Monthly Archives: March 2011

JiFFy Girls are BACK: Sweetest Day Ever

Posted on March 31, 2011 | 15 comments

My Just For Fun challenge friends are back in action after a long winter’s nap. We call ourselves the JiFFy Girls! Michele Boyer,  sweet Carole Burrage, Alli Miles, Julie Campbell (who has the sweetest of paper crafty announcements on her blog today! CONGRATULATIONS, JULIE! LOVE YOU!) and myself with a special guest this month, the fabulous Cammie King! Each time we play, one of us picks an image – this month it was Julie who picked this little number, Sweetest Day from Unity Stamp Company, and one of us picks some patterned paper – this month Carole sent us darling Madison Plaid from the new Little Girls line by Echo Park. It’s kind of secretive and totally random, so some months are a little rough. I mean, can you imaging getting this darling stamp and some cowboy patterned paper? The girls did good this month!

My strawberry is colored very simply with smooth circles and Copic Marker. The berry is a flat RV29 and the stem is YG23. That’s it!

So, on my tag, I used the sweetest tag dies made by Spellbinders for JustRite Stampers in the Happy Everything kit (seriously stamps, dies and stamp block in one kit – happy everything). The bright pink frame on the tag is actually the die cut shape. The white sentiment nests inside that frame, as opposed to layering on top of a solid tag that same shape. I love that. I highlighted sweetest with an R20 marker and punctuated with a pearl that was colored with RV29.

I always love seeing what the JiFFy Girls do with these challenges. I hope you have a few minutes to check out their posts. They are always inspiring. Here are the links for you one more time: Michele Boyer,  sweet Carole Burrage, Julie Campbell, Alli Miles and special guest this month, Cammie King.

I’ll be back tomorrow with something fun! Have a great day!

  • Stamps: Sweetest Day – Unity Stamp Company
  • Ink: Tuxedo Black – Memento and Fresh Snow – Papertrey Ink (to sponge edges of kraft cardstock)
  • Cardstock: Kraft, Intense Pink – Prism, White & Madison Plaid – Echo Park
  • Accs: floral impression folder – Sizzix, linen thread, pearl, Copic Markers (R20, RV29 and YG23)

15 Comments

Posted in Copics, Unity Stamp Company

Faith: Substance of Things Hoped For

Posted on March 29, 2011 | 36 comments

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ~ Hebrews 11:1

I used Accent Notes and Hebrews 11:1 both from Verve Stamps for a clean and simple offering to the Tuesday Trigger. I needed a clear-my-head kind of break this morning, and what’s not to love about china blue mixed with a little Splitcoast orange? I added some beaded floral sprigs (a gift from my dear friend, Taylor). These definitely lend themselves to a hand-delivered sentiment, but I love how they jazzed up my quick card. Add a bow. Done.

Here’s a quick picture of the Tuesday Trigger. I hope you find a few minutes to get crafty today!

I’m thinking little more clearly now, and I’m going to head back to the office.

36 Comments

Posted in Verve Stamps

Does Running Late Count for Exercise?

Posted on March 28, 2011 | 8 comments

I love this Taylored Expressions image, Running Late. The sentiment says: “Does running late count as exercise? If so, I burned a lot of calories for your birthday!” HA! I put this together for Karen Giron’s Sweet Sunday Sketch.

This was a great card to show why you need more grey’s in your Copic collection. Cool greys on the hippo. Warm greys on the treadmill. They wouldn’t be the same shade in real life, would they? 🙂 I don’t have a ton of greys in my collection. I see another order in my near future. 🙂 So sad. LOL.

It’s a really busy end-of-the-month Monday here. So not a ton of time for idle chitter-chatter. Most of you are stopping by to see who won my Copic give-away for Marianne’s fabulous book, a guide to Shadows and Shading. A really great resource for anyone who wants to color, no matter your medium (pencils, markers, watercolor).  Thanks for all of the sweet comments over the weekend! I enjoyed it!

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Copics, Taylored Expressions

Happy Days are HERE again…

Posted on March 26, 2011 | 17 comments

Happy days are definitely here again! I fell in love with this new set, Spring is Sprung,  from Flourishes last week. The nest and eggs just spoke to me.

Yes, happy day reason #2 – the official 8/9 year old sleep over is officially O-V-E-R. I hosted 9 little squealing girls last night. The girls were all good as gold, polite and no bickering. Even still, the last one (mine) still yapping at 1:15 am and they were up with the sun at 6:25 am. I see an early bedtime in our future tonight. My little cherub was beyond excited, but I can honestly say, it will be a while before I try that one again..I’m talking at least a year! LOL.

My nest is colored with Copics using a few of the more elementary shading techniques I’ve learned in Marianne’s book, Shadows and Shading. If you’ve not already signed up for my give-away, that comment thread is here. (Make sure you click to the that specific thread – that is where I’ll draw a winner from!) Everyone on the Copic team has a copy to give-away this weekend, so make the hop with the direct links on that post, and maybe you can win your own copy. I’ll draw a winner on Monday.

And, can I get a drum roll, please… happy day reason #3 – My Sew Mini sewing machine appears to be completely healed. I found a fabulous tutorial on how to re-align the machine from the incredible JanTink to my gal-pals at Splitcoast. I had started this thread, and there were many helpful responses. If you read that thread, I went back and forth thinking the machine was toast. Purchased something else that I’ve had trouble setting the tension on. Tried and re-tried. Finally sat down this morning, and said, ‘i’m going to figure this thing out!’ The steps in that tutorial and a new bobbin proved magic.

At any rate – you can see lots of reasons to be HAPPY here today. I’m headed to the gym to get in a run – it’s sadly cold and blowing a bit of snow, so I’ll be on the beloved treadmill that I despise. Please be praying for spring. After that, I’m going to color-and-sew my Saturday away.

Have a beautiful day!

  • Stamps: Spring has Sprung- Flourishes
  • Cardstock: Kraft, Portrait – Crate, Stella Rose – My Mind’s Eye, White
  • Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
  • Accs: Copic Marker, lace, pearls (airbrushed with BG72), Spica Glitter Pen and Labels 9 – Spellbinders

17 Comments

Posted in Copics, Flourishes

If Friends Were Flowers

Posted on March 25, 2011 | 7 comments

Back in action with the sweet stuff! The Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge is on!!! Man have I missed the Friday morning gig! New sketches will be offered on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month and there will be a PRIZE DRAWING each time!  You will be able to get all the sketch info both in the SCS TE Forum and on Taylor’s blog.  You are NOT required to use TE stamps to play, but there’s a bonus prize available if you do! We’re kicking it off today with TESC135!!

You have 2 weeks to enter this challenge and I hope you’ll play along with us!  Are you ready to hop around and see all the samples created by the TE Sketch Crew?  Let’s go!

Would you like to join the TE Sketch Crew? Taylor is looking for a new sampler for the team.  If you’d like to be considered please play in this week’s sketch and upload your sketch card featuring TE images to your SCS gallery using keywords:  tayloredexpressions, TESC135, TESampler2011 (be sure to use a comma and then a space between each of the keywords as shown)

Note:

  • To be entered into the prize drawing you MUST upload to SCS with keyword TESC135.
  • To be considered for the open spot on the Sketch Crew you MUST upload to SCS with keyword TESampler2011
  • To have any creation featuring TE stamps show up in the Taylored Expressions Gallery, you must upload using keyword tayloredexpressions (no space)

Taylor will contact the chosen sampler via Private Message on SCS, so be sure you have the PM option turned on.

I used one of my favorites and stand-by sets this morning for my sample, A Year of Sweet Sentiments. Love all of the options with this one! It’s paired with Jillibean Soup papers.

I’ll be back in the morning with another something fun! Hope everyone has a fabulous Friday!

7 Comments

Posted in Splitcoast Challenges, Taylored Expressions

Shadows & Shading Give Away from Copic

Posted on March 24, 2011 | 330 comments

Comments are now closed for this give away. Thanks for all the comments!

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330 Comments

Posted in Copics

Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo (and a tut!orial!)

Posted on March 23, 2011 | 29 comments

 

Here’s another image I colored on my trek across Missouri this past weekend. This is I Serenade You from Whiff of Joy.

I’d love to try yodeling. I’d love to play the guitar. I got one for Christmas several years ago, but somehow between the ins and outs of daily life, I’ve never made time for lessons. Maybe someday.

My dear Jenn sent me a link to a beautiful packaging idea the other day, and I knew I wanted to try the waxy-flower idea.

This was super easy since you can cut multiple layers of waxed paper with a large die and one pass through your machine. Certainly, I’m not the first with a flower tutorial like this one, but thought I’d share none-the-less since is a little bit different from the tutorial linked above. Here’s a quick step-by-step.

