2010...

ho ho ho...

wishing peace and joy to you and your families!

cards for sale...

these are cards i made for my sister-in-law. the first set, i ran out of my original paper so i had to improvise! the second set was a version of a 3x3 set i made.

gift tags...

my cousin asked if i would make her some christmas tags so i made three different kinds. i blinged them a little with some stickles, but you can't see it very well in the picture. i think i might make some more for me!



christmas tags
stamps: purple onion, maryse carrier, hero arts
cardstock: craft & candy apple-bazzill; handsome hunter-su
ink: onyx black, riding hood red, soft sky
embellishments: prismacolor markers, stickles, extra large brads-wrmk

prismacolory goodness...

ah...prezzies are arriving! a box of prismacolory goodness. of course, i can't open them yet. at least i know they are here and only have two weeks to wait!!!

holiday sale...

at purple onion designs! 25% off until dec 15th!


ps post the blinkie on your blog and enter here for a chance to win free stamps!! (gotta love free advertising!)

roar...

i found this cute monster set one day at the craft store (robert's). it's made by my cute stamps. there are a bunch of cute stamps by this company. i'm sure i won't use it much, but it came in handy for cindy's monster atc swap!

roar
stamps: my cute stamps
cardstock: basic black-su; we r memory keepers pp
ink: onyx black
embellishments: prismacolor markers, distress stickles

new banner...

i have been playing today in photoshop. i hate that the free trial is going to run out because i'm learning a ton! and it's so expensive! oh well. i had fun making my new banner. the elements are from sue cummings and house of 3. i just wish it didn't take hours! i start messing around with it and the next thing i know, 3 hours has gone by!!

oh well!

tree...

my friend christie is hosting an excellent "think outside of the box" kind of swap. it's making christmas atcs using non-traditional colors. it was definitely a challenge! i started picking my colors, then realized it was looking very halloween-ish! one of the papers is actually halloween paper! i wasn't sure about them, but i like how they turned out.


tree
stamps: stampin up
cardstock: basic black-su; hot fudge-my favorite things; we r memory keepers pp, recollections pp, stampin up pp
ink: gray/silver studio g

shapes & sizes...

some of my favorite stamp designs are by maryse carrier. here stamps are getting harder to find, but i have a lot of them. i decided to host an atc swap using her stamps.


shapes & sizes
stamps: maryse carrier, stamping bella
cardstock: melon mambo, pink passion, pebbles pp
ink: melon mambo, onyx black
embellishments: prismacolor & bic markers

more playing...

with photoshop and brushes. most of these are from the house of 3 christmas kits. they are awesome!!

snoopy christmas...

this atc is for tracy's cartoon swap. we had to use a cartoon image. i just love snoopy and this is one of my favorite christmas stamps, although i rarely use it!! i used stickles on the light bulbs to give them a little twinkle!



snoopy christmas
stamps: stampabilities
cardstock: wild wasabi, american crafts pp
ink: baja breeze
embellishments: stickles, prismacolor & bic markers

happy thanksgiving...

happy thanksgiving!

(a little goodie i made after my cool class with rhonna farrer.)

the end of the 2009 holiday cj...

and i'm so sad! it's always such a sad thing when the end of a circle journal comes to and end. it's a six month long project and so much work, but so worth it! i can't wait to get mine back! i kind of forgot what i did!! this is the entry for suzi's cj. i had a hard time doing it, because i didn't do very much that was exciting last christmas!!



a good christmas
stamps: stampin up
cardstock: three bugs in a rug pp
ink: cranberry crisp, onyx black
embellishments: stickles
font: ldj christmas troll

work in progress...

i have been crafting over the past few days. for the first time in a while, it's not for a swap!! a bunch of ladies i work with are having a craft boutique tomorrow night. i've been making some things to take and maybe sell. this is a set of 3x3 cards i made.



ps ignore the watermark. i posted this on my other blog and i didn't have a chance to change it!

jingle penguin...

i love penguins. i have probably more penguin stamps than i'll ever use. i even have a penguin tattoo! so i was so excited to join robin's penguin swap. i forgot about this cute little stamp until i was looking for another one i was going to use. he's so festive! and i found this cute american crafts ribbon at michael's the other day. and only a buck for a spool!! i love bargains!



jingle penguin
stamps: jessica lynn originals
cardstock: cranberry crisp-su, k*i memories pp
ink: cranberry crisp, onyx black
embellishments: american crafts ribbon, stickles, prismacolor & bic markers

i'm too sexy...

sherri is hosting the best themed swap of the year. it's a sexy squirrel swap. and i know this stamp is a little creepy rather than sexy, but i used it anyway!! i embellished the crap out of these. a little fun flock here. a little distressed stickles there. some glossy accents and a brad. sheesh!



i'm too sexy
stamps: recollections, su
cardstock: soft suede-su, recollections pp
ink: soft suede, vintage sepia
embellishments: fun flock, distressed stickles, glossy accents, brads

presents and trees...

here are the finished projects i mentioned in my previous post about the glitter. sans the glitter. i went for no glitter on one and embossing powder on the other. something that is much easier to control than glitter. i also decided to try something new. i'm an edge inker. i hate having uninked edges. almost all my stuff is inked. so i tried embossing the edges of this atc. i love how it worked out. i used versamark to ink the edge just like regular ink, then ran it through some embossing powder and viola! embossed edges! and who knew a window stamp could work for a present?


presents
stamps: memory box
cardstock: going gray-su; candy apple-bazzill; pebbles pp
ink: versamark
embellishments: silver embossing powder, silver elastic cord



i used paper piecing on the tree, too. much cuter than the glitter i tried! i had origianlly tried to do something similar, using a glue pad and stamped the image and added glitter. each section of the tree a different color. but the glitter didn't stick all over. and it look horrid. i did add a speck of stickles to the this set, after i took the picture. i tried it on one of the stars on the trees, then decided i liked it!


o christmas tree
stamps: hero arts, hampton art stamps
cardstock: wild wasabi-su; hot fudge-my favorite things; su, pebbles, imaginisce patterned paper
ink: certainly celery, onyx black
embellishments: stickles

glitter...

i've been fighting with glitter today. and i lost. but it was a good lesson in what not to do. and i ended up liking my projects much better than i orignally had them planned, without the glitter. i'll post them tomorrow. now i have to go do some heavy duty glitter clean up. that crap gets everywhere!

don't feed the animals...

i love all the animal stamps i have. when i sat down to make the atcs for suzi's "let's go to the zoo" swap, i drew a blank. so finally, i just grabbed a couple of animals and started stamping. i almost never make a 'rough draft' for lack of a better term, before i make my projects. but this time i did. once i figured out what animals i was using, it needed some words. so i figured out where to put them and printed it out! then finished my stamping! here's the end result.



don't feed the animals!
stamps: stampendous, my favorite things, imaginisce
cardstock: hot fudge-my favorite things, recollections pp
ink: soft suede, onyx black
embellishments: buttons-bazzill, hemp twine, bic & prismacolor markers
font: ck roxy alternate

don't hate us...

and the sentiments keep coming from river city rubber works. i love that place! this atc kind of came together by accident. i was looking a tag i had (left over from my tag swap) and i set it down to go do something. when i came back, i realized i laid it down right on top of a piece of cardstock that was the size of an atc. i loved how it looked, even though i knew i wasn't making a real tag. so i went with it and made this. it's for suzi's atc swap, rudolph & the guys. the reindeer stamp fits perfectly with the theme and the sentiment is great with the stamp!



don't hate us
stamps: river city rubber works, purple onion designs, stampin up
cardstock: riding hood red
ink: riding hood red, soft sky, onyx black
embellishments: extra large eyelets-we r memory keepers, ribbon-su, stickles, bic & prismacolor markers

noel...

here come the winter/christmas themed atcs!! this one is for a christmas ornament atc swap that chris is hosting (one of the dozens she is hosting!). i love embossing and don't do it enough. i usually use black craft ink and emboss with clear, or use a colored ink. i'm not a fan of colored embossing powder, mostly because i'm messy! so i branched out and used silver powder for this stamp. i love how it turned out.



noel
stamps: stampendous
cardstock: baja breeze, cranberry crisp, basic grey pp
ink: true thyme, versamark
embellishments: silver embossing powder, prismacolor markers

your fault...

another great sentiment stamp from river city rubber works and the church ladies again. this one just makes me smile!! i made this card for a little contest over at the shack, but got eliminated in the third round. oh well.

your fault
stamps: river city rubber works
cardstock: river rock, cranberry crisp
ink: soft suede, versafine-vintage sepia
embellishments: flower brad

boo!

happy halloween!!

flakes...

snowman. i have a bunch (i know, i mentioned that before) and now i've used two of them in the past week in two seperate projects! i need to branch out!!


flakes
stamps: purple onion, maryse carrier, tac, stampin up
cardstock: vintage violet, all my memories pp
ink: tempting turquoise, kiwi kiss, onyx black
embellishments: hero arts bling, prismacolor & bic markers

blue hair...

i have been waiting for the right swap to use this stamp. well, both stamps, actually. they are from river city rubber works and crack me up. first of all, the group of ladies. kills me. then the phrase! this set of atcs is for a friendship swap that my friend cheryl is hosting. her first one (woo hoo!)


blue hair
stamps: river city rubber works, papertrey ink, rubber stamping fun
cardstock: river rock, bravo burgundy
ink: soft suede, versafine-vintage sepia, majestic blue

snowman tags...

sometimes i just get stumped by a swap. this was one of them. i have a ton of snowman stamps, so you would think it would be easy. but i couldn't figure it out! maybe it was the size that threw me off. they were to be 3x3 tags. and i didn't want to make a 3x3 card. i love this snowman from purple onion. it's one of my favorites. and i remembered i had this tag stamp, so i wanted to use it. trying to get them to fit together was a challenge, but i did it. and it made me use more brads, which i rarely use anymore!




snowman tag
stamps: purple onion, green grass stamps, maryse carrier
cardstock: vintage violet, all my memories pp
ink: vintage violet, tempting turquoise, onyx black
embellishments: hemp twine, brads, prismacolor & bic markers

actual cards!

i actually made some cards today! i know, shocker. it's been a while since i made cards and not atcs! i used digital images on all of them. they were all free (which is a bonus!). the first two i made using a set from whimsie doodles. i made a set of each of these to send to my friend, lesa. she does awesome things for those with breast cancer and is a breast cancer survivor.


fight like a girl
digi stamps: whimsie doodles
cardstock: pink pirouette, purely pomegranate, pebbles pp
ink: purely pomegranate, maroon fluid chalk (color box)
embellishments: stickles, su ribbon, prismacolor & bic markers




fight like a girl
digi stamps: whimsie doodles
cardstock: pink pirouette, purely pomegranate, melon mambo, pebbles pp
ink: purely pomegranate
embellishments: stickles, su ribbon, prismacolor & bic markers



this card i made from a digistamp from my favorite things. kim gave away a free stamp with a catch. you had to make a card and send it to someone who could use a lift. unfortunately, i know quite a few people that fit this category, so i made a bunch! inside says, "hey, it's been a while..."


been a while
stamps: my favorite things
digi stamps: my favorite things
cardstock: pink pirouette, certainly celery, perfect plum
ink: perfect plum
embellishments: prismacolor & bic markers, buttons

christmas cookies...

have i mentioned that i'm loving the holiday circle journal swap this year? everyone's cjs have been so unique. and challenging! traci's cj theme was favorite christmas cookie recipes. i don't usually make anything special that is cookie themed around christmas, so i just added two of my favorite cookie (well, only one, really...the other is a bar) recipes. and i just recently discovered this chocolate chip cookie recipe, thanks to my cousin, jana. my cute mom will probably be angry that i didn't include her favorite traditional holiday cookies from denmark: the kleiner, spritz cookie or pebbernodder. she's always trying to get me to continue the tradition, but i'm not a huge fan of any of the three treats! so i'll stick to my boring chocolate chip cookie and tasty peanut butter bars!





favorite christmas cookies
stamps: stampin up
cardstock: cranberry crisp, true thyme, imaginisce pp
ink: cranberry crisp, true thyme, chocolate chip
font: ck nitelite

christmas inchies...

