CDS Sneak Peek - SOM

Phew! This card marks the last of the CDS previews for this month - that means tomorrow all the new stamp sets are available for purchase! This cutie about is called Just Shellin' and is the free Stamp-of-the-Month from Clear Dollar Stamps.



I made this 4 1/4" square card for the Design Team's Sketch Challenge. The turtle (I'll call her Myrtle) has been watercoloured with Tombow Markers and an Aqua Painter. I then coated her shell with a Versa Marker and some fine detail Clear Embossing Folder. To created the texture on her shell all I did was not heat the embossing power as thoroughly as I usually do...just enough to melt it to the card. When the light catches it looks kinda cool and it feels a little bumpy too.



Myrtle has been popped up with dimensionals and some or the designer paper has been run through my cuttlebug for texture.

Don't forget to hop around and check out the last of the sets that are being previewed right now :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Tori Wild
Angela Thomas
Cassie Trask
Stacy Morgan

*** Just a reminder that I have a little blog candy going on in this post if you want to check it out :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - June SOM - Just Shellin'
Paper: Gina K, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour, K&Co DP, Inque Boutique DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Creamy Caramel, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Circle and Oval Nestabilities, Clear Embossing Powder, Pebbles Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder Punch, Organza Ribbon, Brads, Mat Pack and Peircing Tool, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals, Sponges, Tombow Markers, Waterbrush

CDS Sneak Peek - Motorcycle Mania

This is my last post for today - I promise! lol I have been waiting to show you this set since I finished off this card! This is a set called Motorcycle Mania and it will be released on June 1 from Clear Dollar Stamps :)

For this card I decided to try something a little different. Last month you may remember me making this card with a photo of an old world map that I found on the internet. I decided to try something similar for this card with the difference of instead of using a digital photograph, I copied digital wall paper. All of the papers on this card have been printed from free digital wallpaper and screen saver sites from around the web. I specifically searched for grafitti type images, flames, and skulls because I wanted to have a "bad to the bone" feel for the card.




See the decorative leather strips in the picture above? I have to thank my hubby for those! I was just about finished up with the card when I asked him if he thought that something was missing...more specifically what I could add to it to make it seem more "biker-ish". It was 11 pm and he brilliantly thought of leather. Bingo! We have a winner - except where was I going to get my hands on some leather at 11 o'clock at night? Da, da, da, dah...Bill to the rescue!

Bill recently purchase some new leather steel toe boots for work and they came with a rather large decorative support strap that really didn't sit in the right place on his foot...so he decided to cut them off unbeknown to me! I was a little more than horrified when he pulled them out of a bag that was sitting next to his recliner and handed them to me and said "Here. Use these." (just a reminder, that they were cut of his BRAND SPANKIN' NEW boots - I'm still a little traumatized by this! lol)

For the greater sake of a beautiful card, I took the decorative leather boot straps and defiled them further by slicing off some 1/8" strips and threading through my card! After all, it was still a great idea! lol I also had some decorative chain hanging around my craft room too so that magically attached itself to the card with screw look-a-like brads :)



The motorcycle was watercoloured using my Tobow markers with an Aqua Painter. I coloured the chrome with a silver gel pen and then took a grey Tombow to add some shading. I then took my Aqua Painter to remove some if the thickness of the gel pen overlay and to blend it with my Tombow Marker highlights.

That's all from me until later tomorrow, but be sure to hop around and check out all of the sets that are being previewed right now :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Tori Wild
Angela Thomas
Cassie Trask
Stacy Morgan

*** Just a reminder that I have a little blog candy going on in this post if you want to check it out :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Motorcycle Mania
Paper: Gina K, Printer Coverstock, Watercolour, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Corner Rounder Punch, Brads, Decorative Chain, Leather Strips, Dimensionals, Sponges, Silver Gel Pen, 1/16" Circle Punch, Distressing Tool, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter

CDS Sneak Peek - Lean on Me Charlie

Are you getting sick of seeing me yet? I sure hope not because I have 2 fun cards to show you today! The first of the two is this sweet new set called Lean on Me Charlie :) He will be available on June 1 from Clear Dollar Stamps. I will be showing you the second card a little later today in another post.



This sweet Charlie card was inspired by some red paisley bedding and made up with some My Mind's Eye DP. Charlie was watercoloured and layered with dimensionals to bring him to life. He's kind of a laid back little fellow so he's just chillin' by some barrels *wink*



I wanted to add some western flair so I sponged and distressed all of the edges. I needed to balance out the image on my card so I went ahead and started to thread some hemp twine down the side to look a little like rope. Charlie was watercoloured with Tombow Markers and an Aqua Painter and the metal rims on the barrels were finished off with a silver gel pen.

