On my way to work

No card tonight, but I had this photo that I wanted to share with you. I pass this tree on my way to work every day, and I just love these trees with the purple blossoms. Today, I decided to stop and take a picture of it. I don't know the name of these trees and when I talked to my friend Angela this afternoon I asked her what they were. She told me and now I can't remember what she said! Anyway I wanted to share the picture with you. 

i replaced the photo of my CAS card. Krysten is a member of one my blog groups and takes the most beautiful pictures of her cards. She was kind enough to answer a couple of questions for me and I think the new photo looks tons better. Thanks!

CAS Challenge

The Challenge this week from my Ocean's 11 group is to make a CAS (clean and simple) card. Our challenge was issued by Peggy Sue. This is the first one I have made in a while. After learning to layer, match different papers and adding embellishments, it was kind of nice to go back to a simpler card. I used a Studio G stamp from Michael's that I stamped with Memento ink. After stamping the image, I went over the outline of the chick body with a Sakura Glaze pen. I really like these pens, they come in several colors and leave a slightly raised, glossy look. Then I added yellow fun flock and then went in with the orange Glaze pen and added some color for a beak. I also tracked the legs with the orange pen. I used copic markers to color in grass and the sky and tried to draw in the grass. I think I should have use a slightly darker shade for this because it blended in with the overall color. I used my long rectangle Nestabilities to make my scalloped mat. To finish the card I scored three lines on the bottom border of  the card using my Scor-Pal.

I had a lot a questions asking me where I got the frog stamps from the spinner card. I got it when I went to the Stamp Scrap Art Tour and it was made by Repeat Impressions. It's one of those booths that I purchased several stamps from. Okay truthfully there wasn't a booth that I didn't buy stamps from!

Spinner Card

Okay, so I am a little behind the times and this is the first spinner card that I have ever made. Well, I made one in a class when I learned how, but this is the first one I have done on my own. Kip's family is getting together tomorrow afternoon to celebrate his uncle's birthday. He has a slightly different sense of humor, so I thought he might like a card that included frogs in underpants! Both stamps are from Repeat Impressions and I stamped them with Memento ink and then colored everything with Prismacolor pencils. I am not sure of the maker of the patterned paper on the back part of the card, it was from my stash.

Speaking of my stash, I have challenged myself to use the stuff! You know how it is, you have stuff and just keep it for the perfect project and then you keep buying more stuff and never use the first stuff. I sorted my paper scraps a couple of weeks ago and have been slowly going through some of the other stuff as well. I bought Jenna and Samantha their own embellishment container and gave them some old die cuts and other things to use. Their mom always keeps them in art supplies at their house, but they love coming to my craft room because they have access to all my leftovers and I have cool tools.  Have a great rest of the weekend.

Black Sheep

I was able to participate in the Limited Supplies Challenge today on SCS. The challenge was limited to using shades of black and white only. In the instructions she mentioned that since it is the end of March comes and like a lion and out like a lamb, she used the lamb for the color choices. We were not limited to using a lamb image but since I recently found this cute little Studio G stamp at Michael's  I wanted to use it. As soon as I thought about black and white and sheep I thought of doing a black sheep somehow. Of course now, I  have "Black Sheep of the Family" by Hank Williams Jr. running through my head (and now you do too, right?). I stamped my little sheep in a straight line and then used white applique on two of them and black liquid applique on the last one. The black sheep is also sporting some black glitter from Doodle Bug in her coat, I sprinkled the glitter on before I used my heat gun to set the liquid applique. to make my black sheep stand out a little more, I used a different patterned paper under that sheep and used my Stampin Up photo corner punch to emphasize it a little more. I then used a white gel pen to make little dots on my photo corners. The sentiment stamp I bought at Big Lots a long time ago and Big Lots is the only info on it. All paper is DCWV.

Verse Challenge

The challenge this week for my Blogger Group 2 is to make a card featuring a quote or a verse. I always think about doing this when I see the quote stamps at the store but never actually do it. I collect random quotes in a little notebook that I carry in my purse and I have several stamps with quotes that really say something to me.  Carmen issued this challenge for our group and I really enjoyed playing along. In addition to enjoying quotes, I am fascinated by how one person ends up in the life of another and how past experiences then can later effect people that have never met. This quote really reminds me of the influence that I might have on the people I come in contact with on a daily basis. Hopefully the parts of me that get carried to different paths are always positive. For instance, my friend Kay invited me to a CTMH workshop one day, I met Julie and she showed me how much fun stamping was, then I send cards to people and make them happy, even though Kay and Julie have never met that person, their influence on me has helped me make someone happy. Same thing with my friend Angela, she has encouraged me and taught me so much and in turn I have tried to pass along some of that knowledge and friendship to others. It reminds me of that game with Kevin Bacon, Six Degrees of Separation! To wrap up that long story there, I really like this quote because it really gets to the point that our actions don't necessarily stop with one interaction, they keep going. I used my square and scalloped square Nestabilities and then used my paper piercer to pierce the holes. The stamp is from Stampendous, the ribbon is from Target and the paper is from 7 Gypsies pack that I got last week at Bev's store. 

It is Wednesday so it is the day I let one of the girls post some of their cards. Here is Samantha: I colored the panda with brush tip markers and I did the clouds with a glitter pen. Then after I glued everything on, we punched two butterflies and we bent the wings so it looks like they landed on my paper and that they are flying. We punched the flowers and I put the light flowers on top of the dark pink flowers and I made a field and an a b pattern. Samantha's card used a Memory Box stamp, the Marvy scalloped square punch, a Fiskars butterfly punch and a flower punch. Have a great night!
***ETA Jenna and Samantha aren't my daughters, they are the daughters of a close friend. The girls stay with me after school and are my crafting buddies.

Doing the Penguin Hula Dance

I got this stamp last week on my road trip to Bev's store Precious Scraps in Dover, TN. As soon as I saw her she had to go in my basket to go home with me. I knew I could give her a good home. She is stamped with Memento ink and then colored with Copic markers and a Sakura Glitter pen. I didn't like any other the flowers that I had on hand because they were either the wrong color and most of them were bigger than what I wanted to use. I punched these flowers and then glued them onto my card. By punching my own flowers, I was able to use some scraps of paper which I have been trying to do. Have a great night, I am going to back to bed to nurse my hurting back.

Beautiful Fairy

Hello, how's your weekend going? Mine has gone pretty good so far. I am still excited about my trip that I took yesterday to Precious Scraps. Today, my friend Angela invited me to attend a Spring Fling at her church. I had a great time there. Some of the ladies had signed up to decorate the different tables and each table was decorated with it's own theme. We're talking full table settings too and they were all so beautiful. After I left her church I decided to run by the LSS in that town. I was there for just a little over two hours! I met a couple of really nice ladies that were working on projects in the back of the store. We ended up talking and they showed me several very cool projects. One of the ladies offered to get me a copy of her instruction sheets so maybe I will have some things to show you soon. 

This card took me a very long time to do because I decided to stamp the image twice. The first one was stamped onto my main image panel and then colored with Prisma/Copic markers. Then I stamped the image again onto another piece of paper and colored that image. After the second one was colored, I cut the wings apart from the body. The body was then attached to the first one using foam dots. the main wing over her left shoulder was glued down and then the edge furtherest away from her body also has a foam dot under it. Since I had the two layers of colored paper onto of my layer of white paper I decided not to mat my main image, instead, I inked the edges of that panel with a green ink that matched the green paper. The stamp set is from Inkadinkado, paper is DCWV and the rhinestones are from Jo-Ann's dollar area. Have a great one!

ROAD TRIP

Just a quick card tonight. I needed several easy, quick and easy to reproduce Easter themed cards and this is what I came up with. Sorry for the picture quality, I couldn't get a good picture of this card for some reason, they were all either very washed out or too dark. I tried to edit it but didn't have much success. The little bunny is from a Clear Dollar Stamps set called Easter Blocks and was stamped with CTMH Baby Pink ink. I used some hot pink fun flock on the inside of his ears. Paper is DCWV and I used Fiskars Threading Water border punch for my scalloped edge.

Oh my goodness I had so much fun today! My friend Julie and I (and her sweet daughter) went on a road trip today to Dover, Tennessee to visit a new scrapbook store called Precious Scraps. The drive took us a little longer to get there than we planned, almost two hours, but it was so worth it. I have been reading Bev's blog as she has gotten ready to open the store, seen pictures of the store in progress and then pictures as the store was ready to open. It was great to visit and meet her in person. There was so much beautiful paper in there and you can never have enough pretty paper can you? So of course I had to add to my paper collection and you will be seeing some of that in the next few days. I also picked up a couple of new stamps and a couple of other odds and ends. It is a place I will definitely visit again very soon.

Mini Clipboards and Kid Art (Long Post)

Good evening! This is a long post with lots of pictures today. The girls are on Spring Break this week and have been crafting a lot. Tomorrow they are leaving with their mom to meet some friends for a small vacation. Jenna decided to make gifts to take for all five of the little girls that will be on the trip. To help her out a little, I made these mini clipboards out of cardboard coasters. I covered them with Mod-Podge and and then covered them with paper from DCWV. The paper clip is covered with coordinating paper. The I used my Crop-A -Dile to punch a hole through the coaster and used ribbon to attach a mini gel pen. I love the Target Dollar Spot. I use these little gel pens on a lot of gifts and I can usually get 8-10 of the mini pens for only a dollar.

Of course she needed something to put her goodies in so I showed her how to make a Mini-Pizza box. I made the first one and then gave her the directions and the Scor-pal and let her make the other four boxes. I was very happy that she was able to do them on her own with no assistance.
Here is the outside of the boxes labeled with each girl's name. I am pretty sure the original directions for this box came from Jen del Muro and was featured on SCS as a technique challenge one week. They are great little boxes, handy for a lot of different uses.
The inside of each box has a panda keychain and something else made with Sculpty clay, the mini clipboard and a card. 
Now here is Samantha's card creation for the day. She used an older Stampin Up bird and stamped it several times, colored and then cut them out. We cut the strip of green to look like grass and then glued the birds down to look like they are playing follow the leader. She drew in her background with brush tip markers and the clouds are made with a Sakura glitter pen. See the little wisps on the outside of the cloud? That's not a smudge, she drew the wind.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happiness Begins with a Hug

Doesn't that bunny make you want to smile? I already have a thing for bunnies and add in those cute little chicks and I am in love with this stamp! The stamp is made by Inky Antics and I won both the bunny and the sentiment from Jackie's blog. When I attended the StampScrapArt tour in Chattanooga last fall, I was able to meet her and she is a great person. I also spent a lot of money in the Inky Antics booth. And to not make any other company feel left out, I felt the need to spend a lot of money in each of the booths! I will miss attending their show this year, but hope to catch them again next year. You know that large white spaces scare me, but I am happy with the way this one turned out. This card is also a departure for me, it measures 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. I stamped the bunny onto watercolor paper and then used Twinkling H2os to paint a shimmery background around the bunny. The little chicks are colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I used a cool gray pencil to shade around the bunny's body. Paper is from DCWV and the ribbon is from Hobby Lobby. I'd love to know what you think.