You’ll need: waxed paper, flower die (Tattered Flowers – Sizzix), brads, paper piercing mat, paper piercer and a die cut machine.

Continue reading →

29 Comments

Posted in Copics, Whiff of Joy

Get a Whiff of Joy!

Posted on March 22, 2011 | 7 comments

I spent a lot of time in the car this weekend, and since my sweet hubby was kind enough to carry me back and forth across the great Show-Me State for both a Copic certification class in St. Louis and a family birthday celebration in Kansas City, I had plenty of time to color. <insert a happy grin here>

Beate and I decided we…uh…needed a few things from Whiff of Joy. The package arrived on Friday, and this was the first image that I colored. I immediately fell in love with this Sweet Cake and hovering bees.

I wanted to sew so badly on this, but the stars haven’t aligned for my Sew Mini. I’m afraid after multiple attempts at ‘fixing’ whatever is wrong, it is doomed for the trash bin. I actually purchased a new machine, but it seems I’m having trouble …ahem…threading the thing, and I like to think I’ve got a few skills in that arena. It all just keeps ending up a jumbled ball of mess with threads flying every which way and needles locking up just when I move to the ‘good’ cardstock. LOL. I can sew… a little bit. I’ll keep working on it. My cards feel naked lately…poor things.

So, I’ve got a few more things colored, and I’ve been getting crafty in the evenings. Maybe I’ll have something fun tomorrow, if not, for sure on Thursday! <wink>

The trees are finally budding and the daffodils are blooming. Hope it’s fabulously springy in your world. See you soon!

  • Stamps: Sweet Cake – Whiff of Joy
  • Cardstock: Xpress It Blending Card, Chocolate, Teal and Sun with Stella Rose patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye
  • Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
  • Accs: ribbon, button, rhinestones and Copic Marker: R20, R22, R24, YR21, YR24, E31, E33, E35, BG000, BG10, BG11, BG15, Y35 and Y38

7 Comments

Posted in Copics, Whiff of Joy

Hello, Cowboy!

Posted on March 16, 2011 | 15 comments

A hard refresh (COMMAND-R for Mac lovers or CTRL-F5 on PC) will ensure you are seeing the latest post on this blog.

When I saw this new Tim Holtz set, Wild West, from Stampers Anonymous it could not get it into my shopping cart fast enough. I’m quite sure I didn’t take a full breath between ‘add to cart’ and ‘confirm purchase’. I guess you could say I have a thing for cowboys. Always have. Always will.

Both of these cards work for yesterday’s Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers. Not much to say about the design. I changed the papers up on each one (top card uses Portrait Collection from Crate and the bottom sample uses Wanted from Cosmo Cricket), and I’m pretty happy with how quickly these came together.

Here’s a quick picture of my favorite cowboy. This man is a constant reminder of God’s prevenient grace at work in my life.  The Lord gave me what I needed when I didn’t even know what to ask for. I am blessed beyond measure.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, my friends.

15 Comments

Posted in Stamper's Anonymous

Spring Forward

Posted on March 13, 2011 | 53 comments

A hard refresh (COMMAND-R for Mac lovers or CTRL-F5 on PC) will ensure you are seeing the latest post on this blog.

It’s Kraftin Kimmie’s March Release Hop & Shop! If I’m your first stop, you can start at the beginning of the hop HERE.  If you’ve just come from Annie, the fabulous Miss Moonlight Whispers, then you’re right where you should be.

All of the Kraftin Kimmie images I’ve used the last few days (and several adorable things that I didn’t!) are now available.  If you decide you like an entire line, you can choose to purchase a Gimme Kimmies Kit (at a discount).  Be sure to leave comments as you hop. There are some prizes up for grabs! Your next stop on the Kraftin’ Kimmie Hop & Shop is Andrea!

My card today was inspired by a plea from my friend Eva to will spring’s arrival to all corners of our country. ‘Let’s sprinkle a few butterflies around blogland’, she said. It’s been a long, hard winter, but after today it’s spring forward, baby.

  • Stamps: Krafty Quotes #2 – Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps
  • Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
  • Cardstock: Little Girl – Echo Park, Kraft, Mist Blue
  • Accs: lace and mini roses – manf unknown, label die – MFT, and stick pin – Maya Road

53 Comments

Posted in Kraftin' Kimmie