That's all from me until later today, but be sure to hop around and check out all of the sets that are being previewed right now :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Tori Wild
Angela Thomas
Cassie Trask
Stacy Morgan

*** Just a reminder that I have a little blog candy going on in this post if you want to check it out :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Lean on Me Charlie
Paper: Gina K, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour, My Mind's Eye DP, Creamy Caramel
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Circle Scissors Plus, Oval Nestabilities, Silver Gel Pen, Sponges, Dimensionals, Button, Eyelets, Hemp Twine, Corner Rounder Punch, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter

CDS Sneak Peek - Peony and BIG NEWS!

I am so excited that this day has finally come! I have to apologize while I bounce up and down as I try to type! I have been holding out on you, my wonderful friends! Since the end of January, I have been keeping a large, nasty, festering secret...wanna know what it is? Huh? Do ya? *grin*




Welcome to my dirty little secret *snort* Dreamtime Designs is the name of my brand spankin' new line of stamps that I have illustrated for Clear Dollar Stamps. Yep, you heard right. I'm now a stamp illustrator! Yay! I have been bursting at the seams to tell you and try to explain my absences from by blog while I was working on this...




What do you think? This Peony stamp set is my very first release and will be followed by many more in the months to come! The Peony set will be released for sale on June 1st over at Clear Dollar Stamps and really, that's just 3 more days that you have to wait *wink*




Just to give you an idea of the size of the flower, the card is 5 1/2" square and I have placed the peony in the largest labels 4 nestability. Its the perfect size for colouring up and maybe doing a little paper tole work too :) Illustrating stamps is a dream come true for me so I want you all to help me celebrate! I have a little blog candy to share with you!

All you have to do is leave a comment below and on June 1st at 5:00 Pacific Time I will close the comment section and draw a winner :)




Here is what you will win:

Peony Stamp Set
Recollections Copper Brads (pkg of 100)
Prima Vintage Style Flowers from the Nursery Collection (pkg of 24)
Prima Die Cut Felt Art Strips (pkg of 2)
Crafty Secrets Sweet Chips Chipboard Little Girl Outfit (pkg of 1)
Chocolate Offray Sheer Ribbon (5/16" wide by 9ft)
Celebrate It Ivory Satin Ribbon (5/8" wide by 10ft)
Martha Stewart Metallic Weave (7/8" wide by 3.6 meters)

I just want to say a little thank you to Lori McCroskey (owner of CDStamps), Laurie Wilson (DT Coordinator) and Vicki Conquest (Stamp Illustrator) for all your help in making my dreams come to fruition! You guys are THE best people to work with and I just want to dole out hugs all around!...In case you hadn't already noticed...I am in fact a big sap *grin*

And before I close this post off for today, I just wanted to provide you with some links to view some more sneak peeks:

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Tori Wild
Angela Thomas
Cassie Trask

Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps -Peony
Paper: Gina K, Always Artichoke, Watercolour, My Mind's Eye DP, Scenic Route DP, K&Co DP, 7 Gypsies DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Labels 4 Spellbinder's Dies, Cuttlebug, Sponges, Dimensionals, Kaiserkraft Gems, Hodgpodge Hardware, Satin Ribbon, Martha Stewart Scallop Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Waterbrush, Tombow Markers

CDS Sneak Peek - Rosebud Princess

I'm back with another post :) This set is called Rosebud Princess and actually coordinates beautifully with the Rosebud Scrolls set that I previewed earlier today. As you can see, I may have gotten a little carried away while creating this card! I really couldn't help myself once Laurie challenged the design team to make a shaped card (anything but a square or rectangular card)!




Not only did this card fill up my shaped card requirement but it's a triple DT challenge. This card fits the bill for the colour challenge of orange, black and any neutral as well as our no designer paper challenge :D I was pretty darn excited about getting 3 challenges completed with just one card *wink*



So...are you wondering yet how I made this? Me too! lol I ended up sketching out my rough template on to a piece of scrap paper and sizing it to be a 3x6" card. I then cut out all of my drawn pieces to be a template for all of my individual scraps of cardstock. I took the tower base (sahara sand) and ran it through my cuttlebug to pick up some texture. I then cut out all of the individual bricks so that I could sponge some ink around them for dimension. I glued each piece onto a secondary shaped piece of Sahara Sand so that it was study. I then built my little framed in window.

