5/31/11

Repeat Impressions - What If? Wednesday

Hello friends; happy Hump Day!

The Rock Stars are back with another What If? Wednesday over at The House That Stamps Built; Wendy offered up another great sketch this week and there is a $25 gift certificate up for grabs, so be sure to play along!

AND I have a guest stamper joining me this week...won't you stick around and see who it is?

This week I've gone Christmas!  Nothing like getting a jump on those Christmas cards - right?  I chose one of the penguin's from last year's Christmas release - I love all the penguins so much; they are just adorable and you can't go wrong with any of them! I used white as my base with accents of Pure Poppy; the DP is from MME and Basic Grey - isn't it great that you can easily mix and match?

The border is a die from MFT Stamps with some red jewels for a bit of pizzazz!  The penguin was colored with Copics and mounted with dimensionals; I added the same border punch to the inside of the card too!

And...what you have ALL been waiting for...my guest artist:

Our youngest daughter Kaitlyn (she's 13 y/o).  She could not wait to play along this week!  She also chose a cute little penguin (with a halo...yeah, you understand why I couldn't choose the one with a halo, right? - LOL)!

Didn't she do a fabulous job?  She also used white as the base and then some Dark Chocolate and DP by PTI.  She chose some ric rac ribbon and chocolate pearls for an accent.  The penguin was colored with Copics, she also added some clear glitter to the wings and halo - she was disappointed you can't see the glitter in the pictures, but they are definitely sparkly IRL.

Be sure to check out what the other Rock Stars have created too, lots of fabulous eye candy to get your Mojo jumping!  Thanks for stopping by; hope you have a GREAT week and don't forget to play along!

....penguins in June...

Hugs, ~M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Repeat Impressions Penguins
Papers:  PTI Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, GKD 120 lb. white, DP by MME, Basic Grey and PTI
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMagic Wheat
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Spica Glitter pen, ric rac ribbon, chocolate pearls, red gems, MFT stamps border die

Guest Stamper:  Kaitlyn

Super cute inside by Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn's up close photo-you should see the sparkle IRL!

5/30/11

TLT- Make Your Own Embellies Anita Style

It's TLT Time - and this week it is "Anita Style"...she chose for us to Make Our Own Embellies...always fun and the girls have rocked the challenge once again!

Me?  Well, you can't really say I "rocked" the challenge, but hey, I tried!  I used the fabulous Flip Flop image from Ladybug Crafts Ink.

The layout is from TCP Tuesday - I flipped it around a bit to make it work.  The little flower is made from a paperback book.  The brad in the middle was originally white, but I colored it brown with my Copics, added Glossy Accents and then some clear microbeads.  Not sure I really like how it turned out, but TOO.LATE.NOW!  :D

The flowers and straps of the flip flops were cut out and adhered with rolled up glue dots for a nice 3D effect IRL.  The sash on the bag and the flowers on the flip flops were enhanced with a clear spica glitter pen - very sparkly IRL.  I originally did not color the sash on the bag with the glitter pen, but Kaity-bug informed me it 'would look better'; hence, it received a coat of glitter!  (she was right, but let's not tell her, mmmm K?)

I added some funky stitching to the Kraft layer and then straight stitching to each panel; I included a picture of the inside which also allows you to see all the dimension on the front - mega dimension!

The image was colored with Copics and rather than running the ribbon OVER my image, I actually threaded it between the nestie oval and the scalloped oval.  Ahhhh...that way I didn't have to cover any of the magnificent image!


Yeah, I'm in love with these new images from Ladybug Crafts Ink, Shoes 'n Bags - LOVE.THEM.ALL...and YOU.NEED.THEM.ALL!  :D

Thanks for stopping by, be sure you hop over to the TLT Challenge Blog and join us; great prizes to be had and we LOVE seeing all your creativity!

