Present Girl

I made this card for this months Technique Junkies Technique Of The Month contest and could not post it until the contest was over. The winners were announced last week and I remembered I forgot to post the card I made so I am doing it now. I didn't win but the technique was fun to do. The technique I used to make the card was the magic pattern technique which is in the current TJ newsletter. I also got to use my new Rubber Romance stamps. I discovered them when Lauren posted some cards she made with them on her blog awhile back and I really liked them. I used one of her sketches for the layout too. I ended up getting this stamp and some others like them directly from the gal that makes them on Etsy. She has a whole line of really cool stamps so you should check out her Etsy Shop. This is Judy from her ATC collection but I am just calling her present girl. The saying stamp is from The Angel Company. Solid cardstock is from SU and the pokadot cardstock is from the Memory Box Sugar collection. Finished card is 41/4x51/2.
On another note. 4 more people have been voted off Idol this week and I was only right about one of them. My two favorites and picks to go to the finals so far are Carly and David A. Time will tell though. BB had some big drama this week too. Both Amanda and Allison had health crisises at the same time which was really scary to watch but are fine now. If anyone knows what caused Allisons allergic reation I would love to know. Amanda and Alex eneded up going home but I can't say I was sorry to see Amanda go though. That is it for now. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great night.

Cards For Kids With Cancer and a blogger award

Yesterday I hosted a class for homeschoolers to make cards for kids with cancer. Unfortunately I only had 3 other kids participate besides Emilia. I had really hoped that more people in our homeschool community would want to do this but that did not happen. At least we still got some made though. I got the idea to do this because when I discovered Lauren Meaders blog I read that her daughter Alexa has cancer and she had a stamp set made for her where all the proceeds go to cancer research. You can read more about Alexa's story and the stamp set here. After reading Alexa's story I thought it would be a great idea to buy the stamp set and use it with other homeschoolers in my community to make cards for kids with cancer to help cheer them up. No one especially a child should ever have to go through something like this and I thought this was just one small thing that we could do to try and make kids with cancer feel better so I came up with a card for the kids to make with Alexa's set. I started off by showing them how to do a basic Versamark resist with a k-pad for the background on the cards. They thought that was pretty cool. After that they stamped the groovy girl on white cardstock and colored her in then matted her on colored cardstock and attached her to the resist background. They finished them off by adding some sparkle with Stickles on the butterflies wings. I am really hoping that these colorful cards will bring some cheer to some children's day that are going through this right now
On another note. My friend Ann gave me an I love you this much award which originally came from here
Thank you Ann. Ann is a fellow homeschool mom and an incredible artist. You should definitely check out her blog. I am suppose to tag other bloggers that I love now but I love so many peoples blogs it would take me forever to do that. I have listed quite a few of my favorite blogs on my sidebar though so if you are reading this and are listed then consider yourself tagged if you want to play along. That's it for now I hope you have a great day.

Mary Jo's Lunchtime sketch Week 5

This card was made for Mary Jo's lunchtime sketch week 5. This one was the most challenging for me so far and I almost gave up on it altogether but I think I finally came up with something I can live with. I was going to do a technique with it but I was not happy with how the one I was planning on using came out so I resorted to just using patterned paper on this one. The patterned paper I used is from the Rustic Chic paper pack from the Angel Company. The solid cardstock is Bazzill. Saying is also from the Angel Company. That is it for now hopefully next week I will come up with something better. I am off to eat dinner and watch BB and the Oscars now.

Day at the Beach

I made this card for My Favorite Things day yesterday. I also used this weeks MFT sketch 18 too. I started off by doing the TJ watercolor distress technique from the Feb/Mar 2007 issue. I used Rangers antique linen and faded jeans distress inks to create a beach scene. Next I stamped the lady and her dog from the My Favorite Things By The Seashore Set. After that I colored them with my copic sketch markers and then stamped the birds in the background. I also stamped some seashells on the light blue panel with Rangers seashells cool peri dye ink but it is hard to see in the picture though. I finished the card off by sewing around the main image with my mini Janome sewing machine. Finished card is 41/4x51/2
On another note I have been busy watching American Idol and Big Brother this week. It really sucks that they are both on at the same time 2 days a week but I am still keeping up with both of them thanks to my extra VCR. So far I don't have a favorite picked out from either show yet but hopefully will soon. If you have a favorite let me know though. That's it for now. Have a good night and thanks for stopping by.

Mary Jo's Weekly Sketch

I hope you all are having a good weekend. It has been a bit crazy around here since Rich has been gone. Our 13 yr old border collie has not been sleeping well which means I haven't been either. She has been getting really nervous at night and starts to pant excessively. During the day she is fine though. Hopefully tonight will be better. Even though I am going on little sleep this is what I came up with for Mary Jo's weekly sketch challenge this week. I used the pencil twinks technique from the current technique junkies newsletter. The gerber daisy stamp is from The Angel Company. The background was made with my new swiss dots cuttlebug folder that I got today from Christine at All That Scraps. Finished card is 41/4x51/2
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a good night.

Happy Valentines Day

Rich and I are very anti holiday because of how commerical they have become but I did make a card for him anyways because this is still suppose to be a special day to share the love. Rich really liked the other card I made like this but he liked the simpler version better so that is what I went with but changed it up a little bit for him.
The stamps are from the Angel Company. Paper is Stampers Select from PTI that I embossed with a square nestabilitie die and my cuttlebug. I distressed the edges a bit and sponged them with Adriondack cranberry ink. Rich left town early this morning to see his family in Texas for a few days so I stuck it in his suitcase to suprise him. Emilia got an ecard from American Girl since that is what she likes best. I hope you are are having a good Vday and are able to share the love on this special day with your loved ones too.

Something Different

Remember in my last post I told you I was working on something that was not a card? Well here it is, another picture frame for my mom for Valentines Day. I used the same pouncing technique and colors that I used on the last card I made but this time I used acrylic paint from the Adirondack acrylic paint daubers instead. I started by making a sheet of the pouncing background on glossy cardstock When it was dry I glued it on to the frame and cut the middle out with my craft knife. I cut the hearts out of chipboard with my cuttlebug and one of their heart dies then I used my Colorbox petalpoint pigment inks to color them. After that I stamped the sayings using my mixed messages stamps from Papertrey Ink and covered them with crystal effects to get a glossy finish. When they were dry I glued them on to the frame. I finished the frame off by putting a new picture of Emilia and I in it. I am pretty sure my mom is going to love it since she is always asking for pictures and this is something she will be able to look at all the time instead of just another card.
On another note Big Brother is back. It started last night and they have really changed it up this time. Rich has decided he is not going to watch it because it reminds him of a frat party hopefully he will change his mind but I am going to stick with it in the meantime though. Tonight is also the night American Idol picks the top 24. Thank goodness I still have a VCR since they are on at the same time. Hopefully they will put them on at different times in the future though.
That's it for now. I am off to finish up some more valentine cards.

Friendship Hearts

I was finally able to get back to meeting some of my stamping goals this week and this is one of the things I came up with. This card is for Mary Jo's weekly sketch week 3. I started off using a pouncing technique that is in the new TJ newsletter. This version was done with Adorindack alcohol inks in Cranberry, Wild Plum and Red Pepper. I just love this color combonation. After that I used my Faber Castell watercolor pencils to color the heart stamps. When I was done, I cut the hearts and red mats with my large and small plain circle nestabilities. I used my SU slit punch to make the scallop border and my Cropadile to punch the tiny holes. I finished the card with some red organdy ribbon. Stamps are from Alluring Impressions, Cardstock is Bazzill and CTMH. Finished card is 41/4 x 51/2.
I also got a chance to work on something else this week too and it is not a card but it is not finished yet. I am off to work on it some more now so hopefully it will be finished soon and then I will share it with you. In the meantime I hope you all have a great weekend.

Mary Jo's Lunchtime Sketch Week 2

Sorry I have not posted anything all week until now. It has been one of those weeks where to much other stuff happened and I was not able to get much stamping done. The week started out with a visit to an oral surgeon about my mouth problems. Thankfully the problem is not with my teeth but he did say he thought I had something called Burning Mouth Syndrome which would explain why my mouth and tounge feel like they are burning most of the time. I am trying something called Neurontin for it but I can only take it at night because it makes me to tired to function during the day and it is not really helping so if any of you reading this have any suggestions for what I could do to help stop this problem that won't knock me out please let me know.
I also spent a good part of the week trying to get enough homeschoolers together to stamp cards for kids with cancer. I think I finally have enough kids and moms to make it work now but it was also a challenge to come up with a date that worked for all of us to get together to do this too. We finally came up with a date that would work for everyone so hopefully it will actually happen now.
Today I finally got a chance to stamp and this is what I came up with for Mary Jo's lunchtime sketch challange this week. This is not my usual style but I thought I would try something different to mix things up. Stamps are from Alluring Impressions. I used a new Technique Junkies Technique called Opalite Color Infusions. Paper is Bazzill. Silver Brads are from CTMH. That's it for now. I hope next and I can get back to meeting my stamping goals again.