new baby card.

I whipped this up before work last night using my SC front row kit + a Sweet Stamp Shop ("new baby") stamp.

The only thing not from the kit is the stamp & the twine (MME).

Sweet Stamp Shop release day winners...

Random number generator chose... 

Emily H said...

So cute! Love it!

Natasha G.P. said...

The twine looks great with all of the other elements. This card would be good for many different people. 

Ladies, please contact me with your mailing info. Natasha, you left no way for me to get ahold of you! Hope you see this.

just BE you.

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm sharing a card today that has nothing to do with today's holiday. 

I made this card using the Glitz Design 6x6 paper packs & Tim Holtz kraft core cardstock. I used some from Yours Truly & Cashmere Dame. I also used the Prima hexagon net/chicken wire stamp that I've had for a while & totally forgot about. I will be using this more in the future!

The stamps are from Unity Dec 2010 kit of the month: Just Be You. The inks are Tim Holtz distress inks in faded jeans & antique linen. The sentiment is stamped with the faded blue jeans & then I used the antique linen with the hexagon net stamp for a muted background on the sentiment circle.

Sweet Stamp Shop: guest designer.

Hi again everyone! Today I am sharing what I created with the gears backdrop stamp.I experimented a lot with this stamp and I found that using a pigment ink gave better coverage. Also, it helps if you apply the paper to the ink pad. Instead of pressing the ink pad onto the paper. Flip the ink pad up, and press your paper onto it. Got much better coverage that way. Here's a layout I created:

 

I used embossing ink on this one and silver metallic Zing embossing powder. This story is about how TJ sliced his hand open last year opening a can and had to get three stitches. The layout didn't scan well but the silver metallic really makes the gears look cool.

I also made a card:

I thought this bicycle die cut from Crate Paper's Fourteen collection was an appropriate starting point since V day is coming up and I wanted to see if I could use the manly gears backdrop in a girlie way.

Thanks for joining us on the two day release party! I'm sure you've found some new stamps you want and I hope to see your creations soon!  If you didn't do so yesterday, become a follower today and leave me a comment on this post and I'll draw a random winner to receive a prize package from me later this week.

Sweet Stamp Shop: guest designer.

Hello! If you're coming from the Sweet Stamp Shop blog, you've probably been checking out the new releases and drooling! Here is the card I made featuring the Nesting stamp set.

Everything came from the SC sock hop kit. My little nesting doll was stamped several times on many different papers and paper pieced together. Something I haven't tried before but was easier than expected. I used the little flower stamp along the bottom with some yellow  button Zing embossing powder.  My background is a Prima mask misted with Moonlight Glimmer Mist. I love the sheen it gives. Here's a close up of the stamping:

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to check out the other projects being shared today. If you become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment on this post, I will choose a random commenter to send a little prize package out to later this week.

(PS - there will be more stamps released tomorrow so check back!!)

Sweet Stamp Shop reveal! [life is hard.]

I'm so excited to be part of the Sweet Stamp Shop's reveal! I love their stamps, Nicole is so nice, & I am honored to be a part of this!

This happened last Superbowl weekend. TJ was making a seven layer taco dip to take to his parent's house & he cut his finger opening a can. It bled a lot & was pretty deep but I had to convince him he needed to go to the ER. I told him it was a clean cut so it could probably be glued. When we got there, he asked the Dr if it could be glued. The Dr hesitated & looked at me & asked if I thought glue would be ok. I said NO! We have a new puppy & we're too active. It needs sutures! 

So he got three stitches.

I used the gear background stamp for this page & Zing silver metallic embossing powder. It gives it a shiny finish, which you can't see in the scan, but makes it look very masculine & gear-like.

The vellum & washi are from the SC sock hop kit. I also used: Jillibean Soup love the... soup labels, label stickers from October Afternoon, MME the sweetest thing enamel dots & a sticker from Teresa Collins tell your story. The "life is hard" stamp is from Technique Tuesday simple joy & the ink is Prima old dirt road chalk ink. 

blizzard.

I've got a great layout to share with you this week using our first sketch for the month of February. Here's the sketch:

& here's my layout:

 

I obviously switched to 8.5 x 11 instead of the 12x12 size, which also changed my photo size. These are all Instagram photos that I printed with my printer's wallet size setting. 

