Smitten and Smoochin'

When I saw this "Picture Perfect" photo challenge at Paper Smooches Sparks, I was jaw-struck! Be still my heart, right?! Wow. I knew right away what I wanted to do.

I used the Paper Smooches set called "Pretty Phrases". Doesn't Kim Hughes have the most unique and fun style? I have some of her stamps from when she used to design for CHF. Love!!!!!

I got out my vintage stash for this card. This is old sheet music; "Sweet Chariot" (guess what I've been singing around the house for days!) - just what someone would play on this cool piano for sure.

My vintage buttons did the job of reflecting the vintage plates. And the heart....well, it was made for this.

This challenge was probably the most fun I've had in weeks (sorry, honey!). Thanks for looking! Have a sweet day.

Going Postal

Hero Arts S5215, Papertrey Ink "Fly Away"

Good Morning - hope you all had a lovely weekend. We celebrated Memorial Day here in the USA and it was the coldest I ever remember. This usually marks the start of summer, but we had our heater on. Crazy!

I recently wanted to recognize the exceptional work of my local postal worker, so I made him this little card (I also wrote a complimentary letter to the Postmaster).

How many canceled stamps do we toss out everyday? And stamps are so cool - great colors, great images (who designs them, anyway?) and different sizes. I have a whole box of them!

Here I used stamps as an abstract skyline, paired with a Hero Arts background stamp and a Papertrey Ink airplane.

I am submitting this to the Moxie Fab World's "Postal Challenge" and  the Simon Says Stamp "Father's Day/For a Special Male (Mail?) Challenge" .

Take good care and have a great week!

Monkeying Around

Hero Arts CL155, CL261, MS Punch

Good morning!

We are just back from our whirlwind road trip - very fun and successful. I see more miles in our future now that hubby is retired.

I like to take a little something when we visit family, so here is a little gift bag I put together with a cute monkey tag just for some fun.I plan to enter this in the current challenge for "Special Male" cards at Simon Says Stamp blog.

Thanks for your comments on my last post!  I have a winner of the Vacation Give-Away Necklace. It is dear Robin, who is a super-duper deluxe card-maker. Check out her great blog here. Robin, get me your address and the necklace will be on the way.

Have a great weekend! It is a holiday weekend here in the USA, with Memorial Day on Monday as we honor our freedom fighters.

Rainy Day and Vacation Give-Away.

No, sorry - I am not giving away a vacation. But.......read below for the details.

I had such fun making this card for the Simon Says Stamp "Rainy Day" Challenge over at the amazing Lily Pad Card blog. There is always something great hoppin' over there.

Months ago my sweet blogging buddy Sheila turned me on to Whipper Snapper stamps (they are from her home state, Wisconsin). I never thought I was into cute animals, but these guys have such personalities! This is Tucan Can (CT966) and he makes me smile. I stationed him with a colorful umbrella (from the April Simon Says Stamp kit) on a hand-cut cloud card base. He has some dimension and, yes, googly eyes! The rain is MS glitter applied with a glue stamp to Hero Arts "Scattered Dots" (CG267). I don't often think to use glue on my stamps - it is serious fun.

I am heading out on a little road trip (to southern California for some fun and family visits) with the newly-retired hubby. I will sooooo miss blogging and visiting your blogs to see your amazing creations (& offering my candid comments) so I am offering a little vacation (mine!) give-away.

I had so many nice comments on the necklace that I made and shared here that I made another one. This one is crocheted copper wire with some multifaceted glass beads. There is a matching pair of pierced earrings, too. Lacey and light for summer. The length is adjustable for every neck and outfit.

Just leave a comment here so I know you'll miss me and I will pick a random winner when I return on May 24th.I will ship anywhere!

As always, thanks for visiting. I will see you upon my return!

I Scream

for ice cream! I am actually not a big fan of ice cream, but whatever - it is cute.

Hi, pals! I am just home from a few days away in time to quickly post another entry for the current Simon Says Stamp challenge, "Sweet Tooth" and for the Gingham Challenge at Moxie Fab World.

This is another wonderful Lockhart Stamp Company image that I colored with Prisma Pencils. I kept it clean & simple, too.

I hope to catch up with most of you tomorrow, but then we are off again on another week-long road trip. Having Gary retired has certainly changed my crafting life!

Lockhart Stamp Company

Before I head out of town for a few days I want to share with you about an amazing class that I took last weekend. Do you know Lockhart Stamps? I have loved them for a few years - the designs are so sweet, simple and fun to color. And, the company is right here in northern California! Check it out - the website is very cool.

When I heard that my "local" scrapbook store was hosting Karen Lockhart to teach an introduction to color pencils class I was jumping with excitement. Not only is Karen a wonderful artist and designer, she is a great & really fun gal. She uses Prisma Pencils, which I have used extensively since high school.

Karen taught us some amazing coloring techniques, including laying down multiple layers of gradients of color. These cherries have four layers of color, starting with sand and a very pale pink and ending with a deep Tuscan red. There are some great Tips and Techniques on her website.

With this image I wanted to keep the card clean and simple. The gingham is for the current challenge at Moxie Fab World and the cherries are for the Sweet Tooth challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

I'm heading out for a few days - sorry, no blogging or comments on your lovely work. Take care!

I'm seeing through you.....

I have been thinking (okay - when I should be sleeping!) about two challenges, Moxie Fab World's "Spectacular Spectacles" and A Blog Named Hero's "Topsy Turvy", which is to use a sentiment for something other than a sentiment.

I had a Hero Arts stamp set (CL350) on my desk and all I could see when I looked at the "Happy Birthday" sentiment was a pair of glasses! So, I put the two challenges together for this card.

I stamped the sentiment with white Stazon onto the acetate card (Hero Arts PS454) and paper-pieced Mr. Frog (Hero F5294). I used dark tones to allow for more contrast with the front sentiment. The P's do make cute glasses and I even added a sentiment (Hero CL135) as a lily pad for this little guy.

I don't often make acetate cards and now I know why! They are close to impossible to photograph! Not only do they reflect every bit of light, the static picks up lots of tiny particles and they do not close flat. I have NEVER seen fingers in a card photo (isn't it a personal touch?!), but after hours of trying, there was just nothing else I could do.

This will also go into the current Hero Arts blog contest for birthday cards. Thanks for hoppin' by and have a great weekend!

Summer Spec-tacular

I was intrigued by the "Spectacular Spectacles Challenge" at Moxie Fab World. Since I am a tropical gal at heart and because I don't wear glasses myself (well, I have glasses - I just don't wear them!), I decided to use sunglasses.

You have seen him here before - Hero Arts Curious Owl (F5210), but never looking quite so cool. All paper-pieced and inked up, he is ready to hit the Tiki Bar.

I found the sunglasses (colored with Prisma pencils) pdf on the internet and I made the sentiment from Hero's Typewriter Letters (CL492).

Grab your sunglasses and have a sunny day - rain or shine! Thanks for looking!

Vintage Vogue

The current Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World is this "Vintage Vogue" photo (to the left). Dreamy, eh?

I have lots of great vintage embellishments and some were put to use with this card. I also pulled out a couple of my Tim Holtz Sizzix dies. Can you see the tulle on the skirt? Very vintage.

The stamps are Hero Arts - S1832, Italian Poetry Background (stamped in gold on the dress form) and the sentiment is A3327.

A Special Friday!

Today is a special one because it is the first day of my hubby's retirement! We have been planning this day for a long time. We'll have to see just how this may change my crafting time! Ha! It will take awhile for him to figure out his new life, but I am going to love having more time with him. We waited a long time to find each other (we have been married only 14 years - first for both!) and really enjoy every single minute.

So, only a quick card and post today because we are heading over to the coast for some sun, fun and seafood! This card is made to celebrate the third birthday of the Simon Says Stamp blog. What a great source of inspiration (and prizes!). Also, this is for the current birthday contest at the Hero Arts blog.

The sentiment was made by a friend with her electronic cutter and this sweet owl (Hero Arts 5210) - you've seen him here before and you'll see him again! He's one of my favorite critters. Plus, I get to use googly eyes!

Other Hero Arts stamps used:  CG887, CL514, CL394.

Happy Birthday and have a wonderful weekend!

Interactive Gals

It's my dear pal Antionette's birthday and that always means a special card. She loves all things vintage, especially glamor gals. I was inspired by this month's challenge at Hero Arts to make an interactive card. Here is the card with the elements "closed", or stacked, and "open" or pulled upward. The elements are hinged with brads for easy movement.

Photographing an interactive card isn't easy - maybe I need to learn how to do videos! Ha!

I don't think that I have ever used so many stamps on one card - Hero Arts E2487, E2490, E2488, CG175, CG190, CG245, CL139. And, lots of Nestibilities!

Happy birthday, dear friend!