A Challenge to Self

Alright, so I've come up with a challenge for myself. I haven't used a lot of my fancy shmancy ribbon lately, so I chose a ribbon card as a challenge. I decided that I need to use each of the ribbons my next few cards, one ribbon per card. I had tons to chose from, but I chose these blackbird ribbons from MOD because they're very different from the type I'm used to using (making it more of a challenge). It's pretty different, no?



Here's the first card. I LOVE this stamp from Impression Obsession. I bought it on addictedtorubberstamps.com. This stamp is BIG and the lines are bold, so it's the easiest image to color. It's kinda hard to tell in the pic, but I popped out their butts and hats. I colored these gals with Copics, used SU! cardstock and of course, the MOD ribbon. This card looks SO much better in person, if I do say so myself. It was SO fun to make. I kept the layout relatively simple so it doesn't take away from the image. I used the reverse scallop to give it a more 'watery' feel :-)

Once again...

...tried to delete post and having issues.... :-)

Phew!

It's been a crazy week! Thursday I had my biopsy AND Scotty received TWO job offers! Talk about a bitter-sweet day. The biospy was very icky, but it's over now and I'm thankful. We should have results by Wednesday. Scotty accepted an offer on Friday and can't wait to give his two weeks on Monday. We went out last night to celebrate, just the two of us. My dear mother-in-law was here and offered to watch Jake so we went to the Melting Pot, one of our favorites. Anyway, right there behind the restaurant is a Joann etc. I'd never been to one and Scotty was in a particularly good mood so we went to check it out. LOVED IT! I only bought one thing though... (pausing while you get over the shock and awe of it).... It's a Glitter Mat Stack from DCWV. Just the right size for cards and WAY cute! I used one of the sheets to create this card. The stamps are A Muse, the cardstock and brad are SU!, the flower is prima and I colored the dress with Copics. The ribbon is from SU! and Starlit Studios. I'm such a sucker for pink and brown, aren't you???

Tomorrow is the day...

So, tomorrow I have the biopsy. I'm actually pretty cool about it because it's God's problem now :-) I'll be happy when it's over, but of course then I'll have to wait for results, ugh. Hope it doesn't take too long.

I made a card with some new MFT stamps, but have no energy to take pics and upload it right now. Especially because I always seem to run into "technical difficulties" and it takes a lot longer than anticipated.

Here's a Bella card I did awhile back. I watercolored it with some SU! classic pads. The sentiment is from Inky Antics, the patterned paper is mystery paper from Archeiver's and the rest is all SU!

Ugh!

Get this... I have the WORST pain in my neck and head (from stamping too long, does anyone else have this problem?) AND... I can't take anything for it! You see, I had an ultrasound of my thyroid last week and they found a nodule that needs a biopsy. Guess how they do it. They stick a needle in my neck and into my thyroid, while I'm AWAKE! Doesn't that sound like fun? So here's the predicament right now... because I'm having this procedure, I can't take any Motrin (my drug of choice) or aspirin or Tylenol because it will thin my blood and make me more likely to bleed. So, I was in agony all night and hardly got any sleep. The neck wrap and ice pack didn't help much and I'm miserable.
At least I enjoyed my late-night stamp fest last night. I used my Copic markers for the first time to color this mouse and cow from My Favorite Things. I love how vibrant these markers are and love how they blend. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I did try a little blending and like the way these came out, considering they're my first attempt at it. The mouse card uses SU! cardstock in regal rose, lovely lilac and yo yo yellow. The eyelets are SU! and the ribbon is from Prima.




The Cow card uses SU!'s cameo coral, yo yo yellow and gable green. The eyelet is SU!, the flowers are Prima, the ribbon is DCWV and I used my Cuttlebug for the embossed flowers. I'm still getting the hang of taking photos of my cards. They are so much more vibrant in person than they appear here, but you get the idea. Oh, the ink is the Adirondack Pitch Black which I LOVE! It's my new favorite ink. I colored these images immediately and it didn't bleed or turn my markers black! I highly recommend it. And Copics? Oh, I love them! I thought I'd be happy with just the one set, but I see more in my future. I better sell some stuff on ebay or something!

Blah Day

It's dreary here today and once again... no rain. Jake and I did make it to Michael's today though. He wound up getting more than me which is highly unusual! Color Wonder stuff was on sale along with some foam stamps and Scooby Doo stickers. He got his own stamp pads which really aren't as washable as you would think.

Anyway, here's a pic of the journal I made for my Bible notes. The "K" is chipboard from Prima, along with the flowers, of course. The paper, ribbon and brads are all SU! The button is from the old reliable Bag-o-Buttons, you guessed it. I love the way the pink stretchy ribbon feels, but sometimes it fights with ya, huh?






This card was pretty fun to make. I had trouble lining up the tree, the sun and the oval where I wanted them and settled for this attempt. The stamps are A Muse, the flowers are Prima and everything else is SU! The image is colored with SU! markers. Oh, and I used the scallop scissors to create a water effect. I was pretty impressed with myself for coming up with it, but I had probably seen it before and pulled it from the back of my brain or something. Don't worry, when I come up with something truly unique, I'll make sure I give myself credit for it ;-)

Yay, new stuff!

I'm so excited about Papertrey Ink's 5 new sets that came out today! They are made to coordinate with marvy scallop punches. I ordered the squares, circles and ovals and then, of course, I HAD to order a few more punches as well! (you know how it goes). Can't wait 'til it all gets here so I can play!

I have plenty to keep me busy though, because my Copic Ciao markers showed up yesterday! These are going to take some practice, but I can't wait to get the hang of it. I've seen the most beautiful, vibrant images colored with these babies, woo-hoo!

Here's a card I made for my best friend, Deb. We love to do tea, so this was perfect for her. That sassy li'l chickie there is from Inky Antics. The sentiment and the little teabags stamped in the background (see that?) are Inky Antics as well. I used prismacolors and gamsol to color the image. The cardstock is Really Rust, Always Artichoke, Taken w/ Teal and Chocolate Chip, all SU! The colors all match this funky ribbon, which I believe is from We R Memory Makers. The brads are from SU! I like this card, but so many of my cards have a similar layout and style. I really need to get outside my box. For now, I'm going to skip stamping and take a nap. I'm just exhausted today!

Okay, here it is...

...my first upload! I really enjoyed playing with the stamps from PaperTrey Ink's Green Thumb set. The ink and cardstock used are Stampin' Up! (Whisper White, Green Galore, Pixie Pink and Barely Banana). The ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and Starlit Studio. The button is from a Bag-O-Buttons from foof-a-la... I LOVE these! The oval punch and brads are from Stampin' Up!, as well as the heat n stick and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I used a fiskars set of scallop edgers to create the border. I'm really pleased with the way this card came out. I need to find a way to take better pics though.



Okay, this is one of those cards that I was going to give up on have way through. C'mon... all you A-Types out there, you know you've been there too! Nothing seemed right, but now that it's completed, I kinda like it! It features FlowahBella from Stamping Bella. I can't get enough of these Bellas! They are SO adorable and fun to color! The cardstock is Buckaroo Blue, Summer Sun and Really Rust from Stampin' Up! I used Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol to color the image and sponged Buckaroo Blue on the sentiment, from Papertrey Ink. The rick rack (is that how you spell it? rik rak? whatever, you get the idea) is from Fancy Pants Designs and the button... you guessed it, foof-a-la! The paper... jeez... umm... I have no idea, but I know I bought it at Hobby Lobby.


Here's a pic of one of my Bag-o-Buttons! See how great they are? And very reasonably priced. I can't remember where I purchased mine, but I snagged them online for $5.99 a piece. They have come in so handy and I love digging through them to find just the right accent for my cards!

FINALLY!

I've been planning on blogging FOREVER but life has been crazy. We just moved to Canton, GA in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We LOVE it here! I have the craft room of my dreams (I'll have to post pics when I get some of this ebay stuff out of here) so no excuses for not stamping! ANYWAY, I don't know why I need a blog... perhaps to organize creative thoughts in my head? Maybe to fit in more with all the bloggers that I adore so? Maybe to be held responsible for coming up with new, original stuff. Whatever the case may be, here I am and I'm excited to get started!