The Colors of Autumn

Frances gave the CCEE challenge team a sketch challenge this week.  

Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  I love the vibrant colors as the leaves turn on the trees and the feel of the cool, crisp air.

I stamped the trees in Memento Black and then used q-tips dipped in my reinkers to color the various colors of autumn on my trees.  I used a watercolor brush for the lighter shade of green on the ground and then a q-tip again to color in the shading.

Please visit our CCEE blog to see the cards Shirley, Joanne, Tosha, Frances, and Cindy made.  We'd love it if you played along with us!

From Summer to Fall to Christmas

I'm late to Mothermark's tea party this week.  My poor stepson was attacked by a dog Monday night (unprovoked), so hubby and I spent Monday night in the emergency room at the hospital with him and getting him in to see a plastic surgeon yesterday.   He's okay, but the dog bite tore away quite a lot of his flesh just above his eye so that neither stitches nor plastic surgery are alternatives for him right now.  He has eight stitches in the bite mark below his eye.  Fortunately, his eyeball and eyesight were spared any damage.

Anyhow, I did have an opportunity last night after work to finish making a card for Cindy's special tea party going on this week. She's joined forces with Cammie on her Alzheimer's Care Givers drive, so I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to participate in this great cause.   Perhaps you'd like to join in.  If so, you can click on either of the links I've provided for further details.

I chose to make a round card using my largest scalloped circle Nestability.  I heat embossed my flowers with clear embossing powder by stamping the flowers first in versamark and then in the colored ink.  I love how the heat embossing adds texture and enhances the color of the ink.  After I set them with the heat embossing, I sponged So Saffron and Certainly celery over the flowers.  I didn't like how the Certainly celery looked, so I added some Wild Wasabi.  I still didn't like how it looked, so I added True Thyme and was finally happy with the outcome!  I used my round tab and circle punches for the little panel and finished off the card with this pretty blue pearls.  I didn't want to cover the flowers with much else, so I left it there.  You can get these great flower images from Rubbernecker under the Create a Garden Set 1.

I made my next card in honor of Sallie, aka hobbydujour on Splitcoaststampers, as she was chosen as the featured stamper this past Sunday.  I had a really hard time choosing which one of her amazingly gorgeous cards I wanted to case until I saw this leaf I made a few days ago laying on my table waiting to be used.  The maple leaf image is also available from Rubbernecker.  I had also scallop punched these four designer paper panels for the Free for All Challenge to use scallops on your card, but the gallery went down Friday night so I never finished it. Therefore, when I saw Sallie's gorgeous Autumn Leaf card, I knew I could bring all these elements together.

I used the baby wipe technique to color my leaf image. I did this by dropping the various colors of reinkers onto a baby wipe and using the baby wipe as my stamp pad. After I cut out the leaf, I outlined it with my chocolate chip marker for definition. My punched leaves were sponged with really rust and ruby red.

This last card is one I made in honor of sweet Carla, cmsuto on Splitcoaststampers, as she was chosen Queen for the Day last Friday.  Carla always makes beautiful cards.  I cased her gorgeous Mudlark Candle Set Inspired card.  Things I changed are stamps, colors, slight sketch alteration, and I added paper piercing.  Congratulations to Carla!  I love this fun holiday designer paper by Stampin' Up!  I stamped the inside of the card with a stamp from Gina K's Winter Foliage set.

Wild Garden Get Well Wish

The CCEE challenge this week comes to us via our September hostess, Frances (StampOwl).  She challenged us to make a get-well card in honor of the invention of the bandaid on September 22, 1920.  You can get all the details on our CCEE Stampers blog, see the fabulous cards my friends Joanne, Frances, Tosha, Cindy, and Shirley made, and think about joining us in this challenge!

I chose to use my Wild Garden Frame and Get Well Wish sentiment by Rubbernecker for my get-well card.  I used the emboss-resist technique on my card by clear embossing the Wild Garden Frame and then sponging Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy reinkers over the clear embossing.  I then removed the faint excess ink over the clear embossing to reveal the white.  I shadow stamped the sentiment using my stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up.  The Wild Garden Frame is so pretty all by itself, so I didn't want to cover it up with other card stock or lots of embellishments.  Therefore, I only added this swirly piece of Tim Holz grungeboard after I sponged it with Not Quite Navy ink.  Even though it's not easy to capture in a photograph, I'm really loving the Stampin' Up champagne mist as it adds such a beautiful finishing shimmer to a card, so I sprayed some on my get-well card.

I hope you are well, and I thank you for stopping by my blog!

Feline Fantasy Blitz

"Come on, Fritz!  Wake up!  The tea partiers are on their way to California today, and all the cool cats get to go with them, too!

Poor Nibbles.  He is just having a dickens of a time trying to get Fritz to wake up and get out of his new bed.  After having traveled from Texas to California, Fritz heard there was a place called Feline Fantasy World, so he ventured on over and hasn't been the same since.  Seems all he wants to do is sleep in his new bed and dream about all the kitty cat fantasies he saw there, just hoping they'll come true for him.

Don't quite know what I'm talking about?  Well, you need to venture on over to Splitcoaststampers in the Teapot Tuesday forum to get the full story from Da Muddermark.  Perhaps you'd like to play along with us, too, as Da Muddermark has all the tea partiers traipsing off to California today to welcome Bertlady to her new home.  My alter ego, Bertie, and I are so excited about this adventure because we don't often get to meet others with the name of Bertie.  We're bringing lots and lots and LOTS of m&m's with us because you should always celebrate with C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E!!  Bertie is so full of love this week.  She'll be flinging hearts, milk, and m&m's!!

Queen Darla

Yesterday I was playing around with this fun acorn set by Rubbernecker checking out different ways to use it. For my inspiration card yesterday, I colored them with Twinkling H20s. Afterward, I played some more and decided to try paper piecing the acorns, which I did and set aside for another day to use in a design. I didn't realize today would be that day when it finally dawned on me that I totally missed checking out Friday's Queen for the Day challenge (slap hand on forehead). Well, when I realized it was sweet Darla Ryan that Miss Anne had chosen, I KNEW I had to play. Darla not only has a fabulous gallery of art, but she is always kind and supportive to other stampers.


As I was cruising through Darla's gallery, I came upon this beautiful paper-pieced floral and knew it would be the perfect opportunity to use my paper-pieced acorns! I paper-pieced them using the Amber Autumn matstack by DCWV. This particular matstack has some really fun and beautiful fall papers. Since I had six acorns already paper pieced from yesterday, I chose to make two cards in honor of Queen Darla.



 
 
 

Things I changed:

1. image
2. colors
3. brad/eyelet arrangement
4. use designer paper as my base
5. no paper piercing

Thank you for the inspiration Queen Darla! I hope you enjoy wearing that gorgeous crown this week!

Twinkling Acorns

Stef has another great inspiration website over on Splitcoaststampers for today's inspiration challenge called Garnet Hill.  I was inspired by this Pears Flannel Bedding for my card today.

I designed my own designer paper by using a baby wipe as my ink pad (drop several colors to a baby wipe and press stamp onto the baby wipe) for my maple leaf image, stamping randomly all over ivory cardstock. For more definition, I then stamped the Rubbernecker folk art maple leaf in eggplant and lettuce ink pads. I sponged the outer edges of the ivory cardstock with Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo distress inks. I then sprayed copper Glimmer Mist and Champagne Mist onto the cardstock for a shimmery effect. I colored the Rubbernecker fall acorn images with Twinkling H20s and cut them out.

I wish you could see this IRL because it's so shimmery!

Stamps: Folk Art Maple Leaf and Fall Acorns by Rubbernecker
Paper: More Mustard, Ivory, Pumpkin Spice (by Gina K)
Ink: Adirondack Butterscotch, Ginger and Lettuce; Stampin Up Elegant Eggplant; Ranger Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Inks; Twinkling H20s Jasper Red and Nutmeg
Accessories: Twinkling H20s, Copper Glimmer Mist, SU Champagne Mist, triangle Nestabilities, copper brad, elegant eggplant ribbon, dimensionals, baby wipes, blending tool and sponge

Arrrr! You'll Walk the Plank If....

Yes, Frances has the CCEE Stampers talking like pirates today in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day!  That was her challenge to us this week to make some kind of a pirate card.  I don't have anything pirate related in my stamping stash, so I went to an on-line coloring page and downloaded this pirate walking the plank and colored him with Copic markers.  I thought he was rather comical looking.  I generated my own sentiment on my computer which reads:  "Arrrr!  You'll walk the plank if....".  The rest of the sentiment is on the inside and reads "...you don't have a Happy Birthday!" 

Wanna see what my team mates Joanne, Frances, Cindy, Shirley and Tosh made and/or participate in this fun challenge with us?  Check out the details on our CCEE blog!

The Fast and the Furriest!!

My furry friends are off to the fast and furriest canine street race at the Raleigh Drift in Raleigh, NC today.

Da Mudder has asked all the tea partiers to bring dogs to the tea party today. She specifically requested “…racing dogs, spectator dogs, mechanic dogs, dogs on a news crew, dogs in a pit crew. We need dogs that can drive, dogs that high five, dogs that love bones, dogs with cell phones! We need dogs to keep score, dogs to sweep the floor. We need dogs that are nurses, we need dogs who sell purses. We need dogs that are sweet, we need dogs that can tweet! We need dogs to write a book, we need dogs that can cook! We need a dog for the head of promotion, and a dog to control all of the commotion! We need big dogs on the porch, we need dogs who can carry a torch! We need a dog that can howl and one that chases fowl! We need dogs that can bark and dogs in the dark. But most of all, we need dogs that are furry, dogs in a hurry, dogs that are fast, dogs who will last! Dogs that are The Fast and Furriest!”

These fellers heard there was a long, long, LOOOOONG waiting line at the local potty tree, so they thought they’d better bring their own fire hydrant to help out for when duty calls. I mean, did you see that line of pooches waiting in line to pee at the tree?!?!? You just know we’re gonna have at least one or two of these pooches with bladder problems and the mayor of Raleigh doesn’t want them peeing just anywhere. So, all you pooches who need to potty, feel free to lift a leg in the back of the hydrant when duty calls.

Today’s Destination Station is to zgirlsgranny’s life-long friend, Rachel, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Rachel loves dogs and recently had to give up her beloved Sheltie because of her illness. If you’d like to participate in today’s challenge and/or send your card to Rachel to offer her encouragement and support, you can get all the details in the Teapot Tuesday forum here.

My pooches were colored with Copic markers and cut out.  The two outer dogs are popped up on dimensionals.  My fire hydrant was made using the small oval punch, corner rounder, 3/4" circle punch, and half of a large oval cut from my Coluzzle.  The cardstock is Ruby Red and the edges were sponged in Cherry Cobbler.  I saw this on Lauren Meader's blog eons ago and had printed out her instructions to use one day.  Today is that day! 

Teddy Bear Love

Frances has challenged the CCEE Stampers to make a card with a teddy bear on it in honor of Teddy Bear Day.  I adore this little Whipper Snapper called Li'l Standing Teddy.  I colored him with Copic markers and framed him with my tag punches and Spellbinder Shapeabilities.  I used this cute Jillibean designer paper for my topnote panel, and the ribbon is the retired Stampin' Up kraft taffeta.  Everything is popped up on dimensionals.  Oh, and that is the little heart punch from the trio heart punch that I glued to his li'l bear paw.

Please be sure to stop by our CCEE blog to see what my friends Frances, Tosha, Joanne, Shirley, and Cindy have made.  You can also get the challenge details there if you'd like to play along with us!

MoJo Butterflies at the Tea Party

I'm a little pressed for time today, so my post is brief.  I have no story to go with my Teapot Tuesday card, but I wanted to help out da Mudder with her butterfly issues.  I also made this using the sketch challenge on the Mojo Monday blog.   After I finished the card, I sprayed it with champagne mist shimmer spray.....that stuff is sooooooo pretty!  My card is monochromatic in Pink Pirouette, using Beautiful You stamps by Verve and Flight of the Butterfly by Stampin' Up. 

Christmas Block

I hope you are having a terrific Labor Day weekend!  I love having a day off from work to do the things I love, one of which is stamping.  Here's a card I made for Jen's Clean & Simple challenge on Splitcoaststampers using a sketch by resqbarbie.

I colored my image with Stampin' Up reinkers in Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive.  I love the richness of this red they came out with!

Sunflower Bookmark

Frances, aka StampOwl, is the CCEE hostess with the mostest for the month of September, and does she have some awesome challenges lined up for us.  She took her inspiration from the “September Holidays and Special Days” site. September is “Read A New Book” month. Of course most of us can’t read a whole book in one sitting so we need something to mark our place so we know where we left off. So this week the challenge is to create a bookmark!




For my bookmark, I cut a piece of cardboard to 2" x 6" and glued my 2" x 6" pieces of designer paper to it.  I'm not sure of the maker of this designer paper as I picked it up at a garage sale this summer and there is no marking on the back.  I can't swear to it, but it feels and looks like Basic Grey to me.  I sponged the outer edges of the dp with Always Artichoke, which also helped to color the sides of the cardboard.  I stamped my Serene Sunflowers in SU Summer Sun and Chocolate Chip and Adirondack Butterscotch, sponging Adirondack Ginger on the tips of the flowers after I fussy cut them.  My leaves were stamped in Adirondack Lettuce and sponged with SU Always Artichoke on the edges.  I spritzed the entire bookmark and flowers with gold Shimmer Spritz (Tsukineo) and it shimmers so beautifully.  I only wish I was able to capture it with my photograph.  I used my Cropadile to punch a hole at the top for my gold organdy and spring moss grosgrain ribbons, as well as the gold cord that holds the sunflower charm.  The charm was originally silver, but I touched it up with a gold Zig Painty pen.

I like this sentiment which reads, "True friends grow separately without growing apart."

We hope you'll join us in our challenge.  You can check out the details and see the other spectacular bookmarks my friends Tosha, Joanne, Frances, Shirley, and Cindy made on our CCEE blog.