DTGD: Phase Nine

I still haven't finished the last two Dare to Get Dirty challenges, but here are some others from last week I haven't posted yet.

This is another adorable Pink Cat Studio image. I colored it with copics (Y08 for the chicks, R20 for the icing, and R24 for the cupcake paper), then added some Fruit Punch stickles to the sprinkles. I used my biggest nestie scallop circle to make the card base, making sure not to cut all the way through the fold. Then I cut another scallop circle from some Core'dinations pink paper and cut out a circle window using the nestie circle die. I added some red stickles onto each scallop.

Karen reminded me how cute this owl is from PTI Tiny Treats: Valentines (although shouldn't the sentiment be "guess woo loves you" in order for it to be punny?). I stamped the owl on red PTI bitty dot paper, used a white gel pen for the eyes, and cut out. On the Always Artichoke base, I'm really wishing I would have written down what color I used because I tried about 5 different greens before using this one. Maybe it's Ripe Avocado diamonds with Versamark dotted lines? ETA: mystery solved it was Memento Pear Tart for both the diamonds & lines! Whoduthunk? Not me! Anyway, I know I stamped the Wplus9 woodgrain using versamark onto Dark Chocolate paper and I think I need to suck it up and spend the $4 on some new clear embossing powder because these white specs are killing me. I used a circle punch to punch out a circle (hence the name "circle punch") and rotated it a bit before adhering to the base. Then I foam mounted the strip on top to make it look like Mr Owl was in his hidey-hole. I stamped the sentiment and punched it out using the Modern Label punch and then I made my own brads from a spare piece of embossed woodgrain paper.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by today. I hope y'all are having a great weekend--mine's about to get a lot better with some Chang's Crispy Honey Chicken and Great Wall of Chocolate! Woohoo!!

DTGD: Phase Eight

I must say my enthusiasm for DTGD was severely dampened by the last two sketches.  I really struggled with getting them to work, especially this first one, which is a shame because the image is SO CUTE!

This Pink Cat Studio's "Sick Billy" looks exactly like my DH! Did you know PCS is having a DT call right now?  I really wanted a pattern on the couch, but since I only had the one image, I had to make my own with a blue copic marker and an Old Olive marker.  I colored Billy's blanket, pillow, and sweatshirt using an aquapainter and SU markers, then colored the rest of him and the dog Addison using Copics.  I embossed some white-core DCWV blue paper and sanded and then spent about half an hour trying to figure out what to put for that skinny strip floating on the side, and finally settled on some Kiwi Kiss ribbon, although I don't really like it.  The sentiment is from My Favorite Things, heat embossed, and the button is SU with cardstock "thread."  Did anyone other DTGD player get stumped on this sketch?

This next sketch card went a little better, once I tripped over my medallion stamp and the lightbulb went off to use it for the background circle.

I embossed the medallion onto a piece of Mellow Moss patterned paper.  I like the vaguely shabby look it has, or at least I tell myself that because it's hard to get a good embossing with this stamp! ;)  I clear embossed Dasher onto Soft Suede (I think I'm going to have to break down and make a Stampin' Up order just to replenish this color, and get the dye ink pad for it!) and matted it with Cherry Cobbler.  The ribbon and faux bow (it's not tied, but glue dotted together) are PTI Scarlet Jewel.

I'm in the final stretch for DTGD--only two more challenges to finish.  Plus tonight from 6-10 EST is a Mini Virtual Stamp Night--challenge overload!!!! :)

DTGD: Phase Seven + OLW14

In case you placed bets yesterday, I lasted about 6 hours before I gave DH his suitcase scrapbook!  He LOVED it (of course).  He immediately recognized it was supposed to be a suitcase and that the stickers were all from places we've been. I got super-bonus points for one of the pin-up girl pictures being on his favorite airplane (which was just luck on my part that it came up in the first couple pages of searching). And of course he loved all the photos (and the cross-processing). He was also excited to see his own plane on one of the stickers, made from a photo that he took (I used postercize in Picnik, then added some text).

Yesterday we also went to a free Gofobo preview of Dinner for Schmucks last night.  First of all, let me say, this is the way to see a movie at the theater.  We usually wait for the DVD because of all the movie theatre obnoxiousness, but this was a full house of nice, normal, well-behaved people, threatened with ejection if they used their cell phone (including texting) AND they made the lady with the screaming baby leave AND there were no previews or commercials before the movie (AND did I mention it was free?).  Second of all, it was a darn funny movie!!  You know how most comedies nowadays are really funny for the first 10 minutes, kinda funny for about 30 minutes, then it's just a long, unfunny hour until the end?  Well, this had us laughing the entire two hours-I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a stupid-in-a-good-way comedy.       

