I have a few more birthday cards from wonderfully talented stamping friends that I'd like to share.

This gorgeous card and set of Cricut penguins is from Sheri, aka ksnurse. Sheri obviously knows that I love penguins and these little guys are so cute!  She also knows that I love da purple!!!  The ribbon treatment with the flower charm is exquisite!

This gorgeous tres chic chick card comes from the very talented and classy Anne Ryan.  I wish you could see it in real life.  It is pure elegance and class, just like our Anne, who also happens to have a wicked sense of humor that I cherish.

Bzzzzz!  Bzzzzzz!  I didn't think I'd ever call a bee adorable, but this one is!  Just look at those rosey cheeks, long eyelashes, and cute smile!  My friend Lorraine, aka pidgesmom, sure knows how to make an adorable card, and she gave this li'l guy a beautiful flower to pollinate at the same time!  Isn't Lorraine thoughtful?

I just had to upload this cutie patootie.  My multi-faceted and skilled friend, Sabrina, aka cook22, knitted this cutie and sent him to me all the way from Ireland!  You can bet he holds a special place in my heart.  I uploaded her card several days ago, but I wanted to showcase her beauty right next to this precious knitted penguin.

This pretty woman was sent to me by dirty girl alumni, Cindy, aka Mothermark, aka da Muddermark, aka Gertie, aka goofy girl.  I had the good fortune to meet and spend time with Cindy in Colorado about two and a half years ago.  What a treasure she is, and what a treasure this 6 x 9 card is!  Doesn't she look just like Julia?  The detailing on this card is fabulous!

This glittering beauty was created by my friend and another fellow tea partier, Marilynn, aka APandi.  It is a textural delight and the liquid applique frosting looks good enough to eat!  Mmmmmmmm!

There's nothing sleepy about this pretty little butterfly card sent to me by Joanne, aka sleepyinseattle.  The white flowers are embossed with pink brad centers, and the scoring she did on the pink panel really looks and feels like quilted material! 

Thank you, my dear friends!  I cherish each and every one of you and your gift of friendship!

Just A Little Behind

Just a little behind.....boy, does that seem to be my theme song of late! As much as I try to stay on top of things, I feel like I'm constantly behind. Well, I say better late than never, don't you? I hope my friend will forgive me for getting her birthday card to her so late.

January has been a fabulous month of hosted sketch challenges by Cindy Haffner for the CCEE Stampers. Here's another terrific layout Cindy came up with for us. Thanks, Cindy!





And here's my card:



I used Martha Stewart yellow flock for my fuzzy butt chick; isn't he cute? He makes me smile being so goofy peeking through his legs like that. This pretty designer paper is by Chloe's Closet that my friend and fellow CCEE chum sent me for my birthday last year! Yes! I have a tendency to hoard pretty things, but I'm learning to let go!

If you'd like to play along, too, please visit our CCEE blog for all the details!

Rapunzel's Castle

Yahoooooooo! It’s Tuesday which means we’re off and runnin’ to da Muddermark’s tea party at Teapot Tuesday. This week a dragon called Derek is flyin’ us on his wings to Rapunzel’s castle.

You can git the full story from da Muddermark here in the Teapot Tuesday forum so ya can foller along with the story.

Long story short: bring some juicy gossip to Rapunzel’s new hair cuttin’ parler called Classy Castle Cuts to help spur on her new bizness. Even her hunk-a-burnin’ love, Prince Rahier, is gittin’ in on the goin’s on to hep out.

The juicy gossip I’m bringin’ to this shindig is the fact that Gertie (aka da Muddermark) is quite a klutz. Even though Rapunzel is her good friend, word on the street is that Gertie is sick and tired of Rapunzel’s hair draggin’ all over the place makin’ her always trip and fall. I tends to think Gertie is jes jealous of Rapunzel’s long, golden, plaited hair. I got’s it on good account that Gertie is hidin’ a pair of shears in her jacket with full intent of cutting Rapunzel’s hair. Well, if she does that, poor Raphier ain’t gots no way to climb up Rapunzel’s castle wall. Therefore, I, Bertie, hatin’ to see lovers thwarted in their attempts to be together, grew this purty foliage along Rapunzel’s castle wall so that Raphier kin make his way to her should Gertie be successful in her hair cuttin’ attempt.