I used Echo Park's everyday eclectic line for all of the papers & most of the embellishments. This is one of my most favorite lines EVER & I've used almost all of it up. The stamps are Technique Tuesday real life (bottom right) & simple joy (top left). Inks are faded jeans & walnut stain, both distress inks by Tim Holtz. I also used some Elle's Studio & cardstock stickers from the paper heart collection by Crate Paper. Chic Tags made the little triangle tag in the top left corner. The washi is from Ashley.

So you ready to play along?

How to Play Along:

1.  Make a newly created project using the provided sketch and upload it to your blog or online gallery.

2.  Then leave a link to your project using the Inlinkz widget.  Please use a direct link to your LCOM Sketch post and not just your blog address.

3.  If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword LCOM**. LCOM products are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want.  If you don't have a particular shape indicated in the sketch, feel free to substitute.

4.  There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but the linking form will close on the last day of the month at 8:00pm (Atlantic Standard Time) to allow us to find a prize winner.

Check out the other design team member projects HERE. Can't wait to see your projects!

meeting Gary. [a Gelatins stamp post]

I mentioned before that I won concert tickets at a local radio station to see Gary & imagine my surprise when I stalked  waited patiently by his tour bus afterwards to get a photo with him.

Time to do the layout!

I used the Gelatins stamp set It's your Day for the banner. 

A lot of the items (kraft paper (American Crafts), Basic Grey green vellum sticker strip, circle die cuts, & stamp at the bottom which was stamped with Prima ladybug chalk ink) are from the Studio Calico Sock Hop kit. 

I used a ton of labels & stickers (Elle's Studio, Studio Calico "best day ever," My Mind's Eye the sweetest thing "oh so happy," American Crafts irresistible remarks "my heart is bursting at the seams," Echo Park everyday eclectic "remember the details," & a couple little ones from the love story collection by Echo Park.)

The letter stickers are Sass pink glitter alpha & Teresa Collins from the tell your story sticker sheet.

love you. love you. love you. [a card]

I wanted to try some embossing this week. I have the Heat It craft tool that you can find in the YMH store for $24.99. I really like this heat gun & it's not very loud so that's good too.

I used Technique Tuesday love always wins stamps set & the Tim Holtz distress embossing ink pad. I wanted the hearts to kind of blend in with the cardstock, which is Tim Holtz kraft core) so I used green embossing powder. It was Tim's distress embossing powder in peeled paint. I used the same embossing powder with the sentiment stamp but with kraft cardstock so that it stands out.

close up of the embossed heart

I added splatters of olive vine Glimmer Mist which is green & gold. The patterned paper is by Prima & it's from the Melody collection. I finished with some pretty pink Prima flowers that came in my Prima grab bag. These are some similar ones that are available in the store. 

Red Carpet Studio winner.

My thank you card was a winner with the butterfly challenge at Red Carpet Studio!

 

8 things I love right now. [LCOM Gimmie all your Lovin' crop!]

The first challenge (probably because I thought it would be easiest) I'm doing (besides my own) is the 8 Things I Love challenge. 

I used Pink Paislee's Secret Crush papers & ephemera. The "find what makes you happy" paper strip is cut from Fancy Pants Subway Art 12x12 paper (from the Cocoa Daisy graffiti bridge kit).  The date is on an Elle's Studio label, the letter stickers are from Teresa Collins Tell Your Story sticker sheet. Some of the stickers are from Crate Paper's Fourteen line & the Paper Heart line. I added a kraft chandelier from Hambly that is years old. I used American Crafts black glitter ribbon in the top right corner along with cotton candy chalkboard Glimmer Mist. The chevron deco tape is Queen & Co trendy tape. The "smile" & "happy" accents came from the SC Sock Hop kit.

The photo was taken at a Gary Allan concert at 8 Second Saloon last weekend. We had excellent seats - 2nd table away from the stage. & I met his steel guitar player afterwards.

Hope you'll join us & make your own layout featuring 8 things you love. You have until Sunday Feb 10 to join in the fun. There are also three prize packages available, randomly chosen from the crop entries. Here are the rules for the crop:
1.  All cards, layouts, etc. must be newly created and made specifically for that specific crop challenge.
2.  You may NOT combine crop challenges unless specifically indicated within the challenge guidelines to do so. You may combine them with outside sites/blog challenges.
3.  To be eligible for any of the prizes, your creation must be loaded into the LCOM Gallery.
4.  All of your creations must be linked within the specific challenge's thread to be eligible to win a prize.

