FS197 - Peonies and Jellybeans

Hi everyone! I get the pleasure again of bringing you this week's prestigious Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers because Miss Beth is still on vacation overseas :)

This week's challenge is FS197 - Jumpin' Jellybeans! and we are featuring Jellybean74! Angela's (Jellybean74 at SCS) gallery is chalked full of pastel, yummy goodness just like the sweet candy so let's start that sugar high and make her feel special!

This is the card that I chose to CASE and as per the Featured Stamper Challenge rules, I had to change 2 or more things on the card. I kept the same layout, colour combo and image type but changed out the green matting for black, added a double bow and some dry embossing and stitching.

The image has been water coloured with my tombow markers and a waterbrush and the clouds were sponged in. As a finishing touch I added some prisma colour and gamsol grass (here is a video tutorial on how to do this from Paula Williamson). I used as many of the same designer papers that I had to match Angela's card and ended up embossing them with my cuttlebug. I didn't have the exact same image that she used so I went with the next best choice of Peony Bittybloom from Stamping Bella.

Congratulations Angela and thanks for have such a large gallery full of eye candy to choose from!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Peony Bittybloom
Paper: Gina K, Black, Water Colour, My Mind's Eye DP, October Afternoon DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja, Teal, Olive
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Labels Four Dies, Lg Classic Scallop Circle Dies, Lg Standard Circle Dies, Ribbon, Button, Twine, Cloud Stencil, Sponges, Pomagranate Bella Baubles, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Corner Chomper, Prismas and Gamsol, Gelly Roll Glitter Pen

FS196 - Owl that Jazz

Hi everyone! Today I get the pleasure of bringing you this week's prestigious Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers because Miss Beth is on vacation overseas :) I will also have the pleasure of hosting next weeks challenge too so stay tuned for that one ;) 

This week's challenge is FS196 - All that Jazz and we are featuring jazzytobi! I had the pleasure of meeting Tobi Crawford at a stamping event last month as she is a total doll and her cards are out of this world! 

This is the card that I chose to CASE and as per the Featured Stamper Challenge rules, I had to change 2 or more things on the card. I kept the same layout, colour combo and image type but added dew drops, ribbon instead of a sentiment and stitching with matting to the card. I chose this particular card because I had it in my favourites file since last year and absolutely adore the fun image and bright colours :D

My owl is from the You're a Hoot set from There She Goes and was water coloured with my tombow markers and water brush. The clouds were sponged and I added some dew drops to balance out the image since mine was a little different from the original card. I didn't have any chipboard to complete the Tobi's sentiment panel on her card so I went with coordinating ribbon and added texture by dry embossing the designer papers :)

Thanks for coming by today and thank you Tobi for sharing your artwork with us :D

 Card Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - You're a Hoot
Paper: Gina K, Chocolate, Kraft, Water Colour, Making Memories DP, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja, Turquoise, Chocolate, Caramel, Olive, Studio G Green Ink
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Sponges, Ribbon, Dew Drops, Cloud Stencil, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Multi, Tombow Dual Brush Pens, Water Brush, Dimensionals

Hope you can cling to - Cancer is for the birds!

So who here has heard of the fabulous challenges that Splitcoaststampers has been hosting all month called the Hope You Can Cling To card drive? Come on now, don't be shy and raise those hands! Hmmmm, haven't heard of it, Eh? Alrighty then, let's get you educated ;)

So now that you have read up on the info, you are waiting for today's challenge for an amazing cause, well wait no more! Today's challenge is hosted by me and it's HYCCT26 Cancer is for the birds. Well..it is ;) So lets bring out all of your favourite feathery friends stamps and make a card to brighten someones day. The card can be masculine, feminine or for children...it's up to you ;) Please remember that these challenges have strict rules that you can view on the challenge post and on this thread for the FAQ's. You will need to mail in your gorgeous creations to:

The Department of Volunteer Services – Unit 115
Attn: Maggi Suttles
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030

(Please note - because MD Anderson is part of the State of Texas, they ask that no religious sentiments be used on cards sent to the Cancer Center)

So you might be asking yourself why you should send away your gorgeous creations? Let me answer that. Because it will make you feel good, make someone else feel good and there are of course...prizes involved :D But most importantly, because there are people out there that could use a little hope these days ;)

My card uses and fun little stamp that I picked up from my LSS the other day and is a cling stamp made by Stampendous. I water coloured him with my tombow markers and a water brush and the popped up the little bird.  I wanted to create a neutral card so I used a bit of everything, scraps included. I finished off the card with some pretty pearls and ribbon and I figured that it could be an all occasion card or a Christmas card if someone wanted to give it away for the Holiday Season.

Thanks for coming by today and I hope that you get a chance to play in some of the challenges! For my TSG sneak peek card, please scroll down to the next post. I will warn you all. This week is an insane week for posting oodles of cards so be prepared to see double day postings from me. I have cards to share up the wazoo and they will be posted her for all of you to see. I'm not really sure what a wazoo is and if I own one or not, but I'm afraid to ask so it was said for effect only ;) You get the picture, right? LOL

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stampendous

Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Black, Scraps of Unknown DP

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Antique Linen

Accessories: Sewing Machine, Corner Chomper, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Tombow Makers, Water Brush, Ribbon, Sponges, Dimensionals. Pearls

CC273 - Pear-y Sweet

Whoo hoo! I'm so doing the happy dance here! This is the first time in a very looooonnngg time that I actually got a chance to participate in an SCS Colour Challenge in forevah! In fact, I can't even remember the last one that I played in. So let me re-iterate...WHOO HOO! :D

The challenge was Cocoa Banana Gardens (Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana and Garden Green) and we were allowed to toss in a bit of Soft Sky as a "cherry on top" if we felt so inclined to do so. I wasn't actually in the card making mood tonight but I found the colour combo too cool to resist as I had never even used my Garden Green package of card stock up until now :)



I was looking for a quick and easy image to water colour and one that I could match with the colour challenge so I pulled out this ever so sweet MFT Feelin' Fruity set that I love ever so much and don't get a chance to use too often. I water coloured it with my tombow markers and water brush then cut it out and popped it up on my sponged background. This card only took me about an hour to make so that's and even bigger bonus :D

I used some scrap Basic Grey papers and decided to get a little wild and crazy and place my sweet little creation on top of a GREEN card base. Are you as shocked as I was? *giggle* I always use white, but this created such a nice, fun pop of colour that I couldn't resist the temptation :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: MFT Feelin' Fruity
Paper: Garden Green, Banana, Cocoa, Water Colour, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Saffron, Garden Green, Cocoa, Soft Sky, Black
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Dies, Sponges, Pop Dots, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Scallop Edge Punch, Pinapple Twist Ribbon (CDStamps)

FS136 - A Bug for Shannan

How excited was I when I saw that THE FABULOUS Shannan Teubner (Steubner)was being honoured as this week's Featured Stamper? Pretty darn excited that's for sure! Not only is she incredibly talented but she is the biggest sweetheart too :)




So with that being said, of course I had to play along! Here is the card that I cased from Shannan. I made a bunch of changes but the card still has the same feeling, shape and colours...that's my story and I'm sticking to it *wink*



I watercoloured Anna's Whipper Snapper bug with both Re-inkers and Tombow Markers, then cut the image out and placed it on my sponged background. I added some stamped flies with my CDStamps Catchin' Flies Wheel because I thought it was a really sweet match and added the word window punched accents at the bottom with my computer generated sentiment.

That's all for tonight as it's really late here. Be sure to pop by Shannan's gallery to take a peek and if you get a chance, play along with the challenge. Let's show this diva some love people *wink*

Congratulations Shannan! You deserve it :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Clear Dollar Stamps - Catchin' Flies
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP, Basic Grey DP, Scenic Route DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Dk Brown, Lt Brown, Dk Green
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilies, Embossing Folders, WW Punch, Brads, Corner Rounder, Oval Punch, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Tombow Markers, Re-Inkers, Stickles, Computer Generated Sentiment

SC211 - Bella's Blue Blossom

I finally got a chance to break out this stamp set again :D I purchased it back in November to make a bunch of card gift sets for some family members for Christmas... but I only got one set done! Now keep in mind I had all my DT assignments and the never ending holiday cards to get made, oh and not to forget all the Christmas shopping that needed to be done. Since those holiday cards were never ending to begin with, I decided not to start any at all *grin* So, all in all...I don't really have any excuse as to why it never got inked again!




I started making this card late last night for today's SCS Sketch Challenge (SC211) I pulled out my much coveted Urban Prairie Basic Grey DP to put it to good use. I have to say that blues and greens together are my most favourite colour combo. What could be better than the calmness of the colour of water and the softness of the shades of grass?...And I had buttons to match so that really settled my decision on this combo! lol



I love this sketch and had ideas running through my head the minute I saw it. I chose to pull out the Bella Blossoms set for this card because it is so refreshing to use a stamp that doesn't actually require colouring! - With this is the bonus that it literally takes me 1/4 of the time to make the card! I have been so busy colouring up a storm for my Clear Dollar Stamps samples and I really needed the break :D I can't wait to show you what I have been working on, but you all will just have to wait until the end of the month! *wicked grin*




Card Recipe:

Stamps: Bella Blossoms
Paper: PTI White, Not Quite Navy, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Top Note Die, Corner Rounder Punch, Word Window Punch, Buttons, Sponges, Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Dew Drops, Ribbon

My Sweet Little Chickadee

I made this card a while back but hadn't had a chance to post it. Since I have been busy creating some more wonderful design team creations for you to look at, I thought that this would be the perfect eye candy in the meantime :)


The weather has been foggy and raining here, but I know that some of you have already been experiencing more winter like weather...snow! At this point, I would like it to snow here because at least it would be prettier to look at! We usually have fairly mild winter temperatures so it usually doesn't snow until the end of December.

I thought that I would make my bird from my Spring Song set into a winter chickadee singing in the snow amongst some winter berries :)


I was playing with some chipboard flourishes and had tried to create a weathered one for this card. I painted the flourish ivory, then stamped it with my weathered background and then sponged the sides. In the end it looked a little dull for my liking, so I coated it in clear embossing powder and heated it to bring out some of the brightness. The cuttlebugged panel is a vellum overlay on some designer paper that was stitched together and then embossed. I love this effect!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Peaceful Wishes, Weathered BG, Spring Song, Linen BG
Paper: Papertrey White, Riding Hood Red, K&Co. DP, Vellum, Watercolour, Sahara Sand
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Sahara Sand, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, SU Markers
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Stickles, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, White Gel Pen, Dimensionals, Chipboard, Sponges, Aqua Painter, Embossing Powder

DTGD Challenge?

Remember a couple of posts ago I had mentioned that I still have numerous cards to show you that never made it to SCS? Here is another! I made this card right after I got my demonstrator pre-order of this current level 2 hostess set called Serene Spring.

I made it so long ago and now looking at it...it seems rather a strange colour combo to put together! lol I'm pretty sure that I made this card for an old Dare to get Dirty Challenge which was to be inspired by a ribbon.



I received this orange and olive striped eons ago while participating in a secret sister swap and this is the first time that it had seen the light of day. Oddly enough, this whole card was built around this ribbon and chose it because it was the only multi-coloured ribbon that I own!



I do love this stamp set and have a special "thing" for lighthouses and Terra cotta pots :) The image has been coloured on all of the layers, cut out and popped up. I used one of my favourite stamps to add the flourish and pulled out my dew drops. See the white spots on the Terra cotta pot? That was from the help of my husband who was shaving paint flecks into my embossing tray unbeknownst to me! I found out that after I had all these little white dots show up on my final coat of embossing powder...he has still never lived it down! lol - Moral of the story: Don't let husbands in your craft studio while you are working...even if he was trying to help put some shelving together for you!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Serene Spring
Paper: Papertrey White. Basic Black, Watercolour, K&Co DP, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, SU Markers, Re-inkers
Accessories: Embossing Powder with Paint Flecks (I don't recommend trying this at home), Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals, Dew Drops, Ribbon, Brads, Sponges, Signo Gel Pen, Stickles

A day in the orchard...

It seems that I made this card forever ago and haven't gotten around to posting it to my blog or Splitcoast (along with many others)! I was editing some photos and came across this one that I made with one of the Stampin' Up! Father's Day sets called For Father. I thought that I would show it all to you today as it is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I will be eating apple pie for dessert tonight ;)


I coloured the images with re-inkers and a fine tip watercolour brush. The apples, leaves and the advertisement on the apple crate have all been heat embossed with clear embossing powder so that the have a shine to them. I am pretty sure that this main image has been cut out and popped up on dimensionals 4 times!



I distressed most of the edges with some inky sponges and my craft knife. The panels of designer paper below the main image were run through my cuttlebug and then distressed with some sandpaper. I really wanted this card to be a rustic hardworking "man's" card :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: SU For Father
Paper: Papertrey White, Watercolour, K&Co DP, Bravo Burgundy, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Bravo Burgundy, Close to Cocoa, Various Re-Inkers
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Word Window Punch, Hodgepodge Hardware, Dimensionals, Water Brush, Embossing Powder, Sponges, Craft Knife, Gel Pen, Sandpaper

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends :)

A Stroll through the Garden...

Ah, I just got back after a long day out with some friends. I am a little behind with my postings,l so I am just making this one a short little blurb. I have combined two different stamp sets for this card - Hedgehog Happiness (SU) and Blissful Blossoms (Lizzie-Anne Designs ). I love flower sets but don't own too many cartoon ones to go with these sweet images. I really struggled with this card but it will do :)



Card Recipe:

Stamps: Hedgehog Happiness, Blissful Blossoms
Paper: Watercolour, Certainly Celery, Papertrey White, Bazzil Bling, Imaginese DP
Inks: SU Markers, Basic Black, Versa Mark, Green Galore
Accessories: Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Stickles, Embossing Powder, Sewing Machine, Corner Punch, Brads, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Grandma's Garden

This is one of my favourite sets for making a quick and beautiful card. It works especially well with the Stampin' Up! Pretties Kit. The blossom in this card has been stamped 4 different times and cut out to be popped up on dimensionals. I started with the bottom layer being Bravo Burgundy. Then next layer is Rose Red and then the top layers were Regal Rose.

I wanted to make this card really elegant without too much work, so I added the half pearls to the center and quickly created a hat pin that is anchored in in a dimensional. For some extra elegance I folded small pieces of thick satin ribbon and tucked them in the corners of the card. The card didn't allow much room for a tied knot, so this was an easy way to get some mileage with just a little ribbon!



I have embossed the blossom layers with clear embossing powder to add just a little glossiness - to dress it up. I figured that this card was kinda vintage looking with the patterns, colours and hatpin that sparkles were not the finishing touch that I was looking for (shocking, I know...lol)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers
Paper: Papertrey White, River Rock, Bravo Burgundy, K&Co. Designer Paper
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Mellow Moss, Versa Mark
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Ribbon, Pretties Kit, Dimensionals, Sponge, Clear Embossing Powder.

Everyone needs a little fairydust...

And this card has alot of it! I like to think that glitter makes a card a little magical so this card is covered in them! I love so many of the retired stamp sets that I have been trying to collect them. I especially like the older Stampin' Up! girlie sets as they are a little bit more my style. My daughter picked this one out - she thought that this little fairy looked like "stinker bell" LOL! Ashlynn is just 2 1/2 and is just learning about the Disney princesses and how to pronounce their names :)


Tip: The photo corners on this card has been made using the scallop circle punch and the 1 1 /4 inch punches (I punched them out and then cut them into quarters) These ones were sponged with a co-ordinating ink and glitter was added to the whisper white card stock... I thought that this made a nice feminine touch.


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Fairies, Oh so Lovely
Paper: Rose Red, Papertrey White, Pretty in Pink, Unknown DP, Barely Banana
Ink: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Versa Mark, Basic Black, SU Re-inkers
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix, Nestabilities, Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Slit Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Primas, Brads, Dimensionals, Stickles, Embossing Powders

Peter Rabbit Inspired

I love this stamp set and have been on the hunt for it for the last year or so. In case any of you were wondering...I might have a small fixation with bunnies! When I was pregnant with my son I designed a Beatrix Potter "Peter Rabbit" nursery in gender neutral colours. Since then, both my son and daughter have used it and it has remained classic and cheery :) You will have to pardon the terrible photos as they were taken 4 years ago on my first digital camera!




I saw this stamp set and knew that it had to be mine as the little bunny out front reminds me of Peter Rabbit! I love this stamp set so much that I finally found somebody willing to give it a new home and here was the first card that I have made with it! I tried to keep it fairly gender neutral with muted tones of some primary and secondary colours.


Tip: It's very easy to add some texture to your card by placing a piece of designer paper in an embossing folder and running it through your cuttlebug (one of my best card making tools ever!!!)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Birthday Bunny
Paper: Cosmo Cricket DP, Papertrey White, Mellow Moss, Versa Mark
Ink: Mellow Moss, Soft Sky, Bashful Blue and Various Reinker Colours for the bunnies
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sewing Machine, Embossing Powders, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Re-inkers, Stickles, Sponges, Brads

I love my Friends!

I love a win-win situation! My friend Angela (jellybean74 on SCS) had some of her Stampin' Up! purchases at my house and in it was the Pretty Amazing stamp set. She hates cutting her stamps apart and told me that if I did it for her then I could borrow the set before she got it in her hot little hands! Great!! So, 10 minutes into cutting it apart and covered in sticky red rubber bits, I now have some new toys to play with!

Because this was a set that I didn't order, therefore didn't think that I would be using - I went to Splitcoast for a little inspiration (my favourite place to be). There was so many wonderful cards made using this set that I took a little inspiration from all of them! Thank you ladies for getting the ball rolling for this card!


This card was almost fully completed and it was still lacking something! Its always a guess as to what will finish off a card with me! Today, it was my pretties kit. I very rarely pull it out...I think it's because I forget that I have it! Tsk, tsk! (a shameful, shaking my head in dismay moment)

Anyhoo, out came the white half pearls and with a little help from my quickie glue pen = Done!
I kinda like how the little pearls make this card softer and a little more elegant :) This card came together pretty quickly as there were no little fingers hiding my supplies today!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Pretty Amazing
Paper: Papertrey White, Certainly Celery, Daisybucket DP
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose
Accessories: SU Markers, Aqua Painter, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Cuttlebug, Nestabilites, Sewing Machine, Pretties Kit, Build-a-Brad, Embossing Powder, Corner Rounder Punch and Half Inch Punch

Out in the Garden

I was fantasizing about a beautiful garden and wanting to use some new designer paper that I purchased down Island. I need to fantasize about a beautiful garden due to the fact that I have yet to do any gardening this year (except mowing the lawn!!) I really need to stop chatting with you all and get my butt out the door to tend to my weeds!!


The layout for this card was inspired by and old sketch challenge on Splitcoast. I used my Natural Beauty set for the images because it is so easy to colour. The flowers are 3D and are rotated to make the bloom loo like a double bloom. I really didn't have a clue what colours to use for the butterfly, so I googled some actual butterfly pictures and found one with simple colours to match my card :) Here is the picture that I used for my inspiration...



Tip: The best way to make any outlines stand out and easy for watercolouring is to ink up your stamp first with Versa Mark, then the colour of classic ink of your choice, then stamp your image. Coat the image with what ever embossing powder (glitter or clear) and then emboss. Not only does this look very nice, it serves double duty for watercolouring. The embossed lines make it more difficult for the paints to bleed onto each other :)




Card Recipe:

Stamps: Natural Beauty
Paper: Old Olive, Papertrey White, Watercolour, unknown Designer Paper (just too tired to look)
Inks: Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Almost Amethyst, Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, Versa Mark
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Powder, Brads, Dimensionals, Gel Pen

On the road again!

This card makes me giggle when I look at the dogs in the back of the truck! (I really have no idea why!) It just must be the end of a very long, hot day! We have finally reached some lovely temperatures here. For those of you who don't know, I live on Vancouver Island and we are considered a rain forest (not, by any means a tropical one though!!!) It has been a rainy spring for us so far and it was really nice that Mr. Sun decided to come out and play :) Enough babble and onto the goods...

This card turned out so sparkly, but without looking too overdone. A wonderful little tip that I learned recently from Faith's blog (Delightful Inspiration) was to ink up the edges of your card stock with versa mark and then add iridescent ice embossing powder. When you heat emboss it, it adds such a lovely matting to any card. Faith has a little "how to" tutorial on her blog.

This card ended up being a little more earthy from what I intended because I coloured my main image before picking out coordinating designer paper. I added some stamped flowers with jeweled brads to put a little femininity into it - the flowers were stamped on designer paper so there wasn't any colouring needed. The truck and hub caps have been heat embossed with clear powder to add an automobile paint shine to it :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Loads of Love and Accessories, Delight in Life, Fabulous Flowers, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Basic Gray, River Rock, So Saffron, Watercolour, Basic Grey DP, Papertrey White
Ink: SU Markers, Basic Black, Versa Mark, Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, So Saffron
Accessories: Jeweled Brads, Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter, Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Stam-a-majig, Dimensionals