Not Quite a One-Layer Card Plus Many Layers

Well, I am still behind on my Christmas cards for the Christmas card challenge for the months of March and April, but I am caught up on my swaps (up to May 9th anyway). Finished my own swaps that I was hosting, and finally submitted some cards to Jessica Lynn for her tutorial for next month. I am not sure if they are good enough for her newsletter, but I really enjoy using her stamps. I don't usually do one layer cards, but I had a template in mind for this one. I wasn't really sure how extra layers would look on a card shaped like a BONE! :D So I just went with it. I just sent it to her, so I will have to let you know if she chose to use it in her newsletter or not.

I can show you the cards, but I can't give you all the details. Those you will have to get from the newsletter OR from me later if she says she won't be using them. :( If you aren't already getting JessicaLynn's newletters, go to her website and subscribe. This will give you not only the details but step-by-step pictures too!!

Either way, please let me know what you think of them.

Another Tag and Birthday RAKs

Well, after I dabbled in the Tim Holtz techniques a bit, this is the tag I REALLY enjoyed making. Although I like the look of the crackle paints, I think this embossed/grunge tag technique is a lot more fun! :) I got quite a bit inky, but it was worth it in the end.

You can find a tutorial here -- http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/april-technique.html

I definitely didn't add as many embellishments as Tim especially since it was for a swap, but the general/basic idea was the same.

Stamps: Elegant Rose by Penny Black (thanks, Eileen!), Print Pattern bg stamp from SU (retired) and Rough Edges alphabet.

Inks: Versamark, Adirondack Espresso (thanks, Carmen!), Brilliance graphite black pigment ink for the image and letters, ruby red from SU, tea dye distress ink, and gold from Encore.

Cardstock: chocolate chip base layer and tag itself cut from manila file folder, layered with strips of dp from stash.

Accessories: Ribbon (thanks, Carmen!), swirly clips, gold brads, Harlequin textured grungeboard (thanks, Susan!), and clear embossing powder.

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Look at all these gorgeous cards from my friends! :) These were sent to me over the past week for my birthday last Saturday (I turned 29 AGAIN!) Funny how that works, isn't it?! LOL


This sweet Tilda is from my friend and bloggin' sister, Chris.

The floral card to the right of that is from my good swappin' buddy and fellow blogger, Lee (it's heavy -- in a good way --with all the bling and layers).

The bathing bella beauty is from Marjorie, another bloggin' sister.

The off white one with the pink scallop is from a local girl from our stamping workshops, Tina, and this card has lots of great texture and glitter. Wow, Tina! This must have been a labor of love, girl.

This pretty pink and glittery one was made by a good friend and sister swapper, Eileen! She has a very kind heart, and we have only known one another for a short time. We are in a group who swaps HM images and cards as well. Eileen, this dazzling diamond technique is gorgeous!

The bright yellow one with the pretty wheelbarrow of flowers is from my good SCS friend who is like a sister to me, too. Tina from the Tackertwosome pair (mom and daughter).

This cute chick in the flower pots has lots of glitter and shine, but I am not sure the camera captured it. Maybe if we enlarge the pic you can see it (click to see it bigger). This is from Lena Tacker (the mom part of the Tackertwosome). She is like an older sister to me, too. Sweet, sweet lady from Texas she is. We met through swapping House Mouse cards/images.

The next card pink and brown with the vellum flower is from a SCS sister who belongs to the birthday RAK group (Michele). She is a generous soul who also belongs to the Wish group. We have swapped images before too.

This pretty rose pink and blue card is from Mary Lou another local lady from our stamping workshop group. This is terrific. I love the way she used the nesties to create the frame around the main image.

The cupcake card is from my good friend, Deb, whom I have known for a while now. Seems like years, but not really that long. We have been SCS sisters and swappin' House Mouse images for quite a while too. She knows how much I would love those cupcakes (calorie-free too)! :)

The pretty flower card made with that gorgeous DP is from a local girl and good friend, Marcie. She is also in our stampin' group. Really sweet person who would share almost any of her stampin' stuff with you if you asked. :) Thanks, Marcie!

The pretty bella in these gorgeous bright colors is from my good friend and *older sister* well secret sister anyway, but I truly love her like she is my older sister, Jessica! Thanks, so much ladies for some terrific cards. They truly made my week!

I'm back with something new

Hey there, readers!


Thanks for all of the well wishes. It was nice to see that some of you really missed me. *wink*


My computer has new "innards" now (lol). It is amazing how a new hard drive seems to make this kitten purr even faster. Gotta love THAT!


So . . . this weekend was a busy one to some extent getting everything back into the computer that I need for work and play, then my birthday was squeezed in there, and we had some family time. Although my poor mom was sick and couldn't make it down like she had planned. She got a nasty bug, so she was recouperating this weekend. {{hugs}} Mom! Hope you are back to your normal self by today :)


Alas, I did get some time to play/stamp a little. Although, I am still stumped on a new idea for JessicaLynn (have a few, but they are not coming together like I planned -- hang in there JessicaLynn, I didn't forget you darling!)

I made a few tags this weekend for my good friend, Deb Corder, who is having a grunge tag swap (inspiration from Tim Holtz). These two are my first tries . . . so be gentle. :)

The tags were cut from manilla folders, then painted with distress crackle paint, then inked/sponged with ruby red, espresso (Adirondack) and tea dye (Tim Holtz distress ink). The images were stamped on, and the number and letters were cut with the Cricut from the Mickey font cartridge. They were then painted with distress crackle paint (red brick), and ribbons were added as well as a base cs layer was added to the back. The manilla paper tends to curl from the paint. I was trying to think of a word besides strong to describe the tall pine tree on the card -- so . . . forever, enduring, etc. came to mind. I wanted it to be a word that would work with many different scrapbook pages/journaling so they would be liked by others in the swap as well. I think I may make a few with just a plain tag on them so the receiver can choose whatever word they want to stamp on there, too.



This one also has half of a grungeboard hinge added too. This was inked up with Encore gold ink and fastened with gold brads. I also wanted to highlight the heart on the birds back (made by his wings) to go with the sentiment 4-ever, so I used some Stardust stickles (as the spica pen did not show up very well in the first tag). I felt this would go with the 4-ever sentiment well, too.

I sure hope the other ladies like them.

Note: The ribbons and fibers are from my SBS sister, Carmen, and the grungeboard from SusieQ4417 on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/. Susan was so sweet to send me lots of goodies in a secret spring swap exchange. What fun!! :D

Thanks for dropping by! :)

Quick Note

Just a quick note to all my readers, as I am not sure I will be able to post anything this week. My computer hard drive crashed, and I need a replacement. Luckily, it was under a 3-year service agreement, so the part was sent, and I am awaiting a technician's call to set up a time and day to repair it.

Until then, I am able to go on-line to work via a rented laptop, but I don't have a memory card slot to upload my photos. Please forgive me for being MIA for a while, and I hope to be back up and running by the weekend.

Talk to you soon. In the meantime . . . have fun creating!! :)

Kelly

My Readers ALL Make My Day Special!

Hello, ladies!!

I really enjoy reading all of your comments and seeing my counter growing here on my blog. You ladies are all so special to me, and I thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by and just say hi. It means more to me than I can express. Well, today's comment from Marcia sends me this beautiful award below.





My SBS4 blogging sister (Marcia) awarded me this award today for my efforts on my blog - thank you so much Marcia. You really made my day, too! Marcia received her award from Seleise (another SBS4 sister), and we are all just passing on the love for each other's work. You girls are SO SWEET!

So what's the deal you say? Well, Marcia was so kind to recognize the efforts I put in with my creations and my blog. So, it is now my turn to pass the award on to some other people who are just as deserving. So here goes:



Kristine whose blog is a joy to visit -- beautiful creations, inviting banner, and I LOVE the music.

Carmen who makes the most amazing cards and ATCs and bottlecaps. Her creative style is different than mine, and it just draws my attention SO much. I love it! :)

Donelda whose cards are truly awe-inspiring. Such unique creations that make me wish I could sit down and stamp ALL the time! If only her creativity would rub off on me a little *wink*

I had a couple more ladies to list, but I think most of the blogs have seen this already. Ughh. You are all deserving for sure! If your name is in my list to the right, feel free to add the award to your blog, too! So many of you give me something new to check out each day, so thank you to everyone for inspiring me to try and do my best!


One last thing - I have to post a link to "Oz-somestamps" blog as a condition of receiving this award, just so everyone knows the origin.