Anyway, onto the cards!  Here's another Dare to Get Dirty card that I made last week:

The image paper and the background paper are from an SEI Valentine's pack I bought two Valentine's ago--it ended up being a bit glittery for my taste, but it does have some beautiful shimmery paper.  I stamped the hydrangea in Soft Suede and clear embossed.  The background paper is embossed with SU Vintage Wallpaper folder, then layered onto the kraft base.  The sentiment is from PTI Delightful Dahlia, stamped in Soft Suede & clear embossed on PTI Ocean Tides, matted with Gina K Pure Luxury Ivory.  The butterflies are cut from the shimmery paper, too.  Then I went crazy with the distress inking to give it a real shabby chic look--I wish you could see it in person because the inking + the shimmer is just yummy!

This is a quick one-layer card for Susan's One-Layer Wonder Challenge to use outline stamps on a square card.  It is also in honor of Susan's new puppy because PUPPY!!  This is an Eat Cake Graphics stamp aptly titled "Rowley Jumps Yippee!" and the sentiment is from a Hot off the Press Hobby Lobby set.  I cut a 3/8 inch mat from a piece of copy paper and taped it down over my 4 1/4 inch So Saffron cardbase, then stamped Rowley all over in Memento Rich Cocoa.  After I took the mat off, I markered in a border using a ruler. 

Well, I think this post is long enough for now, doncha think?  I better get back to finishing those last few DTGD challenges--I heard they're picking up some prizes at CHA!

DTGD: Phase Six

Finally! I started this altoid tin on Saturday for one of the DTGD challenges and it just keep being interrupted and/or growing. But now I'm ready to call it "done!" I was completely inspired by this adorable altoid suitcase by Michele Force-isn't it the most charming thing ever? I decided to make one for my hubby for when he goes to his training in the fall--but I'm not sure if I can wait that long to give it to him!

It started out as an Altoids tin. I covered it with SU Maine Blueberry (I think that's the name? It's before my SU time-I nabbed it on ebay a while back), adding some white ribbon and an Old Olive "handle" with self-adhesive metal nailheads. Then for some reason, I thought it didn't look "suitcase-y" enough, so I thought, "hey, I should add some vintage luggage stickers to it! Yeah, of places we've been to!" Cue at least an hour of searching the internet for vintage tourism posters/postcards/airline logos (and resisting the temptation of buying said vintage posters), then copying and pasting the image into word and reducing the size. Then I printed them all out onto adhesive labels, cut out, and stuck down. For the final touch on the outside, I added a tag printed with "crew" on one side with a heart on the other.

Here is the other side (feel free to click the pic to see it bigger):

For the inside, I picked out six "couple" pictures and five Addison pictures, sized them down to 4x6 (which is the same ratio as 2x3) in Picasa, added 1960s and cross-process effects in Picnik (I may have cross-processing addiction issues), then inserted them into a word document where I made them 2x3 inches big, and printed them on photo paper. I cut a strip of Not Quite Navy 3 3/8 inches wide, then scored it every 2 1/8 inches (which leaves a nice small little flap to glue to the bottom of the tin, which I then covered with DP and another picture). I also lined the inside top and added a little pocket for a love note. As I was taking pictures of it, it seemed a little blah on the inside so I went back and printed out the stickers again and pasted them on the appropriate photo. I even found some cute airplane/travel vintage pin up girl posters to adhere to the inside top.

I give myself two, maybe two and a half hours before I cave and show it to him! :)

My shopping trip to Ann Taylor Outlet yesterday was not as productive as I would have liked, but I still got a few new items. When we were checking out, I asked the salesgirl if they had an outlet coupon book (they do at the outlet we normally go to, and it's usually 15% off total purchase at Ann) and she said they did. DH immediately asked me if I wanted him to go get one and asked the salesgirl where to get it. The salesgirl said it was so cute of him to offer to get she'd just give us the discount without the coupon! How awesome is that?!?

Right now I'm off to dinner and then a free sneak preview of Dinner With Shmucks starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carrell. Be prepared for the full review tomorrow. ;)

DTGD: Phase Five

I haven't gotten any more challenges done; last night we went to see John Hiatt in concert-he was very good but boy was it hot out!  Today we are going to the Ann Taylor outlet to get some new school clothes for me.  I love the Ann outlet, about 78% of my clothes come from there, mostly because their clothes fit me well, and that's hard to find for me.   What are your favorite clothes stores (preferably with petite lines-I'm only 5'1'')?

