Welcome 2010 and and the wonderful things to come!

My silly little New Year miracle started a little early! A few of you who have followed my blog from the beginning may remember that I used to sell my cards on Ebay. Well, after 10 months of being away from it all, I have to say that it's time to get back in business and liquidate some cards!

Life was a little more than hectic in 2009 with life in general and DT commitments so my little business was temporarily put on hold. As things wound down for the year, I noticed that my large shelving units could no longer support my card making habit and starting to cave under all the paper craft project weight!!!! OK, I may be exaggerating a little but there were times when cards almost came crashing down on me ;)

Anyhoo, I have made a few resolutions for the new year and had some spare time today, so I have 3 active listings starting at 6 PM tonight! If you are interested in taking a peek, you will notice a button that says "where to buy my cards" along the sidebar. Please click on it and it should take you to my auctions. Please pay careful attention to the sizing of the cards as I will be selling cards of all different sizes including 4 1/4" square cards that need a loving home :)

This has been a long time overdue and I still get asked when I will be listing my cards again, so come and get 'em ladies!!! I will try to keep consistent listings and will be auctioning off some of my cards that appeared in the Dirty Dozen galleries so that I can clear some space for new projects :)




While I'm predicting the future here I have also been asked if I'm teaching more classes over at My Creative Classroom and the answer is "Yes"! I will be teaching my Water Colouring with Tombow Markers class again on February 2cnd and this is a 6 week class. I will also be teaching the Sponged Ink Backgrounds class starting April 7 and this is a 4 week class. Enrollment for these classes start mid , January, but have no fear as I will keep you updated with more details soon!


Have a wonderful New Year everyone and please be safe in all of your ventures tonight! My 2010 bring everyone much joy and success and many dreams coming true!

CDS Sneak Peek - Monster Mash X 2

Well lucky ladies, have I got 2 cute sets to show you in this post! I must warn you that there are lots of pictures with one set to show you called Monster Mash and then a little single stamp as you scroll down called Dragon Monster that has been designed to coordinate with the Monster Mash set! Both of these cards are 4 1/4" square and use intense colours because I plan on giving them to some little boys.



I love the colours and bold patterns in this particular card. It uses the primary colours as the main focus with other colours thrown in for good measure ;) This little monster was asking me for a googly I and lucky for him that I had one in my stash :)



The sentiment is another reason why this little guy needed a googly eye! lol I have to admit that I am incredibly in love with this super fun set by Laurie Wilson! She always has the sweetest looking characters!

Don't forget to keep scrolling down the page for the next card in this post!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Monster Mash
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Red, Cosmo Cricket DP, Scenic Route DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Red, Olive, Baja, Sky, Navy, Mustard
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Cirlce Punch, Button, Linen Thread, Googly Eye, White Gel Pen, Corner Rounder, Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter



See, I told ya there was going to be another delightful card to show you! I'm glad that you all believed me :) This card uses the Monster Mash set for the sentiment and then the little single Dragon Monster stamp for the main image.



I really don't know what I was thinking when I decided to cut out this little fellow...man, he's hard to cut around! It must have been really late at night when my sanity went to bed before the rest of my body! I'm pretty sure that the first time of cutting him out I ended up lopping off the end of his tail by accident....that should have been my first clue *shakes head*.



All and all I think that this card turned out pretty darn cute and I can't wait to see the look on a little boy's face when he opens it up - how could he not smile? ;)

Be sure to pop around the the rest of the girls blogs to see what they have created with their fabulous sets, and thanks for coming back to see these little monsters :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Dragon Monster, Monster Mash
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Mustard, Cosmo Cricket DP, Basic Grey DP, 7 Gypsies DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Mustard, Red, Navy
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Dew Drops, Ribbon, White Gel Pen, Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter

CDS Sneak Peek - Pet Sympathy

Welcome back for day 3 of the CDStamps sneak peeks. This is a set called Pet Sympathy that has been designed to let someone know that you are thinking of them while they grieve for the loss of their pet. It's perfect for any species of animal and is mostly made up of thoughtful sentiments. To see the set in it's entirety, please pop on by the Clearly iStamp blog :)

Don't forget to pop by the rest of the DT blogs to see all the goodies that they are showcasing today and then come on back a little later to see a couple of really "monstrous" cards :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Pet Sympathy
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Chocolate, Basic Grey DP, K&Co DP, 7 Gypsies DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Chocolate, Caramel, Coral, Navy, Baja Blue
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Ribbon, Charm, Jump Ring, Circle Punches, Linen Thread,Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter

SSD05 - Needs coffee and blog candy winner!

This is so me first thing in the morning before I get to my cuppa joe right down to the scraggly hair! lol

I'm back for my last week as the Guest Sketch Artist for Skipping Stones Design and I chose to use the Coffee Volume 1 set particularly for the snarky comment - heheheh! So are you all ready to see the sketch? Yah? Right on! Here we go....




Ta Dah! Now I know that you are all thinking that this looks nothing like my card, but it really does, I assure you! All it takes to see this is a little imagination...and maybe some spiked coffee! lol

A couple of nights ago I was tossing and turning in bed trying so hard to fall asleep when this kitchenette epiphany came to me - I actually thought about jumping out of bed at 4 am and starting this card and then my sanity kicked me ;)



So come and sit down with me and let's visualize this together. Let's just say that the tower o' cabinet is the two paper pieces on the left of the sketch. Then lets say that then lower cabinets are the bottom layer on the sketch. Now what if I were to tell you that the bed head is my oval? Yeah, your seeing it now aren't you (nod your head vigorously with me). Bet your kind of wondering about that picture frame...well I couldn't leave poor bed head by herself - that girl had some s'plaining to do! I thing the frame sums it up nicely don't you? Oh, and those tiny circles that are on the sketch...let's just pretend that bed head's hair accidentally covered them up, 'kay? ;P



Now that I have explained so eloquently and made you understand that I didn't actually deviate from my very own sketch, we can move on to the good stuff! How about picking a winner from last week's blog candy?


Congratulations Shelly Schmidt!!! She left me this sweet comment:

Shelly Schmidt said...

Wow- love the Outstanding color you achieve when coloring! Great card. What a fun set- Thanks for the chance to win! Shellymc2@comcast dot net

December 23, 2009 8:23 PM

Shelly I will contact you asap and send the Margarita Birthday set your way! Thanks to all of the ladies for playing along and a heads up on what's in store for next week...more blog candy!!! Yay! Stay tuned for more details on January 5th ;)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Skipping Stones Design - Coffee Volume 1
Paper: Artichoke, Red, White, Cocoa, Watercolour, Unknown DP
Ink: Sand, Black, Burgundy, Artichoke, Chocolate
Accessories: Sponges, Mini Brads, Linen Thread, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter, Pop Dots, Clear Embossing Powder

CDS Sneak Peek - Critter Tails

Well it's officially after Christmas and I survived! There were moments that I thought I wouldn't and certainly moments were it was touch and go, but I made it! Now if only someone would come over and clean up the mess! lol

Now that Christmas is over it's time for the Clear Dollar Stamps team to be parading the new goods through our blogs for all to see :) This sweet flamingo is from a set called Critter Tails by Laurie Wilson and is due to be released on January 1st so mark your calendars!




I was having an unusual craving for some Spring weather when I made this card even though we have had some sunny and warm-ish weather here. I picked out these bright papers and paired them with this fun flamingo. The background of the bird was sponged and the bird itself was water coloured with Tombow Markers, cut out, made 3D and placed on top.




I think that this set made an adorable birthday card! I can't wait to use the alligator and crab that come with it :) If you would like to see what the entire set looks like, then please pop by the Clearly iStamp blog for a peek.

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps -Critter Tails
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Olive, My Mind's Eye DP, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Kiwi, Olive, Coral, Caramel
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Button, Linen Thread, Slot Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Ribbon, Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter

SSD04 - Hang in there!

Tis another week of the Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesdays and tis also the season for giving :) Yes Virgina, there will be blog candy ;) I'm just going to hold you in suspense until I get to through the nitty gritty *giggle*



This week for SSD Tuesday we are working with a square card for SSD04 and I have chosen to work with the Bra's Volume 1 set which has a lot of quirky and fun sentiments about friendship and dare I say....bosoms ;)




This fun polka dot bra comes hanging on a hanger and I snipped off the loop and replaced part of the image with a real wire loop and paper toled the bra to make it dimensional. I sponged the background with blues to really make the bra pop and to show the brightness in the coral colours. I coloured the "lace" on the bra with my white gel pen and added some highlights with my sparkly stardust pen :)




Now that you have "hung in there" for all of the blather above I have some blog candy to offer! Thanks to Heather (the very generous owner of Skipping Stones Design) I have this wonderful set to share with you:



Hooray! Isn't this the perfect set for seasonal celebrations? There is many a toast to be made over the holidays and to get this set, all you have to do is leave me a comment and I will post the winner next Tuesday (Dec 29th). And if you don't win but would like to one some of these fabulous sets then Heather has a save the shipping event on where you get free shipping on orders over $30 and that includes International shipping!

Good luck everyone and if I don't get a chance to post again before Christmas (knowing me, I won't) I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! May Santa bring you oodles of goodies and may you get a chance to share your holidays with your loved ones :)



Card Recipe:

Stamps: Skipping Stones Designs - Bras Volume 1
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Cocoa, K&Co, Basic Grey and My Mind's Eye Dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja, Sky, Chocolate, Olive, Coral
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Sponges, Pop Dots, Wire, Rhinestones, Ribbon, SU Label Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Scallop Edge Punch, Circle Hole Punch, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter, White Gel Pen, Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Silver Gel Pen

SSD03 - Getting Lucky!

It's time for another Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday and I got to play with a brand new release! The set that I got to play with is called Gettin' Old and it's being released today! It's full of sassy sentiments to make both you (the card maker) and the person you are giving it to laugh :)



Here is this week's sketch and you can tell that I cheated a little on my own sketch *gasp* I turned the sketch on it's side and moved the triangle piece to the opposite side to accommodate my car....an may have added another piece of card stock for good measure.... :) More is more I always say! lol



I coloured water coloured my car to match my orange and yellow scenic route DP scrap and added some silver gel pen to create the chrome look. I then paper toled the car, cut out the windows and added some acetate to look like glass - too bad that you can't tell that extra detail in the photo (you might be able to if you click on the picture too enlarge it).



While cruising around SCS the other day, I stumbled across a really cute card with these amazing trees on it by PJStamps. Hers was made out of punches but because I don't own any of the ones she does, I decided to cut the shapes out free hand and shape my version of the tree...and methinks that I will be making way more of these cuties in the future! Thanks Patti Jo!

I place my tree upon my sponged ink background and assembled my creation with the addition of the first part of the sentiment. And on the inside the card reads:




*Snort!* I love it!!! Don't forget to pop by the Skipping Stones Design store to see what's in the rest of this fun set :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Skipping Stones Design - Gettin' Old
Paper: Gina K, Grey, Moss, Chocolate, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP, My Mind's Eye DP, Scenic Route DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Grey, Moss, Green, Celery, Baja, Artichoke, Rust
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter, Brads, Corner Rounder, Sponges, Acetate, Pop Dots, Silver Gel Pen, Clear Embossing Powder

SSD02 - 'Tis the season for gingerbread men!

It's time for another Skipping Stone Sketch Tuesday and this week is a long and semi skinny card - I guess it ate too many gingerbread men *snort* ;) In case you were wondering this card is actually a 4x6" card which is kind of an unusual measurement but I find that I am still able to fit everything that I want to add on this size of card.




I took the opportunity to use this adorable gingerbread man to make a Christmas Card rather than pair it up with the sassy sentiments that it comes with to show the versatility of this set....and because I ran out of room! lol




I water coloured this gingerbread man using my tombow markers and aqua painter and then I touched up the icing bits with a white gel pen. As an after thought I added some stardust stickles and of course needed the rest of the card to be just as festive...a bottle of stardust stickles later and some awfully glittery fingertips...voila! There you have it - one very shiny card! Put on your sunglasses to view this one ladies!




Heather from Skipping Stones Design wanted me to let all of you know that she is having a 25% off sale on all of her sets today only (Dec 8th) just enter 25off in the coupon area and is also offering free shipping on all orders over $30!!!

And for all of you who would like to be on a design team...here is your chance! Skipping Stones Design is looking for a few more talented designers! Check out all of the details in this forum. Are you wanting to be a guest sketch artist like me? Look for all of those details here.



Card Recipe:

Stamps: Skipping Stones Design - Trouble with Men, Sanded
Paper: Gina K, Caramel, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Burgundy, Sky, Sage, Caramel, Cocoa
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Dew Drops, Ribbon, Sponges, Stickles, White Gel Pen, Pop Dots, Decorative Punch, Corner Rounder, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder

Aging is like fine wine...

For the month of December I get to be the Guest Sketch Artist for a fairly new company called Skipping Stones Design and today is the big day....drum roll please.....




Yes, there it is...the first sketch of the month for Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday's and the very first time that I drew a sketch up on the computer! I'm so impressed that I managed to get it to work! lol - Just think...I get to do this 4 more times this month ;)

Ahem, now back to the card design ;) I made this cheeky card using the Margarita Birthday set and designed it specifically for my Gram. It's her 80th birthday coming up this weekend and not only does she love wine, but a good joke as well! Gram at the ripe old age of almost 80 still loves to have a good time and these sentiments couldn't be more perfect! I plan on saving some of the other sassy sentiments in this set for another birthday that is coming up soon...shhhhh...don't tell my best friend! *wink*




I water coloured and paper toled the wine glass and then added some crystal effects for the glossy texture and shine. I opted to play with the shapes on the sketch a little so that it fit what I had in mind for the card, and I think that it work out well. Almost all of the designer paper layers were run through my cuttlebug and I'm pretty sure that everything on this card was touched by a sponge. Yep...I got a little carried away with both the sponging and the sewing on this one!





I would love it if you got a chance to play along with this sketch! If you do and decide to upload your creation to SCS, then please use the keyword's: SSD01, skippingstonesdesign, skipping_stones_design. I can't wait to see what you all make! Oh and don't for get to leave some lovin' over on the Skipping Stones Blog. They will be doing a new sketch every Tuesday for your enjoyment and there will be prizes :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Skipping Stones Design - Margarita Birthday
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Jenni Bowlin DP, Basic Grey Dp, Inique Boutique DP, Chocolate
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Burgundy, Chocolate, Cocoa, Caramel
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Clear Embossing Powder, Crystal Effects, Corner Rounder Punch, Sponges, Pop Dots, Brads, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter