Monday Montage #18

Woot!! Woot!! And raise the roof!! It's Monday Montage time again!!! It's always SO much fun to see what the other girls on the team come up with each time ... I am SOOO inspired by them!! So ... let's get to it!!

I actually cased myself on this little fishy card ... I did a scrapbook layout with the fishes and the "planks" last year, so I kinda couldn't help myself when I pulled out my "High Tide" stamp set to make a birthday card for my father in law (he's 82 years young ... and runs CIRCLES around all of the rest of the family!)!

Stamps:  High Tide, Remembering Your Birthday
Paper:  Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Naturals Composition DSP
Ink:  Island Indigo, Calypso Coral
Accessories:  Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, 1" Square Punch

I'm POOPED!! Driving all the way to/from Boise, Idaho in just a couple of days was exhausting ... but OH SO FUN!! I went to the Idaho On the Road retreat put on by Becky Roberts and her wonderful team!! And Monday night I will get to see a lot of my SU buddies AGAIN as we get a "sneak peek" at this next year's SU Catalog!! Can't WAIT!!

Click "Back" to get inspiration from Melissa Stout, and/or the "Next" button to see Amy O'Neill's lovely creation!

Fab Friday #40

Holy COWSERS!! It's UBER-hard to believe that we are on Fab Friday #40!! (And I think I have only missed TWO of them!! YAY ME!!) This week we are playing with colors. I love me a good challenge!! I seem to always be using the SAME colors all the time ... so even though it puts me out of my own personal comfort zone, I LIKE to do something new!!

Stamps: That's the Ticket
Paper: Early Espresso, Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate, Silver Glimmer DSP
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Alphabet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, eCutter (Silhouette) for stars, Ticket Builder Punch, Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon, Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Glimmer Brad, Linen Thread, Sewing Machine
MDS Downloads: Star Punch

Here's a photo of the color scheme ...






And ... Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Check out the Fab blogs of my fellow Fab Friends:

Mindy Backes
Cindy Beach
Brian King
Justin Krieger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Marla Reed
Pam Steckman
Jan Tinklenberg

I'm going to BOISE!!! Becky Roberts is having an Inking Idaho On the Road event this weekend and I'm going with some of my SU peeps from Salt Lake!!! Can't WAIT!!

Stamp Review Crew - Six-Sided Sampler Edition

It's time for another go-'round with the Stamp Review Crew!!! This time, we are all playing with Six-Sided Sampler ... I keep forgetting about this darling set!!! Seems to me it has a LOT of versatility (even if you just wanna use one of the little hexagons with a sentiment, you're good to go!)!!

Sooo .... here I am with my MDS/eCutter pair-up again!!! I have been picturing this hexagonally-shaped card in my head for quite some time!! I imported the hexagon punch into my Silhouette software, traced it, copied it, and then moved it down so that the two hexagons were touching. I then "erased" the line that connected the two so that I had one connected double hexagon. Does that make sense??

Then, I copied the hexagon punch once more, traced it and sized it down a little so as to make a "frame" on the front panel of my card. It really is so much easier than it sounds. For those of you who have an eCutter and have been afraid of it, just JUMP right in with BOTH feet!!! You will be glad you did!!

Stamps:  Six-Sided Sampler
Paper:  Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron
Accessories:  Hexagon Punch, Blossom Party Bigz Die, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Postage Stamp Punch, Soft Subtles Buttons, Wisteria Wonder Baker's Twine, Gold Sequin Trim, eCutter (Silhouette)
MDS Downloads:  Hexagon Punch

Here's a peek at the WHOLE set ... just in case you were wondering what-all comes in it!!








Next up? The sensational Shana Graf!! Clicking on the "Previous Blog" link will take ya back to visit Jill Coleman (and she has some crafty brilliance in store for ya, too!).

Something for Freakin' EVERYone!

Hey-HOWDY, friends!! Welcome to this month's Control Freaks Blog Tour!! Did ya SEE what LeeAnn Greff did?? DID-YA-DID-YA??? She is FANTASTICAL!!!

This month we were a little torn on the theme ... it started out as "DUDE!" ... and as we ALL struggle with "DUDE" cards, some of us were feeling a bit stumped ... SOOOOOooo, we changed the theme to "Something for EVERYone" - which basically translates into making cards/projects that are "gender neutral" ... can be used for ANYone (so y'all are getting a mishmash of "Dude" and "stuff for everyone")!! Get it??? Good!! Let's get started!!

I went a little cray-cray-crazy with this one!! I started and just couldn't STOP myself!!! I used the "Happy" sentiment for the "Greatest Moments II" MDS download (and yeah ... it's TRUE-TRUE ... I seem to be addicted to using MDS and my eCutter - aka my Silhouette - while making things lately!)!

I also have been trying to keep some of my projects simple ... I seem to NEVER know when to stop. Because all my stuffs are so LOVELY and FUN to play with!! But I DO try!

I stamped the same image from Gorgeous Grunge multiple times behind the "holes" created by the letters ... kinda a "rainbow" effect. Super fun!

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Remembering Your Birthday
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Banners Framelits, Gold Sequin Trim, eCutter (Silhouette)
MDS Downloads:  Greatest Moments II

This is just another version of the same thing, flipped vertically. I made the top layer with Crumb Cake and embossed it to change the look. Once again, I used an image from Gorgeous Grunge to add color behind the letters ... I seem to be addicted to that "little-black-dress"-of-a-stamp-set!

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Remembering Your Birthday
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Oval Punch, Natural Chevron Ribbon, Gold Sequin Trim, Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

And ONE MORE!!! I used the star punch out of MDS (once again!). I laid out a 4"x 5.25" rectangle and put a bunch of stars in it ... resize a few of them even ... then just layered 'em up!! YAY for polka dots, too!!

Stamps: Banner Greetings
Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, So Saffron, Polka Dot Parade, Soft Subtles Patterned DSP
Ink: Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Banners Framelits Dies, Gold Sequin Trim, Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Bold Brights Candy Dots
MDS Downloads:  Star Punch

Check out the UBER-AMAZING Mary Brown up next!! She inspires me ALL THE TIME!

Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...

... on my head!! I remember LOVING that song when I was a little girl (which totally AGES me, I know!)!! I love the rain! I love walking in it, splashing in the puddles, listening to it hit the roof of our tent when we are camping ... there is something so happy and soothing about the rain ...

Which brings me to today's project!! Oh how HAPPY this was to make!! Not only was this SOOO very easy and NON-TIME-CONSUMING ... it was really inexpensive to make as well ... and FUN!!

I started by perusing my MDS files looking for raindrops and umbrellas (and YES ... I have MANY!)!! I chose the rounded "chubby" raindrops from "Sunshine & Sprinkles" as well as the "curvy" raindrop from "Sweetest Dreams". The cloud is from "Epic Overlays" ...

After importing the images into my eCutter software (aka Silhouette Designer Edition), I copied and resized each of the raindrops LOTS of times. I also resized the cloud so that it would fit well on one of the 8"x10" canvases I had purchased (got a STEAL of a DEAL on those ... they were only $1.50/each at the local "big box craft store").

You could really use ANY designer series paper you had on hand ... I did a lot of mixing and matching until I came up with a combo I liked! (Wouldn't this be oh-so-stinkin' ca-YOOT in a baby's room???)

I adhered the umbrella to the canvas with my Tombo glue adhesive (the "handle" on the umbrella is just a 1/2" strip of Soft Suede that I adhered down and wrapped around the bottom of the canvas clear to the back) ... I also adhered some of the raindrops with Tombo and some of them I adhered with dimensionals. I like the "texture" that this created to give these canvases more depth ...

This could be a FUN class (hmmmm ... should be doing one in the future because this was FUN!! I said that already ... more than once ...)

I am ALSO very happy that I have such sunny and bright walls in my kitchen (shades of yellow make me happy!)! Not bad for a sunny-afternoon project ...

Paper: Etcetera DSP, I Am Me DSP, Soft Suede
Accessories: eCutter (Silhouette), Dimensionals, 8"x10" Art Canvas
MDS Downloads: Sunshine & Sprinkles (raindrop), Sweetest Dreams (raindrop), Epic Overlays (cloud 1 outline)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Monday Montage #17

Best thing about Monday??? Why, Monday Montage, of course!! And you are NOT gonna be disappointed with what the girls have come up with this week ... so much beautiful FUN stuff!!

I haven't done a tri-fold-down type of card for quite a while. The base of this card is made with a piece of Watercolor Wonder DSP that is 4.25" x 12" ... it is scored at 3 1/2" and 9", which creates a standard, A2-sized card (4.25" x 5.5"). I love this paper WAY more than I had thought I would when all I could see was a photo of it ... the colors and patterns are SO MUCH FUN!!

