Couple Cards to Share

I put these four cards up last night and realized when I previewed after posting that I put them up on the wrong blog. About that time the grandkids arrived to spend the night and so these aren't getting up until today. I woke up Saturday morning thinking about stitching and beading and this card was the result.

Recipe:

Stamps: So Many Scallops, Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Paper: cameo coral, tempting turquoise, certainly celery, basic gray dp, very vanilla
Ink: cameo coral, taken with teal
Accessories: punches, beads, brads, ribbon from mike's

This was just a simple thank-you card that I made while playing with my new ScorPal!

Stamps: Wonderful Words
Paper: groovy guava
Ink: versamark
Accessories: ScorPal, CB folders, white ep, groovy guava double stitched ribbon from SU





These are two cards that I received from my son, ddl and twin grandchildren for our anniversary and Valentine's Day:

February Downline Meeting & WSC #35

Well, I'm going to try this and see what happens. I am really new to blogging, but yesterday we had our monthly downline meeting and I really wanted to share images of our swaps. Our fearless leader, Roselyn, opened her home and heart to us and even fed us a marvelous lunch. We celebrated Valentine's Day, my ddl Autumn's birthday, and the wonderful fellowship we share as Stampin' Up demonstrators. Here is a slideshow of the swaps created by these wonderful and talented women.

Added later in the evening on Friday, Feb. 15:

Here's my card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge:

Recipe:

Stamps: Warmest Regards, SU background stamp
Paper: certainly celery, cameo coral, summer sun, bordering blue, ruby red, basic grey dp
Ink: elegant eggplant, certainly celery
Accessories:robins nest dd water bling, punches, mike's ribbon, chunky sprinkles glitter from SU

I created the flower centers by putting crystal effects on some whisper white paper, sprinkling the glitter on, letting it dry and punching out circles. Instant bling!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. ~chris

Downline Swap for February

Well, I finally finished - 16 swaps for our February downline meeting today! I sure hope they like it. I'm always so nervous when swapping with these ultra talented ladies. I'm still pretty new at this and they are all soooooo good!

Recipe:
Stamps: Essence of Love
Paper: river rock, basic black, whisper white
Ink: river rock, basic black, versamark, wild wasabi, summer sun, groovy guava, soft sky, blue bayou
Accessories: punches, ribbon, brads, black ep
Techniques: stipple, sponge, emboss, stencil, mask

I got inspiration from this card from Beate on Splitcoast Stampers. Take a look - it is gorgeous!

Well it is snowing and my ddl Autumn, who is also a demonstrator (and it's her birthday today to boot) will be heading up the mountain with me to our meeting. You gotta love the weather in Colorado - 56 degrees yesterday and 4-6 inches of snow before the day is out today! Yikes. I'll put up some of the swaps later today so you can see what a talented group we have.

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

SC163

Here's my attempt at the sketch challenge today on Splitcoast Stampers.

Recipe:
Stamps: Seeing Spots, So Many Scallops
Paper: really rust, summer sun, more mustard, chocolate chip, very vanilla, pumpkin pie, scrap dp
Ink: really rust, so saffron, basic black
Accessories: punches, brads

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

CC153 & CMSC305

I tried to combine a couple challenges on this card, today's color challenge on Splitcoast Stampers and Linda Black's Celebration Moments challenge.

Recipe
Stamps: Lots of Thoughts, Friendship Blooms
Paper: sahara sand, tempting turquoise, green galore, ww, flowers for you dp
Ink: green galore, taken with teal
Accessories: punches, brads, ribbon from mikes

I'm hoping to put up a sample of my swap for Thursday's downline meeting tonight - come back and check it out! Thanks for visiting my blog!

~chris

Mojo Monday #24

I never used to like Mondays, but now with Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenges, that's all changed! Here's my entry for this week's challenge.

Recipe:
Stamps: Lots of Thoughts
Paper: empting turquoise, cameo coral, soft sky, heidi grace dp
Ink: taken with teal
Accessories: punches, brads, mike's ribbon, cuttlebug

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

~chris

One more sketch challenge

I am still loving the pink/green combo! This is for Beate's weekend sketch challenge.

Recipe:
Stamps: So Many Scallops
Paper: pretty in pink, mellow moss, ww, making memories dp
Ink: pretty in pink
Accessories: punches, mike's ribbon, buttons, yarn. flower brad

I raided my button stash and dug out some really, really old punch needle embroidery yarn from my infamous closet. Someday I will get organized, someday ....

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

SFYTT - Happy Sunday!

This is my attempt at Jen's Sketch for You to Try.

I think it is a little too busy, but it was a fun sketch to do.

Recipe:
Stamps: For a Friend, Short & Sweet
Paper: pretty in pink, choc. chip, old olive, making memories dp and misc dp from Archiver's bargain bin
Ink: basic brown, markers
Accessories: punches, eyelets, mike's ribbon, stickles

It's been a busy weekend and I am working on some swaps for a downline meeting on Thursday. Hopefully, I'll have a sample to post here later. Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

Inspired by Amy

As I was reading through some of the blogs I regularly haunt, I saw a card by one of my favorites Amy Westerman. She made a wonderful card using a cute little stamp that I picked up but haven't put ink to yet. Seeing her card, I just had to pull it out and ink it up for a little thank you note to a friend that I needed this morning. Isn't he just so cute! Amy's idea to paper piece the sentiment really got my wheels turning - this little guy can say anything you can fit on his sign!

Recipe:
Stamps: $1 bin at Mike's
Paper: creamy caramel, classic k dp, ww
Ink: basic brown, markers
Accessories: punch

Thanks Amy for helping start my day off right! ~chris

Blog Candy Winner!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

8 

Timestamp: 2008-02-07 12:22:44 UTC

And the winner is:

Megan said...

those stamps in the blog candy are way too cute!!

February 5, 2008 8:02 PM

Congratulations - I'll get your candy to you right away!

Mom's Birthday and SC162

My mom's favorite color is purple and her birthday is coming up this weekend. I used just about every shade of purple that SU has on this card. I hope she likes it.

Recipe:
Stamps: Favorite Greetings
Paper: lovely lilac, elegant eggplant, almost amethyst, lavendar lace, very vanilla, paper pizaz purple sponged dp
Ink: elegant eggplant, lovely lilac
Accessories: punches, brads, stickles, holiday ribbon from Hobby Lobby

She lives in Florida and I always try to send her live plants with purple flowers - she has a lot of azaleas and violets! We'll see what she thinks of it.

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

Blog Candy Reminder!

Just a reminder - click the here to leave a comment to enter for a chance to win this blog candy:

Another Birthday Card

Another birthday card to add to the pile that I need for February birthdays. I'm having so much fun making these that I think I'll get started on March birthdays too!

Recipe:
Stamps: So Many Scallops, Friendship Blooms
Ink: Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal
Accessories: punches, stickles, ribbon from Mikes

I got this ribbon in the $1 bin at Mikes a while ago and really wanted to use it. Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

Happy Birthday

February is a big birthday month for me, so I needed a couple of cards for some special folks. I saw this layout on the Just Johanna site and really wanted to give it a try.

Recipe:
Stamps: Favorite Greetings
Ink: bravo burgundy, bordering blue marker
Paper: bordering blue, bravo burgundy, whisper white, cloud 9 designs blueberry wine sorbet dp
Accessories: flowers from joann's; punches

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

SCS Color Challenge #152

Today's color challenge on Splitcoast Stampers was to use real red, ballet blue and apricot appeal. I broke out one of my new hostess sets to play with and here's the result.

Recipe:
Stamps: For a Friend
Paper: real red, ballet blue, apricot appeal, basic grey blush dp
Ink: basic black, markers
Accessories: punches, real red ribbon, ballet blue brads

I really like this color combination and I think I'll experiment with it again.

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

Don't forget there's blog candy to give away on Thursday. Leave your comments on this post for a chance to win.

Table Scraps

I wanted to make one more card before closing up shop tonight. This was made from bits and pieces still on my table from the last couple nights work (I'm not the world's tidiest stamper).

Used here are:
Stamps: Fancy Florals from Verve Visual
Ink: basic black, bravo burgundy, summer sun
Paper: certainly celery, garden green, bravo burgundy, basic grey phoebe
Accessories: punches,wild wasabi striped grosgrain ribbon

Thanks for visiting! ~chris

My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #16

This is my entry for the Splitcoast My Favorite Things sketch challenge #16. I just got my first set of MFT stamps - Boho Blossoms and what fun they are! Here's what I used on this card:

Stamps: Boho Blossoms, Short & Sweet
Paper: blush blossom, barely banana, sage shadow, my mind's eye dp
Ink: sage shadow, versamark
Accessories: stampendous red dragon ep, punches, ribbon from Mike's, bling from Joann's, decorative scissors

Thanks for visiting my blog. ~chris

Mojo Monday #23

Here is my card for Julee's Mojo Monday #23 sketch challenge on her blog Poetic Artistry:


Used in this card:
Stamps: VV Fancy Florals
Ink: garden green
Paper: certainly celery, garden green, regal rose, cloud 9 design pear wine sorbet dp, misc dp scrap from Archiver's bargain pack
Accessories: punches, ribbon from Mike's

I have been attempting to do as many challenges as I can. I especially like the sketch challenges and am finding that it is really stimulating my creativity. Julee's Mojo Monday challenges are always so much fun and a great way to start the week. Thanks Julee!

Remember, I posted blog candy yesterday and will use random.org on Thursday to pick at winner. Check it out and leave a comment!

Thanks for visiting my blog!
~chris

A couple more before bed

Well the Patriots lost - my husband is sad. But the Giants WON and my dad is happy. I'm just glad it's all over. Here's a couple of cards I made today in between a SU party and the Superbowl.

I have had this idea for using eyelash yarn for a while and this morning I decided I would just go for it. Needs some work, but it was fun. I am so totally loving this Cloud 9 Designs paper and how it looks with the SU grays and the burgundy (see the next card)

On this card I used:
Stamps: Mike's $
Ink: regal rose
Paper: going gray, basic gray, regal rose, ww, Cloud 9 Designs Razzberry Swirl DP
Accessories: eyelash yarn, misc ribbon, punches, stickles.

On this one I used a wire heart embelishment that I got at Hobby Lobby when they were on sale. I'm not sure about it though. The card is missing something.

Stamps: none
Paper: going gray, baroque burgundy, whisper white
Ink: some going gray and regal rose sponged on the circle
Accessories: punches, wire heart, misc ribbon

I am approaching 1000 hits and so I'm putting up some BLOG CANDY - just leave a comment below and get some nice spring colored ribbons and some stamps to use on those Easter cards! I'll use random.org on Thursday, Feb. 7 to select the winner.


Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Here's the candy!

Another card for the Verve Visual Challenge

Here's another card I made for the Verve Visual Honored Guest Sketch Challenge:

This card uses:

Stamps: Verve Visual Fancy Florals
Ink: Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou, Basic Black
Paper: Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou, Confetti Cream, Classic K Bailey Red & Blue Daisies DP
Accessories: Punches, ribbon from Mike's, brads

Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

Verve Visual Sketch Challenge

Verve Visual is having a sketch challenge using this sketch.

The lucky winner will get to be a guest designer! See this blog post for details.








I made a two cards (so far) for this challenge. On the first one I used:

Stamps: $1 from Mikes, SU background
Ink: rose red and regal rose
Paper: rose red, regal rose, ww, bb, value pack from Archiver's
Accessories: punches, piercing tool, cropadile, eyelets, ribbon from Mike's, stickles




On the second one I used:
Stamps: Short & Sweet
Ink: sage shadow
Paper: blush blossom, sage shadow, barely banana, very vanilla, mind's eye dp
Accessories: punches, brads, cuttlebug, piercing tool, decorative scissors

SC161 Sympathy card

I needed a sympathy card for a friend today.


Stamps: Warmest Regards
Paper: going gray, basic gray, bravo burgundy, cameo coral, wild asparagus dp
Ink: versamark
Accessories: 5 petal punch, cuttlebug, boho blossoms punch, rhinestone brad

Since the gray was already out ...

Since the gray was already out from the color challenge today, I thought I'd play with some of the new dp that I picked up at Archiver's last night (a little retail therapy and a 30% off coupon)!


Stamps: none
Paper: basic gray, going gray, very vanilla, Cloud9Design Razzberry Swirl
Ink: going gray, basic gray, pretty in pink
Accessories: punches, SU rhinestone brads, misc ribbon from Mike's

Thanks for visiting my blog. As I get closer to 1,000 hits - look for some more blog candy!

~chris

Mail Call and CC151

Look what the mail man brought me today:

blog candy from Kimberly! Thanks so much. Isn't that card absolutely wonderful! If you haven't ever checked out her blog - It's So Pretty! It's So Cute! - you really should. She has some really beautiful cards there.

Here was my submission for the color challenge today on SCS:


Stamps: Short & Sweet
Paper: Yo Yo Yellow, Basic Gray and Going Gray
Ink: Basic Gray, Versamark
Accessories: ribbon from Mike's, punches, French Vanilla embossing powder, cuttlebug

One more before I sleep

This is for Julee's Mojo Monday challenge on her blog Poetic Artistry

Stamps: Hero Arts sentiment, heart from SU Happy Hearts

Paper: close to cocoa; river rock, ruby red, very vanilla, basic grey infuse

Ink: ruby red, versamark

Accessories: New England Autumn hand blended embossing powder, su regal rose ribbon, punches, brad

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. ~chris

Busy, busy, busy

It's been a really busy couple of days. My darling twins, Julian and Isabella turn two on the 31st and so we had a party for them at our house. Grandma and Grandpa always love it when they can have birthday parties for the little ones (and their parents too) at our house. A grand time was had by all and every one was well behaved, but not too well behaved. Grandma spent yesterday recovering and today trying to catch up. I finally granted myself some time to stamp and here's what I came up with in response to Jen's sketch challenge:


I used river rock, chocolate chip, very vanilla, old olive, and basic grey infuse pp. Sentiment is from Stampendous and was inked with ruby red and sponged with close to cocoa. The old olive piece was distressed with my distressing kit from SU. The heart was stamped with versamark and then topped with New England Autumn hand blended ep from The Powder Keg. The embossed heart is really shiney IRL. The ribbon is Regal Rose gg from SU.

Thanks so much for looking. I'm trying to get some party pix of the twins from their daddy and plan to share them with you if you want to see them.

Have a wonderful evening.
~chris

SC160 - Sketch Challenge

Here's my submission for the sketch challenge today on Splitcoast Stampers:

This card used:
Stamps: Wonderful Words
Paper: wild wasabi, real read, basic black, dp from Archivers
Ink: basic gray, versamark
Accessories: misc scraps of ribbon, punches, black ep

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

~chris

Blog Candy Winner!

We have a winner:

Cheryl CAKVD from Madison, WI - send me your snail mail address and I'll get your candy off to you right away!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7

Timestamp: 2008-01-23 14:42:26 UTC

-----------------------------------------

Cheryl's favorite thing to do for Valentine's Day:

CAKVD said...

My fav. celebration would be to spend it with both of my loves...my hubby and my daughter. Ok, the cat too. This year I think I'll have my daughter help make a special meal for my hubby.
Thanks!
Cheryl KVD

Congratulations Cheryl!

Monday Night Stamp Camp

In spite of nasty cold and snowy weather, my Monday night stamp camp still met and had a grand time. We got to introduce a newbie - my pottery teacher of 20 years - to the joys of stamping. I think she had a good time. Here's some of the projects I made for them to try - the criss-cross card was a big hit! There's a really wonderful video tutorial on how to make these cards on Stamping with Roxy. Be sure to check it out.







Today is DH's birthday so I'm dashing off to have lunch with him to celebrate. I'll put up more details on these cards later today. Thanks for visiting! ~chris

Criss-Cross Valentine & BLOG CANDY!

My downline group met this week and made criss-cross cards. So much fun I had to try one for Valentine's Day.

Used on this card:
Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Paper: rose red, regal rose, rose red dp, very vanilla
Ink: basic black, rose red and regal rose markers
Accessories: regal rose ribbon. cricut, tab punch, stickles

As I approach 500 hits on my blog, I want to celebrate with some blog candy. Tell me what your favorite valentine celebration is - mine was my wedding! DH and I have been together for 23 years - married for 11 on Valentine's Day. I think he picked that day because it would be harder to forget! I'll do a random drawing on Wednesday, Jan. 23.



Thanks for visiting my blog! ~chris

WSC31

Here is my submission for Beate's weekend sketch:

I am finally home from the east coast and managed to resolve all my ISP issues and hope to get back to a regular posting schedule. Hope you like my card. I broke out my new transfer images and boy are they slick to use!

This card uses:

Stamps: Short & Sweet
Paper: Rose Red, Rose Red DP, Regal Rose - all from SU
Ink: regal rose
Accessories: punches, ribbon, eyelets, rub on transfer images

Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm approaching 500 hits! I think I'll celebrate by posting some blog candy tomorrow!

~chris

Airports, Airlines and ISP's Oh My!

Well, it's been a week! I'm finally home and back online and hope to have some goodies for you tomorrow!

Gift Box Cards

Here's another card that will be included in one of the gift boxes for this weekend. The patterned paper is from Hobby Lobby, but I don't have a full sheet with me to see the company information. It is wonderful paper though and I used it to cover a couple of two year pocket calendars and mini albums for two of my DDLs (darling daughter-in-laws for those readers not familiar with some of the expressions on www.splitcoaststampers.com). Always Artichoke and Really Rust are the two other papers I used along with Very Vanilla for the sentiment (from Cheery Chat). The tabs were made using the large oval punch from Stampin' Up and folding it in half and securing with eyelets. Sentiment is stamped in Really Rust with Really Rust and Mellow Moss sponged on the edges.


Have to get busy decorating the gift boxes. Hopefully I remembered to pack everything I need! I'll try to have pix of those boxes up soon.

Embrace Life

Well, I finally got to play with my new Embrace Life set. Here's a sample:


I used the color guidelines for the ginger blossom paper that were posted here by Barbara Welch (Creative Stampin Spot) and used some ribbon that I thought coordinated well. I enlisted the aid of the ironing board in my hotel room to spread out a bit, but it's just not the same as my cozy space at home.

I also played around a bit with a scissor charm:


Just love that little kittie! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!
~chris

Greetings from Washington, DC

Well, I made it - stamps and all. I hope to be posting a card or two tomorrow. Went to my favorite bead store - Bedazzled - today and they had some exciting new items I couldn't pass up. Hope to have some new scissor charms made too! Well, I'm going to get some work done so that I can go back to the hotel and stamp! Check back tomorrow to see the outcome!

thanks ~chris

In a floral mood

Todays SCS challenge brought out all the wonderful florals. I was inspired by this card to create this card:


Stamps: Seasonal Images
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel
Ink: Basic Brown, SU Markers - Apricot Appeal and Mellow Moss
Accessories: scallop punches, cuttlebug, stickles

I'm preparing for a week on the road and have a question for any of you who travel - how do you decide what to take with you? So many new stamp sets I want to work with. I find myself asking "Do I really need alot of clothes?" Maybe I can fit just one more set of stamps in and find a laundromat! TFL ~chris

Happy Heart Day Box-Fold Card

A couple of weeks ago at a party, we made 5 X 5 box fold cards for Valentine's Day. The girls loved the concept and we made a Christmas card as well. One of the comments was that it wouldn't fit in a standard A5 envelope. I was asked if I could come up with a design using the same concept that would. So, I did. Dimensions on this card are 4 X 5. Here's the outside of the card:


I made an instruction sheet to go with this as well:
4x5 Box Fold Card

Here is the inside of the card:


Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Ink: Versamark, basic black, SU markers
Paper: Basic Grey - Oh Baby, Girl, DCWV Floral Print Mat Stack and Petite Sunrise Posies; SU Brocade Blue, Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, Always Artichoke, WW
Accessories: eyelets from Scrappopotamus, cropadile, fruit punch stickles, cricut, black ep

I want to send a big thank you out to everyone who has left me comments and emailed me with such kind words of encouragement. The online stamping/crafting community is such a wonderful source of inspiration! Thanks to all!

Chris

Starting the year off right!

I won blog candy on Shelley's blog: Stampin' and a scrappin'. How totally cool is that. I'm also participating in my first challenge. Here is my card for the Mojo Monday challenge on Poetic Artistry:





Stamps: Favorite Greetings
Paper: Cameo Coral, Rose Red, Apricot Appeal, My Mind's Eye dp
Ink: Rose Red, Cameo Coral marker
Accessories: punches, misc ribbon and eyelets

I'm still hard at work on my cards and boxes to take east with me this weekend. Thanks so much to Shelley at Stampin' and a scrappin' for pointing me to Andrea Walford's blog Sunny Stampin for the tutorial for the box!