Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tri-Fold Halloween Shutter Card

Greetings everyone. Today is the most gorgeous day in Georgia at 82 degrees....no humidity!!! I wanted to share this card with you that I made for last Friday's (September 25) Virtual Stamp Night over at Split Coast Stampers. This was the first challenge starting off a terrific night of fun techniques. This card, for me anyway, has caused quite a stir. I have never had almost 1200 hits on a card ever!!!! My guess would be everyone pretty much liked it.

The thing of it is, I have seen these lots of times, I think there has been a couple of challenges even with this card. I have passed on it because I thought it was too difficult, too time consuming, oh-gosh, I'll just say I was scared of it!!! But, I sat down and started playing and before you know it, I was loving this card. Now I have a gazillion ideas for more. So don't be surprised if you come by, and you see others of this wonderful card. You can find the directions for it here. So go ahead, give it a try, I promise you will be amazed. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #21-Gingerbread Recipe

Hi everyone! It's my favorite day of the week, Tuesday and my favorite challenge The Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. So many fun and exciting things are going on at Priscilla's Blog. Did you see the big give away over there....Let me just refresh your memory......Just look at this:Isn't this fabulous? Wouldn't you just love this for all your crafting storage? It can be yours if you going over to Priscilla's blog and read all the particular's on how you can put your name into the drawing. Now go.....run...don't walk....you don't want to miss the excitment!!!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors. When you have a moment please stop by either of these wonderful stores for you stamping and crafting needs. We know you will be pleased with their fast and friendly service!

Bells and Whistles is the sponsor for this Weeks sketch challenge.



Gurlee Girl Design is our Monthly Sponsor




Ladies and Gentleman be sure to make your calendars:

ANNOUNCING

PROWLING AT THE 1st MIDNIGHT MADNESS BLOG HOP

Date and Time: October 16, 2009 - October 20, 2009 12 p.m. Midnight

25 Prizes will be given away as follows:

One Grand prize random drawing

350th BRAND NEW Sketch Player SPECIAL Prize

13 “Cards from the Crypt” (picked by our DT members from MMSC archives)

10 random Package winners drawing

You're not going to want to miss all the fun and excitement we have planned for you. This is a celebration for our valued weekly sketch challenge players and welcome new players. It sure to be a fun time for all.




Now for our sketch challenge winners. You won't believe how hard it is to chose from all the amazing submissions we receive. The amount of talent and wonderful creativity of all of you is remarkable!

Congratulations Go to the following:

Our Midnight Madness Masterpiece Winner: #3 Kathrin aka Kruemel
Our Midnight Madness Remarkable Winners: #40 Sassy, #41 Melody R, #53 Juut, #28 Rosette


Now for this weeks challenge sketch:


You know how I love my bears, and I have mentioned that I love pumpkins, well there is another love in my life and that is Gingerbread. (bet your wondering by now if there is anything I don't like..lol) I have a very cool collection of Gingerbread stamps. This one is from Stampassions called Gingerbread Recipe Quilt. Isn't she so sweet!! It has an actual Gingerbread recipe.
I used papers Debbie Mumm's Holiday stack from this years collection. My image was colored with pencils and I sponged on some tea dye distress ink. I mini corsage pin that is tucked in the bow. The gingerbread house is an acrylic ornament that I have had in my collection for a few years. The swirl peppermint corner treatments were made from cardstock paper.
Here is a picture of the inside of my card. There is a different stamp with a recipe for Gingerbread cookies and more fantastic Gingerbread men . I just love this card....it would look fantastic displayed in my kitchen at Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you play along with us in the challenge. I love visiting your blogs to see what you have created. Let me know if you need this Gingerbread recipe!!! lol

Carol

Monday, September 28, 2009

Fred She Said-A Lovely Blossom

Today's card just speaks of the colors of Autumn, my favorite time of year. I was thinking of a November Birthday when I created this as the birthstone for November is Topaz. My Dear Grandmother's Birthday was in November and she would have loved this card with it's warm topaz tones.

I have made this for four challenges today. The first is Opus Gluei which was to use sparkles. As you can see in my picture my flowers are just twinkling and I have 12 green rhinestones on this as well. The second challenge is The Cuttlebug Spot which was to create a Fall card. I love my cuddlebug and think I use it for every card I make. The corner treatments both inside and out of this card are from a cuttlebug die. The third challenge is High Hopes which was to make a Birthday Card. The fourth challenge was for The Pink Elephant which was to include a dots punch tag on your card.


These images are from Fred She Said. They are TOTALLY AWESOME...I kid you not. My card is made with the Yellow-A Lovely Blossom Just Flowers & Leaves. You can purchase these terrific digi stamps at Tracey's store here. I distressed inked them with tea dye ink because I wanted a warm fall tone. The squares behind the flowers are "wood cedar" paper. Yes, it even smells like the inside of my Lane Cedar Chest. I distressed inked the edges with just a touch of the tea dye ink. Isn't this terrific? You can get these wonderful papers at McMahon Five Designs. And, I saved up my allowance to get that classic lace border from spellbinders. lol
Here is the inside of my card. It made me think of my Grandmother today. If she was alive, I would have sent this too her.

Thank you for looking at my card today. I sure do appreciate your taking time to stop by for a visit. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I do cherish your words of encouragement.

Carol

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Kissed Pumpkins

Hi everybody. Last night we had a VSN mini over at Splitcoast Stampers. Don't fret if you think you missed it. You can check out the challenges right here! I had a blast trying out new techniques. So stop on by and give these challenges a whorl. I'll be stopping by to see what you made and leaving you a comment.

This card was made for the Good Luck Kiss Challenge. This is the link to the actual directions for the Kissing technique. You are not going to believe this, but my pumpkin stamp that I used here comes out of the $1bin at Michael's. I don't have many solid stamp images...but I did remember I purchased this. Not only that, but, I went to my $1 bin clear stamp images and found this little cute flower to kiss the pumpkin with.

I randomly stamped my background paper and kissed the pumpkins with the flower with Versa Magic Dew Drop ink in Pumpkin Spice and Hint of Pesto. I love this ink set for the fall. Such rich warm colors. The center image was stamped three times and layered for dimension. The Lattice Spellbinders Shapeability Pendant is my focal point.

I corner punched my paper, added gold brads, ribbon, sentiment....also from Michael's $1 bin, and added some tickles on my pumpkins. I'm pleased with how this turned out.

Hope you enjoyed looking at this creation. Don't walk past that $1 bin at Michael's without giving it a look. You never know what you will find to send your creative juices flowing!! Have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by and if you like this, please let me know. I cherish you comments!

Carol

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #20

Happy Tuesday everyone. Welcome to my blog and my favorite day of the week because it is Midnight Madness Sketch ChallengeTuesday. The best challenge on the net!!! Please check Priscilla's Blog for all the fun happenings that are going on in the next month. You won't want to miss a single thing!!!

At this time, I would like to thank our sponsor for the month of September, DRS Designs, Inc. I have really enjoyed working with some of their stamps this month. Our sponsor for this week is Michelle's Scrapbooking & More. When you have a moment, please stop by her store and see all the wonderful products she has for your crafting needs.

Here is this weeks sketch for the challenge.
I had fun with this sketch. I haven't done a bear in a while and knew I just had to do something with one this week. Since fall is in the air, it's time to pair up my bears with seasonal items like this plump pumpkin and cute black cat. I took the liberty of flipping this sketch so I could do this paper piecing. My image has been cut out of card stock, inked on the edges and paper pieced with lots of pop dots and foam circles and squares. The corner pieces on the card are a DRS Design stamp F696 Daisy Corner that I embossed with gold EP and cut then popped for dimension.I embossed the background paper with a circles embossing folder, used EK Success border punch Fleur de Lis. I did some machine stitching around the outside of the card. My leaves were punched from metallic card stock. I had a few of these leaf brads left over from last year, just enough to finish off my card.

Thanks for stopping by today and checking out my blog. I appreciate and enjoy all your comments. May I invite you to join me at the Masquerade Ball this Friday Night September 25, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Split Coast Stampers for a Mini VSN. I am co-coordinator for this session of Virtual Stamp Night and am hosting the 9 p.m. challenge. There will be another Mini on Saturday, October 24, 2009 starting at 12 p.m. and the main event Friday November 13, 2009 starting at 7 p.m. and Saturday November 14, 2009 starting at 11 a.m. Should be lots of fun! Hope to see you there!!!

Hugs,
Carol

Friday, September 18, 2009

Fred She Said-Fall Flower and Pin Pricking

This is from a new release over at Fred She Said called Fall flowers. I can't believe how incredibly beautiful these flowers are. I adore Sunflowers, so I had to do that one first. This is my first attempt at a pin pricking paper pattern as well and I love how it looks....so delicate. I inked up the edges of the green frame. There are beads glued to the center of the Sunflower and I used stickles to make it shine. The corner treatments are a die cut from Cuddlebug. I found the rhinestones recently in the Michael's dollar bin. The paper is from the Indian Summer Fall stack. I would appreciate it if you let me know what you think. I can't wait to do more flowers....plus....psssst....I got some new toys today I am dying to use. See you all again soon!!!

Thanks,
Carol

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #19

Hello everyone and welcome to the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #19. Be sure to check out Priscilla's Blog for all the information regarding prizes and all the great blog candy up for grabs. Each week the DT picks a Gold Star Winner for outstanding work. This week the Winner of the Gold Star Award is
#5 Vickie (basement stamper)
Also, since it is always so hard to chose and the votes are always so close we have another category to recognize our other terrific entries we call the Remarkables. This weeks Remarkables are: #36 ~michelle~, #45 Sandee and #54 stephanne. Congratulations ladies on a job well done.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the weekly bonus sponsor: 62 Cards and the Monthly Sponsor DSR Designs!

Here is the sketch for this weeks challenge.

I decided to add to my stash of Christmas cards. I think I send out approximately 50 cards at Christmas. So I am getting there, but still have a long way to go. I don't know about you, but I just love to make Christmas cards.
I found this pink dp in my stash. It is pretty old and time to cut into it!!! I used last years release Martha Stewart snowflake punch for these snowflakes. I love the intricate shape of these. I punched a snowflake brad through the middle of them and added a pink rhinestone on top of the brad. The snowflakes were stickled. A Martha Stewart border punch was also used for the lace. I feather stitched the outside of the card on my sewing machine. There are 4 layers of this Fred She Said digi stamp pop dotted one on top of the other.

Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to check out all the details regarding the fun going on at Pricilla's blog for Midnight Madness. I appreciate your stopping by today and appreciate your thoughts and comments. They really make my day!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #18

Here we are at Challenge #18 for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. Be sure to check out Priscilla's site for all the fun happenings and cash and prizes up for grabs. We would like to thank our monthly sponsor DRS Designs for their generous sponsorship for this month. Also, Creations by Penny is the sponsor for this weeks prize drawing. Also, don't forget that Midnight Madness is looking for the next Guest Designer for the month of October. So hop on over to Priscilla's blog to get all the scoop and the particulars on all that is going on.

Congratulations to our gold star winner- #71 Melody R
Our Remarkable Winners this week are- #29 Jacque, #34 Lorelie Kim, #61 ~Michelle~, #67 Mary Lou, #77 Stephanie Hester, #78 Lisa Cook
I can't tell you how much I enjoy visiting each and everyone of the Midnight Madness Player's blogs. You are all very talented paper crafter's and I applaud each and everyone of you.
Here is our sketch for this weeks challenge. I can't wait to see what you all come up with. For some reason, every time I looked at this I saw my son's converse sneakers. I think I have an overactive mind. But it was sure fun playing with this. Here is my card:My image is from DRS Designs and is P891 Jimbo & the Gang. The stamp actually looks like this:
Just to show you how versatile your stamps can be, I have cut away a couple of the animals. I just love this image. It is so lighthearted and endearing. I used Nana's Kids DP. They have this wonderful design in there that has Monkey's, Giraffe's, Lion's, and Elephant's. My accents were cut from that DP and pop dotted on the card on top of eyelets that I laced my iridescent ribbon through. I used prima flowers, cut the white leaves from the Martha Stewart Frond punch. The main image has been glittered with Martha Stewart Glitter and the little animals have been stickled. I had fun doing this challenge and hope that you enjoyed viewing my creation. I really appreciate and cherish your comments. Thanks for stopping by.