you may be wondering, what's an inchie? an inchie is a tiny little work of art! it's a card that is 1 inch by 1 inch. tiny, really!! and hard to work with, but fun to make! i used another digistamp image from digistamp boutique. one of the cool things about digital stamps is you can make the image whatever size you want! so i shrunk this one day and used it on my little inchies.



spot's present
stamps: purple onion designs
digistamps: digistamp boutique
cardstock: wild wasabi
ink: wild wasabi
other:prismacolor markers

cold twigs...

i love snowman stamps. i have a ton of them. so i think it's funny that i found this cute digistamp at digistamp boutique and used it for these atcs! i think this little snowman is so cute! but don't worry. i have a few more snowman swaps to do, so i'll get my stamps inky for those! i guess this is considered hybrid stamping because i used digital and regular stamps.



cold twigs
stamps: stampin up
digistamps: digistamp boutique
cardstock: almost amethyst, memory box pp
ink: almost amethyst, perfect plum
embellishments:fun flock
other:prismacolor markers

christmas tags...

fall is finally here. one day it's 75, nice and sunny, the next day it's 40 degrees. halloween is next week so that means winter and christmas are around the corner! so here come the christmas themed swaps!! this is a set of gift tags for a swap christie is hosting. they are similar to the one's i made last year, but i used different stamps. i love this little christmas tree.



laughter & merriment
stamps: hero arts, purple onion designs
cardstock: vanilla
ink: riding hood red, wild wasabi, blue bayou
embellishments:hemp twine, yellow stickles
other:prismacolor markers

hanging pumpkins...

i think this is the final pumpkin atc swap of the year. it's funny because i bought this stamp set a while ago for one of these pumpkin swaps. i made the other atcs and knew i had one set left to make. i knew i hadn't used this stamp yet. so the other day, i was racking my brain (until it hurt!) trying to figure out what i could make another stinkin' pumpkin atc out of! i had completely forgotten about this stamp. nice! but i found it while looking for something else and a big light bulb went of above my head!

hanging pumpkins
stamps: debbie mumm
cardstock: dusty durango, apricot appeal, tangerine tango, recollections pp
ink: onyx black, dusty durango
embellishments: brads, hemp twine, eyelets
other:prismacolor markers

stressed {equals} desserts...

this is another one of those stamps that i saw and just had to have before even knowing what i might use it for. it's from river city rubber works and it's great! i used it with this cute riley moose stamp for suzanne's marvelous moose atc swap. i think they go hand in hand!!


stressed = desserts
stamps: hanna stamps, river city rubber works
cardstock: melon mambo, stampin up pp
ink: onyx black, melon mambo
embellishments: crystal effects
other:prismacolor markers

cool find...

ok, so i know this is two posts in a row that i'm telling about a cool thing i have found/discovered, but i had to show this off, too!! i found these cute drawer/shelve things yesterday at michaels. they were on clearance for $10. plus you can use a coupon. so i got them for $6 each!! i went back today and got another one and three cubes (that were also on ly $10!). i love the little drawers. they fit lots of things. if i really wanted to, i bet i could get all my su ink pads in them. but i won't because now i can have more stuff in a much handier spot! maybe this will help keep my table looking this organized. nah...i'm sure it won't! this is also nice because i can have my ott light more centered in the table. i'm running out of room for all my markers. but i love the little containers they are in. too bad i found them at ross, so i know i'll never find anymore like them!

cutting corners...

i love rounding corners on things. i can't count how many corner rounders i've gone through because i do it so much (the little yellow and green ek sucess ones). and i don't usually find a tool that i absolutey love. and i usally don't post about it. but i have fallen in love with something. i'm afraid to admit that i bought this a few months ago and it sat unopened in the package for a while. then when cleaning one day, i busted it out. i finally used it and i can't believe i waited so long! it's the corner chomper from we r memory keepers. it is so easy to use and cuts through paper so nicely! i can even cut more than one layer at a time, which was dificult with the little corner punches. and it's like the cropidile, so it's sturdy. i {heart} my corner chomper.

friends forever...

i love hero arts stamps. they have some of the cutest stamps ever made. i've been checking their blog a lot lately, especially when they started doing atcs!! they have a group on flickr which is very cool. it's kind of like a discussion/gallery thing. anyway, they are hosting their first atc swap, so me being obsessed with atcs, signed up! this is actually a "hybrid" i guess is the buzz word people are calling it. it's got a mix of regular stamps and digital stamps. i got the digital kit free from two peas in a bucket. i also did some paper piecing...pieced the owls with patterned paper.


friends forever
stamps: hero arts
digital stamps: meredith fenwick
cardstock: purely pomegranate, old olive, pebbles inc. pp
ink: onyx black, purely pomegranate, old olive
embellishments: stickles
other:prismacolor markers

chick magnet...

do you ever see a stamp and know you have to have it, but really have no real reason to buy it? or to use it? that's how i felt about this cute stamp from amuse. this is an atc for jennifer's "chick, chick, chick, chick" swap. i knew as soon as i saw the swap title, that i wanted to use this stamp.


chick magnet
stamps: amuse, stampendous
cardstock: dusty durango, recollections pp
ink: onyx black, dusty durango
embellishments: hemp twine
other:prismacolor markers

christmas eve...

the holiday circle journal is making another round. joanne's theme is "all about the night before christmas" and what our christmas eve traditions are. i added my entry and wrote about the christmas eve tradition we did when i was little.




christmas eve
stamps: maryse carrier, purple onion designs, rubber stampede
cardstock: old olive, three bugs in a rug pp
ink: old olive, oynx black, versamark
embellishments: prismacolor markers, crystal effects, stickles
font: sf little star skinny

let it snow...

so i did something i've never done before. i completely forgot about a swap i'm in. i'm so glad suzanne emailed everyone about 10 days before it was due as a reminder, otherwise, i would have completely forgotten!! the theme was "a little flakey!" and had to include snowflake stamps. i embossed the background snowflakes and i used crystal effects on the snowman to make them shiny.


let it snow
stamps: inkadinkadoo, hampton art stamps
cardstock: buckaroo blue, night of navy
ink: buckaroo blue, night of navy, white craft
embellishments:clear embossing powder, glossy accents

get 'em squished...

i posted yesterday about the background i made for the atc in the breast cancer awareness swap i'm in. here is the finished project. i also tried the latest craze of digital stamp images (seems odd, i know!). this one is from my favorite things. i wasn't sure how it would work coloring images printed from an ink jet printer, but i was surprised because it worked very well.


get 'em squished
stamps: my favorite things
digi-stamps: my favorite things
cardstock: melon mambo, pink pirouette
ink: melon mambo

going pink...

for october. it's breast cancer awareness month, so i'm going pink for the month of october. if you have a blog, i encourage you do to the same to help spread the word. many of us know family and friends who are currently battling, are surviving or have lost the fight with this horrible disease. so remember what october is about.

i was trying to create my atc for the breast cancer swap christie is hosting and wanted a background. i used the pink ribbon background (found at the shack) last year, so i wanted something new. so i created this one. i also used it in my blog header. since october is breast cancer awareness month, i figured i would share the background with anyone who wants it! so feel free to download it here.

little drac...

little drac
stamps: amuse
cardstock: going gray, basic black, stampin up pp
ink: onyx black

spooky!

i had a hard time coming up with an idea for chris's spooky atc swap. i liked my r.i.p. atc i made for sherri's crow swap, so i kind of did something similar. i bought the martha stewart bat punch many months ago and just haven't figured out how to use it yet on a card or atc. so i experimented and this is what i came up with. i can't believe how many stamp companies are on this little creation!






spooky!
stamps: amuse, just johanna/obp, imaginisce, studio g, inkadinkadoo
cardstock: basic black, crushed curry, dusty durango
ink: riding hood red, pumpkin pie, crushed curry, so saffron, onyx black
embellishments: martha stewart border punch

ghouls...

when i signed up for the ghost swap that my friend chris was hosting, i had a few different ghost stamps in mind. but then i saw this cute card that kristina werner had made and i thought it was cute and figured i could try and make a ghost atc! this is how it turned out! i think i may even try her cute pumpkin!

ghouls just want to have fun
stamps: studio g
cardstock: basic black, going gray, scrapworks pp
ink: onyx black
other: brads