I made a "belly band" to go around the middle ... all but one of the flowers/embellishments are attached directly to the belly band, so when you slide it off and open up the card, this is what ya get ...

And here's the belly band up close ... I wish we had a whole BUNCH of these woodcut sentiments (this "thank you" is from the March Paper Pumpkin Kit ... SUPER LOVE THIS!)!

Stamps:  Flower Shop, Petite Petals
Paper:  Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Ink:  Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Pansy Punch, Petite Pansy Punch, Burlap Ribbon, Large Scallop Edgelits Die, "Thank You" Woodcut (March 2014 Paper Pumpkin)

Click "Back" to check out Melissa Stout's wonderful creation, and/or the "Next" button to see Amy O'Neill's brilliance as well!

Fab Friday #39

It's Fab Friday Sketch Challenge Day!! And the Fab Friday peeps have been working their usually stampin' WIZARDRY to come up with some, well ... FAB samples for you to peruse today!!

This is my contribution to this week's challenge ... and when I was looking through MDS for something to "play" with, this little fox kept on speaking to me (and now I KNOW what the fox says!!)!! Isn't he ca-YOOT???

I believe I mentioned in my last post that I have a "thing" for the burlap ribbon (both in MDS and in the "real world"). I have to be honest when I say that I was not a fan when it first came out last year. Don't get me wrong ... I LOVED it, but I was AFRAID of it. It's width had me nervous. This little "arrow" embellishment was, I hate to admit, under my craft table on the floor. It didn't quite work out with something else I had been creating, and then it fell off the table ... and I was MUI-HAPPY when I noticed it down there and I was working on this card ... HAPPY DANCE TIME!

Stamps: Occasions Alphabet
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Retro Fresh DSP
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Basic Black Marker (for fox's eyes)
Accessories:  Chalk Talk Framelits, Burlap Ribbon, Gold Sequin Trim, 1" Circle Punch, Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Essentials Wooden Elements
MDS Downloads:  Nursery Alphabet

Here's a photo of the actual sketch so y'all can play along ...











And ... Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Check out the Fab blogs of my fellow Fab Friends:

Cindy Beach
Brian King
Justin Krieger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Marla Reed
Jan Tinklenberg

Have a fantabulous day!

Missing Miss Tiffany ...

Happy Middle-of-the-Week, Friends!! Cannot beLIEVE that we are already well into April! Where HAS this year gone alREADY??? Sheesh!! Seems like we JUST had Christmas ... and it's going to be all too soon when it rolls around again ...

This is a layout I did of my daughter's BFF, Tiffany. She has felt like part of our family since the girls were in grade school (they met somewhere around second or third grade and have been besties ever since!)!! They have spent countless hours with sleepovers, eating, laughing, talking, playing ... she really is one of us!

She left to serve a mission for our church in the Philippines just over six months ago. We are so very proud of her! It's fun getting weekly emails from her and hearing of all the people she is meeting and all of the experiences she is having. LOVE THIS GIRL!!

I also think I am ADDICTED to the burlap ribbon ... not only in real life, but DIGITALLY (YAY FOR MDS!)!! OH-MAN-OH-MAN-OH-MAN!! You can soooo easily "recolor" this in MDS to match whatever you are working on ... MUI-FABULOUS-O!!

MDS Ingredients:
Stamps - Chevron (Chevron -7 grunge)
Paper - Old School
Embellishments - Burlap Ribbon (folded, flower, flag - all recolored in Crumb Cake), Mis-Stitched, Brad (Very Vanilla)
Punches - Flag Punch
Font - Albermerle Swash.

Hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

Stamp Review Crew - Oh, Hello Edition

I am so happy to FINALLY be able to play along with the Stamp Review Crew!! There are a LOT of talented and super-crafty-fun people in this group, and I am honored to have been asked to join in! This week, we are doing a "review" of the "Oh, Hello" stamp set!! Let's get started!!

Just to refresh your memories (or to, perhaps, introduce many of you to it!), here is the stamp set with which we are working this week ...

And here's what I did with it! Actually, I took the "chevron" image AND the "Oh, Hello" image from MDS and imported them into my eCutter software (Silhouette Studio Designer Edition). I cut the chevron out in Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay and Whisper White ... then I mixed/matched them until I got a grouping I liked and glued it down to some good ol' Basic Black. The rose was made using the Bigz Spiral Flower Die and BOTH Primrose Petals AND Crushed Curry cardstock. I "roughed up" the paper with my Sanding Block (the Primrose Petals was actually some Core'dinations paper). I like the look of it with the roughed-up edges, don't you?? And, of course, had to add me a little bit o' GRUNGE (I swear that Gorgeous Grunge is the LITTLE BLACK DRESS of stamp sets ... GOTTA have it!).

