Did You Dare To Get Dirty?

Did you get dirty this past week on SplitCoastStampers? LOL (it's rated G, really *wink*). The Dirty Dozen girls all had a week full of challenges that ended on Sunday, but we are allowed to upload until August 1st. I have been working on them since Sunday afternoon. Bad time to decide to work on them, huh? Well, I really didn't have much free time to do so until then.



I just thought I would show you a few cards I came up with. Some of them I combined the challenges in one card to try and fit them all in. If you do them all (20 different challenges I believe) you have to post here on the thread to be entered in a drawing.


This card was created for JulieHRR's challenge to Embrace the White Space on a card. This one is created on white cs only. I used my Swiss Dot cuttlebug folder to only emboss the bottom edge, scored the middle a few times to make an embossed line. This also helped me to line up my "It's a Boy" ribbon, and the little onesie was left over from some Cricut die cuts I had previously used on an ATC swap. White gel pen lines created the seams to make the onesie more dimensional.

This one was for Kittie's create a scene challenge. I sponged different shades of green in the grassy area and added more grass. Then I sponged bashful blue and white StazOn ink up top, and using a scalloped circle created layers of clouds (not so easily seen in the photo). This one also qualified for the watercolor challenge by Christine. This card was created for a Julie's sketch challenge for GinaK's release party last week to begin with, but it also was monochromatic. So, that qualifies it for Lauren's challenge as well. This beautiful stamp is from Unity Stamps. It is the verse from Matthew 17 that states we only need the faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains! What an encouraging verse. I have a few friends that are having trials in their lives right now, and I will be sending this one out soon.
This card really should have had more layers, and the more I look at it, the more I want to pop some of those cupcakes off and add a bit. I still might. *thinking on it still* It was created for Taylor's cupcake challenge and also qualifies for Jody's ribbon challenge since the sparkly silver and satiny ribbon reminded me of smooth pink frosting with some sparkly sugar crystals. This pretty paper was the beginning of this card creation, but I had to use vellum in Laurie's challenge. I was first going to tone down the bright reddish-orange flowers with the vellum, but the butterfly set from FireCrackerDesigns by Pamela was calling my name. So I stamped the butterflies on the vellum, colored them, and then curled them a bit on the paper. I also added sparkly stickles to the centers of the flowers but it is not seen here in the photo. The sentiment at the bottom is also on vellum and fastened to the card with brown brads. The sentiment says, "Symbols of beauty and light, butterflies reminds us not to be afraid of changes. Sending you uplifting thoughts today and always."
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are able to participate in some of the challenges as well. Even if I don't get them all done in time, I really have enjoyed trying out all of the different ideas. :)

House Mouse Christmas

I am seeing a lot of Christmas in July sales and Christmas in July on the blogs, so I guess this is my little Christmas in July. This is the set of 10 cards that I created for the Christmas Card Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.com A lot of my friends have already seen them, so sorry if this is a repeat for you, but I did add some more color and tea dyed some, too.

Okay, first off I used this adorable stamp that I found from Stampa Rosa of the House Mice playing on a rocking horse and sleigh. It is called "On Dancer, On Prancer." So cute, and it reminded me of things I did as a child, usual with a stuffed animal of some sort in tow. I also used creamy caramel as my card base with the present pattern of the Figgy Pudding dp from Basic Gray. Don't ya just love their papers? I really don't splurge and buy much DP, but if I do, I really LOVE BG.

This first picture (above) was a group shot). I colored the first one, but thought with the edges sponged creamy caramel, it kind of made the paper look antique. So I think I am going to let a few go like that as well. Besides, this was a difficult image to color. Lots of tiny detail, and my heart just wasn't in it this past weekend. (been busy all week getting a lot of work done for vacation next week -- LOL -- isn't that something hurry up so you can relax). *sigh*
This last card shows you how the image looks with the creamy caramel sponging on the edges and Rangers tea dye ink sponged on the rest. I really like the vintage feel of this image, and I think it comes through more with the ink distressing. Images were also layered on chocolate chip (one of my favorite colors).

Hope you enjoyed the cards. I am working on some other things right now for another design team try-out, but I can't show you yet. I hope things work out with this one, too, but either way I will show you later what I came up with.

Hope everyone is having a GREAT summer! :)

EDITED TO ADD: By the way, did you see the new image to the right? The long-sleeved t-shirt "blog button" is from Melanie M herself. You can get one for your blog too by emailing her. Check on her blog -- Hands, Head and Heart Then hurry on over to GinaK's store to get your Little Tee set, too. These stamps are SO cute! :)

A Sorry Frog and ShaZAM!!

First, it seems no matter how many calendars I have posted birthdays on, whether paper or computerized calendars, I still forget somebody's birthday (usually just forget to send it out on time). *sigh* So this cute frog really fit the bill when I saw it on Rubbernecker's site. Although I haven't purchased it yet, I was thrilled to have received it from a few gracious ladies on SCS in the WishRAK group. Thanks, girls!! :)

I used the following:
CS: certainly celery, regal rose, blush blossom and white
Ink: Permanent black
Tools: Prismacolor pencils, OMS, CE and yellow microbeads for the centers of the flowers, pop dots to raise the frog of the frog and flowers up, small oval punch for the sentiment, sheer ribbon with satin edge, and certainly celery grosgrain ribbon to accent a bit.

On the inside it says "Sorry . . . I 'frog'ot your birthday. Have a Hoppy One!"



So today, I thought I would play along with Rubbernecker's weekly challenge found here on Shelly's blog and on Jeanne's blog You can play along too for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate for Rubbernecker. :)
Thanks for a GREAT challenge, ladies.



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Now here is a little something I was playing around with late last night and early this morning. ShaZAM'ed photos and tutorial found here





Here are my ShaZAM'ed photos . . .

Blog candy from Andrea in the UK

Andrea from the UK has some terrific blog candy going on right now. She is giving away some magnolia stamps and lots of other goodies. I would just be thrilled to get some of those adorable Magnolia stamps. Check it out here! :) for a chance to win.

I hope to be back soon with some cards, I promise!! :)

THE WINNER IS . . .

Good morning, Readers!! :D

RANDOM.ORG was used to chose a number between 1 and 17. The results are in . . .

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:13
Timestamp: 2008-07-14 14:02:01 UTC

After counting down the list to #13 . . .

Kathy said...
Ha! Thanks for the reminder! I came by this morning, but was in a rush and didn't have a chance to leave a comment. I have to stay that I LOVE that doggie card. So super cute!!!!As far as stamps go... hrm...I'd like a big set of really cute fish. There are a couple sets out there, but I think it would be fun to have a bunch of different cartoony fish. I haven't found too many I really really like.Thanks for the chance to win. Have a great weekend!

Thank you to everyone who commented. CONGRATS, KATHY!!

Kathy -- Please contact me with your email address so I can have your gift certificate sent to you. :)

Would you like to win a $10 JLO Gift Certificate?

I am honored to be able to give away a $10 Gift Certificate to one lucky winner towards a purchase at JessicaLynnOriginal stamps at http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/ !

What do you have to do to win you ask? All you have to do is comment here on your favorite animal, location/place, or machine that you would like to see made into a stamp. I will pick a lucky winner on Monday morning, July 14th to receive the $10 gift certificate. If you do not have your email linked to your user profile, please be sure and leave your email in your comment so I can contact you. Good luck! :D

Keep an eye out for Jessica Lynn's Christmas in July sale at http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/ . Select stamps will be 25% off - no coupon needed! I believe it is coming up towards the end of the month. So keep your eyes open at the web site above for more details.

Next are a couple of cards I created for the JLO Design Team. We were challenged to use Kerry's sketch #29 (from http://www.stamp-shack.com/) . You can see the sketch here -->

I am not sure you can see all the details, but the background layer was to be white, and the colored cardstock for the strip then your stamped images. Well . . . I had a tough time sticking with all white, so I used a cuttlebugged piece of white cs, and then sponged color onto it to add a little depth and accent to the embossing as well. Unfortunately, my Thanks, Gracias, Danke background did not have the words all in the right place to be vertical with my images, so I improvised a little, and the Thanks is tilted on it's side. Although, I guess it can be whichever way you want it to be. I could turn it and have the cute lady bugs on their side. LOL If you love cute little bug images, Jessica has ya covered with her Spring Bugs set. This set really has a lot of different options with 17 clear polymer stamps. I just love their cute little smiles. You just can't resist.

While you are checking out Jessica's site, you have to take a look at the Dollar stamps. I know I did. This is one that I ordered called Daisy Yorkie Dog This cute little pup comes with a daisy in her mouth and a couple extra for bg stamps or accenting with. I just couldn't resist adding her to my order (especially since she was only $1 -- it's like hitting the Dollar spot before you leave the store *wink*). This was a little closer to the sketch with an extra panel in the back of purely pomegranate and 2 layers under the Yorkie images of groovy guava and purely pom. The cuttlebug folder was used again on the white layer (this time the Happy Birthday one), and sponged A LOT with groovy guava to add some color. A strip of purely pom double-stitched ribbon ties it all together. The images were colored with my SU markers and shaded a bit by coloring with the "copic technique" of picking up color with your lighter marker (creamy caramel) from your darker marker close to cocoa. A closeup of the image to see the detail in the coloring and sponged groovy guava on the edges of the image.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to leave a comment to be in on the drawing for the $10 gift certificate!

Did ya see Melanie M's challenge?

Two posts in one day. I just might drive you ladies crazy!! :) my son would say short trip for YOU, Mom! LOL Gotta love 'em.

I created a cute monkey card today that I will send to Cody tomorrow saying, "Miss You, Monkey." I know he is getting older, but he is still my boy whether he likes it or not. *wink* He was going to come home with me Sunday, but since Noah was sick and Nan needed help getting him to the vets, he stayed to help out a little while longer. He can be a great help when he really puts his heart into it. :)

So this card is for him, as well as Melanie Muenchinger's challenge. If you didn't see that -- hurry, you have to get in on it yet today!! Click quickly on her name for the link to the blog post. I incorporated last week's card sketch challenge and the color challenge. It was really fun to combine so many different challenges, and I haven't done challenges in a while.

So enough blah, blah. Here is the card . . .

Using sketch challenge SC183 and color challenge CC173 from http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Heavens Gate Alpacas: Central New York Alpaca Classic (our 1st show)

I know this is not exactly stampin' or scrappin' related, but . . . this is a new blog that I started last week to showcase some of our accomplishments at my parent's farm, Heaven's Gate Alpacas. I just wanted to show my readers what I was up to this past weekend, and I am SO proud of my son, mom, and our yearling males that I wanted to show you all. If you are interested, click on the link below!

Heavens Gate Alpacas: Central New York Alpaca Classic (our 1st show)
Thanks for looking! :) Kelly