Bittersweet Love

This was the challenge:

In the spirit of chocolate making, my challenge to you is to take a stamp set you don’t like, and incorporate it into a lovely, luscious card. You know those stamp sets - the ones you thought "Why in the world did I buy this?", or images you like but haven't been able to make work on a card.

.

I think I lie the way the window turned out, but the background stamp is aweful isn't it. I was going for the siding look, but since I spent so much time on the window I did not have enough time to change it. I am still not sure what to do with this set. I guess I will be checking out SCS gallery sometime soon to figure it out. *wink*

Here is a closeup of the window.

Materials Used:


Stamps: Window Dressing, God's Beauty
Paper: Garden Green, Apricot Appeal, Cameo Cpral, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Carmel, Ruby Red

New Love

My challenge was to make a card using the new things you love! Everything on the card (except the cardstock and ink) should be new within the past two months or something you've been hoarding that you've never used before.

Well, I had the new Branch Out set unmounted on my desk so I grabbed that and the hardware set that I have never used and got to work. I also never used to cuttlebug embossing folder. ;)
I this this tree is so cute and the saying from God's Beauty is my new favorite!
.

Materials Used:
Stamps: Branch Out, Sanded, God's Beauty
Paper: Pacific Point, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Pink Passion
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion, Gable Green, Green Galore, Garden Green
Accessories: Hardware Window & Brads

I love Dark Chocolate!

The next challenge make a card based upon the color scheme for your favorite type of chocolate. Since my favorite is dark chocolate I got to use Chocolate chip, Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral.

This is one of my favorites from the weekend. It seems very Eastery to me. If you look close you can see the Cuttlebug folders on the long apricot layer. I just got the God's Beauty set and I am loving it!

After my time was up I completed the inside.

I realized how slow I am over the weekend, 45 minutes goes by *very* fast!
Materials Used:

Stamps: God's Beauty
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Basic Brown
Accessories: Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, Dimensionals

Sketch a Little Love

Last weekend was VSN at Splitcoast. I had a blast doing the challenges, so you will get to see them for the next serval days. (sorry Todd, but a bunch of card posts are to come. )

The first challenge was a sketch challenge. I love snow and winter so I used my Snow Angels set and my Cuttlebug Embossing folders.

I also love blue. Can you tell?

Here is the snowangel boy.

I had to cut out the heart using the old school folded paper technique.

This was a great challenge!

.

Material Used:
Stamps: Snow Angel, Snow Flurries
Paper: Pacific Point, Riding hood Red, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Basic Gray, Pacific Point,Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Blush Blossom, Copic-E00
Accessories: Cuttlebug Embossing Folders

Cupcakes for Everyone

I am having a Stamp-A-Stack the end of the month. My friend wanted to do it early, so today she made 5 of the red ones and 5 of the pink ones to use as her daughter's birthday party invites. I made the one blue for my nephew's birthday next week and one for Ethan's birthday next month. I *really* like the pacific point color!

The cupcake wrapper and candle are paper pieced. Here is a close up.
.
Materials Used: SU's Crazy for Cupcakes, SU's Cupcakes Wheel (on the pink) and Sanded (on the red). SU Ink: Passion Pink, Real Red, Basic Gray. Cuttlebug folders
.
I am really being lazy writing the materials together, so if you have any questions please ask!

Whiff-of-joy-preview

You really need to check this out! Not only is it a preview of the upcoming release of a fun Medieval Collection designed by Alison Acton, but it also offers a chance to win them! They are very cute and I think I *need*them!

Happy Anniversary!

My sister and her husband are celebrating their anniversary today. (Happy Anniversary!) As usual, I did not get this in the mail on time so I thought I'd give her a preview. I knew I had to go with pink since it is her favorite color *wink (I put the token brown on for him!)
.

Materials Used: SU Paper: Pink Passion, Whisper White; SU Ink: Pink Passion; SU Stamps: Made from Scratch; SU Punches: Scallop Circle Punch; 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch; SU Chocolate Chip 5/8"Grosgrain Ribbon

Are you game?

As I was reading my friend Joyclynn's blog when I came across this:
.
A gift for you!
This game involves a few of my favorite things: handmade goods, creativity, and gift-giving. Here are the tagging instructions: The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
.
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.
.
The first 5 people to do so, and leave a comment telling me they did, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!Feel free to tell me some of the things in life that inspire you & make you happy in your post :)
.
Here is the thing, it kinda sounds like a chain letter but a little different.
1. You volunteer for it.
2. You only get 1 thing and have to send stuff to five people.
3. Did I mention you volunteer?
4. If less than 5 people comment you don't have to do 5. (The benefits of having a little read blog like mine. *wink)
5. Have I mentioned that you volunteer for this?!? ;)
.
So if you would like to get something handcrafted (I love that term verses homemade, to me it just sounds more high end) from me and don't mind paying it forward to 5 others, be one of the first five to leave a comment.

*Alert*

My very talented friend Cindy is offering some awesome blog candy! This is an awesome chance and if I am not going to be the one to win it (I am still hoping I will btw) it might as well be you! So go check it out. *wink.

A Journey

I bought this stamp set because all my boys *love*trains. Since it is my Father-in-Laws birthday next week I thought he might like it as well...at least more than the flower stamps I have. *wink*

[I made 2 because I like the way it turned out. :) ]

.

Materials Used: SU Stamps: Happiness is a Journey, Sanded; SU Ink: Basic Gray; SU Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Basic Black: Other: SU Scallop Edge Punch; (Top has SU balck 1/4" grossgrain ribbon, the bottom has the black reminent from the scallop punch)

Sketch Challenge 211

I have one more Sketch Challenge Completed. :)

Here is my inspiration for this week:

Here is my interpretation:So I am still in love with the Earth Elements color pallet. *wink*

I used the 5-petal flower punch and stippled the Cameo Coral flowers with Ruby Red. As usual, it looks much better in person! The big Ruby Red layer was embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. The center flower was stamped on Very Vanilla with Basic Gray and colored with my SU Cameo Coral, Ruby Red and Summer Sun markers.

.

As usual, I hope you like it.

.

Materials Used: SU Paper: Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Garden Green, Designer Series Paper; SU Ink: Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Basic Gray; SU Stamp Set:Delight In Life: Other: Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder, Brads, Dimensionals