...sunshine and flip flops...
Hugs, ~M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Ladybug Crafts Ink Shoes 'n Bags
Papers:  PTI Aqua Mist, Kraft, Dark Chocolate, DP by MME
Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories:  Copics, nestie, brad, glossy accents, paperback book, SU! ticket corner punch, PTI Dark Chocolate twill ribbon, dimensionals, Janome Sew Mini

Memorial Weekend 2011

WOW - it has been hot and SO windy here!  How about your weather; what's it been like where you are?

Saturday I met my BFF for lunch and a movie, "Bridesmaids"....oh, now THAT was funny!  I always have so much fun with her and we laugh and laugh and laugh!  We have a little BFF getaway planned for August - CANNOT.WAIT!!!

Sunday, I took the girls to the Nature Center for a little hiking, well really just walking, but it was hot and very windy.  We didn't see much wildlife at all - middle of the day, not the best time anyway, but we had fun!  I took a few pictures of the creature we did see A LOT of...and a few of the girls.  Our oldest daughter really makes me laugh - you'll see why below, she's ALWAYS a goofball.  Whereas the youngest daughter seems to tolerate it all very well.  LMBO!

Our son was with his dad working and playing, so it was just a girls outting.  From our rough calculations of the trails, we walked about 1.3 miles, but we were all 3 ready to be done!

So I'll leave you with pix from our adventure...and the creature we saw way too many of.  I've added captions to clarify events...or to tell you the "real" story.  LOL

Hope your weekend was great; see you back tomorrow for our next TLT Challenge!!

...sun, wind, girls and turtles...
Hugs, ~M.


Arrival @ the Nature Center (Kaitlyn, on left, stretching to appear taller than her sister, Alyssa)
Oh she makes me laugh; notice Kaitlyn is tolerating her craziness!

Yes, turtles, turtles and MORE turtles - that's all we saw!!
Let's act normal b4 'mother' gets mad!  HA HA
Cool coloring on the turtles, we loved the orange striping!

About halfway through the hike; Alyssa is reaching as if begging Kaitlyn not to leave her behind.
Yep; MORE turtles sunning!
And a whole log of turtles sunning!

5/25/11

Graduation - congratulations!

My mom needed some graduation cards for kiddo's graduating from the same high school in which I graduated from - you do know I graduated just a couple of years ago, right?  Yeah, right...good answer!  LOL

Lots of red and white with a few touches of black.  I have to say - I am awful at creating masculine cards!!  Ugh...WHY is it so hard? I think if it's not a required card with limited colors, I can do okay...but these were so hard!

The masculine cards have lots of embossing on them, but very difficult to see on white cardstock.  The "Congratulations Graduate!" stamp is one I have had for years!  Not sure who makes that one; all the other sentiments are from Verve Visual's Great Expectations stamp set.  

I LOVED doing the feminine card; love how it turned out!  The rosette ribbon was sprayed with glimmer mist in Red Velvet.  I added a black doily (PTI die) to ground the notebook die.  I used some MME and BG DP and lots of distressing and dimension on this card.

Thanks for popping in; hope you're having a great week!

...growing and graduating...

Hugs, ~M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Verve Visual Great Expectations

Papers:  GKD White, PTI Pure Poppy and True Black, DP by Basic Grey and MME
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, PTI Pure Poppy, Chamomile Tea Dye Ink
Accessories:  Nesties, PTI Notebook and doily die, dry embossing, PTI buttons, , MS Arch Lattice border punch, rosette ribbon, glimmer mist



Vertical dry embossing (outside and inside)

Polka dots and vertical embossing

5/24/11

Repeat Impressions DCC - Stitching Faux or Real

Happy Hump Day friends!

Today over at The House That Stamps Built, I chose the designer challenge which is "stitching - faux or real".  LOVE sewing on my cards...however, I have GOT to learn to sew a straight line - sheesh!  LOL

I chose the Tulip Bouquet image and colored it to tie into the DP.  The layout is Mojo Monday #192 - what an amazing layout!  I didn't include the tag; but everything else is there.

