Dare I Do Christmas in August?

Yes I do!

(you can always click on the photo to make it larger)

Not only is it time for my weekly Wednesday's Worktable posting on the Rubbernecker blog, but it's also time for another Dare to Get Dirty design for the daily challenges the Dirty Girls are hosting on Splitcoaststampers for Fan Club members!   I hope you get time to check both out!  

Oh, and one more tidbit of information....did you know that Rubbernecker customers' designs are being showcased on the Rubbernecker blog on Saturdays?  Yesssirrreee, Bob!  Come join us!

Continuing the Dare

Here are two more projects I made that include challenges issued by the Dirty Dozen team on Splitcoaststampers for their annual Dare to Get Dirty challenges open to Fan Club members.

First up is this polkadotted cupcake card.  I love polkadots and had a lot of fun incorporating them with embossing folders, circle punches, crystal gems, and french knots!  Yes, can you believe that moi' hand stitched french knots onto those 3/4" circle punches?  It was a bit of a challenge with the arthritis in my hands, but I had so much fun making them and this card!  I used my Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge for the cupcake card shape. 

My next card was inspired by Cindy Motherway's inspiration teapot for Teapot Tuesday. 

Our Teapot Tuesday inspiration this week are the Three Tea-Migos in blue, yellow, and green! It's a party for Tink, LaRue, and Sunshine, too! We are to bring light-hearted, upbeat, beautiful, wonderful, and colorful things.  My card

 will be sent to a very special young child at Hugs and Hopes Club for Sick Kids for children battling critical illnesses.

I loved the goofy faces on the inspiration teapot and immediately thought of this goofy duck image I have. I stamped him three times and watercolored him with Twinkling H20s in Sunflower, Fresh Oregano, and Evening Primrose, and then shaded the background with Stargazer. I colored their bills with an orange marker and then put orange glitter on them. After I cut my Brilliant Blue cardstock with the film strip die, I watercolored it with the Evening Primrose so all my blues would match. I did the same thing for the circle punches so they would shimmer, too!

The "You Quack Me Up!" sentiment is computer generated. On the inside of my card, I also computer-generated in bright blue ink a duck joke that reads:

"What do you call a crate full of ducks?"

A: A box of quackers!

Dare to Get Dirty 2011

Wow!  How fast this past year has flown by!  Here we are at another Dare to Get Dirty (DTGD)  week on Splitcoaststampers for Fan Club members.  There are a lot of challenges packed into each day, but you can combine them which helps if you're a busy gal on the go.  They are a lot of fun to do.

Last night I was able to make this 3 x 3 note box that I made as a birthday gift box combining three of the DTGD challenges.

Here's a close up of the flowers I made using my MFT trio flower die-namics, Stampin' Up's 5-petal flower punch, hydrangea and punch (small flower in center), as well as my pine leaf and leaf punches.
After I cut the flowers, I embossed them with the Square Lattice embossing folder for dimension.

I'm off to an appointment for now, but I'm looking forward to returning to my stamp room and participating in more of the challenges!

Snowy Starry Nights and a Goal Achieved

I did it! I did it!! I finished all 33 Dare to Get Dirty challenges hosted by the Dirty Dozen for Fan Club members! Woo-hoo!  After work, I spent a lot of my spare time working on these, and I just feel so doggone good that I achieved my goal. :-)

I also decided to try and give my brayer another try. I so love Zindorf's stunning scenes she creates with her brayering technique. I've never had the opportunity to take one-on-one instruction from her, but I just tried to follow along with tutorials she has done. I found it easier to use the sponge brayer roll that SU use to sell rather than the smoothy brayer roll. After I brayered the various colors, I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up and stamp these pretty Rubbernecker Kittie Kits trees. I added snow to the tree branches and the sky with a white gel pen. I used my Going Gray reinker and a blender pen to add the shading under the trees. All of my stitching is faux as are my buttons.

Since I didn't quite capture the texture of the beautiful starburst transluscent white paper I used, here's a close up.

Now, it's off to claim my DTGD Queen crown from SCS!!  Giggle.

I hope you're having a terrific day!

Kraft and Wings

Have you participated in any of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoaststampers? There are 33 of them and, if you are a Fan Club member, you have until August 1st to complete them. As much as I have tried to participate in these challenges in the past, I have been unsuccessful in completing them for one reason or another. It's been my goal this year to do ALL 33 and I am soooooooo close. The card I have to share today completes 32 of the 33 challenges for me, and I hope to make #33 either tonight or tomorrow.  So, if I haven't been to your blog or your on-line gallery lately, it's because I've been a stampin' fool in the little spare time that I have.  I'll be back to see what you've been up to soon, though!

I white embossed the Polka Dots & Paisley flowers onto kraft cardstock and added pink brads to the dotted portion under the bloom.  Isn't this kraft tafetta ribbon pretty?  I just had to order some when I saw it was on the Stampin' Up retired list, and I wish I would've ordered more than one.  It is so pretty and works well with the Bow Easy. 

Cardstock:  Craft, Pink Pirouette, Pink Pirouette dp
Accessories:  butterfly punch, circle Nestabilities, pink brads, distressed stripes embossing folder, pink liquid pearls, kraft tafetta ribbon

Woven Floral

Joanne (JoJot) gave us a beautiful woven sketch design challenge this week with flowers as the twist for our CCEE challenge.  The flowers can be the image, the background, an accent, on the ribbon, or any combination.   I love my new (new to me) Fifth Avenue Floral set and this flower image, in particular.  It's fun to stamp directly onto colored cardstock or patterned paper and sponge the edges for depth.


If you would like to play along all you have to do is create a card using the above challenge and upload it to your blog and/or to your SCS Gallery using the keyword CCEE1030. Please check out the beautiful creations my friends Joanne, Cindy, Shirley, Tosh and Frances made on our CCEE blog.

Stamping Machine!

I was able to spend some time stamping this weekend and participating in more of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges that the Dirty Dozen gals from Splitcoaststampers are hostessing for Fan Club members.  These challenges varied in theme, sketch, color, and technique.  So, here you have it.....from country life to yummy birthday cupcakes to Christmas and back to a summer floral garden.....

Stamps:  Rooster Sunrise by Anna Griffin, Chicken Wire bg by Rubbernecker

Cardstock:  Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, gingham dp

Ink:  Memento Black, Riding Hood Red

Accessories:  gingham ribbon, circle Nestabilities, circle punches, modern label punch, scalloped border punch, dimensionals, paper piercer, black marker

Stamps:  Well Scripted, Party Hearty
Cardstock: Only Orange, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Real Red
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: orange and brown polkadotted ribbon, circle punches, Sweet Treats Cricut cartridge, dimensionals, swirls embossing folder, candy sprinkles

Stamps:  Christmas Punch

Cardstock:  Blue Bayou, Soft Sky dp, Whisper White

Ink:  Blue Bayou

Accessories:  large tag punch, white eyelet, ribbons, scalloped border punch

Stamps:  Rubbernecker
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Regal Rose, pink dp
Inks:  Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Old Olive
Accessories:  olive ribbon, butterfly punch, sponge, dimensionals

Altered Items

Happy Saturday to you!  I've been busy in my craft room working on altering a couple items this morning.

First up, is a metal tin I colored with Ranger alcohol inks and blending solution.  I used a cotton ball to get good coverage all over.   These inks cover beautifully and dry fast so you're not waiting for your project to dry to finish it.  My Oval All sentiment was colored with Copic markers and accented with Ranger stickles.  I used my Bow Easy to make my bow.  Doesn't this make for a pretty gift-giving package?

Second, is this chest of drawers that I bought at a garage sale several years ago for 25 cents with the intention of decorating it.  I had no idea how stamping on this would turn out, but thought I'd give it a try.  The chest of drawers were originally dark brown.  This chest stands 17 inches tall so it was a little difficult to photograph; therefore, I took several snapshots.

I started by spray painting it with flat white paint and then stamped my flowers using bits and pieces of stamps from Love Without End, Polkadot Posies, and Heartfelt Thanks in Lavender Lace, Elegant Eggplant, and Sage Shadow.  I sponged Sage Shadow onto the drawer knobs and then added a dot of Lavender Lace with a q-tip.  I adhered eggplant and lavender striped designer papers to the side and top shelf punching the edges with a scallop punch.  My five-petal flower punch flower is layered three times with dimensionals and centered with a 1/2" circle punched out of the pretty striped designer paper.  I sponged Elegant Eggplant to the tops of each drawer and around parts of the top of the chest.  Last, I adhered this button at the top.

Here is a side view of the designer paper.  I didn't do it here, but I'm thinking of typing drawer labels to identify the various extra punched scraps I accumulate when I'm working on a project and adhering the labels with maybe the word window punch on the side.

a top view

and a close up of the stamping on the drawers

Christmas in July and still daring....

Actually, I love making Christmas cards any time of the year.  They are some of my favorite projects to do.  Joanne Grzelak, aka JoJot, challenged the CCEE gals to make a Christmas in July card using this fabulous sketch design.  Do you recognize the designer paper?  Yep, some of the retired SU True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp dp.  I had a few scraps of it left, so used it in my design.  We'd love it if you played along with us.  You can get all the deets right HERE as well as view the beautiful cards my team mates, Tosha, Joanne, Cindy, Shirley, and Frances have made.

And, yes, I'm still daring to get dirty with the Dirty Girls on Splitcoaststampers (SCS) by trying to participate in as many of the fabulous challenges they've come up with for the SCS Fan Club members. As a full-time working-outside-of-the-home gal, it's hard to keep up with all of them, and I so wish I could just stay home this week and play in EVERY challenge!!! The DD gals have really outdone themselves with some terrific challenges.

Bright and Dirty

Teapot Tuesday is all about hearts this week!  Mothermark has posted a brightly colored and cute teapot and has challenged us to bring hearts to the tea party for crazykim's sweet little girl in New Zealand who just had her tonsils out and could use some cheering up.  Generally, children gravitate to the bright, bold colors, so I was glad to see them in the inspiration teapot.  Here's wishing Georgia a speedy recovery and that she'll enjoy receiving all these cards coming her way!

I used Stampin' Up heart and circle punches, as well as my heart embossing folder in this CAS design.

I have a TV theme song for my next card.  Do you recognize it?

Who can turn the world on with her smile?

Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all

Did you recognize these lyrics? If you guessed the Mary Tyler Moore Show, you would be right! This was one of my favorite TV shows from the 1970s. The color panels on the left represent the colors used in the Mary Tyler Moore opening titles.

The image is black embossed, and she reminded me of when Mary would fling her hat in the air with a big ol' smile on her face that she had "finally made it after all!"

My last card in this post is for several challenges, one of which was to use gingham in our creation.  Whenever I see gingham, it reminds me of Gingham Girl, aka Schirmcat, aka Kelly, so I had to give my sweet Joline (My Favorite Things) image blonde hair in honor of Kelly.

I'm not sure how well you can see them, but the flower has red glitter on it, and her black patent leather shoes are shined with crystal effects.

If you're a Fan Club member on Splitcoaststampers, now is the time to be checking out all the terrific Dare to Get Dirty challenges that the Dirty Dozen members and alumni are hostessing this week!

Dare to Get Dirty

I did as many of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoaststampers as time would allow me. I wish I could have done them all, but I am leaving on vacation, so this is my last submission.

I believe my card qualifies for:

Cindy Haffner's sketch challenge (great sketch, Lou!)

Bev Mom's sew unexpected - do not own a sewing machine and only know a few basic hand stitches. I hand sewed the bottom right corner under the image with lavender embroidery thread. I "faux sewed" the upper left after I was unhappy with the messy appearance of my real sewing. Ugh! I tried.

Becca Stamps - to cut it out - punches and dies - I used an octagon Nestability that I cut some of the shape off for a different look.

TruCarMa to use a food related item (carrot---am I stretching it here, Carole???)

Pickle Tree - Born to be Wild - bunnies are soft and cuddly and tame, but I reckon there are some wild ones in the bunch, too.

DeborahLynneS - taken with texture - dimensionals, dry embossing, and liquid applique (on bunny's tail)--see ya in a couple days, Deb!

I wanted a bright, cheery card to send to a woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer in the hopes that it might lift her spirits a bit.

I'm going to the Michigan U.P. Stamping event for a few days----WOO-HOO!!! I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends and being inspired! I'll have my laptop with me, I don't know if I'll have an opportunity to post or check in with other blogs. But, like Arnold always says, "I'll be back!"

Kermit's at the Tea Party!

Didja hear? Didja hear the 'citin' news?!?! Kermit is coming to da Muddermark's tea party today! Word is that we'll be sippin' our tea on a soft, cushy lilypad while listenin' to Kermie sing his "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" song. Remember those lyrics? If not, here they are for your edification:

It's not that easy bein' green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold-
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy bein' green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water- or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why? Wonder,
I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be.

Although I tend to be silly a lot of the time, I really do have a deeper side and often reflect on the deeper meaning and purpose of life (no, I haven't figured that one out--ha!) But I just want to point out that this really is a cool song when you pay attention to the message within the lyrics. How many of us feel like we just blend into the background because we don't possess great beauty or talent or we're not in the limelight in some way? We must each remember that we are beautiful and possess wonderful talents in our own way; and, if we can embrace that concept, what a boost to our self esteem, which, in turn, allows our inner light to shine forth and touch others in positive ways! Whoa! Somebunny stop me now. Let's get back to the frog story....

As you may know by now, I love to participate in da Muddermark's (aka Mothermark) Teapot Tuesday challenges. Each Tuesday, she features a teapot on her blog from which we draw our inspiration to create our card (or other project). The supah fun part is that our dear, goofy friend always has an adventure planned for our tea parties and typically has some hilarious story associated with the inspiration teapot! I must tell you that the number of tea party attendees has been growing because we have so much fun! I hope you will consider checking out the Teapot Tuesday challenges and joining us. Here's the inspiration teapot:



So, without further ado (yeah, I know I already did enough of that), I hereby present to you my Teapot Tuesday-inspired card. Drumroll please.....




I had so much fun making this card. I bought this SU lily pad wheel so long ago and I don't think I've ever used it. So, imagine my excitement when I saw Cindy's sneak peek last week that we'd be doing something with a frog and lily pads! Yep. It doesn't take much get me 'cited. I colored my Unfrogettable froggie with Copics, cut him out (he didn't feel a thing...really), and popped him up on dimensionals on his soft, cushy lily pad. Oh, and I gave him googlie eyes cuz they crack me up.

My card also fits a few of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges posted on Splitcoaststampers and available to those who are fan club members. My card fulfills the following challenges:

1. Lauraly (tie one on using ribbon). I first used my SU spiral punch on the side of my cardstock so I could do a different kind of ribbon weave.

2. Kittie747 (make a scene). I think this one is obvious.

3. Becca Stamps (cut it out using punches, dies, etc.) I used my square Nestabilities (reverse framing), my spiral punch, and my Sizzix daisy die.

4. DeborahLynneS (taken with texture). I used googlie eyes and I quilled the sun. Note: This is my first time trying quilling, which also fits the SCS Technique challenge from yesterday to quill, so I did something simple with a sun.

5. debdeb (moved by the music). I love all kinds of music and have been known to break out into song at the slightest provocation...much to the chagrin of my friends since I can't carry a tune very well. Deb challenged us to use our favorite song or any piece in general that moves us. Like I indicated above, the lyrics to this song have a terrific message!

So, why not grab your stamps and creativity and join us at the tea party? Remember, we're floating on lily pads today, so you might want to wear an outfit that you don't mind if it gets wet. Sometimes the tea parties get a little rowdy (some of the guests---who shall remain nameless to protect their innocence---get a bit schnockered). I can just see some of the others trying to hop from lily pad to lily pad and dunking the guests.

Stamps: Unfrogettable, lily pad wheel
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, Whisper White, Cryogen Sparkle White
Ink: Tuxedo Memento Black, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue
Accessories: paper piercer, quilling strip, googlie eyes, Copic markers, ribbon, spiral punch, dimensionals, diasy die, cloud template, dauber

Romper Room Memories Dare to Get Dirty

"Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic mirror, tell me today. Have all my friends had fun at play?"

This quote will probably sound familiar to a lot of you who grew up on Romper Room. It was one of my favorite shows as a small child.

Remember how Miss Nancy would look through her magic mirror and recite names, like "I see Billy and Susie and Linda and, oh, there's Annie, too...."??? I don't ever recall her saying Charlene (hiccup), but with each show I hoped she would.

Further, do you remember Mr. Do Bee (the bumblebee), who taught the children lessons on how to be good boys and girls?

This week I challenged my Doubledog Dare group to make a Mr. Do Bee card (using a bee somewhere on their card, of course) teaching a young child one or more good manners.



I also see it's that time of the year for the Dare to Get Dirty challenges, so I incorporated a few of those into this card:

1. use a clear sheet (acetate--I embossed it and used my 3/4" circle punch)
2. cut it out (punches, dies)
3. use texture (brads, dotted swiss embossing folder)
4. use ABCs to spell it out
5. anything but average---make a shaped card
6. use a winged creature (the tiny bees buzzing the hive stamped behind the sentiment and on the bee brad)

Here's a close up so you can see the dotted swiss embossed acetate (or so I thought):



Stamps: Good Things, Mini Mates, Studio G (alphabet set)
Cardstock: Real Red, Black, White, Acetate
Ink: Tuxedo Memento Black, Barely Banana
Accessories: various circle punches, circle Nestabilities, scallop punch, bee brad, red brads, Cuttlebug dotted swiss embossing folder, dimensionals