Oh, and another tidbit of gossip, I heard that jaydekay has been scrapin’ the pond scum from the moat will full intent of addin’ the scum to today’s tea, claimin’ it has powerful anti-oxidants fer makin’ us all healthy….sumpin’ called steamy tea-grog…..right. I, Bertie, ain’t no fool. Iffin’ she tries to git me to drink that stuff, I’m flingin’ it.

I shore hope ya'll consider comin' along to the tea party today!

Iffin' yer wantin' the details on how I made this hare card:

1. stamped foliage in versamark onto glossy cardstock
2. heat embossed with clear embossing powder
3. sponged inks
4. stamped words
5. stamped another foliage onto whisper white with certainly celery, old olive, barely banana; fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals
6. used brick wall technique from last week's technique challenge. Not sure I did it right, but had fun tryin'!!!

Iffin' yer feelin' so inclined as to wantin' to purchase this Fall Trilogy stamp set, you kin find it at Rubbernecker Stamps!

Blog Candy Alert!

Whoooo-wheeeeee! I just came across some awesome blog candy over on Judi's (jovialjudi) blog! Check it out here!!! Judi is such a talented stamper....be sure to check out her work.

Featured Stamper, Inspiration, and More Birthday Cards!

Karen B Barber is the featured stamper today on SCS. Her gallery is chock full of GORGEOUS floral creations, and she uses the black magic technique a lot. If you're not familiar with this technique, you stamp a solid image in white craft ink onto black cardstock and then color the image with watercolor pencils. I used a white gel pen for the outline, dotting, and faux stitching.

I made this card for the Inspiration Challenge on SCS yesterday. I colored the Rubbernecker candle images with Twinkling H20s (except for the candle flame which was colored with Copic markers).




And, now for the birthday RAKS I received.

Michelle, aka plaid pony, sent this sweet cupcake card. I don't know Michelle, but I'm assuming she got my name from the Birthday Wish RAK list on SCS. Isn't it sweet when someone you don't even know takes time to send you a birthday card?



Aren't these roses gorgeous? Anne, aka jdmommy, created this lovely card. I love the crystal gems she added to the beautiful roses.



My friend Hilda and fellow Michigander, aka Broom, sent this beautiful creation. There are dazzling diamonds on the embossed flower petals and isn't this bow exquisite?



This cutie comes from fun-loving Anne, aka ardodd. Aren't these dancing cows a hoot?



Thank you, my friends for these wonderful cards and your wishes!

A Wonderful Birthday

I had such a wonderful birthday celebration yesterday! I received many beautiful birthday cards from co-workers, family and friends. Thank you, to those of you who e-mailed me, pm'd me, sent me a card, sent a package, and/or called! I am so blessed with wonderful friends. I'd like to share the birthday cards I received from my stamping friends.

Each one of these cards is so exquisitely detailed and beautiful!


This one is from Emily, aka Stamp Muse. My photo does not do her beautiful floral card justice. She used the cracked glass technique on the vase and it is truly magnificent!! It looks and feels like a vase! I just love the flourished diecut corners, too.

This delightfully bright and happy card was sent to me by Karen, aka redbugdriver. Her coloring is spectacular on those candle flames, and I love the bright birthday colors she used! This card just demands that you BE HAPPY!!!

Patricia Rose, aka kokirose, never disappoints with her beautiful creations. This is real sewing machine stitching on this beauty and her sponging is gorgeous! Heck, every detail is gorgeous!!

