memories from the Simply Fabulous collection. The DP on the top and on which I stamped my flower images in Pumpkin Pie is SU's Sweet Always. I stamped the verse in Papertrey Ink's Dark Chocolate, and those are PTI's Melon buttons. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I did some random stitching around the edges of the layers.

I've gotta run and get some errands done... last minute shopping and packing for my youngest boy Avery, who is going to 6th Science Camp tomorrow for a whole week! I'm going to miss my little buddy. sniff sniff But, before I go, a quick update on the Non-Raffle for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal... we are ready to go live as soon as SCS is able to solve some technical glitches on the website, so it should be very soon.

Take care, and thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

A Belated Birthday Card

I hate being late sending birthday cards. I have to confess that I've often run to Hallmark at the last minute, purchased a card, scribbled a quick note, addressed, stamped and mailed it all in one fell swoop... and then sworn I would never do it again. Has that ever happened to you?

The Rat Race is still crowding out my creativity and crafting time (waaah), but I did manage to put this card together last night fairly quickly. It's a pretty simple card, using all Papertrey Ink products. I figured the turtle from the Pond Life stamp set was perfect for a belated birthday card since turtles move slowly but do eventually get where they meant to go.

I'm not sure you can tell by the picture, but I used Crystal Effects on the spots on the turtle's shell, plus his head, tail and feet, for a bit of pop.

This card is for Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the week of February 28th.
As you can see, I stayed pretty true to the sketch. Another consequence of the Rat Race is that my creative juices aren't flowing as well as I'd like. But "I'll be back," as Arnold would say. Ha!

In the meantime, stay tuned... the SCS Non-Raffle for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal is scheduled to go live on the SCS front page on Saturday. Wait until you see all the wonderful prizes up for grabs!!!

Thanks for stopping by. It really means a lot to me that you visit and leave comments. Sometimes I worry I'm talking to myself! LOL

Birthday Wishes and Update on SCS Victorian Bushfire Appeal Non-Raffle

I finally found a bit of time to make a card...thank goodness, as I'm in dire need of stamping therapy to balance the stresses of late (file those under the category of "Rat Race.") Unfortunately, it's taking my mojo a bit of time to rev up. These little trees (from the SU set Trendy Trees) didn't turn out quite as I had envisioned, but I finally left well enough alone. I think it's the paper... I used Naturals Ivory and it doesn't take ink very well for some solid images.

But I am loving this DSP -- Sweet Slumber Specialty. It has a wonderful texture to it, and such great patterns and colors.

Everything here is Stampin Up except for the greeting, which I took from a Gina K set because I needed a birthday card, and the little brad, which is from a set of the cutest brads called Forest Friends by Colorbok (I got mine at Michaels).

This card is for the current CPS Sketch 105. I really like this sketch and plan to use it again.









In other news, I believe the SCS Non-Raffle for the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Appeal will go live on SCS's front page this Saturday. Yay!!! In the meantime, if you or anyone you know is willing to donate a prize, please let me know ASAP.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit!