SCS Sketch Challenge #200

Happy Wednesday everyone!! When it's "over the hump day", I know it's time to play a couple of my favorite challenges! I LOVE doing sketch challenges whereever I find them and I always try to make time for the sketch challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.

Today's sketch was pretty easy peasy and that is exactly what I did with my card. I probably could have "dressed it up" a bit ... but sometimes simple is better.

Card recipe:

Stamps: Great Impressions

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Very Vanilla & DCWV designer paper

Ink: Versafine sepia & Ranger vintage photo distress ink

Accessories: sponge applicator, Prisma pencils, Creative Memories square punch

Thanks so much for stopping by ... please come back!!

Crafty Secrets Challenge #40

Today's Crafty Secrets challenge is hosted by Joanne (Angelnorth). Joanne is being very "business" minded today and has asked us to make a card that would fit into a business sized envelope. These long cards are always fun (postage is same as A2) because you have more work surface to play with!!

The Crafty Secrets booklets have the perfect images for a long card and that is what I've used on my card today. This image came from the Christmas Images & Journal Notes booklet. There is actually the sentiment Merry Christmas under the ribbon ... I wanted to use a larger sentiment more positioned in the middle for my card so I hit the original with ribbon. My Seasons Greetings sentiment comes from the Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas stamp set.

I don't think you can see it well in the photo, but I used an American Crafts gold glitter pen to go over the designs on the ornaments to give them a little sparkle and to tie in with the gold & red brads down the right side. (Looks better in real life!!)

Thanks for stopping by and PLEASE stop back!! I love hearing from all of you!! Have a great day ... we actually saw a few SNOW flakes here in NE Ohio this a.m. Good reason to spend more time in the craftroom ... that's where I'm headed ... how about you???

A simple Sympathy

My mother (age 78) is 1 of 12 children and she is next to the youngest. Needless to say, over the years I have lost a few of my aunts and uncles but there was still 6 of the 12 left until this past weekend. My uncle Boob (Wilbur) passed away on Saturday at the age of 93! Can you believe it, he was still handing out food to (as he put it) the old people for Meals-on-Wheels until just recently. I wanted to make a special card for my aunt ... she is going to miss him terribly ... they have been married "forever" and I sure the empty house is going to be very difficult for her.

I recently received my new rubber for my work with The Rubber Cafe design team, and thought the large lace heart would work perfectly to hold this beautiful irish saying ... and it did! I hope it will bring her a little comfort!

Thanks for stopping by ... have a great day!!

Dancing In Detroit

What a great weekend!! It was so nice to visit with our friends again after two years and the dancers were AWESOME!!!

The "girls" were out for a night on the town in Detroit and what a time we had!! (L-R: Jennifer, Nancy, Me, Sara). Sara got the tickets, did the driving and kept us all in stitches all night!!! (Sara is Nancy's daughter). It was so great that Mark felt up to coming along and hung out with Nancy's husband (Mark) for an evening of football/baseball on the TV and there was plenty of half-time food for the "boys" to eat ... Nancy made sure of that!!

If you like dancing and have never seen this show, you should really check it out ... these kids are amazing!! We had pretty good seats but bringing the binoculars along was a great idea for those "close up" views!! These kids danced "continually" and the show was so well put together! I can't wait until next season!! Being an x-dancer, I can "feel their pain" and know how exhausted they were at the end of the night!! What a GREAT time ...

Thanks for stopping by ... just had to share the fun time with you all and hope your weekend was as much fun as mine was!!!

SCS Sketch Challenge #199

It was so nice to find a little time today to make a card for this week's SCS sketch challenge. I think sketch challenges are my favorite ... sometimes the layout is the hardest part for me and the sketch takes care of that!!

I LOVE making Halloween cards ... too bad I never take time to send them out to anyone, LOL!!

The Crafty Secrets challenge this week is to use Orange & Black so this fits that challenge also. LOVE, Love, love these Crafty Secrets images ... whether they are stamps, booklet images or cut outs ... they are just so darned cute!!!

Check out what I did with the brads in the upper right corner (you can click on the photo for a better view) ... I decided to draw pictures on them with my EKSuccess photo pen. This is as close to pumpkin carving as I get these days and gave the card a little more whimpsie!!

The bg paper is by The Paper Studio ... the orange panel was punched with the Fiskars roping border punch and the BOO panel was made using images from the Crafty Secrets Halloween Fun stamp set. Hope you like it and thanks so much for stopping by!!!