Tebow Time [Gimmie all your Lovin' challenge at LCOM]

My challenge for the crop is to create a love/Valentine's day themed project without the typical love/V day colors & embellishments. So NO red/pink & NO hearts! 

 Here's what I made: 

This was hard to do! I use a lot of red & pinks on my layouts, whether it is a love themed layout or not. This was a challenge for me!

The paper are from MME Love Me collection. I also used some Pink Paislee Secret Crush ephemera & some Elle's Studio. The letter stickers are Studio Calico & the green arrow washi is from the SC sock hop kit. The silver star washi is from Ashley.

So I hope you'll participate in this challenge this weekend! I'll choose a random participant to send a little prize to. & be sure to check out all of the challenges this weekend at our mini crop!

quick Valentine's day tag.

I caught a nasty bug this weekend & I've been spending most of my time since then on the sofa. Today I was able to get up & make a quick Valentine's day tag to share.

I used the Glitz Design 6x6 pads (Hello Friend & Yours Truly). The Prima flowers & trinket are from the Prima grab bag, but are no longer available. These flowers are called avon rose pixie glen & here are some similar ones. The vintage trinkets are a package of birds & birdcages that are really cute & you can see some similar here.

The sentiment stamp that I used is from Avocado Arts January 2012 Treat Sweetie & the ink is Tim Holtz barn door (red) distress ink. I also used antique linen distress ink around the bird & around the edges of the tag. 

Baker's Twine: Hemptique (found at TJ Maxx)
bird: Cricut

Ravens 17 Bengals 23 [the layout].

The last weekend in December we went to the final Bengals home game of this season. It was freezing - temps in the 20s. Our toes were frozen. We went to the gift shop at half time & found socks for $8 but even with the extra socks on, my toes were still frozen.

But it was worth it. It was a good game (despite the guy next to me vomiting) & the Bengals won!

On this layout, I used the Gelatins happiness stamp set.

So the stamping scanned kind of light. I used black ink for the single border on the grey striped paper. For the middle left & bottom right stamping (with the four rows border stamp) I used Prima chalk ink in old road.

Background paper is Crate Paper. Clouds are cut from Amy Tangerine sketchbook. Grey stripe is MME Miss Caroline. & the plaid is Basic Grey. The letter stickers are also Basic Grey from the Studio Calico Sock Hop kit. Also from the kit is the orange vellum tape stickers (orange flower print) by Basic Grey. The labels are October Afternoon & MME The Sweetest Thing.

I'm an ISTJ.

Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test™ 

Your Type ISTJ Introvert(33%) Sensing(38%) Thinking(25%) Judging(78%) 

You have moderate preference of Introversion over Extraversion (33%) 
You have moderate preference of Sensing over Intuition (38%) 
You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (25%) 
You have strong preference of Judging over Perceiving (78%) 

 ISTJs are often called inspectors. They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility. They are noted for devotion to duty. Punctuality is a watchword of the ISTJ. The secretary, clerk, or business(wo)man by whom others set their clocks is likely to be an ISTJ.

 ISTJs are easily frustrated by the inconsistencies of others, especially when the second parties don't keep their commitments. But they usually keep their feelings to themselves unless they are asked. And when asked, they don't mince words. Truth wins out over tact. The grim determination of the ISTJ vindicates itself in officiation of sports events, judiciary functions, or an other situation which requires making tough calls and sticking to them. 

 Introverted Feeling
Since Fi is turned inward, it is rarely expressed. Perhaps this enables the ISTJ to resolutely accept that "we are all doomed." When told that Lazarus had died, Thomas said, "Let us go and die with him." (He could just as well have said something like, "I knew this was bound to happen sooner or later.") Only in times of great distress is the Introverted Feeling expressed (as I witnessed in my dad when a neighbor's son was killed in a hunting accident). Otherwise, feeling is inferred, or expressed nonverbally, through eye contact, or an encouraging smile. 
 
Extraverted Intuition
The Ne function of an ISTJ does not serve her very well. It needs a lot of help. She was surprised, for example, to find that someone she had talked with only by phone had red hair, because she "didn't usually like" people with red hair! This inferior Ne seems to be a major source of, and a natural breeding ground for, stereotypes. Failure of the banking system is but one bogeyman which arises from the fear which feeds on the ISTJ's mistrust of real world possibilities. The shadow inhabiting the inferior Ne strikes at the precious forms and standards in the heart of the dominant Si function. 

Find out what you are HERE.