This next one is from Judi, aka jovialjudi, and I gotta tell you, this girl has got it goin' on. I wish you could see all the magnificent detail work on her image. From the liquid applique to the bling to the coloring and to the sparklies....each detail is so fun and perfect! It's fun, fabulous, and beautiful!


Aaaaah, who doesn't recognize the stunningly beautiful work of Joanne, aka JoJot, or who I lovingly refer to as SnoSnot. I think Mothermark coined that name for her, but that's a storyfor another day.....Isn't this matted border punch breathtaking? And her piercing is spot on perfect in alignment. She used my beloved color purple, too! Exquisite!

Sweet, sweet Anne, aka itsapassion, sure can work black and white. I wish I had better photography skills to show you how spectacularly striking this beauty is. Check out that sweet silver charm, and I adore the pretty papers and polkadotted ribbon!

This beauty came to me all the way from New Zealand! Kim likes to call herself crazykim, but there is nothing crazy about this beautiful card! I just love the embossed butterfly with its body of bling and the pretty colors she used in this floral garden. Breathtaking and beautiful!

Another internationally well-known stamper, Sabrina, aka Cook22, sent this stunning beauty all the way from Ireland! If I remember correctly, this bird is a photograph that Sabrina shot herself. Not only can Sabrina stamp, but she's quite the accomplished photographer, cook, and seamstress. I'm sure she has many more talents that I don't even know about, but she just blows me away with her attention to detail in everything she does.

Julia, aka artystamper, is one of my Doubledog Dare challenge buddies. Isn't this image adorable? I'm not sure what Julia used to color the image, but it's done so beautifully, and her hair has a shimmery shine to it. Doesn't this card scream SWEET?!?!?



Thank you, thank you, my dear, talented, thoughtful friends from the very bottom of my heart!!! I treasure each card, as well as the gifts. Man, am I blessed!!!

Good Neighbors

Cindy Haffner has another fun sketch challenge for us this week on the CCEE Stampers blog. Check it out here and come play along with us!



I just love the cute images in this Good Neighbors Sale-a-Bration set from Stampin' Up! After I colored my images using my Copic markers, I softly sponged bashful blue for the sky, graduating to a little barely banana at the base of the skyline, and then certainly celery for the ground.

My designer paper is some of the SU Bella Rose I've been hoarding. It was perfect for this sketch layout! See the button embellishment in the corner? That's a Sizzlit die----so dadburn cute and fun to play with using designer paper!

Penguin Diva

I received this [early] birthday card from one of my co-workers last week. This penguin diva is so me!!! I've decided this is what Bertie would look like in real life. Is she a fashion icon or what?!?!?

Breakfast at Tiffanys

We're off to New York City today for our weekly Teapot Tuesday adventure!! We're starting the day off with Breakfast at Tiffany's, and you know what that means: this is gonna be one classy party! da Muddermark says we are to bring what we enjoy, what makes us relax, what makes us feel pampered, happy and or just oozing pure class! You can see the inspiration teapot and get the full details here.

Bertie loves hats and shoes, so she's bringing a bag full of them to share with the tea partiers. We're talking Audrey Hepburn style shoes and hats, too, so you know this will be classy stuff! What better than the pull out my Rubbernecker Fashion Icon stamp set for my creation today.

The shoes are star-studded with red glitter as is the hat with its sparkly flower. Oh, and I'm also bringing rubies for the gals as evidenced by the rubies that are adorning this classy, black quilted (scored) shopping bag (courtesy of my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge). The sentiment reads: "saw it, loved it, bought it"!!!

So, have you guessed what Bertie will be flingin' at the party today? To find out, come on over to the Teapot Tuesday forum at Splitcoaststampers. Maybe you'll even decide to join the party and play along with us, and you can see all the other cool creations my tea partying loving friends have made!

I hope to see you there!

Congratulations, Anne!