Anyway, enough about clothes, what about cards? Here is another card I made last week for Dare to Get Dirty.

This is also for The Cat's Pajamas Tuesday challenge.  I picked up a K&Co paper pad for $4 at Michael's the other day; it's full of fun summer paper, including all the ones I used here.  I even cut the fishies out of the paper and put some Glossy Accents on them.  I cut surfin' Poochie out and paper pieced his surfboard.  The waves I made from using a scallop nestability, inking the edges with white ink.  I stamped the Kowabunga with versamark and embossed with blue American Craft powder, and added a gentle curve.  Added some Kiwi Kiss ribbon and some orange & blue stickles and tada-I think it's the perfect card for my nephew's birthday next month!

Well, Ann is calling my name so I best be getting ready.  Thanks for stopping by!

DTGD: Phase Four

I did have good intentions of posting my Dare to Get Dirty challenge cards every day this week, but then someone took the camera to work and left it there until yesterday.  So now I have a back log of cards to post, but I'll try spreading them out over the next couple days.  This one is my most recent favorite of the bunch:

These are two stamps from Eat Cake Graphics, that can be used either separately or together to form a big tree in the middle.  I first made a house template in Word and cut it out of Soft Suede (I told you I'm addicted to that color now--and I only have 2 sheets left!  Eek!)  The fold is on the left side of the house; the roof is a separate piece. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Christmas pack from last year--it's a little bit glittery, but not over the top (have you ever noticed that every paper pack at Michael's now has massive amounts of glitter?).  I then had the "great" idea of using another paper from the same pack at the "wallpaper" for the background of the card.  Which meant stamping and cutting out:
1) The wallpaper layer
2) The tree, pet, and person layer (after coloring with prismacolor pencils & baby oil)
3) An acetate square (hard to see but looks so cute in real life!)
4) The window frame & snow
all times two windows. I'm definitely buying one of those pencil-grip thingies for my craft knife ASAP.  I also cut out the chimney from Cherry Cobbler, adding some score marks 1/4 inch apart for bricks.  On the windows, I colored everything snowy with a white pencil first (I forgot on the roof & chimney), then added some snow using a "Snow Writer" from Hobby Lobby (which I would soooo not recommend), and finally some Frosted Lace Stickles. Extreme close-up!

To keep with the cooler weather mode, I also made this card for Thanksgiving.

 These leaves and sentiment are from the Inkadinkado 5-set package that was sold at Costco about 2 years ago.  Such an awesome deal; it had something like 150 stamps for $20, plus an acrylic block. I picked up all three packages (flowers, holidays, and occasions) and they come in handy all the time, in fact, I should probably start using them more-I just tried some SU classic ink with them today and they stamped wonderfully.  Anyway, I stamped the leaves onto a paper lunch bag to get a nice "leafy" look, then cut out and glued to a one-inch cream square, matted with a 1 1/4 inch Really Rust square. The sentiment is stamped with Really Rust, then I drew the double-line border using the Really Rust marker.

So what is your Best Stamping Deal Ever?

DTGD Day Four: You're Never Too Old for Space Camp!

Does anyone recognize that movie line?  It's from one of our favorite movies, Stranger Than Fiction. I have no idea why we are one of only 17 people that liked this movie^[1]; I think it's one of Will Ferrell's best.  So I got it in my head to make a space shuttle for DH, with The Greeting Farm's Space Ian as the star.  This would have been about 4 bajillion times easier if I'd had any sort of skinny canister around the house, but as it was, I ended up making my own cylinder with an inside layer of black and outside layer of white.  I also made the cone by hand, and the wings, tail (with moving rudder), and engines.  The easy part was coloring Space Ian with copics, adding some metal nailheads to his suit and glossy accents on his helmet.  I stamped another image, cut it out, and poked the wire through the back.  Then I adhered the two images together with scor-tape, sandwiching the wire between.  I also put a paperclip between the two at the bottom, in order to offset the weight of the glossy accents so he'd stand up float in space straight. 

I would have loved to fill it with Milky Ways, but that would involved buying some and that would lead to eating them.  I went with a Cookies and Cream bar, which DH likes and I don't. 

Close up on Space Ian adorableness:

I made another card yesterday before my engineering project, playing with some new paper, tools, and stamps. 

This is mostly Stamping Up! except for the button, thread, large polka dot paper (October Afternoon) and ribbon (PTI Scarlet Jewel).  I stamped and embossed the flower from Growing Green twice, cut out, and layered.  I ran some Cherry Cobbler through the Square Lattice embossing folder and distressed, added the Love Letters patterned paper, ribbon, and twine.  The sentiment is from Tiny Tags, punched with the jewelry tag punch.

Now off to get started on today's challenges!!  Wheeeeee!!!!
 
^[1]Shout out to Angela for being one of 23 people who liked Away We Go--I loved that movie!

DTGD Day Three

Whew!  What a fun cardmaking day I had yesterday!  I'm so glad SCS kept Dare to Get Dirty in July so I can play along!  I ended up making 3 cards yesterday, with a fourth one planned to finish up this morning.

This card also uses Dawn's Color Cue Challenge 6: vanilla, coral (Berry Sorbert here), kraft, and brown.  Oh, how I love a Neapolitan color combo.  Funny story: my wedding was a Neapolitan wedding and my wedding cake was white with pink & brown stripes.  6 months later, I give my parents their album, and my dad shows it off to his friends.  He calls me up and says, "Did you know that your cake matched the bridesmaid's dresses?  I didn't until a lady pointed it out to me!"  Ah, men and their lack of recognizing a theme.

One more item before I start explaining this card: I must give props to Dawn of Wplus9.  I was stamping my stamping index when I noticed there was a manufacturing defect on one of the stamps (there was an extra dollop of plastic so it wouldn't stamp right).  I emailed her, ready to provide pictures and/or send the set back.  Instead she replied that she would be sending along a replacement straightaway, and when I get the package, she had sent an entire replacement set!  So I will be taking the perfect stamp out and sending the rest to my sister in my attempts to get her to come to the dark side.  Yea for fantastic customer service!

Whew, now onto the card making deets: I stamped my now-perfect big leaf image from Wplus9 Woodgrain Silhouette Additions on PTI Berry Sorbet with PTI Vintage Cream for the background, and stamped the flowers from Woodgrain Silhouettes.  The brown paper is another flocked piece from My Mind's Eye Lush collection.  I used my new SU Butterfly embosslet to make the butterfly from October Afternoon paper, adding three self-adhesive pearls.  The sentiment is from PTI Delightful Dahlia, stamped with Rich Cocoa onto PTI Cream, notched with a square punch.  A cute little bow from some generic kraft colored ribbon finished it off!

It's official: I do not have a "card style."  You can almost hear the record scratch as you scroll from the nice, elegant pink card to this craziness!  This was supposed to be for the CAS sketch challenge, but it was one of those project that just kept growing..."I'll use this fruit paper...no, wait, I'll make a patchwork with it...and sew it...and emboss it with basket weave!" :) The image is from Unity Hodge Podge of Happiness, stamped on PTI Rustic White using SU Markers, then colored with copics. The sentiment was stamped with Memento Rhubarb and I colored in the letters for "apple."

 And then it's back to cute for this girlie!! I stamped Sugar Nellie's "Catch a Falling Star" on PTI Rustic White, colored with copics, and cut out. I also paper pieced her skirt and the star from October Afternoon paper. The wire is from an old Christmas ornament project-I applied a little adhesive behind her hands to hold it, as well as just a smidge on the end to hold it in the same place it was drawn on her skirt.  I added an eyelet to the star, then threaded the jute twine through.  I added a drop of Crystal Accents on the back of the star where the twine was so the star wouldn't lean forward.

 The other paper is also from October Afternoon, and the sentiment is from MFT; I wish it would have stamped darker!  The ribbon is I think American Crafts.

I'm seeing quite a few familiar faces over on the DTGD challenges--aren't they fun and inspiring?  If you're a fan club member, be sure to check 'em out!

DTGD Day Two

The good news: I can use this card for all four Dare to Get Challenges posted yesterday.  Bad news: it took me all afternoon to make it!  Good news: I enjoyed every minute of it!!  Sometimes you just gotta pull out all the stops and cut up some fancy paper.

My Sugar Nellies have been neglected recently as I've gone on a CAS kick and this Wish angel just called out to me.  I stamped her onto PTI Rustic White, and then on some My Minds Eye Lush, SU Cameo Coral, and Kiwi Kiss patterned paper.  I colored her hair and added some blush, eyeshadow, and lipstick with prismacolor pencils and baby oil, and then paper pieced her outfit.  I colored her wing spots and the letters with a pink pencil, then went over it with a Jelly Roll Star Dust pen.  This (flocked!) Lush paper happens to go wonderfully with SU Sage Shadow, so I cut a Nestability Big Scallop square out of it, used a square nestie to cut the window, and then added the hearts that were punched from the border using a Xyron adhesive machine.  I just throw a few in there at a time, pull the tape a little, throw some more, and usually the odds work out that I have enough that landed right side up to use.  Much less frustrating than trying to get them all in there face-up.

I had some Martha ribbon that matched, so I used that over a strip of paper border punched from DCWV Luxury Stack.  I really like how the Kiwi Kiss makes the whole thing pop; I just happened to have a scrap on my desk and decided to try it.  I also used PTI Text Styles in Old Olive at the top and bottom.  After cutting out and adhering the letters, I poked a hole and threaded some PTI twine through.  I cut it to a point and it gets a little fuzzy build-up when I started pulling it, but I just kept pulling and the fuzzies came through, so I didn't have to do too much haircutting (my orderly math side: cannot handle too much fuzziness on my twine or any extra-long fuzzies!). I colored a rhinestone with a pink copic and added it to the bottom of the "S."  The card is 5 1/2 by 5, there was just too much yumminess to be restricted to 4 1/4 (but not enough for 5 1/2 square).

I'm so glad I found some fellow Mad Men fans!  Did y'all see Jon (we're on a first name basis) on 30 Rock?  I'd bring him a Diet Raspberry Fanta any time!  Thanks for all the warm-fuzzy* comments!
*these are the type of fuzzies you want to have, not like those evil twine fuzzies.

DTGD Day One

Yesterday started the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoast, which are only open to Fan Club members. Last year I decided to buy a 6-month subscription to the Fan Club for the summer so I could have instant uploads for the challenges. I played DTGD (and loved it!), completed all the challenges, and won a year's subscription to the Fan Club. Then this past spring, I entered a Unity challenge and won a 6-month subscription. So I think I've gotten my money's worth out of that first 6-month subscription I bought! I've completed four of the challenges already with these two cards.

I ended up working on this card for most of the afternoon yesterday, nothing was cooperating with me! I think it took 5 tries to stamp the hummingbird, 4 tries for the sentiment, 3 watercolored images, and 3 attempts at the "ribbon." And by "ribbon" I mean cherry cobbler cardstock, border punched, then crumpled until I could peel it apart. I ran it through the cuttlebug with just an embossing mat and shims to flatten it out, then put down a row of scor-tape and started pleating, then sewed it down. And check it out, those are faux brads on the ends! (ETA: I used regular ol' Elmer's to glue them. )

Other supplies: SU Elements of Style; Old Olive, Ruby Red, and Baja Breeze markers/inks for watercoloring; Soft Suede (I know! Like a good romantic comedy, my initial dislike has turned to love), Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, and Gina K Ivory cardstock; Soft Suede and Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink.

First of all, please excuse the cigarette and smoking reference. I am staunchly anti-cigarette and yes, I do judge you (sidenote: I've also started judging people who don't use reusable grocery bags or water bottles), but it's part of the whole Mad Men scene, so I had to keep it in there. Anyway, Mad Men is starting again next Sunday, so I decided to do a birthday card based on the opening credits and my favorite SNL skit (which I've already linked before). I copied the image of the opening credits and pasted it into a word document, then resized it to 5.5 inches, printed it, taped it to a piece of black cardstock, and cut out the silhouette. I cut the shirt collar, cuff, and cigarette from white paper and glue them on, then glued the whole thing to a PTI Soft Stone base, printed with Moderne font. The inside is pretty much a transcript of the SNL skit:

which, if you watch Mad Men, you'll know is completely spot-on.

Chuy's update: We went there for a late lunch yesterday (and we were told the wait for dinner the night before was 3 hours! That's insane.) and, ok, so none of the other frames were decorated as much as mine, but my frame would definitely fit in with the whole decor. And someone did not think I was a dork when he was eating up some yummy free queso. ;)

Corgis Love Chuy's

Ok, ok, for all you grammar sticklers out there, the technically correct plural of corgi is "corgwn" (pronounced cor-goon).  But wikitionary says "corgis" is more common so I'm sticking with it. 

We just had a new Mexican restaurant, Chuy's, open in Birmingham.  As some of you Texans may know, each restaurant has a distinct decorating scheme.  Ours is offering a free appetizer for anyone bringing in a framed picture of their dog for the wall.  Of course I couldn't let Addison have an undecorated frame!  (Yes, some people in my household called me a dork for doing this, but you know, whatev.) 

I used some October Afternoon Fly a Kite paper. I just traced the frame and cut it out.  The polka dots were the perfect number/size to use some letter stickers I've had forever.  And then my new SU jewelry tag punch was out on my desk, just begging me to use it, so I printed "corgis" and "chuy's" onto PTI Rustic White and punched out, then punched a heart from PTI Berry Sorbert.

And how much do you LOVE this flower? And the color combination, which I drew from the stickers?  I cut Nestability blossoms from Baja Breeze, Berry Sorbert (x2), Old Olive, and Soft Suede. I used PTI Polka Dot Basics II in Memento Rich Cocoa, stamped off once onto scratch paper first.  The button is from my button stash, tied with some linen thread.  

I also tried stretching out of my comfort zone yesterday by making a vintage-y card for this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

I stamped Elements of Style onto some Riding Hood Red patterned paper and embossed with white.  I then rubbed some So Sahara ink over it to tone it down. I punched out 1 inch squares, matted with 1 1/8 inch black squares.  I inked the fancy ledger from Notably Ornate with Memento Rhubarb, then added some Tuxedo Black to the edges, stamped, and cut out.  The sentiment is from PTI's Delightful Dahlia, the background paper is from SU Love Letters.

Now I'm off to play some Dare to Get Dirty challenges and, of course, eat some Chuy's.  So you can be honest, how big of a dork am I for making that frame?!?  :)  Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend!

SU Loot!

I spent yesterday morning reorganizing my SU colors and as soon as I filed away the last scrap, my doorbell rang--UPS with my SU order!  Yippee!!  So of course I had to sit down and start playing!

I think this is my favorite card of the bunch.  I cut out a Nestability Label One from copy paper and used it as a mask to stamp the Elements of Style flowers in River Rock.  Then I used the negative of the mask to stamp the flowers in Soft Suede.  I watercolored them using Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, and Wild Wasabi inks, then sponged over the whole thing with River Rock.

This one gave me fits trying to get a nice image using Misting with Markers technique for this week's ResQChallenge (well, probably last week's by the time I post this). Either I didn't spritz it enough or I would spritz too much or I would spritz too much on one section and not enough on another.  Definitely need more practice!  I used Ruby Red and Old Olive markers on PTI Rustic White.  The image and sentiment are both from Just Believe.  The red is Cherry Cobbler--such a yummy color!  It's on a kraft card base that I stamped repeatedly with another image from the same set in Versamark.  And I love the pattern so much I did another card with it:

Who knew River Rock would make me like Soft Suede?  But it did and I do!  I used Soft Suede ink for all the stamping, then cut out the label from River Rock and adhered.  The sentiment is from PTI Mixed Messages.

Tech Tip update: First of all, I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't know that middle-click-link-to-open-in-new-tab trick.  I read about it on a geek website (lifehacker--go ahead and add it to your google reader now.  I'll wait) and they started the article with "Everybody knows [about this trick]."  Really?  Everybody?  Anyway, Maria and Charlene were also introduced to the scroll function, which happens when you click the rollerball when the pointer is not on a link.  And my real-life friend Laura said on a Macbook, it's command + click on trackpad to open the link.  Did you know the elevators in Apple stores do not have call buttons or floor buttons?  They just open on every floor every time.

Bloom Where You're Planted

First of all, thanks for all of the recent comments and new followers (and of course my loyal fans who've been with me since the beginning)!  Can't wait to check out some new blogs...my google reader is loving the fresh faces!  My card today is for this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge.

Question: How adorable is that row of flowers!?!?  Answer: On a scale of one to corgi, easily a 8.3.  I started by cutting the boxes out of a 1.75 x 5.5 strip of Riding Hood Red using an exacto knife and ruler.  The first box is 1.25x1.25, the second and third boxes are really just one box with a .25 border all around.  I used the squares that I had cut out to punch the tulips using Martha Stewart's tulip border punch, then trimmed the bottom to .25 inch under the flowers, and adhered it to the back of my window.  In the first square, one of the flowers was cut off, so I cut that whole flower out of the picture and used one of the skinnier flowers instead.    I cut the squares of October Afternoon patterned paper and adhered behind the flowers and window.

The sentiment is from Verve Floral Symphony, stamped in Versafine Smokey Gray and clear embossed onto SU Blush Blossom (after much frustration trying to emboss with black powder...it just did not play well with this stamp or cardstock!).  I added another strip of flowers, the swirls (from Autumn Leaves maybe?  I got it back when Walmart had a craft section!) in Memento Rhubarb, some pearls, and matted it with Nestabilities Big Scallops.  I stamped another flourish from the same set in black onto the dp and added some more pearls.Extreme closeup:
ETA: For some reason, I thought this card was missing something after I posted it.  So I cut out another big scallop rectangle and used the regular rectangle die to trace a window.  I cut it out, leaving a little more border at the bottom to cover the bottom of the flower strip.  Some careful gluing and I think it made it look really finished.  Isn't it nice when you try to add one final touch and it doesn't ruin the whole card?  

So does anyone else use Pandora? If you haven't tried it yet, be prepared to have your mind blown.  Put in a few favorite songs and/or artists and it makes a radio station based on the "music genome" of the songs you chose. It totally freaked me out while making this card by playing an obscure track that is one of my favorite songs of all time, from one of my favorite shows of all time.^[1]  Get out of my head Pandora!

Oh, and one more thing to completely blow your mind: did you know if you middle-click a link (on Windows/Linux, since I don't think there's a middle button on a Mac mouse), it automatically opens it in a new tab?  Go on, try it.  (maybe that link to one of the best shows ever in the above paragraph). You're welcome.
^[1] Yes, after finding this clip and watching it for about 20 seconds, I will now be watching the entire series again starting immediately if not sooner.

Poor Man's Spectrum Ink Pad

So not only was I able to combine the two Monday Splitcoast challenges (embossing on embossing for Try a New Technique and dry embossing for Clean and Simple) with this card, but I was also able to show off my new Poor Man's Spectrum Ink Pad technique that I've been trying to get to work over the weekend.  It all started with a sailboat stamp I bought on sale that would be perfect for a brayered sunset.  I only have ink spots, not full-size dye ink pads, so I was having a tough time inking up my brayer nicely, when I stumbled upon the idea of using an acetate sheet as an ink pad, and not only that, but as a spectrum ink pad. The sailboat never ended up working--I think my embossing buddy has been tainted, since I can't get a nice clean embossing (same issue with this card, but less noticeable).

Anyway, here is the poor man's spectrum ink pad I made for this card:

I simply inked old olive, cameo coral, ruby red, and not quite navy onto my acetate sheet and inked up my brayer, moving it back and forth just a little so the colors blended on the brayer (and on the acetate).  Here is the result of the first pass:

I had already stamped PTI TextStyles in Creamy Caramel, then the SU Botanical Blooms in Versafine Grey and clear embossed.  Then I colored in the flowers with a versamarker and clear embossed again.  I think I ended up loading up my acetate sheet and brayering a total of three times, and then once more with just the old olive and cameo coral to try to cover the text.

Then I embossed the image using the Sixxiz polka dot embossing folder, matted it with Not Quite Navy, added a kraft-colored ribbon, and adhered it to a kraft base.  The PTI Mega Mixed Messages sentiment is stamped in Not Quite Navy.

Has anyone seen this ink-up-the-acetate brayering before?  I looked around and hadn't seen it mentioned.  I feel I should mentioned that even though I inked the lighter colors first, my cameo coral ink spot did look a little dark on the edges, but I did try stamping a solid stamp with it and it came out fine.  Same with the summer sun ink pad when I did the sunset.  Speaking of which, here are some more examples that might inspire you to try it out:

You can see in the middle picture my embossing woes.  :(  The one on the right is Memento Angel Pink, Rose Bud, and Lady Bug I tried out on some scrap paper. 

Ugh--it's errand day today AND it just started raining.  How badly do we need food in the house, really?

New Stuff!

I finally got all my packages delivered Friday from online orders that I placed two weeks ago! I am now the proud owner of October Afternoon Thrift Store and Fly a Kite 8x8 paper pads. Why did I not think I needed them when they first came out? And it just so happened that they had some great patterns to use with this week's 100th Color Throwdown celebration, although since leaving some comments on a few of the blogs involved I feel my chances of winning are slim to none (ETA: I meant that as: "wowza! there are a lot of people entered and leaving comments," not as a complaint.). Nonetheless, I think I like this card, but I'm not sure. I used this week's Card Patterns Sketch and I liked all of their cards but mine feels wonky. I added the pink clips at the top and that seemed to help, but maybe it needs a sentiment tag off the button? Pink ribbon instead of twine? Red twine? A mat for the image?