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Primrose Petals (Core'dinations), Basic Black
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black
Accessories:  Bigz Spiral Flower Die, Gold Baker's Twine, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Sanding Block, eCutter (Silhouette)
MDS Downloads:  Oh, Hello

Click "Next Blog" to check out what Paula Wright has done with this set ... and "Previous Blog" to see Mary Rindal's take on our challenge!!

Flat & Fabulous Freaky Swap!

Happy Friday, Ladies and Gents!!! Today I am sharing a card that I made for the most recent Control Freaks Swap (it was called Flat and Fabulous ... the challenge was to make a card that didn't have a lot of BULK or DOO-DAHS that would make it chunky for mailing). We got a LOT of GORGEOUS samples ... this is the one I submitted. I also used this for today's Free for All challenge over on SCS. I actually called the challenge "Tone On Tone", challenging the participants to use at least TWO layers directly on top of one another that were the same color ... I like the dimension it adds when we do this ...

I am kinda LOVING making little butterfly bodies with staples ... I KNOW that this has been done by LOTS and LOTS of crafty peeps for a VERY long time. I didn't used to like it ... at ALL. But now I kinda LOVE how perfect the staples are for this particular function ... I think staples were MADE to be butterfly bodies on all things crafty!!!

Stamps: Postage Due, Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Etcetera DSP
Ink: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Victoria Crochet Trim, Postage Stamp Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Circles Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Staples

I must really be one of the "grown ups" now. I was at a family get together last night when my nephew comes up to me and says, "Yeah, I see you running across 11th Avenue all the time in the mornings. I keep thinking I should shout out and say, 'Hey! How's it goin'?' as you pass by ... but I don't wanna freak you out." Because we all KNOW I have an issue with falling down (if you have no clue to what I am referring, see THIS POST HERE)! Then, his darling wife (whom I happen to LOVE) leans in and says, "Yeah ... you wouldn't wanna startle an OLD PERSON while they are running!!" WHAT.THE.HECK??? (LOVE YOU, ALISON!) So ... I went home and licked my wounds for the rest of evening ... WHEN DID I GET TO BE ONE OF THE OLD PEOPLE???? Sigh ... I guess it happens ... but I'm ONLY 27!!!

Have a happy weekend!

Chalkin' It Up!

I've had a few of these cute little chalkboards staring at me for MONTHS!! I have been ACHING to do something with at least ONE of them ... and I KNEW I wanted to incorporate something from MDS in some way with some chalk ... SOOOOO ... when I got home last night I somehow got a BEE in my bonnet and attacked one with GUSTO!! (You can't really tell from this photo, but as I was trying to take this photo, the grass was FROZEN OVER ... and the sky started dumping down SNOWFLAKES not long after I finished!!)

I used the "Off the Grid" stamp with some Whisper White Craft Ink to put this image on my little chalkboard ... then I used a little bit of the same ink on a sponge to "smudge" the edges to give it a more "chalky" look ... I thought that making the butterflies out of vellum was a better idea than making "colorful" ones ... they were such a fun compliment to the chalk!

This little "bloom" is from the Spring Break II digital download ... I pulled it into my eCutter software and set it all up to cut out on some vinyl ...

I used the "negative" image of my cutout to add to the chalkboard. I put the vinyl down on the chalkboard and then just colored the "spaces" in with my little piece of chalk. Peeled the vinyl pieces off and VOILA!! I have decided that I am going to use the rest of my little chalkboards to make a new one of these for each season as they come by ... SO much fun!!

Stamps: Off the Grid
Paper: Watercolor Wonder DSP, Vellum
Ink: Whisper White Craft
Accessories: Gold Sequin Trim, Tag a Bag Gift Boxes (mini clothespins), Blossom Party Bigz Die, Boho Blossom Punch, Itty Bitty Flower Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Soft Subtles Candy Dots, eCutter (Silhouette), chalk, small chalkboard, vinyl
MDS Download: Spring Break II

By the end of the day (after having taken the photos) we had some BLUE in the sky and some SUNSHINE!! My body has NO idea what season we are in ... do ya think that by putting this little chalkboard up I can help straighten out Mother Nature??? Hoping so!!