The window is actually the medieval banner stamp from the set that I turned upside down to make the window frame. I was able to make it look like the princess is inside the tower by propping up the entire tower on dimensionals while the princess is adhered to the card base (basic black)

The shrubbery along the bottom is made with a Martha Stewart Leaf Punch in 3 different colours of green (kiwi kiss, old olive, always artichoke) I took always artichoke ink and sponged it all around the leaves and then used my Punch Bunch Floral corner punch to create the itty bitty flowers. The centers of them are liquid pearls mixed with so saffron ink and then dabbed in the middle with the end of a paint brush. Easy peasey right? lol

This card was a labour of cardmaking love and turned out to be worth every minute of time that I put into it!

Don't forget to pop by these blogs for all of the other sets being previewed today. Also, just a reminder that the Guest Designer Challenge is on now! Please click here for details :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Tori Wild
Angela Thomas
Cassie Trask
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Rosebud Princess
Paper: Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie, Watercolour
Ink: Sahara Sand, Creamy Caramel, Basic Grey, Always Artichoke, Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder, Cuttlebug, Martha Stewart Leaf Punch, Punch Bunch Floral Corner Punch, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals, Liquid Pearls, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter

CDS Sneak Peek - Rosebud Scrolls

Oh, goody, goody, gumdrops! I'm here to day to start the bombardment of Clear Dollar Stamps sneak peeks *grin* This is the time of the month that I love, because I get to show you what I have been working on all month in the time period of just 4 short days...that means multiple posts people! And how excited are you for all of this? Hehehehe!



The first post of the day is showcasing one of Shawne Arnold's newest stamps from her line Studio 313. This is a set called Rosebud scrolls and it compliments one of her other new releases that I will be showing you a little later today - I have to build up the suspense! *wink*



I wanted to make an elegant thank you card so I paired it up with another CDStamps set called Words of Gratitude that was released last month. Although this card may look like alot of work it was incredibly easy and fairly simple to reproduce in quantities. I stamped the scrolls onto vellum cardstock with Versamark and then added some white embossing powder then heat set. This alone brings oodles of elegance to this card :) I chose soft colours and shabby-ish designer papers to gently play off the contrast of the white vellum. I then added a vellum butterfly using a Martha Stewart Punch, a bit of ribbon, some pearls and optional stitching...man, I love cards that come together quickly!

As I said earlier, I will be back later with another CDS gem to show you, but until then feel free to pop by these blogs for all of the other sets being previewed today. Also, just a reminder that the Guest Designer Challenge is on now! Please click here for details :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Tori Wild
Angela Thomas
Cassie Trask
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Rosebud Scrolls & Words of Gratitude
Paper: Gina K, Vellum Cardstock, Sahara Sand, K&Co DP, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Versa Mark, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Labels 4 Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Sponges, Organza Ribbon, Kaiserkraft Pearls

Just for Joy!

The other day I received an email from Cambria to ask if I would participate in a sweet surprise for her dear friend, partner in crime and all around wonderful person Joy Kennedy. You see it is Joy's Birthday and Cami wanted to bombard her with her favourite turtle :) Meet Kona! This sweet little guy is available TODAY from Eclectic Paperie and is a limited edition set. Because the sets haven't arrived from the manufacturer just yet, we were forwarded the set in digital version. - That alone scared the bejesus out of me! lol




Let me explain. First and foremost my favourite weapon of choice is inks/Tombows and an aqua painter. For digital images you have to print them out with your printer and my problem was that my beloved watercolour paper was too thick to feed through the printer :( Hmm, that left me with an image on cardstock with no idea how to colour it!

When I first started stamping, I used to colour with Prisma Pencil Crayons and Gamsol for blending. I haven't done this in eons and it was time to dust of the case. I think the last time I used these was at the very least 2 years ago! Surprisingly enough, it was like riding a bicycle :) It came back easy and I am really please with the results especially against the kraft card stock!

I managed to squeak in and combine this uber cute turtle with this week's Mojo Challenge and came out with an adorable birthday card that is on it's way to Joy's mailbox.

I hope that you love it Joy and Happy Birthday sweet lady!

PS. Stay tuned in tomorrow to be bombarded with 4 days of Clear Dollar Stamps sneak peeks! *grin*

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Eclectic Paperie - Limited Edition
Paper: Gina K, Kraft, Basic Black, Basic Grey DP, My Mind's Eye DP, Imaginice DP
Ink: Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sm Oval Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Prisma Pencil Crayons, Gamsol, Blending Stumps, Dimensionals, Sponges, Mini Glue Dots, Scallop Edge Punch, Dew Drops

May 15th and what it means to us...

I don't have a card to share with you today, but I wanted to share some of the photo's (click on the pictures and they will enlarge) that I took on the 15th. 2 years ago on May 15th Bill's mom passed away from a very long and brave battle with Breast Cancer. It was Linda's wish that her ashes were to be scattered at this amazing beach that held very special memories for her and it now does today for all of our family.