This card is in honor of my sweet and sassy friend known as jdmommy on SCS (aka Anne). Anne is the featured stamper today! I chose to case her Octagon Butterflies card. We are required to change two or more things when casing the featured stamper; it's obvious that I changed several.

My hands have been itching to color this stained glass sailboat by Rubbernecker, which I colored with Copic markers, but I think it would be fun to try other coloring mediums as well:



I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday!

CCEE1002 Chipboard Clipboard Birthday

Cindy Haffner has provided the CCEE stampers with another great sketch challenge this week! Wanna play along with us? Check out the details here. We'd love to see what you make!

I just got the new Well Scripted set (sentiment) from Stampin Up and I love it! I used an oval Nestie to softly sponge cool caribbean over the sentiment.

The flower is from Verve's Petals and Stems set, which is paper toled. And didn't the spiral punch come in perfectly for this clipboard made of chipboard?




There are some Verve challenges going on in the forums on Splitcoaststampers giving anyone who plays an opportunity to win some of their stamps! My card here their color challenge to use turquoise, gray, and black, as well as another one to use chipboard.

Four Challenges

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Anne, aka Itsapassion, from my Doubledog Dare Challenge (DDC) group challenged us to make a card using FOUR other challenges on our project. My card encompasses the following four challenges:

1. Sharon's (notimetostamp) Stamp Simply challenge to use a heart in your creation.

2. Tosh's (Stamps4funinca) Verve challenge to make a shaped card. I used my topnote die for my shape.

3. A DDC challenge I gave our group last week to use the grid (faux tile) technique. Details are in the resources section on this technique.

I first scored my faux tile onto my cardstock, stamped the Linen bg the heart image from Boatloads of Love on my paper, and then sponged pink pirouette, creamy caramel, and ridinghood red as indicated.

4. Today's SCS sketch challenge hosted by cerridwen!

If you'd like to participate in the Doubledog Dare Challenge, you can get the details in post #56 here.

We'd love to have you join us! Just be sure to put DDC in your keyword so we can find your card!

Have a great evening! I'm off to do some stamping after a grueling day at work!

A Bad Apple in Every Orchard

Da Muddermark has us traveling to an apple orchard today in Rockingham County today to help save Annie Mae Appleseed (a direct descendant of Johnny). Annie is a professional apple picker and it seems she's bein' picked on by some of the other [bad] apple pickers who resent her new ways and the beaucoup bucks she's makin' over them! You can get the full story here.

This is the inspiration teapot:

Bertie is on her way with apple martinis to help out the Apple Dumplin' gang to save Annie Mae (who, by the way, has promised Bertie and her tea party pals a bit of cashola for stampin' supplies! Woot!). Some of ya might want to wear protective head gear in case the shennanigans resort to bad apple flingin'. My friend, Moxie, is gonna be there, too, and she use to be a professional baseball pitcher, so beware!



Hey! Ya wanna know how you make a bad apple turnover? Push it down hill!!!! Bwa-haaa-haaa-haaa!

I used my Kittie Kits Cause a Scene (Master #1) from Rubbernecker to create my scene today based upon the inspiration teapot Cindy gave us. I used my double circle punch for the apples and the Stampin' Up cloud template for my sky. Most of the image is stamped with Stampin' Up inks except for the tree trunk and fence, which were colored with Copic markers.

Blue Martinis

I'd never heard of blue martinis until I Googled martini photos to see how I wanted to color my martini images today. The blue martinis looked so pretty and refreshing so I decided to create a blue martini card. These cool martini glasses and the sentiment are from Rubbernecker. I love how you get a big one and the set of three smaller glasses in the package.

I used my 1/4" circle and double circle punches to make the olives for the small martini glasses. The larger olive is also a Rubbernecker image from their Garnish set.

The featured stamper on SCS is Weebeestampin. I can't link her card photo to show you the card I cased because SCS is having site issues and I'm unable to get into her gallery. I'll link the card as soon as I can, though!