As you know, I *heart* Wendy's floral images and the Tulip Bouquet is my all time favorite!  Probably because the shading is there for you - always helps those of us that aren't great with our shading and coloring!

The embellie is made from a paperback book with a large Pure Poppy button in the middle accented with pearls.  I also added faux pearls (Viva Decor) around the scalloped nestie and across the bottom of the Arch Lattic border punch.  I finished it off with some beautiful lace ribbon and ta-da, that's it!

Please stop by the The House That Stamps Built and see what the other Rock Stars have created AND get all the details of how YOU can play along with us!  I promise some incredible creations today AND your chance to win a $25 gift certificate.  Come on, don't be shy and play along!!

Thanks for visiting!

...stitching you...and me...together...forever...

Hugs, ~M.


WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Repeat Impressions Tulip Bouquet
Papers: GKD Cream, PTI Kraft, Dark Chocolate, DP by MME
Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, VersaMagic Wheat and Sahara Sand
Accessories:  Copics, nesties, pearls, PTI button, paperback book, MS Arch Lattic punch, Viva Decor pearls, Janome Sew Mini

5/23/11

TLT - Animals Pinky Style

Hey - join us this week as the TLT girls are making cards with ANIMALS!  All because...Pinky is an ANIMAL!  HA - I can see her blushing now!  :D

On a serious note, when I sat down to create - even before then - I was feeling so queasy...even as I type this I'm not feeling well so I cheated a bit!  I had all these papers and layers cut out quite some time ago but had never used them.  Since I wasn't feeling well, I decided to use what was on my desk and find an image that would work with it.  I think some glitter on Nikki's dress would be beautiful, but I just couldn't pull it all together - might go back and add that later!  I did glitter her shoes, her necklace and her glass of punch - that's punch, right Kerry?

Simple; nothing fancy...but I got an animal in there!  LOL

I hope you'll take some time to join us this week, we love seeing your creations.  And don't forget to stop in at the TLT Challenge Blog to see all the amazing creations - I promise, there are some amazing creations!

...cute and cuddly animals...

Hugs, ~M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Ladybug Crafts Ink Winestool Nikki
Papers:  GKD Cream, DP by MME, PTI Pure Poppy and Smokey Shadow
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMagic Wheat
Accessories:  Copics, nesties

Amber Ink - Torch Handoff


(sniff sniff) It is time! And as sad as I am that the month is over so quickly I am SO excited for you to meet my torchbearer....Toni. Please stop by to see Toni's AMAZING creations (Creating Impressions by Toni); a girl with loads of talent!

I had so much fun creating for Amber Ink, Amber and her mom are beyond amazing - way beyond!!!

And now it is time to switch out my badge and join the alumni of AmberINK. But I have to admit, I cannot wait to continue creating with Amber's images - they are funny, elegant, cute, silly, sexy - you name it, she creates it!


Here's patching the ORANGE torch to Toni, she will do GREAT.  AND the other new torchbearers are:

PINK:  From Anne Cullen to Nancy 
BROWN: From Katie Kahl to  Laura  
  
BLUE: From Cathy Weber to Renee
PURPLE:  From Jane Matsumoto to Siobhan 
Run hard Toni, run hard!    

...orange torches looking HOT...

Hugs, ~M.

5/22/11

Repeat Impression SOTW - Stork

Happy, happy Monday! How was your weekend?  Ours was good AND my hubby is home - things are all "right" now!  :D

This week at The House That Stamps Built we're sharing the Stamp of the Week - Stork.  You can purchase this same image for 50% off this week only, so be sure to stop by The House That Stamps Built to get all the deets.

I stamped the image on GKD Cream and colored with Copics; I added some clear glitter to the 'baby bundle'.  I accented the layers with PTI's Smokey Shadow, sponging all the layers of Smokey Shadow with PTI's Vintage Cream; I sponged the pink layer with VersaMagic Ginger.

