Happy, Happy, Happy Spring

Greetings from rainy San Diego,

Yes, it doesn't happen often, but occasionally we do get a nice storm.

I decided it was a good excuse to hunker down and stamp this evening and get my MFTWSC60 card done. I'm not sure why the rain inspired this spring themed card.

This little Pure Innocence cutie is colored with Copics and her dress is paper pieced. I matched the bottom border shape with the tab shape on top for balance, and I like the way it looks. After cutting out the flower, I sponged the petals with yellow ink before rolling it into the flower shape.

Here 's a look at the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence "My Basket of Eggs" by My Favorite Things
Paper: Taylored Expressions card stock and Crate Paper Patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Melon Mambo, Copics and Spica glitter pens in pink and blue
Other: Die-namics border, tab, letter and flower dies, classic circle Nesties,  pink Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Lush green brad, sewing machine, the Big Shot and dimensionals

After the rain is done tomorrow, the rest of the week is supposed to be 70 degrees. Ah, back to normal.

Thanks all,
Colleen

Thank You

TGIF! I had a long day today at work and so I'm really glad that it's Friday evening. I have some chores tomorrow, but Sunday it will be stamping time. I'm getting together with my little crafty group.

I'm cutting it close getting my SSSC152 card in. I just finished it last night. I kept things pretty simple with a single stamped image, some punched flowers and just a few colors. A few embellishments like a punched boarder, some yellow pearls and stitching and it's done.

Supplies
Stamps: Up In The Air Hostess and Thank You Kindly sets by Stampin' Up
Paper: Kraft/Crumb Cake, Old Olive, So Saffron and Whisper White card stock and Tall Tales DSP (retired) all SU
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and SU Old Olive ink pads and Copics (Y21, YG93, R02)
Other: SU Boho Blossom and border punches, Kaiser yellow pearls, sewing machine and dimensionals

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Happy Birthday

Hello fellow stampers and bloggers,

I love the new My Mind's Eye patterned papers, Howdy Doody, and couldn't resist using them again on my TESC152 card.

As you can see, I combined several of the patterned papers on this card, as well as lots of sewing and lots of bling. IRL, this card really stands out in a crowd. I stamped the butterfly potion of the image onto the pink checked pp with Melon Mambo ink and fussy cut it to place over the butterfly in the circle for the focal point in the card.

My mom has a birthday coming up and I think this card will be perfect for her. She loves pinks and blues and I think she will get a kick out of the bling as well.

Supplies
Stamps: Embrace Beauty set and Fresh Flowers set (greeting) by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Sahara Sand and TE pink and choice snow white card stock and My Mind's Eye -Howdy Doody patterned papers
Ink: SU Sahara Sand, Melon Mambo and Memento tuxedo black
Other: TE medium scalloped border die, SU ticket corner punch, Labels 18 Nesties, SU rhinestones, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great Thursday everyone and thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Just For You

Good morning. I've got a few minutes before heading out to work this morning, which is just enough time to post my Deconstructed Sketch 39 card.

This is not my usual style of card, but I have had this Die-namics doily die for several months and have not used it. I decided it would go well with this tea cup stamp from SU.

Supplies
Stamps: Tea Shoppe by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU very vanilla and peach parfait card stock, My Mind's Eye Howdy Doody Patterned Papers
Ink: Color Box chalk pink and turquoise
Other: Die-namics doily die, TE buttons, SU twine, Recollections paper flowers, SU pearls, the Big Shot, sewing machine and dimensionals

Have a great day, and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Taylored Expressions February Key Ingredients Challenge

Hi again,

I'm back with a second post today. I've been a TE Key Ingredients subscriber for a few years now and every month, I look forward to my kit coming in the mail.

When Taylor posted this on her blog yesterday, I knew I wanted to play along and I had just the perfect project in mind. A few months ago I was cruising through older blogs of my some of my favorite bloggers and I came across this post by Kristina Werner. I loved the idea and saved it to my stamping "ideas" folder. It turned out to be the perfect project for the "Take Note" theme of Taylor's challenge.

Please pardon these photos. :)

All the notebooks stacked together:

The 12 different notebooks:

All patterned papers and embellishments are from the February KI kit. All stamps are from the Vintage Dreamer stamp set released this month. I used some light weight card stock to make the covers of the notebooks because the PP is not large enough to make the cover as the video shows. I then just used the PP to cover the front of the notebook's card stock covers. Other than that, I followed the instructions in Kristina's video exactly.

I made 12 notebooks in total. They are going to be presents for my craft group. We have a get together this Sunday. I think they will get a kick out of them.