This next card was for Friday's Free For All Challenge--use something new! Not a hard one for me!

I used my new Best Wishes & Blooms set from Unity, my new My Mind's Eye Love Me Do paper pack, and my new Martha Stewart hydrangea punch. The sentiment is from PTI birthday basics, stamped in Memento Rubarb onto PTI Hawaiian Shores, with two dots of yellow stickle accents.

I also submitted two cards I made Saturday for a magazine call. It's my first time to submit anything. Have you ever submitted a card? Ever been published? Do tell!

im in ur stamp room

...makin one layer cards.

Ok, so I'm a bit addicted to lolcats and loldogs and, yes, sometimes accidentally slip into lolspeak. I ended up using it on two of my three one-layer cards for Susan's One Layer Wednesday challenge to "be funny!" Could these two monster be any more adorable? And of course they're colored in green and pink, because that is what my DH and I wearing in almost every photo of us as a couple. I stamped the two monsters (from a Micheal's set) using versamark on SU Not Quite Navy, then clear embossed. I then colored them using prismacolor pencils. I spelled out the sentiment with The Cat's Pajamas Coolvetica set, and again versamarked & clear embossed. I can hardly wait to give it to my DH!!

No, I don't know when I'd give this card to someone for real, but I've just come up with about 27 scenarios in my head where I end up mailing this to someone that has annoyed me. Although my DH and I use this phrase a lot in response to being proven wrong by the other^[1], so maybe I'll use it for an ironic "I'm sorry" card. The cat is from Eat Cake Graphics, colored with copics; the sentiment is again TCP Coolvetica.

Teehee, another Eat Cake Graphic image that cracks me up! I stamped her onto SU Almost Amethyst and colored with prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is also from ECG, stamped in Memento Sweet Plum. I think the ric-rak came from a grab bag, because I know I would never knowingly buy ric-rak or purple.

^[1] I give you this dramatic re-enactment as an example of the proper use of "whatev."
scene: our kitchen, after finding a tick on Addison that had not burrowed into her yet
DH (smooshing tick with paper towel): This thing won't die!
Me: Spray it with hairspray! That always works.
DH: No, it's still going. I think you have to set it on fire. Where's the fire stick?
Me: Here it is, and don't you think we should take the paper towel soaked with hairspray outside to set it on fire?
DH: Maybe.
scene: now outside on the concrete patio, me has brought a glass of water to extinguish flames
DH: Fire, heh, heh, fire, fire! Huh. (looks quizzically at fire) Ummmm.....
Me: Would you like this glass of water to put out the ball of flaming paper towels?
DH: Whatev.

We Are Family + A Corgi Picnik

This is my card for today's Splitcoast Sketch challenge.  This tree from Unity Hodgepodge of Happiness just screamed out "USE ME!!" today.  I wanted a fun color scheme and for fun, you can't beat red paired with pale blue and yellow!  The tree is stamped onto Gina K Pure Luxury, then colored with copics.  The buttons are "threaded" with small strips of baja breeze cardstock.  The image is matted with a nestability blossom cut from SU Barely Banana.  The sentiment (from the same Unity kit) is stamped in Memento Rhubarb Stalk, with a baja breeze mat stamped with PTI Polka Dot Basics II.  I punched the heart from the red dp. All the dp is SU Sweet Slumber.  I added three cross-stitches to the top of the strip to try to "balance" my "triangle," because then I sound all artsy and such. ;)  Here's the whole card in all of its polka-dotted glory. 

Side note: the polka dots are not in perpendicular rows on this paper, either!  Arg!! Don't the paper people know I can't handle wonky dots?!? 

Addison filed a grievance yesterday, saying she noticed there were a lot of "creations" but not so much "corgi" for a blog named Corgi Creations.  So to appease her (and because she was being cute and somewhat compliant), we did a photo session this afternoon and then I picnik'd the photos.   (If you haven't tried out some picnik awesomeness for yourself, it really is fun.  And due to interweb goblins, I couldn't access my premium account, so all the effects used here are free).

 This little tongue-peeking-out move is a favorite of hers.  My DH is putty in her paws with this look!  (picnik effect: cross-process, border)

 This look comes out about 5:00 every evening.  (picnik effect: cinemascope, text)

It's really a yawn, but looks a bit more like "CRAZY DOG!!!" (picnik effect: postercize, text)

This is the photo she sends to all her fans.  (picnik effect: black and white, soften, stickers, text)

Hook me up with any links to your pet photos in the comments!