Stamp Simple Challenge #58

This week's challenge over on Sharon Johnson's blog (notimetostamp) is to keep it FLAT. With the rising cost of everything these days ... including postage ... sending a flat card will certainly save you a few bucks. With the holidays not all that far away, I've put together a few gift sets of Thomas Kinkade cards.

I can't believe I didn't even use ribbon on these cards (ribbon is somewhat of an addiction with me in case you hadn't noticed, LOL).

I simply stamped the image using India Ink Black onto glossy white ... colored them here and there with various SU inks ... added a little prisma glitter and there you have it ... very simple and festive!

Please take time to check out Sharon's blog for ALL the details on this challenge and also don't forget to check out the samples the design team ladies have come up with. I've linked their sites for easy access. Show a little love and leave them a comment, I'm sure they will LOVE it!!!

Sharon
Julie
Tammy
Janine
Dee
Jennifer

Thanks for stopping by! It's always great to hear from you!!!

Yippee ... new rubber!!!

My stamps finally showed up from The Rubber Cafe and they are AWESOME. Poor Melissa has had so much trouble with the new rubber getting to everyone for some reason and even had to resend new to several of us.

It's been a long day but I JUST had to ink up these stamps and see what I could come up with. I'm sure when I have more time and not quite so tired I'll have great fun with these images.

I know it's early for Valentine's Day but I'd like to try and submit a few things for publication and that is what they are looking for right now. Hope you like it ... please feel free to comment and give me some suggestions. Thanks for stopping by ...

Cleveland Clinic Visit

I wanted to post a quick update for those of you who have been so sweet to send well wishes and prayer for us throughout this Cancer Journey we are currently on!!!

We MIGHT actually have some GOOD news for a change!!! The stem cell transplant surgeon at Cleveland Clinic isn't convinced that Mark still has lymphoma!! Seems that Pet Scans done too in proximity to chemo have a history of sending false positives!!! And, Mark's last two pet scans were done the weeks in between his chemo. All the other areas of cancer concern are CLEAR and he doesn't see how this one area has not been affected by the amount of chemo he has had! SO, with that being said, his recommendation is to wait 4-6 weeks AFTER his last chemo (which was Oct. 1) and then do a pet scan and see what it reads. He recommends doing this even before doing the biopsy which would probably be scheduled within the next week. He said "why put you through any more surgery if it's not needed". We are PRAYING he is correct in this and that we won't have to got through all of that other UGLY stuff and I mean by what they explained to us today ... it would be UGLY. The stem cell transplant would have Mark in the hospital (Cleveland) for at least 3-4 weeks not to speak of the in patient chemo treatments needed prior to the transplant. Doesn't sound like something we want to do over the holidays!!!! So ... if you would please remain praying for him, we would really appreciate it!

Thanks!!!

Crafty Secrets Challenge - Orange/Black

I finally got the time to make my card(s) for Tuesday's Crafty Secrets challenge hosted by Pammyjo. She has asked us to use the colors Orange and Black but not necessarily Halloween cards ... we were to try and "think out of the Halloween box". Well when I made my first card, I was having difficulty with my mojo and settled for Halloween.

The background was made using dark orange paper from the Basic Grey Amrosia paper pack ... stamped using a gauze bg stamp and the "little monsters" is from the Crafty Secrets Halloween Fun set. The main image is from the Crafty Secrets Seasonal booklet, the sentiment is from Crafty Secrets Halloween Cuts and the witches shoes are from the Halloween Fun set and I cut them out and popped them up on dimensionals to work as photo corners. Hope you like it ...

This is my second card and was influenced by my DH. While waiting at the eye surgeons office yesterday, I was telling him about the challenge and how were were to use these two colors but not necessarily on a Halloween card! His suggestion was to make a card with Northern Orioles on it ... so after some playing around, here is what I came up with!!

The birds are from two different CS sets ... Bird Lovers and Bird Notes. The sky was done using a stamp by Ala Art and soft sky ink. It was difficult to color the bird in flight because I didn't have a photo of an oriole with it's wings spread ... so I did my best. Haven't gotten approval from "the boss" yet ... but I think it looks okey, dokey!!! What do you think??

Thanks so much for stopping by ... sorry I've bee a little slow on updates ... DH is having health difficulty and my attention has been on him ... but I'll be here as I can!! Love hearing from all of you ... thanks for helping to keep my spirits up during this difficult time!!!

Sketch Challenge

I still had a little time before DH's doctor appt., so I decided to play one of my favorite challenges. It's a sketch challenge found over on the i{heart}2stamp blog.

I recently purchased these beautiful vintage cotton scraps by Crafty Secrets at an awesome toy/stamping store called Toyrifix. My friend Tammy Hershberger manages the stamping portion of the store and I'm always amazed at the variety of product she offers in her "little corner of the world". I spotted these cotton scraps and just HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!

Thanks for stopping by ... my play time is running out for today ... hope to have more to share with you tomorrow!! In the meantime ... have a safe, fun-filled day!!!

A "little" playtime ...

Things have been unexpectedly crazy around here these last few days and I haven't had much time to play. DH (Mark) got even more bad news yesterday ... this time from the optometrist ... seems his cataracts are getting so bad (mostly from the steroids used during his chemo) that they feel he needs to have cataract surgery prior to all this high dose chemo / stem cell transplant stuff he has coming up! SO, we are off the the Cataract Surgeon this afternoon to see how quickly we can get this done!

God bless him, he's still trying to go into the office when he feels up to it but today he asked me to drive him in because he didn't feel it was safe for him to be driving himself ... now that's what I call "dedication to your job". So, while I'm waiting for the time to go pick him back up and take him for his appointment, I decided I was going to take some ME time and make a few cards.

I purchased his stamp over the weekend from my favorite stamping store in Zoar, Ohio (The Stamp Pad) and couldn't wait to play a little and see what I could come up with. Here I stamped it with Versafine black and used chalks and a cotton ball to color it. I have my "Nestability negatives" hanging on a peg in front of my workstation and just started looking to see what scrap I had available that would work and this one worked perfectly! I double matted it using gold metallic and real red cardstock then used dimensional tape to give it a little dimension. The background paper is by Fancy Pants and the gold sheer ribbon is by Joanne's. A simple card, but sweet I think. What are your thoughts?? (I noticed my mojo isn't quite right these days ... must have too much on my mind!)

I also purchased this bird cage image and the image I used to make the background from the same stamping store in Zoar, Ohio and wanted to see what I could do with them. (Have you noticed I can't stand to let a NEW stamp sit un-inked for very long ...) This card was just a quick toss together. I stamped the birdcage image (Inkadinkado) on ivory cs using blue bayou ink then colored in the birds using American Craft glitter pens. The background was made using a bird in the bush image ( Stampendous) and using soft sky ink. I had scraps on my worktable which I used for the sentiment panel and the chickadee was also a scrap left over from another project. Another simple little card ... but I think it's cute!

Do you have a birthday coming up?? Let me know and I'll send this card to YOU!

Thanks so much for stopping in ... sorry my work isn't up to standard ... I promise it will be better next time!!

Whoo Hoo ... I won!!

A new stamping friend Melissa Bove (we are both on The Rubber Cafe design team) sent me an email today asking if I had seen this post: http://websterspages.typepad.com/webstershome/.

Yep ... out of 482 comments, I was one of ten randomly selected a winner in this awesome blog candy. What great news ... and I could use some GOOD news today.

Thanks for stopping by ... I just had to share some GOOD news with all my blogger friends!!!

Stampin' D'Amour Design Team Submission - Nov. 2008

Here is my first project for the Stampin' D'Amour design team for November. These lovely images and much, much more can be found in the Stampin' D'Amour boutique.

I wanted to come up with a "matching set" and I'm happy with this combination. Here are individual photos of each (and you can click on each photo for a closer look):

My 3d project is an acrylic pillow. I stamped the images onto designer paper then cut and slid into the pillow ... the candy holds the image in place. Placed a little sparkly cello at each end and wrapped a gold bow around for a little dimensional appeal. I think these are a great gift idea!!

Here are the card and ATC using the same basic background paper ...

So ... what do you think?? I just love vintage and need to spend more time with these images. They are so cool, I'm almost a little intimidated by them ... what's up with that???? I guess I'm looking for perfection ... Anyways, thanks so much for taking time to look and comment ... I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear from all of you!!!!

Same Image - Four Different Cards

I enjoy using my Stampscapes images for "guy" cards but they will work for "girls" cards just as well. I think EVERYONE enjoys nature!!

I stamped this image onto glossy white cardstock using India Ink Black ... then using sponge pods, colored it with various SU inks. For the sky, I used the large sponge pods and swiped lightly with the summer sun .... then another pod for the pirouette pink ... then another pod for the soft sky. The sun was done by using the large sponge pod in Summer Sun ink and stamping over the image.

It's fun to see how many different variations you can get by using the same image design. Hope you like my "little collection". Thanks for stopping by!!

ssnotime57 Challenge

This week's challenge over on Sharon Johnson's (notimetostamp)blog is brought to us by Heather Telford who won the game to write the challenge during Sharon's Huge Celebration a few weeks back.

Heather's challenge to us is to design a card without using any IMAGE stamps (no flowers, coffee cups, snowflakes or cupcakes) ... only use sentiment or background stamps.

I have had this cube holiday sentiment stamp since the beginning of time ... sorry don't know who makes it ... and I decided to use it along with Kaleidocolor - fruitcake ink to make the background dp. The main image sentiment stamp is by Great Impressions and the Winter Bough which is stamped in Brillance Beige on the background is by Penny Black. The main image is matted with copper metallic and the edging around the main card is done using Brillance Galaxy Gold and a sponge.

Don't forget to checkout what the other girls have done!
Sharon

Julie

Tammy

Janine

Dee

Jennifer

Thanks for stopping by! It's always great to hear from you!!!

Awesome Blog Candy at Websters

Interested in some really cool blog candy???? Check this out: http://websterspages.typepad.com/webstershome/2008/10/ready-for-more.html?cid=135071127#comment-135071127

The Rubber Cafe DT Challenge

As you can see by my sidebar, I am a new member of The Rubber Cafe Design Team! Our Leader (Melissa) has posted a challenge to us and since I am still waiting for the arrival of my new stamps I will resort back to this beautiful butterfly image I already have in my stash.

Our challenge is to use the colors: teal greens, blue and whites ... use at least one (1) designer paper ... use pop dots for dimension ... and use something recycled. Well that last requirement had me stumped for awhile, but I decided to "recycle" the packing envelope my new Stampin' D'Amour stamps came in ... that works, right??

This design paper is by 7Gypsies and the sentiment stamp is by Hampton Art Stamps. Hope you like it ... This challenge goes on for a couple of weeks ... maybe my new stamps will show up and I can make another card ... cross your fingers ... I'll have to stalk the mailman over the next few days I guess!! Thanks for stopping by!!!

FALL is in the Air!!

This card is for Wednesday's sketch challenge over on SCS and also for the Color Throwdown challenge. I always enjoy doing Fall cards ... don't you just love the colors of fall!!! I don't think I could ever live where the trees didn't change color ... on a sunny day, the colors can be SPECTACULAR!!

The only stamped image on this card comes from a set called "old fashion hayride" by H&M Stamps and designed by MY FRIEND ... Beverly Cole.

The Color Throwdown challenge was to use the colors Really Rust, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss. Didn't have the Kiwi Kiss so I substituted Old Olive. The base card is the So Saffron and the designer papers were from Stemma and Flair Design. Hope you like this one ... thanks for stopping by to take a peek and leave a comment ... I greatly appreciate it!!!!!

Rusty Pickle Challenge

Here is a card I did for the Rusty Pickle challenge put up over on the Stampin' D'Amour message board. I had used up all the Rusty Pickle paper I had in stock ... so, I HAD to order some from Stampin' D'Amour (and a few other things of course) in order to play along with the challenge! They have some wonderful 2-sided holiday papers available and here I have used both sides of the same paper (cool, huh!).

The challenge is to use 80% Rusty Pickle product and the theme is "something you are grateful for". As you can tell by my sentiment, I am MOST grateful for FAMILY!! I can't even imagine how lonely people who don't have family around them must be ... I am blessed with a large, loving family and so thankful for it!!!

I bordered each layer by using a ZIG real red marker (saves on layer weight) and made a little awning with the sentiment panel. The reindeer is a clear stamp I found for $1 somewhere and I've added a few punched out snowflakes. EASY PEASY with this awesome paper ... don't need to add much more!!! What do you think??

NOT what we wanted to hear!!!

Sorry ... no cards to post today! This morning was spent at the Oncologist office to hear the results of the various tests Dear Husband went through last week. Unfortunately, we didn't hear what we had hoped to hear. Instead, the word is a bit grim ... he STILL has cancer. All locations have cleared except for one area that just doesn't seem to be responding to the chemo. And for that reason, they have cancelled the remaining scheduled chemo and we're switching gears. (Mind you, this is after already going through 14 chemo treatments).

We are in the process of setting up with our local surgeon (top notch surgeon) to have the affected lymph nodes removed and biopsied ... also we have a consultation scheduled with surgeons at Cleveland Clinic to discuss Stem Cell Transplant ... which might be required in the near future.

I appreciate all of those who have been sending out well wishes & prayers to my husband and myself ... I ask that you continue those prayers ... seems our "cancer journey" isn't quite over yet!!!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something a bit more Cheery & Bright to share with you!!!! Thanks everyone ... you will never know how much your friendships and kindness means to us!!!