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!

Groovy Inclinations

Happy Saturday to you!

Stef has another great inspiration challenge going on over at Splitcoaststampers. Today she's provided us with inspiration from Groovy Inclinations. To quote Stef, "The artist is Mindy Wilson from western Montana. Her digital prints stem from illustrations and photos combined with alterations with a graphic program and her own painted textures." I chose this beautiful Jade and Topaz print for my inspiration piece.

And here's my interpretation of it using the Fall Trilogy stamp set from Rubbernecker Stamps. Dave has 20% off on his stamps right now with a huge selection to choose from!



I used the polished stone technique to create my designer paper. If you're not familiar with this technique, you drop a bit reinker (I used Stampin Up's Sage Shadow) and rubbing alcohol onto a cotton ball and dab it all over glossy cardstock. I then swirled my cotton ball after I dabbed to help blend and mute some of the color.

I stamped my image several times in shades of Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, and Chocolate Chip. When stamping onto glossy cardstock, you want to be careful stamping your image because it can slide easily, unless you're using an archival ink which is best for stamping onto glossy cardstock.

After my ink dried, I ran the glossy cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the fleur de lis embossing folder for added texture. I also embossed the sentiment panel with this same embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by! You know I always appreciate it and your comments!

We're Baaaaaaaaack!

Good morning! Well, it's been a while since we had our CCEE challenge (2 months to be exact), but after a holiday break, the CCEE Stampers are back at it, and we're kicking off the month of January with a series of sketch challenges hosted by Cindy Haffner. Cindy has a great eye for layout design and always comes up with cool challenges.

We've had a few changes to our group and schedule. I'm sad to see four of our original members leave our group: Cindy Motherway, Carolyn King, Dawn Lusk, and Deb Mills, but they haven't left the stamping community, so you'll still see them out there. On a happy note, I hope you'll visit our CCEE blog and give a warm welcome to two new members, both of whom are exceptionally talented: Joanne Grzelak and Shirley Quarry!!! Also, our challenge day has moved from Monday to Thursday of each week.

I hope you'll find some time to play along with us!




I used one of my favorite floral sets from Gina K. Designs, A Year of Flowers. I love the tulips in this set. I colored them with Copic markers and shaded all around my flowers to tone down the white in the cardstock. I felt that flowed better with my earthtone colors of Ruby Red and More Mustard.

My next card is unrelated to our CCEE challenge. I just didn't get a chance to upload it to my blog last night. This is one I made for a friend's birthday using the sketch design from the sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers and Stampin' Up's Flight of the Butterfly stamp set. My colors in this are Pink Pirouette and Chocolate Chip.



Thanks for stopping by! I have a busy morning scheduled at work and then I'm off in the afternoon for some personal appointments, but I'll be by to visit your blog soon!

Big News!!!

I am so excited to announce that I've been asked to join the RubberNecker Design Team for 2010! I join this sensational group along with six other new members:

Julia Aston
Cathy Bomgardner
Francie Gumprecht
Karen Hunsaker
Anne Ryan
Cathleen Torina

We newbies join existing design team members:

Kittie Caracciolo, Design Team Coordinator
Joan Ervin
Bev Gerard
Tammy Hershberger
Shelly Kuck
Juliana Swanson
Candy Williams

I have a link to everyone's blog or gallery on my sidebar. Am I in good company or what??? I'm so excited to be a part of this team and anxious to get started on making cards/projects as soon as I get my stamps this week!!!

RubberNecker, owned by Dave Miller, has such a wonderful variety of quality stamps. You can check out the website here.

Back in the Saddle Agin!

Bertie is in a singin' mode today and is a hummin' and a strummin' the old Gene Autry tune Back in the Saddle in honor of da Muddermark being back in the Teapot Tuesday saddle drivin' the wagon train of tea partiers to greater heights of creativity and story tellin'!! Yeeee-haaaaaaw! I'm so happy yer back, Muddermark!

Listen' up:

I'm back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin' the range once more
Totin' my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

Don't I sing purty?



I'm so 'cited to be at the tea party agin this week hepin' out Miss Kitty by providing Marshall Dillon with a brand new saddle so Festus can saddle up his horse fer him and deliver him to the weddin' alter to finally marry Miss Kitty! Talk about a man with his feet in the molasses!!! These two have had a love affair for nigh unto 40+ years, if I did my cipherin' correctly!

So why don't ya'll come on over to the tea party in the Teapot Tuesday forum and join the shindig! I'll be a-flingin' my rope today, ropin' in all the li'l doggies to bring 'em on home to the range. That be cowgirl speak for playin' miss matchmaker. Lemme know if yer in need of one of them thar ruggedly handsome cowboys to spice up yer life. I see a few others have brought the Wild Wild West man, so there might be some cat fights over him.