Carol

Monday, September 7, 2009

Fred She Said Goes Vibrant


Remember the other day I told you I had yellow Fred She Said digi flowers left over from my last project....well these are them. lol I sponged them with Rangers Brick Red distressing ink. I used gold stickles on the edges. I cut the ovals with my nesties and sponged the edges of the white one in the Brick Red and stamped my sentiment. The border punch is from EK Success. The gold feather is from Michael's in the floral pick department. They have some great colors besides the gold. This was an experiment to see if I could get it to stay on the card. I am going back for more colors. They had pastel pink and green plus your usual Christmas colors. I love it on the card. I squeezed in four challenges with this card as follows:

Challenges
2 Red Banana's Challenge was to use stripes and circles
The Pink Elephant The Colors Red Yellow Black and White
The Order of Opus Gluei Include Flowers on your card
Rosie & Dee's Challenge Blog Oval and Circles

Hope you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend. Thanks for stopping by. I would love to know what you think of this design. Thanks a bunch!

Carol

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Fred She Said Flowers

Don't you just love cards with flowers. I know you all know I love my bear images, well I love flowers too! This is a free digi from Fred She Said. If you have time, please check out all the wonderful digi's available at this wonderful site. I know you are sure to find lots of inspiration as well. This freebie is a nice collection of both this soft pink and a soft yellow to chose from on the sheet. I printed the whole sheet and cut everything out while watching television one afternoon. I have the yellow ones on my table for my next project, as I am going to ink them up and give them a more vibrant richer feel than this pretty pastel card. That's what's so fun with digi's. You can change them up to whatever your imagination can create.

I used my cuddlebug folders to emboss this card along with my nesties, and a Martha Stewart border punch. The card stock is a Shiny Jeweltone that I picked up at JoAnn's and it is luscious. The background sheet is from the Glitter Sweet Stack. I used stickles on the flowers and yellow rhinestones I picked up in the $1 bin at Michael's.

Thanks for stopping by today. I really appreciate it and value your comments. Hope you and your family are enjoying the long Labor Day weekend!

Carol

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Midnight Madness Purr-fectely Comfortable Kitty

Don't you think this Kitty is the most adorable "Diva"! She's glamorous and sassy. This wonderful stamp is from this months generous sponsor of Midnight Madness, DRS Designs, who have offered a $50 credit voucher for the monthly prize winner. She is absolutely fabulous and was a lot of fun to work with. I decided to paper piece this stamp. I stamped the design with versamark and embossed with black EP twice on my dp and three times on white card stock and cut them all out and placed them all on foam dots and layered them.
This picture shows you the layers and dimension of the image. I used my cuddlebug to emboss with the circle folder and the white layer was embossed with the paisley folder along with the corner cuddlebug die. I used embossing power on the white card stock to make it shiny. Then I punched holes around the card stock and sewed this yummy eyelash yarn around the outside. The Martha Steward border punch along with the branch and frond punch was used, I crochet the corner flowers, attached with rhinestone brads. I used black glitter and white glitter for accent.
Congratulations to the Gold Star winner for this week: Stephanne and the Remarkable Mentions: Michelle, Cabio, ConnieM, and Brises. If you haven't already, now is the time to sign up for your chance to win the wonderful blog candy at Midnight Madness. Many thanks to our sponsor this week 7 Kids College Fund! They are offering a $20 gift voucher for this weeks prize winner. I can speak from experience of the great service and fast shipping they provide to their customers as I am one of them. I got a great deal on my scor-pal and I just love it!!!