Sweet 'n Sassy Blog Hop Day #2

Hi Everyone! Today my blog is one of the stops on the Sweet 'n Sassy Blog Hop. If you haven't come here from Cindy's blog, don't forget to head over there so you don't miss any of the fun. Our theme for the hop is SUMMER! Yippe! It is so close and I can't wait.

I have created a very simple and fun summer card to show you today. I have used one of SNSS's Summer sets called "Bee Happy". It is such a cute set. I love the little bees and the sentiments.

I have used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday for my card. I really love their sketches and it just jump starts the creative process for me if the layout is already done for me!

• Stamps: SNSS Bee Happy
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Papertrey Spring Moss, DP is Basic Grey's Porcelain
• Coloring: Copic Markers
• Embellies: Stickles for the wings, K&Co adnesive gem, flower made with cuttlebug die, Ribbon Papertrey

Summer is almost here and SNSS is celebrating with this blog hop and a SALE :)! All Spring & Summer stamp sets are 15% off May 1st-May31st! What a great time to get a few sets. They are perfect for summer BBQ invites.

Thanks for stopping by and the next stop on the Summer SNSS hop is Teresa!

Combined Challenges ~ Another Magnolia Card!

I just couldn't help myself and had to color another one of my new Magnolia! Isn't she sweet? I used Bev's amazing sketch from the Stamp with Fun challenge, the color challenge of blue & green from the A Spoonful of Sugar challenge and I am also entering it in Our Creative Corner's challenge which is use your favorite color combo which for me is blue & green, although pink & green is also a big favorite of mine lately! I didn't airbrush my background this time...mostly because I just couldn't decide what color to use! Instead I just took C1 and outlined around my image. It is a little trick that makes your image seem to pop off the paper.

• Stamps: Magnolia Chasing Butterflies Collection
• Ink: Memento
• Paper: Papertrey Moss & Aqua Mist, SU Very Vanilla. DP MME
• Coloring: Copic Markers
• Embellies: May Arts ribbon, dollar store adhesive pearls
• Tools: Oval Nesties, Martha Stewart Border Punch

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get the chance to get a little inky today!

The Sweet Stop

Sweet 'n Sassy has a brand new challenge blog and it very aptly called "The Sweet Stop". Every week will bring a new sketch to challenge and inspire you and every 3rd week there will be a lovely prize.

Today I am showing you the card I made following the sketch. I have used Sweet 'n Sassy's Elegant Blessings set. I have used the larger of the two filigree crosses that come in the set. I wanted to create something very elegant and decided to use black & white and this lovely light pink. The cross was stamped with versafine black ink and then I cut it out with my oval nestibilities and also cut out a matching scalloped layer in black. The top panel was embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder and I created the border on my black frame with a Martha Stewart punch. The felt ribbon along the bottom is by Making Memories and the pink polka dot and sheer ribbon are both by May Arts. To finish off, I added a few K&CO Adhesive Pearls to accent the cross and create a little more balance in the bottom corner.

I hope you will get the chance to play along. It is really a beautiful sketch. You can also upload to galleries using the code SSS01.

Don't forget that the Sweet 'n Sassy Blog Hop starts today! You start here and then just keep on hopping.....it will be my turn tomorrow and I have a really FUN summer card to show you!

Blog Candy Winner

Oh my goodness! I had so many entries for this candy almost 400! I guess you all love Whiff of Joy stamps and BG's Bittersweet as much as I do!

I wasn't able to get around to everyone's blog but I want to say a big "Thank You" for all the kind comments about my blog. They made me feel so happy! I did get a lot of entries from people without blogs...don't worry you are still entered for the draw! What I wanted to say is that you should just take the plunge. I know it can seem a little daunting at first but you will see how easy it is and how much fun you will have meeting extraordinary people and sharing ideas!

Alright, without furthur ado, the winner was picked by:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:51
Timestamp: 2009-04-28 12:34:29 UTC

I have tripled counted :) and the winner is: Angie Easter

lilacanglia said...
Fab candy and blog to match,thanks for the chance of winning,Have left a link on my side bar for you,HugsAngie

Congrats Angie. Please contact me with your mailing address and I will get your goodies sent off to you!

Thanks again to all of you who participated and guess what....I may be having another candy in the near future and if you really want that sweet stamp, you can get is online from Whiff of Joy Stamps!

Have a great day!

My Blog Candy ~ Finally!

Candy is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

This post will remain at the top of my blog until it ends on Monday April 27th. For my more current postings, please scroll down!

Finally, here it is - the blog candy that I have been promising! Just a few of my favorite things! Included are my most favorite Whiff of Joy stamp of all time: Melinda with Bouquet. She is featured on my blog banner and her sweet face just tugs at my heart. Katharina most generously gave me this brand new stamp so that I could give it away as blog candy. I have also included some bling, some prima flowers and a pad of Basic Grey's Bittersweet.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post. If you would like to spread the word about my candy on your blog, it would be greatly appreciated :) and if you would like to become a follower on my blog, that too would be great!

My candy will run until Monday April 27th midnight (EST). I will announce the winner the next day!

I want to mention that Katharina is also running an amazing candy of her own. She will be giving away 2 of the brand new Elisabeth Bell Summer kits! You can find all the details here on her blog! Isn't she the very best? Don't forget that the pre-order for this kit ends on May 4th. You really don't want to miss out on this amazing deal. I am lucky enough to have been able to see the whole kit and I can tell you: IT IS AMAZING!

Good Luck!

Possibilities ~ Friday Sketchers Challenge

Hi Everyone! I will be posting the winner of my blog candy a little later on. For now, I would like to show you a card I made using one of my new Magnolias that arrived yesterday! This one wasn't included in the Spring Kit and I just had to have her. She is just gorgeous! Actually there were a few more that snuck their way onto my online shopping basket! LOL! So stay tuned for more Magnolia sweetness to come!

This is the sketch from this week's Friday Sketchers. I have colored my image with copics and airbrushed the background. I added a little shimmer to my flowers with my atyou spica pen. It really doesn't show all that well on the photo.

• Stamps: Magnolia Chasing Butterflies Collection, Sentiment by Verve Stamp
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: SU Whisper White, Celery Green, Basic Grey Porcelain
• Coloring: Copic Markers, Spica Pens
• Embellies: K&CO Adhesive Pearls, Prima Flowers, Ribbon from Stash

Copic Markers used: BG000, E31, E35, E42, E53, E55, E000, E00, R20, RV000, RV00, RV32, RV34, Y21, YR21, YG11, G24, 0 -blender pen

Have a great day and I will be back with the winner later on!

Confirmation Cards

I had quite a few Confirmation Cards to make for this week-end! I don't usually mass produce but this time, I needed to. The children of some of my good friends as well as our lovely next door neighbor, celebrated their Confirmation yesterday.

I used the beautiful WOJ Confirmation Angels for my cards and colored them with my copics and added Shimmerz to their wings, the girl's dress, and the boy's waistcoat. I cut them out and adhered them to an oval that I had lightly airbrushed.

I did not use one piece of DP or ribbon on this card! Instead, I embossed the card front with a cuttlebug embossing folder and really felt that it was enough. I did print a small prayer for the inside and cut in out in an oval with a scallopped oval frame to match the front. I did not take a picture as I had already added my personal salutations....oops!

That's it for me. Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Note of Love ~ Sketch Saturday Week # 48

Hello Everyone! Here we are again....it is Saturday already! That means that I have another card to show you based on one of Jo's fabulous sketches!

We are already at week # 48 which means that our first birthday will be coming up soon. So mark May 30th down on your calenders because what is a birthday without a bit of a bash? We are planning some extra little surprises for you our wonderful challengers to say thank you for joining in each week. I can't say more than that for now but I just wanted to let you now that something is in the works!

This week we have yet another fabulous prize up for grabs. As it is the end of the month, we are once again being sponsored by The Craft Barn.

I got the idea for this combination of stamps and the musical paper from Claudia! She always has the most wonderful of ideas and although this Magnolia stamp is from the Valentine/Love Collection...she can really be used for other occasions!

• Stamps: Magnolia, SU for Sentiment
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa
• Paper: SU Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Daisy Bucket, Making Memories
• Coloring: Copic Markers
• Embellies: Ribbon from stash, leaves created with Martha Stewart Punch
  

Thanks for stopping by today. Don't forget to stop by the Sketch Saturday blog to see the wonderful cards my fellow DT members have made with this stunner of a sketch!

My blog candy is still open and I will ship internationally, so don't forget to enter.

Happy Hellos

I am just about to go out on a bike ride with the boys and I am quickly going to post this! The sun is shining and we have been out all morning and came back for a quick lunch and we are off again!
This is my card for this week's CCT. The challenge is "getting edgy". I have distressed the edges of all my layers. I don't have any fancy tool...I just used the inside blade of a pair of scissors. This adorable image is from Whimsy's Kid Collection and has been colored with copic markers. The senitment is frum SU! and the DP is from Daisy Bucket!

Have a great day....I am off to play and I'll see you tomorrow with my card for Sketch Saturday.

Gretchen

Hi Everyone! Hope your day is going well. My middle son woke up this morning and dashed to the newspaper to read the hockey score from last night's hockey play-off game. He is a little hockey fanatic! He has declared today to be the "worst day of my life" because our home team was eliminated last night. He actually teared up a little (he is 8) and I know I shouldn't find that funny (what a bad Mum) but I really had to work at keeping my face with the proper degree of solemnity when I agreed with him that it was a really terrible blow. He is off at school now, probably commiserating with his little buddies. I had to warn his older brother (who could care less about hockey) not to say anything. I could tell he didn't grasp the tragedy of the situation any more than I did. Unfortunately my poor hubby is working around the clock so he wasn' t around...see he gets it....he still plays hockey!

Today I have a fun card to show you that I made using some of my favorite Sweet 'n Sassy images. This super cute little girl is named Gretchen and she is one of the new digi stamps that SNSS is offering. At only $3 she is a total bargain and the best part....instant gratification...you don't have to wait for it to be shipped! Just download and print! The background is made using a "traditional" acrylic SNSS stamp set called Spring Scenes. It is a must have because you can do so much with it.

For the background, I masked different pieces from the Spring set and then colored it with my copics and cut it out with my nesties. Gretchen was printed out (I always set the ink with my heat embosser to prevent and smearing) and the she was also colored with copics and cut out.

I took another picture to show you that when I adhered Gretchen to my card I glued down the ropes of the swing right onto my cardstock, then I put dimensionals of her hear and torso ane the swing to lift her up and the her feet were glued directly to cardstock. This way, she really appears to be swinging! The cirle scene is alos mounted to the card with dimensionals.

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Swingtime, Spring Scenes
• Ink: Memento and Printer
• Paper: SU Bajua Breeze, Pacific Point, Whisper White
• Coloring: Copic Markers, Shimmerz on the sun
• Embellies: Hero Arts Gemstones, SU Ribbon and buttons
• Tools: Nesties, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Folder

Thanks for sticking around for such a long post! Have a great day!

More Fun with Magnets

Hi Everyone! Wow.....thank you to everyone for your kindness. I am getting such a tremendous response with this blog candy (everyone wants a little "Whiff of Joy") So many of you are telling me that you visit daily and enjoy my blog. It is such a great feeling and so encouraging! Thank you so much!

This week there is a lovely sketch to follow for the A Spoonful of Sugar Challenge. I decided to create a little bit of a project with this one. You know me...I love to experiment! I thought it would be fun if the card's image would be a decorative magnet that you could put on your fridge or filing cabinet. A lot of my friends keep my cards out for ages because they love the image so I just took it one step furthur!

So here is what I did. First I colored this gorgoeus WOJ stamp with my copic markers. I then masked the image and airbrushed the background. I used a light green and then went over the edges with a blue. I cut it out with a large Nestie circle. At the same time I cut some magnetic paper (from the office store) as well. I glued one magnetic circle to my card and the other one to the back of my image.

Then I applied versamark to the entire image and used Ultra Thick Embossing Powder over the top and heated it with my embossing heat tool. I did this 3x. You can used regular clear embossing powder but you'll have to use more coats to get the thickness. I put the image in the fridge for a few minutes and then "cracked" it by bending it. I was horrified because it looked ghastly! The cracks were all over her face and it just looked terrible. I realized I had liked it much better before I had "distressed" it. I almost tossed it in the bin but I thought I would see what would happen if I re-heated it and it worked! Almost all the cracks disappeared! Here is a close-up of the magnet! The thick glossy coating changes the look so much. The colors are more vibrant. I just love it! So now I have a card and a little gift all in one!

• Stamps: Whiff of Joy Guardian Angel Collection 2009
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark & Ultra Thick Embossing Powder
• Paper: SU Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Basic Grey Porcelain
• Coloring: Copic Markers and Copic Airbrushing
• Embellies: Flourishes made with EK Success Punch, Flowers are made with a Cuttlebug die, tafetta ribbon from local store.
  

Hope you liked my idea and maybe you can try it out! It really is pretty easy!

My WOJ News

I have been bursting to tell my amazing news and now I can. As you all know, I have been serving a 2 month term for Whiff of Joy stamps. I have been in love with these stamps since the very first release. I am sure anyone who visits my blog can tell how much I adore them!

I have been dreading the end of this month because it meant the end of my Guest DT term. Creating with the new releases has been a real joy as has been working with the WOJ DT team. They are lovely, warm and kind and Katharina is just a sweetie! What a wonderful person she is.

Well, Katharina has asked me to stay on as a permanent DT member! Oh my goodness....I still can't believe it! I am sooo happy! It is a dream come true for me and I guess that makes Katharina my fairy god-mother! LOL!

I waited until Katharina announced it on her blog before I said anything but it was so hard! I have had so many lovely congrats from so many of my sweet blogging buddies! Thanks Guys! You are simply the best!

Fridays Sketcher's Challenge

Here is my card for this week's Friday's Sketchers! I love the sketch and I really went to town on my coloring. I don't usually have so many different colors on my cards!

• Stamps: Magnolia Easter Collection
• Ink: Memento
• Paper: Su Whisper White, Salebration Pack, K&Co
• Coloring: Copic Markers
• Embellies: Prima Flowers, SU Brads and Ribbon

Sorry, just a quick post for me today! I have a ton of housework to do.....and then I hope to get a little time to stamp and color before I go pick up the kids from school & preschool!

Have a great day and don't forget to enter my blog candy.

Be Still

Here is my card for this week's SNSS DT Monday. This week, you should include scripture on your card, either inside or out.

I have used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday. The sentiment comes from Sweet 'n Sassy's "Be Still" set. One of my personal favorites. The paper is Basic Grey's Porcelain and I have used a Fiskars punch to create the fancy border. I used two of the little cut-outs that fall out when use puch your paper and used them around the sentiment.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day and please check out the rest of my Sassy Sisters to see what they have created.

No Small Miracles ~ Just Magnolia Challenge

Here is the card that I made for the first week of the new challenge called Just Magnolia. The DT is out-of-this world amazing. So much talent on one team. I know that I will never be without inspiration! This first week, Donalda has created a wonderful sketch for us to follow and there is a fantastic prize up for grabs! I have used one of my older Tildas because she is so cute and I missed her! I know that you understand what I mean...I'm not crazy...right?

• Stamps: Magnolia, Sentiment by Verve
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, White Embossing Powder & Versamark
• Paper: Papertrey Aqua Mist, Whisper White, Crate DP
• Coloring: Copic Markers. Copic Airbrushing
• Embellies: May Arts Ribbon, Butterflies made with Martha Stewart Punch

Celebrate the Everyday ~ Sketch Saturday # 47

This week for Sketch Saturday, we have another gorgeous sketch for you and our sponsor is the lovely Emma Lockley who is a Stampin' Up demonstrator in the UK. She is offering a lovely prize this week as well as offering a wonderful deal to anyone who places an order with her!

Today I have used one of the Magnolia stamps that I recieved in my Spring Kit for this wonderful sketch. The paper is Stampin' Up's Parisien Breeze and I love how all the patterns in the pack combine so beautifully together. It really takes a lot less time when everything is already co-ordinated for you!

• Stamps: Magnolia Butterfly Collection (now available individually), Sentiment from Whiff of Joy
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: SU Parisien Breeze, Baja Breeze
• Coloring: Copic Markers
• Embellies: Satin ribbon from sewing supply store, Butterflies cut with Martha Stewart Punch

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely week-end! My fellow DT sisters have all made stunning creations with this sketch so don't forget to stop by the Sketch Saturday blog and theirs as well!

Whiff of Joy Cards & Challenges

This first card is one I made for the Our Creative Corner Challenge. This week the challenge is a fabulous sketch. I used my WOJ Confirmand Melinda but I colored her a deep rose that matched some scrap DP that I had in my drawer. The background behind her was created by stamping some Very Vanilla cardstock with the "En Francais" stamp that I just got from Stampin' Up. The sentiment is also from WOJ and I stamped it and then cut it out using one of my Spellbinders' Ribbons Tags. The ribbon is my May Arts and I picked it up at a little shop near Montreal. My image is colored with Copic Markers on Neehah Solar Crest paper.

This next little project is a little tea-bag gift holder. I saw the link for this Double Dutch Challenge at Marlene's blog. She always has the greatest little projects and her creations are always stunning.

Again, this was easily made with paper from my scrap drawer. The instructions are right there at the DD challenge and as you can see in this second photo, you can tuck a teabag into each little pocket. How cute is that? Such a great idea and so handy to have some made and put aside as a little gift for someone. I have put in some Spiced Chai Tea ....so yummy. This WOJ image is called Willow with Hot Chocolate but in this case...she has a nice cuppa chai tea. The image is colored with Distress Inks.

That is it for me today....I have mountains of folded laundry that need to be put away.....see you tomorrow for Sketch Saturday!

Dreams

I have a few posts for you today. This first one was a card that I put together the other day while my son was doing his homework. He is in Grade 2 and still needs a little help from time to time and now that I have my craft room, he sits opposite to me and while he is working, I take the opportunity to color my images or work on a card.

I am totally in love with this new Sweet 'n Sassy Set. It is called Dream Silhouettes and lends itself to so many different techniques. I have tried something a little new here. I embossed all the images with a versamark pad and white embossing powder. Then I started to layer on the colors using sponges and versacolor ink. At first, I had just a pale yellow on the top and green on the bottom, but I just kept layering different colors on, blending them in, and this is the result. The sentiment is also from the set and is one of my favorites as well.

I also wanted to mention that Sweet 'n Sassy is now carrying Neenah Classic Solar Crest paper. This is my preferred paper to use when coloring with my Copic Markers. I have learned that one of the real secrets to beautiful blending starts with the quality of paper that you use. I had been using cheaper paper that I found at Walmart and honestly, it just isn't good enough. Neenah is thicker and just works so much better. So if you are struggling with your Copic Coloring, give this paper a try....you will love it! Korin also has some copic markers that are left over from this month's Copic club, so hurry on over if you want some! I am sure that they will go quickly.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will get to my other posts later in the day! Have a good one!

Vintage Baseball

I received my new Whimsy Baseball Conner stamp early this week. It has been resized to be a little smaller than the original. I really love these stamps for the very sweet and detailed images and for the wonderful way they are packaged. They come already E-Z mounted and with a laminated, printed card to store them on. I love the convenience.

I have been really neglecting my Distress Inks these days and I don't want to lose the knack of coloring with them so that is what I have used. I decided to go for a vintage baseball look. I just used various shades of browns to color my image. I have kept the look of the card very plain and clean so that the image really pops out! The sentiment is from Stampin'Up and I love the fact that it fits perfectly in the scallopped circle.

I am entering this in the new Whimsy Stamps Challenge which is to create a card for a special occasion. I think this is the perfect birthday card for a guy! Hope you can join in as well. There are already some beautiful entries!

Thanks for stopping by! I have been busy stamping up a storm today so I have quite a few projects that I will be sharing with you in the coming days!

Sugar Nellie & A Spoonful of Sugar

This week's challenge over at A Spoonful of Sugar is "to die for"! You need to use die cuts on your project. I decided to make an aperature card with the help of my Oval Nestabilities and used two very sweet Sugar Nellie stamps. They are so much fun to color and these two seemed to go well together. I added a few butterflies to the front of the card by using my Martha Stewart butterfly punch. The images are glued back to back with some fishing wire in beween which goes up under the DP on the card. This way they are suspended and will rotate through the oval aperature. My son, suggested a little trick. Just "wind" up the images a few times before closing the card and then when it is opened, the images will twirl inside the aperature!

Here is the second image:

• Stamps: Sugar Nellies Elisabeth Bell images available through Funky Kits
• Ink: Memento
• Paper: SU Whisper White, Crate
• Coloring: Copic Markers
• Embellies: Butterflies- Martha Stewart Punch
  

Have a fantastic day and thanks for stopping by!

Sweet 'n Sassy Round-Up Card

Time is just flying by these days and once again, it is time to show you my Sweet'n Sassy round-up card for the month.

I have had the idea in my head for awhile now to make a "window" card. I made an amazing discovery while I was making this card. You can emboss the clear sheet that the SNSS stamps are packaged with. I was sure it would melt...but it didn't! I always save these clear sheets after I put the stamps away in the clear CD case because I never want to throw anything out that I can potentially use in some craft project or other!

I used the beautiful new Dream Silhouettes set to create this "window" card. With the help of my circle Nestabilities and a little versamark and embossing powder, it was very easily done. After stamping the image and sentiment for the inside of my card, I lightly air-brushed the edges to create a soft look and then stamped the beautiful sentiment in matching ink. It is a little hard to read in my photo (sorry) but it says, " Our dreams are big so we can grow into them".

• Stamps: Sweet n Sassy Dream Silhouettes
• Ink: Veracolor, SU White Embossing Powder, Versamark
• Paper: Paper Trey, SU Cardstock in Baja Breeze
• Embellies: Paper Trey Aqua Mist ribbon
• Tools: Embossing Heat Tool, Circle Nestabilities

My fellow DT sisters also have created some gorgeous cards and projects for the April Round-Up so please go take a look and prepare to be amazed. They are stunning. Their links are in my side-bar,

Enjoy your day and I hope you get the chance to get a little "inky" today!