Every year since her passing we have gathered up some family and driven the 3 hours to spend the day at this very beach playing in the sand, having a picnic and ending it with a toast to Linda :)



We were lucky enough to have gorgeous, warm weather, great company, and lots of smiles...just see for yourself.... :)

Linda, we miss you everyday and we love you very much!

A Spaceman for Daven

A little while ago, Jenn Balcer posted a cryptic thread on SCS saying that if we wanted to participate in a top secret project to email her. Well, let me tell you....curiosity always gets the better of me!

The recipient of the special project was the all great and wonderful Daven Nolta who is the spirit behind our favourite website of SCS :) It was his 40th birthday coming up and Jenn wanted to put something together for him that had alot of meaning behind it for his office wall. This is what she came up with! Jenn always has fabulous ideas!

This ginormous frame is filled with little 3x3 square cards, a couple of larger ones from SCS staff and some personal photos of Daven's 3 girls. What an ideal present for the creator of a forum that brings together so many paper artists on such a profound level!




So this little spaceman was my contribution. He is a little 3x3 card front (slightly bigger than an artist trading card) and because it's so little I wanted the fun colours to make a bold impact. I stuffed as many little stamps on her as possible and added as much texture as I could without it being too dimensional. I didn't know if Jenn would be using a shadow box frame or not so I didn't want the card to be too thick. This set is from Lizzie Anne Designs and is adorable! The images were the perfect size for this project so out came the ink, onto the paper, my table and myself. I'm pretty sure that you are always supposed to decorate yourself and your furniture with ink when you papercraft *wink*

The images themselves were watercoloured with re-inkers and then the planets and adorable little alien were coated in crystal effects. I then sponged the blues on to create the background and as a last minute touch, I added "stars" with my sakura stardust gelly roll pen.

Happy Birthday Daven and I hope that loved your birthday prezzie as much as we all loved making it for you. Thank you for being such a devoted person and for your never ending work on SCS!


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Lizzie-Anne Designs - Out of this World
Paper: Basic Black, Old Olive, Watercolour
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Various Re-Inkers for Watercolouring
Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Sponges, Aqua Painter, Crystal Effects, Clear Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll Pen

FS118 - Debbie's Calla Lilies for my Mom

I have been such a bad blogger lately! Sorry everyone! I actually didn't realize how long it had been since I had updated my blog until I received a very sweet email from one of my subscribers asking if I was OK :) My goodness what sweet people you all are!

Let me start by saying "Happy Mother's Day" to all of the mom's out there :) I hope that you all were treated like royalty for the day because we all know that you deserve it *wink* Me? I was treated to a feast in bed this morning, with my kids waving presents in my face before I actually had my eyes open (got to sleep in too). I know that they were waving presents because I got hit in the head with one of them and when I opened my eyes to see what it was I was immediately poked in the eye with the corner of a card! C'est la vie! I wouldn't have had it any other way *grin*




Ok, I know that you are all waiting to hear the deets on this card. I have been busy putting together this month's Dirty Dozen goodies together and prepping for card classes that I had left my mom's Mother's Day card to the very last minute....oh wait...I always end up doing that! Anyway, it just so happened to be the Featured Stamper Challenge (FS118 Debbie Corbari) and I found this wonderful card of hers to be my inspiration.

I stayed with the same theme of layout, flowers and a soft colour palette, but I did change up a few things. I paper tol'd the flowers (of course), added machine stitching, altered the ribbon treatment and left off the three brads that were on the top right hand side of the original card.

The oval behind the lilies actually happened by accident. It was started by sponging on the More Mustard ink and I wasn't paying too close attention when I inked up my sponge too much and left a big ink mark in the center of the oval *oops* I needed a darker ink to cover up my unsightly spot so out came the Close to Cocoa! I just used my Oval Nesabiltity as my mask and sponged on the inside of it to leave the very edge the Mustard colour. Easy peasey, lemon squeezy :)

The calla lilies were watercoloured with Tombow Markers and all of the edges of the designer papers were sponged with Creamy Caramel to give it an aged feel. I ran the My Mind's Eye designer paper through my cuttlebug in the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder for added texture and finished the card off with some 5/8" Ivory Grosgrain Ribbon.

Happy Mother's Day Mom and I hope that you like your card! Love always....Me!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Unknown Calla Lily
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, My Mind's Eye DP, Basic Grey DP, Sahara Sand
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Sahara Sand, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Aqua Painter, Tombow Markers, Nestabilities, Grosgrain Ribbon, Brads, Sponges, Dimensionals