Life's a Beach!

I'll start off by admitting that, "I'm not a fan of Summer", specially here in Arizona, where our Summers are not something we can enjoy.  When we use to live in California, I remember asking myself, "How do people live in that Arizona heat?", guess what? you just do!  You eventually acclimate, although, I don't think I'll ever acclimate to 115 degree weather....once it's past 110 degrees, WOW!  We're cooking!  But it's all worth it, because our Winter and Spring weather is to die for....just perfect.

I thought this image would be a perfect reflection of  Summer, even though I was not much of a beach goer, so I can't say I miss it, but it's a nice and refreshing thought.  

This is one of my most recent stamp purchases, it's a House-Mouse image called Beach Bums.  I was very pleased with the way this card turned out.  I used Copic markers to color the image, sprinkled some Dazzling Diamond Stampin' Glitter all over the sand, which by the way, I love the look that gave, followed by cardstock from Stampin' Up and designer paper from Me & My Big Ideas - Destination Paradise.  The finished card size is 5"x 5".

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are all having a great Summer!

Materials used:

Card base - Stampin' Up - Vanilla cardstock, layered cardstock - Stampin' Up - Taken with Teal, pattern paper - Me & My Big Ideas - Destination Paradise; House-Mouse Designs stamp - Beach Bums, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter; Memento Ink - tuxedo black;

Cherry on Top Award

As always, my great blog supporter and friend, Tracy, has honored me with the Cherry on Top Award.

Thank you so much for being my friend and always leaving me such sweet comments on my blog. 

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.
3. List three things which you love about yourself.
4. Post a picture you love.
5. Tag five people you wish to pass this award on to.

I'm going to start with #3 as 1 & 2 have been completed.

#3. - Three things I love about myself are:  I am trustworthy, I am always caring about others, I am a good wife to my husband.

#4. - Photo I love:

This picture was taken from my backyard.  It's a view of these lovely hot air balloons that frequent the area during our Winter & Spring months....it's such a lovely view.

#5. - Now, I only have 4 out of the five that I'm suppose to choose, hope that is still okay.

1. Julie - http://www.readysetstampit.blogspot.com/

2. Eve -  http://www.ccartdesigns.blogspot.com/

3. Sarah - http://www.liveloveandscrap.blogspot.com/

4. Tassy - http://www.craftytassy.typepad.com/

Thanks again Tracy!

Sarah Kay - Spring is back

Here's another one of my Sarah Kay images that I love....these stamps are so detailed and so pretty, I am really impressed with the quality of the stamp.  I have stamped and colored so many of this same image, you'll be seeing many more cards with the same image different color.  I hope I don't bore you with it. 

I used my Copic Sketch markers to color in the image.  I'm currently using two kinds of paper for when I color with copics.  The first one is called One Sheet Wonder by Couture Cardstock.  This paper is thick and does not bleed at all.  It allows the ink to remain on the surface longer so that it is easier to blend and you waste less ink.  The other paper I use is from Bee Paper Company, it's recommended for use with Copic Markers.  It is a thinner paper than the One Sheet Wonder from Couture Cardstock, but it too, works so well with these markers.  Being it that the paper is thinner, you will see a little bit of the ink on the back of your paper, however, you will still get wonderful results. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Materials used:  Card base - Stampin' Up Very Vanilla cardtstock, layers - Cosmo Cricket, Stamp - Sarah Kay, Ink - Mememento Ink in Tuxedo Black, 3D-Dots by EK Success, Edge & Fern punches - Martha Stewart, Half Pearls - Michaels brand, flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts, Copics

Sarah Kay

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Lots has been happening and I'm hoping that everything will begin to get back to normal, whatever "normal" really is....

Well, I had ordered a few of the Sarah Kay stamps from 7 kids college fund.  Before Tracy mentioned them to me, I had not seen them or heard of them, however, I fell in love with them when I did.  I bought a few of them about a month ago and I hadn't really done anything with them, since one of them was a birthday present for Tracy and I wanted it to be a surprise.  I am definitely going to be getting more, now that I have been so impressed with the quality of the stamp and all the beautiful detail.

Hope you like it!  Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies used:  Cardbase - Very Vanilla cardstock by Stampin' Up!, Patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket - Earth Love, Martha Stewart edge & fern punch, Copic Sketch markers, Spellbinders Nestabilities, flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts, Ribbon - Michaels, Pearls from Michaels, Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage.

I'm a lucky girl!

I have to start off by saying how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband, best friend and companion....we complete one another and have been doing so for the past 13 years.  We got married on 07/07/07 ~ so guess what?  Yesterday was our 3 year Anniversary....and as always, he made it very special.

He always picks me the most beautiful cards:

He totally surprised me with this gift:

Now what girl wouldn't want to receive a Tiffany & Co bag with this:

We went to dinner at Buca Di Beppo Italian Restaurant, and had a very romantic dinner....the food was delicious.  This was our first time dining here and it won't be our last.  The service was A+, not to mention the food.  I'm really not a pasta girl, so to be safe, I always order a Pizza...what a Pizza this was....my husband on the other hand, loves Pasta and having to choose one particular plate was a challenge for him.  All in all, it was a wonderful evening.....I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful life with him and a great marriage!   I love you Honey!

Teapot Easel card - Happy Birthday Tracy!

This is my first easel card that I've created.  I found the inspiration from a similar card that was made by April, you may view her version here. 

I made this card for my friend Tracy, you may visit her blog at: http://iwannabuildamemory.blogspot.com/.
I learned that Tracy loved teapots, from a posting on her blog, so I wanted to incorporate that into her birthday card.  It was then, when browsing thru April's blog, that I knew I had to create something similar to her beautiful teapot card.  Although, my card is not as detailed as April's, I am pretty pleased with my results.

I used one of the chipboard albums from the $1 bin at Michael's, in the teapot shape, traced it along my Stampin' Up! designer paper and white cardstock.  I went thru a few tries before it actually looked the way I wanted to look and work.  The card size is 4" 1/2" x 4" 1/2".  I  stamped my Magnolia stamp using memento ink in tuxedo black onto Bee Paper from the Bee Paper Company (recommended for use with Copic markers) colored the image using my Copic Sketch markers and used pop-dots to place it onto the teapot, added pearls, flowers, tied a bow onto the handle, used my Sizzlits -Scribbles swirls die cut  for my smoke illusion and that completed my teapot.  As far as the base of my card, I used Stampin' Up! DSP, a 4" round doilie (distressed the edges of it), glued a few buttons, added pearls to the doilie, stamped my sentiment then added some Distress crackle paint in Rock Candy for texture and also to harden the paper so that it may be of support when my teapot is in the upright position.

Supplies used:  Stampin' Up! Designer series paper - Bella Birds, cardstock - Stampin' Up! Whisper White, $1 Teapot chipboard from Michaels for pattern, Magnolia Stamp, Sizzlits - Scribbles swirls die cut, Pearls by The Paper Studio, Martha Stewart Punch - Fern, flowers from Wild Orchid crafts, 4" Doilie by Wilton, Buttons by Making Memories, Ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Sentiment by Inkadinkado Stamp set - Expressions and Frames, Copics Sketch markers used to color Magnolia Stamp, Pop-dots by Ek Success. 

Magnolia w/Sunflower Card - Thinking of You

I made this card for a friend of mine as a "Thinking of You/Thank you" card.  With this card I wanted to give it a really grungy-distressed look.....and I was very happy with the results.  Now, for the stitched look, I used rub-ons.... doesn't it looks so real?  I colored my Magnolia image with my Copic Sketch markers, distressed all of the paper using a Stampin' Up! spot in Chocolate Chip and a sponge dabber and my handy-dandy edge distressing tool by Heidi Swapp.  Using my Coluzzle oval shape cutter, I cut my image out, carefully going around the feet, flower and head....I used my scissors to finish those parts off.  I really love the way this card came out....

Cardstock used: Chocolate Chip by Stampin' Up!, Designer Paper: Basic Grey-Origins, Stamped image using Memento Ink-Tuxedo Black onto Bee Paper by the Bee Paper Company (recommended for use with copic markers), Tools: Coluzzle, Edge distresser by Heidi Swapp, Misc: Rub-ons by Autumn Leaves, Pop-dots by Ek Sucess, Tombow Mono adhesive Glue.

Happy Birthday Julie!

Here's a card I made for my friend Julie, today is her Birthday.  Happy Birthday Julie!!  Julie and I have never met in person, however, I feel as though we've known each other forever.    Our friendship started back in September of 2009...all over an "owl stamp"...Julie had been looking for an owl stamp that she liked from one of my haul videos on my Youtube channel,  I offered to mail her one, from there on, we began emailing and keeping in touch.  I'm really happy that our paths crossed because Julie, you are a such a sweet person and your friendship is truly genuine.

Hope your day was wonderful my friend and may all your wishes come true. 

Supplies used:

Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, Not quite Navy & Brocade Blue cardstock from Stampin' Up!, Designer paper from Cosmo Cricket 12 x 12 Girl Friday/Everafter stack, Stamped sentiment from Stampendous - Birthday Cages, Martha Stewart punches, Bird die was from a Stampin' Up! die cut called Bird w/leaves & flowers, bird eye - Rhinestone from Kaiser craft in copper color, birdhouse pattern from Cardmaker magazine.

Graduation Card

Inside of card

I'm so excited for my little nephew...he is graduating from Elementary School....yay!! Okay, so this is the first time for me creating a Graduation card.  After posting this, I decided to add a pocket to the top inside flap of my card so that I could place his gift card.

I used a digital image from Hambo Stamps.  This is Wee Henry Graduate.  This was also my first time using a digital image....and I have to say, it was really difficult to color him with my copics, having to have printed the image with my ink jet printer, I had to be very careful not to smear the ink when coloring over the face...so, I'm not so sure I will try this again. 

I used black cardstock from Stampin' Up! for the base of my card and for my layers I used My Minds Eye Academy paper stack.  I don't recall where I got the lined paper that I used for his background, I did use a Stampin' Up! punch Spiral to create the notebook page look....for my stamped sentiment on the front, I used a Hampton Art set called Congrats Grad that I purchased from Big Lots for $1.00, for the inside, I used the alpha stamp set from Recollections called Grunge Double.  For the sentiment "sending you hugs and kisses", I used a Hero Arts set called Thinking of You.

Here are stamps sets and DP I described above:

Happy Birthday Card for my husband

I thought I'd get an early start on my husbands Birthday card since I always find myself making it the day before...(i know...very bad of me!)  This year, I promised I would not let that happen. 

Now, you have to know that my husband LOVES his tools....he has just about every and any tool out there....not only does he have to because of his job, but also because he enjoys his hobby, woodworking.  The great thing about this is that whenever I need something fixed it gets fixed or if I need a particular tool or supply, it's there. 

So here is the card I decided to make for him:

The stamp set I used to create the tools was from a Stampin' Up! set called Tool Time:

What I did was stamp all the tools on to a piece of silver specialty paper that I purchased at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 a sheet (12" x 12") using Staz-On ink in Jet Black, then I stamped a second image onto color cardstock from my scraps.  I then cut all pieces out by hand, yes, that was a lot of work...and glued the color cardstock onto the silver specialty paper.  I used small brads to attach each tool to the grid stamped paper which is suppose to be somewhat of a peg board.

For my card base I used Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip and Kraft Cardstock from Stampin' Up!, I stamped the background images using distress stamps from Glitz design and distressed the edges of my cardstock using Walnut Stain from Ranger. 

I can't wait to give him his card....however, I'll have to wait until the end of the month to do so.....but atleast I know I have completed it!