MMSC13 & an Award ... LIFE IS GOOD!!

How thrilled was I this morning when I clicked onto the Priscillastyle Blog to see what the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge was going to be for this week and saw that I had been chosen this week to receive the GOLD STAR AWARD ... Yippee!!! How cool is that!!! Okay ... now that tells me I'm going to have a GREAT day ... with a beginning like that!!

Okay ... I'm settled down now and would like to share with you my creation for today's Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #13. When I saw the sketch I thought ... oh my ... I'm not very good with these "inchie" things but I'll give it a try. Well, it didn't turn out to be as scary as I thought it would be!!

First I had to decide what designer paper to use then remembered getting this awesome Bohemia paper at Toyrifix where my dear friend Tammy Hershberger works. It's two sided and would work perfectly! With that decided, I had to move on to what stamp set to use. I knew I wanted to Paper Piece the main image so after looking through EVERYTHING I have, I decided upon this Stampin' Up set called "On Gossamer Wings". I stamped it once onto Whisper White paper then again onto the Bohemia designer paper. I did a little coloring on the background image to create the greenery then started cutting out my pieces with a swivel craft knife and glueing them onto the image. I meant to put some gold stickles on the flower centers but forgot until just this moment .. ooops! This beautiful organza ribbon is by May Arts and I purchased it at Toyrifix also. My corners were created by using the SU slit punch.

I have photographed the inside of my cad for those of you who enjoy seeing what the inside might look like. You can always "click on any image" for a larger view.

My inside sentiment is by Verses Rubber Stamps and is stamped in Versafine Black ink. I've used the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch on Basic Black cardstock with a stip of Bohemia designer paper for my decorative strip.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope your day started out as well as mine ... and, so far so good!!! LOL!!!

***********************

OH ... and before I forget AGAIN ... check out the new topic the Midnight Madness gals have come up with . Here's how it goes:

“Refer your Friends for Freebies” Now sticking to our FRIENDLY theme this week, the Midnight Madness Sketch challenge has an added treat for you. We will be starting the “Refer your Friends for Freebies” this week and this is how it works….. for every "Brand NEW" participating friend you refer to our challenges, you will get an extra entry in our weekly bonus drawings through the end of August. As an added bonus, if three of your referrals enter our sketch challenge during the same week, I will mail you a special gift from Stampin Up. And the person who refers the most new friends by August 31st will Win a "Stampin Up" Grab bag of products worth over $100. Your friends can only be a “Brand NEW” friend once even though we welcome them to stay and play as often as they want and that person could then join in by referring new friends too. All you have to do is leave a comment stating your friend has entered the challenge, who they are and how you know them. Then email me with your address if three NEW friends enter in the same week. And last, email me by Sept 1st a list of referred friends and your grand total of participating friends for the $100 product prize. In the event of a tie, we will have a drawing. So now is the time to get in touch with all those friends of yours, catch up and invite them to play with us!

As my luck would have it ... before they started this new program, I referred several of my friends to this awesome website (and several joined) and in fact, one of my friends who joined ... Terri Snode (Terri's Cards N' More) ... was the Bonus Winner for MMSC#11. (check out her brand new blog and leave some love)

So if any of you pop over ... are as thrilled with this site as I am ... and join up ... please let me know so I can contact Priscilla . Thanks!

Playing with new stamps ...

After having so much fun crafting with friends yesterday, my mojo was still flowing so I spent part of the day creating with some of my new stamps. Sorry for the lengthy post but I just had to share my creations with you all! I draw inspiration from you and I'm hoping to inspire others in return!!

This card was created using images from the Hero Arts set called "Friend" that I purchased at Toyrifix from my friend Tammy Hershberger (Stamp Happy). I stamped the circle image with Versamark then did the "poppin pastels" technique using Pan Pastels (artist paste chalks) and cotton balls. After stamping the sentiment & butterfly with Versafine Black and embossing with detail clear ep I used Nestabilities to cut my circles. My background paper is from the DCWV Luxury pack and I have stamped over it with yet another image from this set using India Ink Black. The base card is SU Perfect Plum cardstock and I have done faux stitching using a metal ruler and my Creative Memories fine tip black marker pen. The grosgrain ribbon was a gift from my friend Anita (waving Hi to Anita).

My second card was created using two new Great Impressions stamps I bought in Fort Wayne, IN last week on my way out to Shipshewana. Aren't these duckies cute !!! I colored the image with SU watercolor pencils and the background with blue chalks & a makeup applicator. Here's the other items used:

Papers: Garden Green, Whisper White, SU (flock together) designer paper

Inks: Versafine Black

Accessories: Nestabilities (circles), Creative Memories corner rounder, Colorbok metal dots, crystal effects, SU watercolor pencils, blender pen, blue chalks, makeup applicator

The next 3 card images are all Penny Black sets that I purchased from Joan's Gardens while in Indiana last weekend.

This first card uses images from the Penny Black (Enjoy Life & Flower Gallery) sets. Here are the details of my card:

Stamps: Penny Black (Enjoy Life)

Penny Black (Flower Gallery) - sentiment

Papers: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Anna Griffin designer paper

Inks: Old olive, Versafine black

Accessories: Spellbinder Shapeabilities (floral accent), American Crafts glitter pens, Spellbinder Nestabilities (label one), Creative Memories black round tip marker, detail clear embossing powder

I took my inspiration from the back of the package on the Penny Black Flower Gallery stamp set that I used for this card. The swirl stamp I used is by Inkadinkado. Here are the details:

Stamps: Penny Black, Inkadinkado

Papers: Bashful Blue, Garden Green, Whisper White

Inks: Old olive, Versafine Black

Accessories: SU grosgrain ribbon, Detail clear ep, Crystal Effects, Bow-Easy purchased at Sharon Johnson's ribbon store.

I just loved this tree from the Penny Black Enjoy Life set. After stamping with versafine black, I colored it with SU watercolor pencils & a blender pen. I used chalks for the sky and the birds image is by Stampscapes.

Stamps: Penny Black (Enjoy Life), Inkadinkado (Garden Flower), Stampscapes

Papers: Garden Green, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, DCWV Old World designer paper

Inks: Versafine black

Accessories: Nestabilities (rectangles), Detail clear ep, SU watercolor pencils, chalk, White Gelly Roll pen, Michael's gingham ribbon

(click on any image for a larger view)

Thanks for stopping by today ... hope you all have a wonderful week!