The borders were cut with an EK Success border punch.  I used two different ribbons - lace and a beautiful cream pleated ribbon; I layered one on top of the other.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to hop over to The House That Stamps Built to check out the great deal AND see all the other amazing creations by the Rock Stars!

...babies and bundles....Hugs, M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Repeat Impressions Stork
Papers:  PTI Smokey Shadow, Sweet Blush, DP by MME, GKD Cream
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersamMagic Ginger, PTI Vintage Cream
Accessories: Copics, nesties, pearls, EK Success border punch, sponging

5/21/11

Teacher's Gifts

Secret Pal Gift (KindergartenTeacher)
Hello friends!  How are you?  Me....I'm doing good - life has been really hectic.  Still settling in to the new job; but REALLY enjoying it.  The "admin" group rotates early Friday's from May through September, my first one was yesterday - I got to leave at 2 p.m.  :D  Delightful, I must say.

Friday was also the last day of school for our two little ones, so I picked up the oldest (she finished on Wednesday), then picked up the little ones from school, then we headed off to see Pirates of the Caribbean - they had no clue where we were going...once they figured that out, they didn't know what movie we were going to see.  Had a blast and they LOVED the movie.  Upon arriving home, our oldest said "Kaitlyn and I think Johnny Depp is H-O-T"; always fun having teenagers in the house eh?  Made me laugh.  I posted that comment on FB and I received several responses that it wasn't just my daughters that think he's H-O-T!  HA!

Kaitlyn's and Jared's teachers gifts
Since Friday was the last day of school, I made gifts for each of their teachers and also for my secret pal.  I gave them each 2 movie tickets and a little bottle/tube filled with mini M&M's.  The larger bottle used to hold Prima flowers - way to repurpose eh?  I just wrapped some paper around the bottle and tied on some ribbon.  Then I decorated the envie which holds the movie tickets to match.  The tubes are much smaller, so I strictly decorated the envie on those and wrote our thank you note on the back of the envie.  Worked out great.

For all 3 gifts, I used PTI's Teacher's Apple and Take Note stamp sets; love how they turned out; hope the teacher's liked them too!

Have a great weekend; see you Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday with MORE creations!

...m&m's and mouthfuls of popcorn...

Hugs, ~M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: PTI Take Note and  Teacher's Apple
Papers:  DP by Imaginisce, Basic Grey
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, PTI Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Chamomile Tea Dye Ink
Accessories: PTI Notebook Die, twine, PTI Pure Poppy ribbon







5/17/11

Repeat Impressions What If? Wednesday

Hello friends; how's the week treating you?  Mine is going pretty good.  The hubster is traveling this week, so it always throws me into a bit of a tizzy.  I don't sleep as well and life just feels 'off'...but after 19 1/2 years, I guess that's a good thing?  LOL

K, enough of my jibberish; bet you're here to see some craftiness eh?  Well, let's get to it!  It's What If? Wednesday over at The House That Stamps Built; Wendy offered up another simple, yet super fun sketch this week.  There is a $25 gift certificate up for grabs, so be sure to play along!

Yeah I know, I chose another floral image.  :D  Can't help it; all Wendy's floral images are beautiful!  This week I'm using the Sunflower and the sentiment "You Brighten My Day" - that's what each of you do when you stop by you know!

I used more of the MME DP which I love - some scrumptious polka dots and bold stripes - bee-utiful!!!  I edged the DP with Chamomile Tea Dye Ink and embossed the sentiment in Dark Chocolate (calorie free).  I used a Spica Glitter Pen for the center of the Sunflower; such cool glittery effect!

Be sure to check out what the other Rock Stars have created too, lots of fabulous eye candy to get your Mojo jumping!  Thanks for stopping by; hope you have a GREAT week!

....sunshine and sunflowers...

Hugs, ~M.

WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Repeat Impressions Sunflower
Papers:  PTI Dark Chocolate and Lemon Tart, DP by MME
Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa,VersaMagic Wheat, VersaMark
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, clear embossing powder, Spica Glitter pen