Supplies
Stamps: Vintage Dreamer set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU vanilla card stock, My Mind's Eye patterned papers from the TE Feb Key Ingredients kit, and white copy paper for the inside pages of the notebooks
Ink: all SU. Early Expresso, Garden Green, and Poppy Parade
Other: Various TE dies, Want-2-Scrap pearls, paper flowers and ribbon from the Feb Key Ingredients kit, hot glue and gun, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Give these a try. They're pretty cute!
Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

You're A Lifesaver

Happy Tuesday morning stamping friends,

Here's a card I made for the current MFTWSC. I'm using a set from the new release called Firefighter Girl from the Pure Innocence line.

The papers are new as well, and I love the "country look" of this wood grain with the flowers painted on. The sketch is a pretty simple one this week and fun to work with, and I've kept my layout pretty simple.

Here is a peek of the inside. I used the bottom portion of the wood grained paper that I had trimmed for it to fit on the front of the card.

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence Firefighter Girl set by My Favorite Things
Paper: Stampin' Up chocolate chip and riding hood red card stock, Neenah solar white card stock and My Mind's Eye "Dolled Up" patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU early expresso and riding hood red, Copics
Other: yellow candy dots (made darker yellow with the Y19 marker), sewing machine, Die-namics die (inside), the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Here are the Copics I used:

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Just A Note

Hi and happy Sunday afternoon,

I've been stamping away this weekend and I've gotten several cards made to post during this coming week.

For today's card, I'm sneaking in just in time with a card using the Mojo Monday 228 sketch. The papers and supplies are from TE's February KI kit, and the stamps are from TE as well.

Hummm, I just noticed that one of the candy dots has fallen off. I will have to get another before I mail this card. (I didn't notice it while I was taking the pics, LOL) 

The circle image was stamped 3 times, once in brown, once in green and once in coral. I used Nesties and a punch to cut out different sections so they could be layered. The paper rose is also part of this month's KI kit.

Here is a look at the inside of the card:

The images in the lower left corner are part of the paper. The other three circles are stamped with the same stamp used on the front of the card.

Supplies
Stamps: Vintage Dreamer set by Taylored Expressions
Papers: TE green card stock and My Minds Eye - Lost and Found - patterned papers
Ink: Stampin' Up pads, Early Expresso, Sage Shadow and Calypso Coral
Other: TE houndstooth impressions plate, circle and Labels One Nesties, SU 1 1/4" round punch, SU corner rounder punch, paper flower, Want-2-Scrap pearls, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope everyone has a great week and thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

I Love You

Hi and happy Tuesday,

My last Valentine's Day card for 2012. I've used the Love Monsters set again. The layout is from Jen Shults' Deconstructed Sketch #37.

The monster is colored with Copics on Neenah Solar White card stock. Diamond Stickles are layered over the triple red heart stamps. Red Stickles cover the antennae hearts and silver Stickles cover his gloves. I also put Glossy Effects over his eyes. The label die is from SU.

Supplies
Stamps: Love Monsters set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU card stock and DSP (retired), black corrugated card board paper, Neenah solar white card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU real red and Copics
Other: Stickles, SU label die, TE hearts border die, Glossy Effects, sewing machine, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Hugs

Good Monday morning to you,

I'm off to Seattle today. I'm doing some mentoring of a co-worker this week. The good news is that it is supposed to be sunny until Thursday. Other good news is that I will get to see my sister and nephews over the weekend before I fly back to San Diego.

Today's card uses Jen's SFYTT layout for February. I like this one with the long element down the side. This monster set from Taylored Expressions is too cute! I couldn't resist wrapping this little in a very bright package. Do these look like Christmas papers? They're called Christmas Wishes, but I think they look great doing double duty as Valentine's papers.

Most of the supplies on this card are from TE. The papers are from December's KI kit. The dies are from Taylor's January release as is the Love Monsters stamp set.

This sweet little guy is colored with Copics and I dropped some Glossy Effects over his eyes to make them pop out.

Supplies
Stamps: Love Monsters set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE green, red and aqua card stock, Neenah solar white card stock, and Bella Blvd-Christmas Wishes patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: TE Layering Doily dies (small and medium), TE Hearts A Plenty dies, Glossy Effects, corner rounder punch, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great week all and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

I Love You

Gettin' sketchy with MFTWSC57 today.

Hi all,
I'm finishing up my Valentine's Day cards this weekend. In today's post is a card for my niece Rachel, who is attends Western State College of Colorado.

My card features a Pure Innocence cutie all dressed up in pink and red. The papers are from TE's Valentine's Day Project Pantry kit. She's colored with Copics.

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence "Being Cute Is What I Do" and "Say What" sets by My Favorite Things
Paper: TE choice snow white, Neenah solar white, TE pink and red card stock and Pebbles "With Love" collection patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mambo, and Copics
Other: Die-namics "Say What" die, Recollections flower embellishments, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Here are the Copics I used to color the image:

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen