Home is Where...

...the heart is, for sure!

The Splitcoaststampers' CAS challenge is a beautiful inspiration photo this week.  I stamped the trees first, masked them, stamped the clouds, and then sponged the sky and ground.  I stamped the house onto kraft cardstock with Cherry Cobbler ink, cut it out, and applied to my scene.

My card is 4 1/4" square. After I cut out the image with a square Nestie, I got the idea to also cut/emboss with a circle Nestie within the square. I used a large square Nestie to help me line up the dotted outline frame with my black marker.  And before you get the impression that I can draw those lines perfectly straight, I used a template my friend, Joanne, gave me a year or so ago called Stitch, Doodle, Dot.  I love that thing!

Have a great day, friends!

Sisterhood Sunday with Rubbernecker Stamps

It's time for another Sisterhood Sunday challenge and a chance for you to win one of Rubbernecker's terrific stamps!  All of you have to do to play along in our challenge this week is to create a card using your Rubbernecker images and link it to our Stampin' Sisterhood blog for a chance to be randomly drawn as the winner!  You can get all the details and see the other designs of my Stampin' Sisters Julia, Jen, Judy, and Kittie there, too!

For our Sisterhood Sunday challenge this week, we were given this beautiful inspiration photo:

Awwww, aren't all those lovely shades of purple so pretty?  I chose to use one of my Wildflower, as well as one of my Weeds, images by Rubbernecker.  I stamped the Wildflower twice with Versamark and heat embossed the one on the left with Lilac Pastel embossing powder and the one on the right with PEARLustre Amethyst (I know it looks black in my photo, but it truly is a deep, rich purple).  The weed image in the center was heat embossed with Peeled Paint Distress embossing powder. 

I used a small rectangle Nestability to section off the images, sponging the outer edges with Dusty Concord Distress ink.  The sentiment is from Rubbernecker's Friends stamp set, which I cut out with a Fancy Tag die and also sponged with the Dusty Concord ink.  I threaded the pretty gingham ribbon through holes at the end of the tag.

Here are all the supplies used:
Stamps:  Wildflower (SKU #496-08) and Weed (SKU #497-15) and Beautiful Wishes sentiment (SKU #565-12)
Paper:  Pale Plum, White, Black, dotted purple dp
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Dusty Concord
Accessories:  Rectangle and Fancy Tag Nestabilities, purple gingham ribbon, sponge dauber, Versamark, Lilac Pastel, PEARLustre Amethyst, and Peeled Paint Distress embossing powders, dimensionals

Can't wait to see what you create!!

Happy Australia Day!

Frances is the CCEE Stampers' challenge hostess for January 2012.  She lives in Australia and informed us that January 26 is Australia Day!  She didn't want to let this day go past without having our challenge Aussie related in some way today. She gave us  a few options for our challenge today … use the colors green and gold on your card; create a beach scene (we love our beaches); use Australian Animals; Tongs (you wear on your feet btw) or anything else that you think would relate to Australia!.

Before I move on to my card, however, I want to extend a warm welcome to four new members of the CCEE Stampers team!

Brenda O'Rear
Lois Bak
Sabrina Friel
Kathy Bradley

I know you will LOVE their creations!

Okay, so onto my card for today.  I used my Beach Bum Cocoa stamp (by Sweet n Sassy Stamps), as well as Australia's colors of green and gold.

I colored this sweet image with Copic markers.  I inked up my large polkadots embossing folder with Summer Sun ink for my background paper.  I admit that the color wasn't quite as deep of a golden color that I wanted, so I went over the dots with my Summer Sun marker and achieved the hue for which I was looking.  I used my scallop punch to take a bite out of the opposing corners.

Check out the designs of my CCEE Stampin' sisters on our CCEE blog and play along with us!
Happy Australian Day, Frances!

Wednesday's Worktable Sneak Peek!

Swing by the Rubbernecker Stampin' Sisterhood blog for the full view!  Thanks!

Tweet Colors

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday and would like to thank those of you who took the time to send me a Happy Birthday message!

I love the colors of pink, celery, and white together, which is the Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  I used punches for everything in my design with the exception of the sentiment and the bird's legs which I drew.

My punch-around-the-page one of many items in my birthday package from my sweet friend, Joanne.  Isn't it pretty?  I hand cut grass and then embossed it with an embossing folder for additional texture.  The birds were made with various circle punches, a bird wing punch, and a heart punch.  The "Tweet" sentiment is from a There She Goes Stamp set.

Kittie Kits Blog Hop

Hello Sister Friends!! How are you? Thank you for joining in on the KITTIE KIT HOP fun!! We are SO excited to share with you! In case you didn’t know, Rubbernecker Stamps has a line of stamps called KITTIE KITS and they include a variety of images; these images can be used together in MANY different ways to create MANY different things!! Just wait, you will see what I mean! The Stampin’ Sisterhood has come together to share some of the ways that THEY use them! There is a HOP ROUTE for you to follow below! You will find it along with MY creation! AND? So you won’t get lost, EACH Sister will have this list for you, to help you on your journey!! Make sure to leave some LOVE at every stop, for you will want to be eligible for our PRIZE!! What fun would it be without a PRIZE!!

(click on photo for larger view)

For my creation, I used the wonderfully detailed trees from the Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose stamp set.  I used a painting technique I saw my friend and Stampin' Sister, Judy Rozema, do as a tutorial over in the Teacher's Lounge at Stamp School.  I, of course, had to mask my ground and sky to use the different colors of ink.  I used Ranger Weathered Wood and Adirondack Cloudy Blue for the sky; I used Ranger Crushed Olive and Forest Moss for the ground; I used Adirondack Butterscotch for the yellow hue between the sky and ground. I hand drew the mountains in the background and watercolored them with Stampin' Up's Basic Gray ink and added white acrylic paint for the snowy sections in the mountains.  I love the various size trees in this stamp set.  I stamped all of them using Ranger's Forest Moss Distress Ink. 

I love how this turned out and want the focus to be solely on the artwork so I did not add any embellishments.

Now, remember the following:

***You could WIN……………….

Your choice of one AWESOME ……

KITTIE KIT stamp set

***The winner will be announced

FRIDAY 1/27

How cool is that? OK, better get HOPPIN’, there is LOTS to see!! Be on the look out for our NEXT HOP coming IN FEBRUARY!! We look forward to bringing you MORE sharing and prizes!! Until then, be sure to check out the daily posts on the STAMPIN’ SISTERHOOD blog!! There is LOTS of inspiration to be found! Thanks again for joining us today and ENJOY!!

Here's your blog hop route:

• Bev Gerard
• Charlene Driggs
• Charlene Merrick (that's me!)
• Jacquie Peifer
• Jen Charboneau
• Jennifer Cuthbertson
• Joan Ervin
• Judy Rozema
• Julia Aston
• Juliana Swanson
• Karen Hunsaker
• Kecia Waters
• Rubbernecker Stampin Sisterhood

Year of the Rooster

Frances has challenged the CCEE Stampers to design a card/project in recognition of the Chinese New Year, which is celebrated on January 23rd this year.  It is the Year of the Dragon … so for this week's challenge we are either to use a dragon on our card or find out what animal relates to our birth year in the Chinese Zodiac and create a card using that animal.  Since I don't have any dragon stamps, I chose to use the animal related to my birth year, which is the rooster.

I stamped my Rooster in Ranger Vintage Photo ink and then I stamped it again (lining it up with a stamp-a-ma-jig) with Stampin Up Cherry Cobbler to get the reddish brown outline.  I used a blender pen to color in the rooster with Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Chocolate Chip, and Cherry Cobbler inks.  The white and red checkered panel is another stamp in this stamp set by Anna Griffin (Rooster Sunrise).  I thought it was cool that I also happen to have this checkered embossing folder that I used on my Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  And what's really cool is this new-to-me notebook paper embossing folder by Paper Studio!



I hope you can find some time to join us in this challenge.  You can get all the details on our CCEE Stampers blog, as well as see all the cool creations by my teammates.  Speaking of teammates, we've had some additions to our team with the talents of Anne Harmon, Vicky Gould, and Brandi Wiggins!  We have a few more new members joining us next week, so be sure to check back to see who they are!

Dirty + Sister = Dirty Sister!

CAN....YOU.....HEAR.....ME......SCREEEEEEEAMING!!! I can officially tell you now that I've joined the dirt pile with all of the other dirty girls on Splitcoaststampers (SCS)!!! Whew! What a relief to finally let that secret out!!  I'm good at keeping secrets, but this one was a real toughie for me.

I am so honored and thrilled to have been asked by Lydia, the SCS Community Manager, this join this team of talented stampers whom I've personally admired for so long.  It almost feels surreal for me to be typing this, but the proof is in the puddin', as they say.  If you are a Fan Club member on Splitcoaststampers , you'll be able to view the entire Dirty Dozen gallery.  I'd also like to congratulate my fellow dirty sister, Jessica Diedrich, on jumping into the dirt pile with me!!!
WAIT, don't leave just yet....because it's also SISTERHOOD SUNDAY for Rubbernecker Stamps!!

  and we have a different sketch challenge for you to try!

Here's my design using this sketch:

With all the cold and snow here in Michigan, I needed to use some pretty Spring colors.  I stamped the flowers with versamark, clear embossed them, and then sponged the various colors.  I used my markers to add a deeper color to the flowers and stems/leaves.

Supplies I used:
Stamps:  Wildflower Set (SKU #465) by Rubbernecker
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Black, Good Neighbor designer paper
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, So Saffron
Accessories:  versamark, clear embossing powder, sponge daubers, ric rac, Spellbinder's scallop border die, markers

Pop on over to the Stampin Sisterhood blog to see the designs my sisters made, get the challenge details, and find out how you can win a prize!

CCEE1202

Frances has a terrific sketch challenge for the CCEE Stampers (and you) this week!

I used this pretty, glitter paper from my DCWV All Dressed Up matstack.    The silver strips are glitter.  The faux brads are glittered cardstock.  The cupcake is Stampin' Up's cupcake punch.
Pop on over to the CCEE Stampers' blog to get all the details on how you can play along with us and check out the team's creations!  We have two new CCEE members, too!

Have a great day!

Wednesday's Worktable Peek

 Pop on over to the Rubbernecker Stampin Sisterhood blog for the full reveal!  Thanks and have a wonderful day!

CAS and Die Cuts

 Jen, challenge hostess of the Clean and Simple Winter Design Team on Splitcoaststampers, challenged the DT members to make a CAS card using die cuts.  I used:

1.  Flower Pot Nestability (Spellbinders)
2.  Flower Die-namics (My Favorite Things)
3.  Button Sizzlits Die (Stampin Up)

My colors are Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler, and Always Artichoke....all from Stampin' Up's designer pack.  I popped up the button centers with thick dimensionals.

Come on over and play along!

The Fisherman and His Wife

The CCEE Stampers are back from their holiday respite and raring to go with Frances' first challenge of 2012!  She challenged the team to make a card using one of the Grimm's Fairy Tales as our inspiration. 

I chose the fairy tale of The Fisherman and His Wife and got the idea to merge two of the Rubbernecker Old Characters images for my design.  Meet cantankerous Ralph and Ethel.  They've been married for a very looooooooooong time and have a tendency to get on each other's last nerve.  Here's Ethel trying to tell Ralph how to fish.

I colored them with Copic markers, cut them out, and arranged Ethel slightly behind her husband Ralph the Fisherman.

I know of a couple in real life who love each other very much but are kind of like Ralph and Ethel.  They'll get a kick out of this card for their anniversary.

Be sure to swing by our CCEE Stampers' blog to see what the rest of the team designed for this challenge.  Maybe you'd like to play along with us, too!

Wednesday's Worktable Peek

If you want to see more, please visit the Rubbernecker Stampin' Sisterhood blog for the full picture and details!  Thank YOU! 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!  I hope you had a fabulous time celebrating the new year. 

Hubby and I typically stay home watching movies on New Year's Eve.  Just a few minutes before midnight, we fill our champagne glasses and set up the video camera on a tripod to videotape ourselves ringing in the new year with the New Year's Eve countdown on TV!  It's fun watching the compiled years my husband puts together and seeing the little changes from year to year.

For the Clean and Simple challenge on Splitcoaststampers this week, Jen challenged the design team and you, too, to make some type of project with a beverage theme.  Seeing that it's the new year, I went with martinis!!!

I used acetate for the liquid in my martini glasses. I used a red Copic marker to color the pimento on my olives, which are green brads.  Here's a closer view of the gold embossed glasses.  The swizzle sticks are toothpicks.

Here's a complete list of the supplies I used:
Stamps: Martini glass and Happy New Year sentiment by Rubbernecker
Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Black, acetate
Ink: none
Accessories: gold embossing powder, versamark, olive green brad, red Copic marker, gold cord, embossing folders, dimensionals, toothpick

Here's wishing YOU a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!  Thanks for stopping by!