Pink & Brown fun

German Phrase of the Day: Der Fruehling ist hier. = Spring is here. And it's about time! We're starting to get some nicer days...although rain is still pretty common! Oh well, can't have everything, right?

Here's a quick card I made last week with my Look Who's Perky set from Paper Pretties. I did a light pink watercolor wash on the stamped paper before coloring in the swirls for the frame with my Close to Cocoa marker and then cut it out. Next, I watercolored the sugar bowl pink and brown also and cut it out. I popped it up on the frame, then punched out the greeting, did the wash on it, and then sponged on some chocolate chip.

The card base is chocolate chip with a layer of Pretty in Pink stamped with the linen background in creamy caramel with chocolate chip sponged on to the edges. I finished the card off wtih some pink and chocolate grosgrain ribbon. It's a super quick and fun card to make...and I love the swirly frame!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Monday! This card along with many others will be going out to members of the Paper Pretties RAK group this week...so if you aren't a member...what are you waiting for? And if you are...watch your mailboxes!! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Look Who's Perky from Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Ink: brilliance graphite black, chocolate chip, creamy caramel, close to cocoa marker
Acc: SU! watercolor crayons, aquapainter, pink and chocolate grosgrain ribbons, dimensionals

TFL!

Happy Mail Week!

German Phrase of the Day: Hast du auch gute Schuhe? Do you have good shoes? Now in general, auch means also. So...I'm really not sure why they added it here - any German experts out there want to help me out on this one??

So sorry I've been MIA all weekend. Things around here have gotten totally insane!! Travel is catching up with me and I got sick again...and I'm just trying to keep my head above water here. I think my posting will be a little sporadic over the next few months...but I"ll try to get ahead of myself before trips so you don't miss out on too much! ;-)

I've had a really good mail week here. I got this lovely package from my good stamping friend Yvette. Remember the Pay it Forward challenge back here? Well, Yvette payed hers forward with this AWESOME bag!! Don't you just love it? Inside there are pockets galore for scissors, punches, markers, etc. It's totally awesome, and I can't wait to use it!

She also sent me 4 cards. Three of them were for our Diva Sister Swap, and the fourth came with the bag. My cards back to her are a little late...but I'll be showing them too you this week - so Yvette...don't look at my blog for a few days, ok?? ;-)

I also got a package from my very good friend and downline Michelle back in California. She sent some fun craft stuff for Julia, a package of 4 Cadburry Creme eggs for me, and this ADORABLE Easter card that Julia covets! Isn't it just the cutest?? I sure am a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday!

TFL!

Tag I'm it, and a card!

German Phrase of the Day: Umbau bin ich es. = Tag I'm it. Betchya didn't know that, did you?! I'll be honest, I cheated and looked it up on babelfish since I didn't know how to say tag in German - although I got the rest of it right. :-) Since Melanie (you know her, that awesome designer of stamps for GinaK!) tagged me, I figured I'd respond. You'll see my 7 weird facts below. :-)

Here's a quick card I made yesterday while working on my pretty card. It's the January Bella card of the Month from Paper Pretties...and I just love it! Of course, I didn't follow the directions EXACTLY, and I was too lazy to stamp the bags again and cut them out...but I like it! This paper is just fabulous...don't you agree?

I colored my Sweetie Bellas with WWC and aquapainter. I colored the curly haired one to look like me (altho I put on a bit too much eyeshadow - didn't realize how dark the Spica glitter pen was going to be!) and the other to look like my little bug. This is us in 10 years sitting together eating ice cream. Now if I could just know I'd look that good in 10 years. Who am I kidding...I don't look that good NOW!!! LOL! Julia is eating lemon ice cream (her favorite over here...boy is she going to be disappointed when we move back to the states and she can't get Lemon Eis anymore!) and I have a scoop of mint chip and a scoop of mocha. And of course, we've just spent a lovely afternoon of mother daughter bonding at the shops. Yes...I'm still in my little dream world. In 10 years she'll be 16 and want to have NOTHING to do with her mother...but a girl can dream, right?

Okay, now for the rules of the game:
Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I bit my fingernails my entire childhood and only stopped when I started getting acrylic nails put on when I was like 25 and working. Can't bite through those suckers!!

2. At one point I had over 2 dozen pets in my home. We had 1 African Gray Parrot, 1 lovebird, 3 cats, 1 pug, 3 snakes (I think) 2 box turtles, 2 tortoises, 1 frog, 1 bunny, 3 geckos and about 15 bearded dragons (our female laid a clutch of eggs and most of them actually hatched!) This was all right before I started dating my now husband in the home I shared with my then boyfriend.

3. My husband proposed to me underwater while scuba diving. He brought the ring down in his BC (Boyancy compensator - like a vest with air in it) and didn't even tie it to anything. Everyone always asks "But what if he'd dropped it?" I just tease him that he did that so he wouldn't have to actually say the words.

4. My all-time favorite dessert is a well prepared flourless chocolate cake with a tart raspberry sauce. MMMMMmmmmm!

5. I love to fish. My dad and "adopted" granpa taught me to fish when I was 5 years old, and within a few years I was baiting my own hooks and traipsing along-side my dad as we climbed through brush and muck to find the perfect fishing spots. Some of my best conversations I've had with my dad have been standing next to small brook or stream holding a fishing pole.

6. My mom has been a wonderful inspiration to me that women can do and be anything they want. She started as a medical secretary, then stay-at-home mom, real estate agent, road construction fore(wo)man, housecleaner and finally teacher. She also taught me you don't have to tie yourself to a career at 22!

7. I was 17 years old the first time I stepped foot on an airplane, and that first trip I flew from Bangor, Maine to Los Angeles, California. Within a week I had then flown up to Seattle and over to Japan!! Talk about starting big!

Ok...hope that was random enough for you all. Now to tag 7 others...
Danielle Lourdes
Frances Byrne
Charmaine Ikach
Erika Martin
Heather Summers
Stefanie Ardry
Jessie Rone
Phew...that was hard!

Supplies: (all supplies from Paper Pretties unless noted)
Stamps: Sweetiebellas by Stamping Bella
CS: Bazzill wild pansy, olive & atlantic, paper salon designer papers, ultrasmooth white
Ink: brilliance graphite black
Acc: SU! watercolor crayons, aquapainter, spica glitter pens, SU! Crafter's toolkit, jumbo brads, sparkly chipboard flowers

TFL!

Prettie Wednesday Chipboard Challenge

German Phrase of the Day: Morgan soll es schneien. = Tomorrow it is supposed to snow. Actually, it snowed here yesterday!! All winter long Julia has been waiting for snow, and now that it is finally spring, she gets it!! She was SOOO happy to go run around and play in the little dusting we got, it was wonderful to watch her uncontainable glee!

It's Prettie Wednesday again...how did that happen? I guess time flies when you're never home! And, since I was running behind again as usual, I was able to combine today's sketch challenge with the challenge to use chipboard...and I even used supplies from the January Bella Kit! Talk about multitasking!! :-)

The precut cardstock for this kit worked perfectly for this week's sketch...I just had to trim a little here and there to make it fit. I had Sophia all ready to go, so I quickly colored her in with my aquqapainter and WWC, then added a little bling with my brand new Spica glitter pens to her beads and bracelets. Fortunately, this card came together quickly, so I'll be able to get it out in the mail right away! Sorry I'm running behind again ladies - one of these days I"ll catch up!

On the detailed photo you can see the shimmer from the Spica pens. I'm really liking these pens...but the color from them can get quite intense, so you have to be a little careful! You'll see what I mean when I post another card I just made! :-)

Have a wonderful "hump" day everyone...make sure it's Prettie by checking all the other Prettie Girl blogs (see list to the right) for their chipboard challenge cards as well!

Supplies: (all supplies from Paper Pretties unless noted)
Stamps: Flutter By from Paper Pretties
CS: Bazzill wild pansy & atlantic, paper salon designer papers, ultrasmooth white, SU! pretty in pink
Ink: brilliance graphite black
Acc: SU! watercolor crayons, aquapainter, spica glitter pens, SU! Crafter's toolkit, jumbo brads, sparkly chipboard flowers

TFL!

Back from Venice

Hi everyone...just a quick post to say we're back and we had a great time. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos here...at least my favorites that I have! I'm still searching, but it appears I lost my camera case with (Thankfully) only 1 card with about 50 or so photos on it. Bummer!! I'll try to be back later with something stamped!
This is the Roman Arena in Verona. It is one of the best preserved arena's from that time, and is guessed to have been built in the 1st century AD. In the summer they still hold Operas here. (The photo was taken our first night there...I love the moon hanging over it!)
Here is the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal of Venice. YOu can see the Gondola's between us adn the bridge. We were on a Vaparetto (Water Bus) so there is a bit of reflection from the glass. I had some better photos of the bridge on the card which is missing...but I'm still hoping to find it!
Here is Julia and I in front of the Bridge of Sighs, so named because of the sighs of prisoners as they were led across it from the Ducal Palace (on the left) to the prison (on the right) It was VERY cold as you can tell...we're all bundled up, but had forgotten to bring gloves!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and I'll be back soon!

TFL!

What's Up Doc?

A quick post before hopping on a plane (with a sick husband at that!! :-( ) Here' s a little Honey Bunny card I made for yesterday's sketch challenge!! Enjoy, and have a wonderful Easter Weekend everyone!! I'll be back on Monday or Tuesday (depends how tired I am when we get home Monday night!)
Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: 3-Step Honey Bunny by Kitchen Sink Stamps
Ink: close to cocoa, chocolate chip, certainly celery, old olive
CS: Stamper's Select White, Kraft, two scoops
Acc: celery grosgrain, prismacolor pencil for the sky with OMS and blending stumps

TFL!

I feel loved!!!

Here are a couple of RAK's I've gotten recently. The first is from Rhonda of Quilt Nut Creations. This is actually a RAK-Back! (and I've been a very bad blogger for not posting it sooner, sorry Rhonda!!) I love the colors she used, and this textured white paper is just fabulous!! If you haven't checked out her blog, you should. She makes some of the most amazing quilts I"ve ever seen, and her stamping is awesome too!!
This second card is from a Paper Pretties Swap that Melissa Norris hosted. She sent all the +1 cards out as RAK's to the Paper Pretties RAK group. This gorgeous card was created by Rachel Douglas. I just love the coloring on her Bella, and the background paper is gorgeous!! If you haven't joined Paper Pretties forum yet, you really must. We have such a blast over there...and with the changes coming soon it's going to be better than ever! And hey...I'm getting ready to send out a WHOLE BUNCH of RAK's, so please join our RAK group and maybe you'll get one! ;-)

Thank you ladies!

Huggs,

Prettie Wednesday

German Phrase of the Day: Ich bin gerne in den Bergen. = I like the mountains. Or literally translated it says I am gladly in the mountains. This is very true of me...so long as there is an ocean nearby. But, if I had to choose between the two, you all know I would pick the ocean over mountains any day of the week. Guess that's why for our Spain trip next month 2/3 of it will be along the coast. Yippee!! :-)

It's another Prettie Wednesday! I wonder what the next challenge will be? Guess I'll have to stalk Joanne to find out! Last week Jules challenged us all to make a card with chipboard, so I guess I better get busy on that, but today's card was Christie's challenge to us all to make a shaker card. And, since I was scheduled to mail to Jules this time, I made it into a birthday card. Today is Julie's bday...Happy Birthday Julie!! And, since I was running late as usual (FINALLY made it to the post yesterday, so there are 3 packages and 4 cards winging there way towards North America now!) she's getting a sneak peek at her bday card. Don't worry...there are a few surprises coming to! ;-)

I don't know HOW long it's been since I've made a shaker card, but it's been a LONG time! As I'm always reminding you, I'm a lazy stamper, so I like quick things...and shaker's are NOT quick. However, it was LOADS of fun. As usual...I put in too many beads, but that's ok. I chose my colors from the ribbon. I wanted to do a color combo I wouldn't necessarily choose, so I looked around my stamping table and settled on this Ribbon's Originals from last year's SU! catty. I stamped Flutter By Sophia and colored her in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons. Then, I cut the DSP and punched the oval, sponged both, and adhered the oval to the dsp. Next, I cut the oval through both layers with my coluzzle, and then tied the ribbon under the punched oval around the dsp. Next step was to adhere the transparency sheet, then add the dimensionals around the oval cut out. I put in some beads and attached Sophia behind the cut out oval. Then, I stuck the dsp layer down on the card base. Of course, then I decided I wanted to stamp the birthday greeting, and it actually worked even though the DSP layer was popped up on dimensionals. Phew!

Oh, and don't you like having the little butterfly outside the oval? I got that trick from Charlie over here. And did you see what Julie did yesterday? She masked out the butterfly and put some Easter Eggs into Sophia's hand instead! She's too stinkin' smart I tell ya!

I've gotten a couple of RAK's which I'll try to film this afternoon...and maybe I'll try out bloggers new automated posting to have a few posts while I'm gone...if I have time to write them up today in between cleaning the kitchen and packing. Otherwise...I'll have plenty to share when I"m back home on Tuesday. Happy Easter everyone!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Flutter By from Paper Pretties, Full of Life
CS: Lavendar Lace, Apricot Appeal, stamper's select white, lavender lace prints dsp
Ink: Lavendar Lace, Apricot Appeal, brilliance graphite black
Acc: watercolor crayons, aquapainter, sponge, ribbon originals sherbert ribbon, duo beads pink, coluzzle, marvy giga scalloped oval punch

TFL!

Krafty Orchid Shadows?

German Phrase of the Day: Wir moechten heute wandern gehen. = We would like to go hiking today. I feel like I've been hiking - since Phil had a meeting in Belgium I've had to walk 4 round trips to kindergarten today! PHEW!!

Today's color challenge was Krafty Orchid Shadows? I think it's more likely Carole's been smoking the sage with some Opulance in there!!! Ugh...if ever there was a color combo NOT made for me, I think this is it! But, that's what makes it a challenge, right??

In between booking a week's worth of hotels in Spain and cleaning my bathrooms, I managed to squeeze 30 minutes in to get a card completed. WOOHOO!! Since I just got my new Kitchen Sink 3-Step Honey Bunny (Julie's been enabling again!), I figured this was as good a time as any to try them out!

I started with the daisy. This Gerbera Daisy is what convinced me to break down and buy this set. I love bunnies, don't get me wrong, but in California I had the BEST Gerbera Daisies....they just kept getting bigger and bigger every year. I really miss the wonderful garden's we had there, and know that when we move back (which it's looking like we will be back in California) whatever house we find to rent is just not going to compare to the one we sold. Oh well. Back to the card!

I stamped the first layer by first stamping off with Orchid Opulence twice. Then for the second layer, I only stamped off once...and then I stamped the 3rd layer full strength. Finally, I did the 4th layer with Elegant Eggplant stamped off once. I didn't do a great job lining things up (remember, I was working against the clock here) but I think it still looks great. Next, I stamped the greeting for the stem (they show an adorable sample of this on the back of the packaging, so I wasn't being original at all!!) Then, I stamped in the grass. Again, I stamped the first layer off once (Sage Shadow ink) then the 2nd layer full strength, then the third layer with Handsome Hunter. This has got to be one of the coolest looking grass stamps I have ever seen! I actually did it three times across the bottom so it would fill the whole width.

When I was done stamping my focal piece, I then stamped the Kraft layer with my linen background and creamy caramel ink, sponged the edges a bit, then slapped it on my orchid opulence base card. I slid some lavender organdy ribbon underneath the kraft layer, and pulled both sides up through a slit punched in my focal layer to tie a bow. And, Ich wurde beendet! (I was finished!)

Hope you all are having a wonderful Tuesday. I'll be back tomorrow for Prettie Wednesday, then I"ll be silent for a few days while we're in Venice! But I promise to share pictures when we get back!! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: 3-Step Honey Bunny by Kitchen Sink Stamps, linen background stamp
Ink: Creamy Caramel, chocolate chip, orchid opulence, sage shadow, handsome hunter, elegant eggplant
CS: Stamper's Select White, Kraft, Orchid Opulence
Acc: lavender narrow organdy ribbon

TFL!

Still catching up...

German Phrase of the Day: Ich trinke lieber eine Heisse Schokolade. = I prefer drinking hot chocolate. (Literally translated it says I drink rather a hot chocolate) Have I told you recently how amazing my daughter is? We were discussing word order a while ago, and how in English, it would sound strange to say "I am shopping going " yet when we asked her to say the same phrase in German she automatically put the words in the right place with no thought whatsoever. This is something non-German speakers struggle with when learning the language, and that German speakers learning English sometimes struggle with - yet to her it's no big deal. You really have to admire the beautiful complexity of the mind of a child!!

Today's card was done using last weeks MFT sketch challenge. Cindy posts these wonderful sketches every week, and I try to keep up, but I always seem to be behind lately (and as you can see from my previous post, that is NOT going to change in the next few months!) but I really liked this sketch, so I sat down yesterday afternoon to make it.

I love this stamp set (Think Pink) from Kim over at MFT, and I really love that part of the proceeds for it go to Breast Cancer Research. I thought it would be cute to make the suit pinstriped, so I went ahead and stamped it on my Rose Red Prints dsp. Then, when talking to my sisters last night, turns out my big sis had just bought a new pinstriped suit this weekend...which I thought was quite a coincidence!

Anyway, I paper pieced both the suit, and the sweater for our other lady, the colored the rest with my Prismacolor pencils. I used Basic Gray, Basic Black and Purely Pomegranate again, because I wanted to use some more of my GinaK Flowers and centers. I thought this diamond checked one would go well with the gingham ribbon - cute no? For my Basic Gray background, I stamped the heart-ribbon with Regal Rose ink, figuring it would darken up nicely, which it did.

And did you check out that sentiment? I've seen a few cards now that have used different punched layers with this piece of HPH from the new stylized silver set and just had to CASE the idea! I LOVE it!!.

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Think Pink from My Favorite Things
Ink: Regal Rose, Palette Noir,
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Rose Red Prints DSP
Acc: Prismacolor Pencils, OMS, blending stumps, Purely Pom Satin Ribbon, black gingham ribbon silver stylized HPH, 1" circle punch, small oval punch, designer label punch, paper flowers and centers from GinaK

TFL!

"German" chocolate cake

Hey...do you all know how German Chocolate Cake got it's name? I sure didn't, but one of my readers does (Thanks Pat!!) and gave me this link. It's quite an interesting story.

And related...Beate has now turned me onto another kind of cake, Donauwelle (which means Danube waves, right Beate?) which sounds amazing. I found a recipe that looks do-able, so I'll let you all know what I think! If you want to try it to, check it out here.

ETA: Beate has declared using boxes of mix "Yucky" so I guess I'll have to be brave and use her recipe from scratch! I'll let you all know how that goes! :-)

Ok...back to my Travel Agent job! ;-) I've got flights, trains & hotels to book! Oh...and I promised a glimpse of our upcoming travel schedule so here it is:

March 20-24 Venice, Italy
April 10-13 Rome, Italy
April 18-20 Wine Trip through Germany Mosel Valley and France Champagne areas
April 26-May 3 Spain, Barcelona to Seville and Gibraltar with many stops along the way
May 6-8 "Girls" trip to Paris with mom and sisters
May12-18ish Birmingham, England, possibly also down into Southern England
May 22-25 trip with my honey - dunno where yet!
May 26-June 1 Provence, Geneva and Strasbourg or Freiburg with my parents
June 6-7 Netherlands with friends
June 10-12 Paris with friends
June 14-21 MAYBE Souther England...still working this one out.

SO, as you can see...it's going to be a little insane in the Weaver household. And add to that, we're MOVING back to the states in August (hopefully) so Julia can start at a US Kindergarten when all the other kids do. Phew...I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!! ;-) Don't feel too sorry for me though, because you know I"ll be having a blast.

Oh...and I've decided I need to try digiscrapping so I can get all these electronic photos into books. Anyone have any advice on the best way to get started?? I'd love any links you all have!

TFL!

Sophia's got Mojo!

German Phrase of the Day: Darf ich dir einen Tee anbieten? = Can I offer you some tea? Usually, I drink a LOT of tea over here. But lately, I've been bad and drinking my coffee with sugar and full strength cream in the mornings. No wonder I've put a few pounds back on!! :-O I do still drink my tea in the evenings though...it keeps me warm when the heat has gone off and the house starts to cool down.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of all my challenges...just before the COMPLETE insanity of spring travel hits. Perhaps I'll post my travel schedule for you all to ponder soon, but let me warn you, I'm gone ALMOST as much as I'm home for the next 3+ months!! Yikes! Oh..so anyway I finally got a chance to do Julee T.'s Monday Mojo sketch challenge from this week.

I used some retired Holiday Thyme DSP along with this luscious burgundy Velvet paper. I bought that at Mike's when I was there in Florida, and I knew I wanted to put it into this CB folder to emboss it. I love the richness of the texture (if you click on one of the pictures you can see it a little better...but it's tricky to capture with the camera!) If only I could have found my Sophia stamp and not just a pre-stamped image I would have pieced her dress with the paper too! Guess it's time to clean off the stamping table, huh?

I colored our sweet little Sophia with my aquapainters and cut her out with my coluzzle. I used the Marvy Giga scalloped oval to punch the layer under her. I sponged all the layers with coordinating colors (except the velvet) and used my ticket corner punch on the green rectangle layer so I could add some antique brads. It's a little dark, but I love the rich colors!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties
Ink: Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, Brilliance Graphite black, Baroque Burgundy
CS: Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Holiday Thyme DSP, Stamper's Select White
Acc: watercolor crayons, aquapainter, ticket corner punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, sponge, antique brads

TFL!

A sketch, some colors, and some new Rubbah!

German Phrase of the Day: Er isst oft Marmorkuchen. = He often eats marble cake. Marble cake is very popular over here, and it is VERY yummy!! :-) I have yet to find a German Chocolate Cake though with the coconut/pecan frosting like I grew up with...perhaps I'll have to keep looking!

Today's card using Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #39 along with a color inspiration challenge that Kristina Werner has started over on her blog. I thought this sketch would work perfectly with my new Thinking of You set designed by Rupa Shevde.

I started with a square of whisper white and stamped the table and one chair using Basic Brown ink. I followed Gina's tutorial and cut both chairs off from the table so that I can stamp them going either direction. Next, I colored them with my prismacolor pencils and blended away with my OMS and blending stumps. I layered this onto Purely Pomegranate and declared that layer done. Next, I stamped the phone in Pretty in Pink onto some white scraps, then stamped the Call Me! in basic brown on top. I punched this with my 1 1/4" punch, and layered it on a 1 3/8" circle of Pumpkin Pie. Finally, I layered that onto a scallop circle of Chocolate Chip.

For the card base I used a 5.5" by 8.5" piece of chocolate chip cardstock folded in half. I layeredsome Pretty in Pink cardstock on top, after tying the Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon around the edge. Then, I attached the central image and popped up my greeting, and I was done. Notice how I sponged all the layers with just a hint of chocolate chip? It's a card for Beate's sketch, so it's GOTTA have some sponging!! :-)

Hope you all are enjoying your weekends! And did you check out the great new stamps from PaperTrey Ink yet?? WOW!! Can't wait to get my hands on some of that acrylic. :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Thinking of You from GinaK Designs
InkChocolate Chip, Basic Brown, Pretty in Pink
CS: Stamper's Select White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, sponge, prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps

TFL!

Hat pin or no?

German Phrase of the Day: Backst du gerne? = Do you like baking? (or literally translated it means Do you bake gladly?) I do bake gladly...but I try not to very often because I like to eat what I make - and that's never a good thing!!

Yesterday when I went upstairs to play, I planned on making a little mini card first to get warmed up...but then I got so caught up in making my tin I had to make that first. So...the mini card came second. I knew I wanted to use Carolyn King's new set Framed Flowers. I reached into my scrap drawer and magically pulled out a piece of 3 by 6 Blue Bayou cardstock, so that's how I picked my colors. First I stamped the frame, then I masked inside the frame and stamped all around with these wonderful flowers in Blue Bayou ink. Then, I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the frame and inked the stamp with Soft Sky ink, then colored in the stems with my chocolate chip marker. After layering that on some chocolate chip cs I adhered it to my mini card and finished it off with a bit of gold cord. Isn't it cute?? Maybe I'll go back and add some sparkle with my clear spica glitter pen...just to the flower centers.

Next, I wanted to make a card with the Thinking of You set, designed by Gina's newest artist Rupa Shevde. I LOVE this set!! I really like the nice clean lines, and the elements included are all gorgeous! A true knock-out set! Since so many others on the design team were stamping these images on Fabriano cards, I had to try that too. I don't use my Fabriano cards as much as I should, I tend to save them for "special" occasions! Need to start using them! Wonder if I can pick any up in Venice cheaply next week...hhmmmmm!

Anyway...I stamped the hat boxes with Palette Noir ink and colored them in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons. I really love all the little details on these boxes...although it does make coloring a bit of a challenge! I finished it up by stamping 'Miss You...' from the same set and adding some rust colored satin ribbon from May Arts. I tied it in a bow (as you see here) and snapped my pictures.

Then, last night I got to thinking...wouldn't this look cute with a hat pin from my SU! Pretties kit? So this morning when I finished my errands (had to go to the trink markt to get more wasser!) I put together a hat pin and change the bow to a simple knot. Which do you like better? I think I like the one with the hat pin best...but I'm not sure. I'm curious to hear all YOUR thoughts.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Framed Flowers and Thinking of You from GinaK Designs
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir
CS: Stamper's Select White, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Fabriano notecard
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, May Arts satin ribbon, gold cord, SU! pretties kit

TFL!

Open Me!

German Phrase of the Day: Gehst du mit mir ins Theater? = Will you come to the theater with me? My husband actually asked me the other day if I would be interested in seeing We Will Rock You. I was shocked! He RARELY plans outings...and for him to think of a date is quite the rare thing. It's been playing in Cologne just down the river ever since we moved here, but apparently it is ending in June so he thought we could go see it. WOW! :-) Now to figure out when.

This may not rock you...but I've been playing with my new GinaK stamps this morning. I had a tin that I made a belly band for and gave to my husband as part of his 10 Valentine's while I was gone, but since it was empty I recently "rescued" it from his basement office to re-use it. (What's HE going to do with it now??) I had been thinking, why limit myself to Altoid Tins with Melanie's new stamp set. I mean...Joanne made an adorable notebook, Melanie herself just put it on a bottle, so why not use the new What's In your Tin? set on this larger tin?

I stamped the outline and the Survival Kit sentiment from What's In Your Tin? Set 2 with white stazon onto the plastic window first. Then, I covered the bottom part of the tin with some retired SU! designer paper (linen prints I believe it's called) and covered the rim of the lid with the new Old Olive twill ribbon (I love this stuff!) and then I colored 2 flowers from my little round tin - the bottom with the Cameo Coral marker, the top with the So Saffron marker and put a rhinestone brad through the center. This was then attached with a mini glue dot.

Then, I took some mailing labels and stamped them with my linen background stamped off once using So Saffron ink. Next, I inked up one of the small flowers from Carolyn's new Framed Flowers set with my Cameo Coral and Old Olive markers and stamped the flower in the center of each label. Lastly, I attached the labels to the Hershey Nuggets and Voila! I have a great gift for a friend all ready to go.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Spring Blooms, What's In Your Tin 2 by GinaK Designs
Ink: Old Olive, cameo coral, so saffron, white stazon
CS: Linen Prints DSP
Acc: paper flowers and brads from GinaK, old olive twill ribbon

TFL!

Double Challenge with New GinaK Stamps!!! :-)

Hooray! Deutsche Post must have heard about all my whining and finally came through! The funny thing was I got a flat envelope from the regular mail deliver with the new Free with Three set, Spring Bloom and one of Melanie's sets which somehow got shipped separately just before lunch. So, while lunch was cooking I sat at the table and quickly cut them out. Then, while we were all eating lunch, the DHL man knocked on our window (our doorbell ist kaput!) and he had a BOX from Gina (which was mailed 2 days before the flat envelope mind you!). I was over the moon with excitement, but had NO time to mount all those sets too (the other 3!) First, I had to book our flight and hotel for Rome (that's in early April) Then, I stole 30 minutes to run upstairs and crank out a quick card. The flowers I got in the cool round tin along with these awesome brads matched this week's color challenge perfectly (I think Emily must have planned that! ;-) And, you get them FREE with any purchase of $100 or more! Cool, huh?) So, with colors and sketch in hand, I got to work!

I still have a few more pre cut ovals from my mom's nestabilities, so I pulled one out to stamp the tulip on. Then I quickly colored it with my aquapainter and ink pads (purely Pomegranate and Old Olive) and mounted the white oval onto the pomegranate scalloped oval. Next, I ran some white cs through with my swiss dot cuttlebug folder (LOVE that one!) and cut it up to then mount on more Purely Pomegranate. I mounted these onto a 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 piece of Basic Gray cardstock which was stamped with my greeting. For the greeting, they are all separate words, but because they are unmounted, I was able to line them up on my block and stamp them all at once. Makes it SOOO much easier!! Can you imagine lining all those up if they were wood mounted? You'd have to use the SAMJ, and I'm just to lazy to use it THAT much! I also attached the flower with the brad, and then adhered this layer to the black card base. It ended up taking about 45 minutes, but 20+ minutes of that was playing with different layers and things, and helping Julia with her various projects. Then we had to run out the door to a play date.

So...it's been a busy day. Good news is I got the rest of my sets cut out while at the play date, so tomorrow morning I"ll be ready to go! (Thought I'd stamp tonight, but we've been busy planning the rest of our spring and summer travel. I truly will be prepared for a career as a travel agent by the time we move back to the US - anyone know of any openings?? :-) )

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Spring Blooms by GinaK Designs, Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Palette Noir, Old Olive
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: aquapainter, swiss dot cuttlebug folder, paper flowers and brads from GinaK

TFL!

Prettie Wednesday

German Phrase of the Day: Das ist nicht leicht. = That is not easy. Actually, the projects today were both pretty easy. :-)

It's Prettie Wednesday, and today is the day I get to show you my Anything But a Card project. I bought this purse while in Florida thinking it would be fun to alter, and to put Luke & Lexi from Paper Pretties Sealed With A Kiss stamp set. On the opposite side there is even a heart shaped window into which you can put a photo!! When I got home and came up wtih my challenge I thought, Perfect! I can make this purse for Christie, our Prettie Mama!! (Sorry Christie...I promise I'll get it in the mail this week...I'm running a little behind on mailings right now!! Maybe I'll fill it with some tea bags and chocolate! :-)

I covered one side, the bottom and top with my Berry Bliss paper using Mod Podge. Next, I stamped Luke & Lexi onto some white cardstock and colored them in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons. I sponged the edges first with Pretty in Pink, then with chocolate chip ink before mounting them on some Chocolate Chip CS and adding some bling to Lexi's necklace and earrings. Then, I used my slit punch to put some ribbon around them without hiding their faces...it's a neat little trick! Finally, I stamped the SWAK stamp in the middle with pink ink.

I left the sides of the purse blank, and on the back (with the photo opening) I stamped some hearts in pink. It was a fun project to create, and I hope Christie will enjoy it, even put a photo of her and Andy in it.

And guess what?! My GinaK stamps arrived today!! WOOHOO!!! Another post coming soon with them!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Sealed with a Kiss from Paper Pretties
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir
CS: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Berry Bliss DSP
Acc: watercolor crayons, aquapainter, ribbon, slit punch, mod podge, bling

TFL!

Another Party?!?

German Phrase of the Day: Kannst du mir verzeihen? = Can you forgive me? I might be saying this to my sister-in-law when I give her this card! (Nancy...don't let her see it here please!!!) But, when I spend over 2 hours on a single card, it darn well is going to someone I know that will appreciate all the time, effort and love that went into it! Besides...she has a "milestone" birthday this year...so I have a feeling I will be saving up a few cards for it (it isn't until August!!)

You all know me...I make fairly quick, simple cards. I like to focus on my coloring, have a few quick and easy embellies, and get it done. So, when I say I spent 2 hours making a card, and that's one where the layout and colors were determined by challenges, you know it must be a labor of love. The GinaK Designs release party last night was lots of fun...and there were 4 awesome challenges issued by my fellow DT Members. Well, of course once I was up and recovered from my middle of the night partying I had to get to work.

I decided why not combine the 3 card challenges into one? The sketch was a great one, with plenty of room to incorporate a scene, and having the colors pre-set made the design part a breeze. Of course, I don't have the new sets yet (HELLO Deutsche Post, I'm waiting!!!) so I needed to use some previously released sets, and this fun You Know You're Old When set has been calling out to me lately. Well...scenes aren't easy as I've discovered. I stamped my Little Old Lady Driving first, then masked her (with Eclipse masking tape, the best product EVER!) then stamped the flowers from one of the Baskets of Happiness stamps - while carfully NOT samping the basket, or eggs! Then, I had to create a mask for them too so I could stamp the trees from my SU! Lovely as a Tree set. Phew!!

Once everything was stamped, I colored it in with my Prismacolors. Then, after having applied what I thought was enough color, I started blending. I have learned a few things about coloring with Prismacolor pencils. It is different from watercoloring. You can't "spread" the color as well as when watercoloring, and so when doing a large area...it can get tricky (thus the splotchy parking lot!) If I were ever crazy enough to make this card again I would watercolor the parking lot with watercolor crayons. However, it is quite easy to add more color with the pencils if you didn't get enough down on your first pass.

After coloring and blending everything, I was ready to put the card together. That was the easiest part!! I added some ribbon to cover the seem (I really don't like unsightly paper seams that much!) and then put some brads from the new stylized silver HPH on the greeting, and I was good to go. Oh...and of course I stamped the sentiment on the inside reading "getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot."

You still have time to win some of the brand new GinaK stamps (or even an old set if you prefer) by entering the contests on SCS. Go to the member forum to see all 4 challenges, then upload your creations with the correct keyword by Thursday night at 7pm central, and you could win a stamp set valued at 18.95 or less. That gives you a lot of options!!! Can't wait to see what you all create!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: You Know You're Old When and Baskets of Happiness by GinaK Designs, Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Palette Noir
CS: Stamper's Select White, Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky
Acc: Double-stitched soft sky ribbon, stylized silver HPH, prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, eclipse masking tape

TFL!

More PJ Stamping...

German Phrase of the Day: Ich bin ein bisschen muede. = I am a bit tired. But, I sure did have fun chatting with all the prettie girls and party attendees last night! Even my mom made a card (if I can just get her to send me a photo of it now!!!)

We had 3 awesome challenges from Charmaine, and I loved them all! You saw my first challenge card, a single layer card. Everyone was moaning about this, but I really love 1 layer cards, because you have to focus on your image and coloring - which is my favorite part! I think 1 layer cards can be the most elegant cards out there. And be sure to check out the others that were made...Jillian's and Julie's knocked my socks off!!

The second challenge was a monochromatic card. For this card I used Jen Del Muro's Sketch for you to Try. I love making tall cards, but hadn't done it in quite a while, so I was happy to get back to them again. I used my Berry Bliss paper and a nested oval and scalloped oval for the main image. I stamped Sophia with my Brilliance Graphite black ink, then colored her in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons. I pieced her dress from the backside of the bottom paper (Actually, she's worn that dress before...on THIS card!! LOL)

The card base is chocolate chip (it's a neutral, right??) with stamper's select white on top. I adhered the dsp before putting the white down, th en I sanded all the edges of the piece so there's a tiny bit of a white edge all around that layer.

My FAVORITE part of this card though is for certain the ribbon slides. These are from the new SU! Occasions mini and are part of the new Stylized Silver HPH kit. I'm kicking myself right now for not ordering more when they were available to demo's as bulk order items - they're all sold out now! :-( Patty Bennett had a wonderful tutorial on her blog for how to color the inside part of these using a mixture of crystal effects and reinker. Well, as you all know I"m lazy, and I didn't want to take the time to mix up my own special CE, so I grabbed a bottle of stickles and used that. It's FABULOUS!! I think I may only have 3 or 4 ribbon slides left - oh the horrors!! I'll for sure have to get more because this was just too fun! I'll post my sketch challenge card later this week...but if you just can't wait it's up on the forum! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties
Ink: Brilliance graphite black
CS: Stamper's Select White, chocolate chip, purely pomegranate, Berry Bliss dsp
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon, stylized silver HPH, pink stickles, oval nestabilities

TFL!