RI WIW: Geri's Challenge

{this is my second post today, scroll down to see my favorite 13 for 2013}

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve, we are never up late at our house.  I usually watch the ball drop on the East Coast and then call it a night.   What do you do?

It's Repeat Impressions Designers Choice Challenge on The House That Stamps Built Blog and this week Geri has challenged us to use something new.  That was an easy one for me (and probably most stampers/crafters) as I have a stash of stuff just waiting to be used.

I chose to use this pretty bird stamp from Repeat Impressions called Chickadee at Rest #211-P and some cardstock from the Authentique Seasons-Winter collection.  Neither had been used before so they definitely fit the challenge. 

I stamped the image on ivory cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then colored with an assortment of markers.  My bird came out looking more like a Robin than a Chickadee, but I am okay with that. :) I colored the bird a second time and mounted it on some Tombow Foam Tabs for a little extra dimension. I used some clear Wink of Stella Brush Pen on the bird and some Cinnamon Stickles on the pinecones.  I wish you could see the sparkle!

Be sure to stop by each of my fellow Rock Star's blogs and check out their beautiful cards.

Cheri 
Deonna 
Joy 
Joyce  
Karen  
Geri
Brenda

Melissa (you are here)

Want to play along and have a chance to win?  Click here to be taken to The House That Stamps Built blog where you will find all of the details.

Come hop with Tombow and Cabio

Hi there!  

Happy Monday to you all.  Has the cold/ice/snow reached where you are yet?  It arrived a few days ago and I have to tell you, it is COLD!  

This week the Tombow team is hopping with Cabio Tse.

You should have arrived at my blog from Debbie's blog, if not you can go back to the Tombow blog and start at the beginning.

I have created some easy Christmas gift pockets.  These little pockets would be great for those "small" gifts that we all love.

I used papers/stickers from the Authentique Tradition line for each of my pockets.

These pockets measure 3" x 5" and are quick and easy to make.  Cut your paper into a 5" x 6" piece and fold in half so that it measures 3" x 5".  Apply Tombow Mono Multi down the right edge and bottom and hold for a count of 10.  Now you have a pocket to decorate.  See I told you it was quick and easy!   I used Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to adhere some of the paper from the Tradition 6 x 6 pad to the front of the pocket.  Next I die cut a circle and scalloped circle that were just a bit bigger than the round decorative stickers from the Tradition Elements Sticker Sheet.  Adhere the stickers to the circles using Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots and then pop up onto the front of the pocket using Tombow Foam Tabs.  Pockets were finished off with ribbon from May Arts and a button.

Recipe:

Cardstock:  Traditions-Authentique

Stickers:  Traditions Elements Sheet-Authentique

Adhesives:  Mono Multi, Foam Tabs, Mono Adhesive Dots-Tombow

Extras:  Ribbon-May Arts, Twine, Button 

Here is the week’s Line-up, be sure to stop by each blog along the way and leave a comment for a chance to win the prize shown below.

Tombow Blog
Debbie
Melissa
Jennie
Marie
Cabio
Tombow Blog

Irojiten Colored Pencils

Tombow MONO Removable Adhesive
Tombow MONO Removable Adhesive Refill
Tombow MONO Multi Liquid glue

In order to enter to win the prize, please comment on all the Design Team’s projects this week.

We will announce the Winner Friday December 13^th  at 3:30 EST!

OWH WCMD Blog Hop

Hi there!  Thanks for stopping by today.  Today is World Cardmaking Day and I am participating in the Operation Write Home Blog Hop.
The fine folks at OWH have asked the hop participants to create Thank You cards using one of their fabulous sketches.

I have created one card in two different color combos using sketch #188.

My first card has a bit of a feminine side to it.

This one is for the fellas.

Supplies Used:

Feminine card:  

Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White, GKD In The Navy, Prints-Pebbles

Stamp: Penny Black-Salutations

Embossing Folder:  Stampin Up

Masculine Card:

Cardstock:  Neenah Natural, GKD In The Navy, Prints-Authentique

Stamp:  Hero Arts

Embossing Folder-Stampin Up

Both Cards:

Ink:  Nautical Blue

Adhesives:  Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots, Tombow Foam Tabs

Thank you for stopping by. Be sure to head on over to Operation Write Home for a complete list of blog hoppers.  

Mermaid Basswood Canvas

Good Morning!  This week the Tombow team has teamed up with the folks at Walnut Hollow to bring you lots of inspiration.

Today's creation started with a blank Basswood Canvas from Walnut Hollow.

My sister loves mermaids and I couldn't resist using this sweet Eva the Glam Mermaid digi image from Michelle Perkett.  I printed the image on some 140# cold press watercolor paper and then watercolored her with a variety of Tombow Dual Brush pens.

{click to view larger}

I used papers from the Authentique Fresh collection paired with some solid cardstocks from American Crafts.  For the paper to canvas and paper to paper applications, I used Tombow Mono Multi adhesive with the exception of Miss Eva Glam, I used Tombow Foam Tabs to pop her up off of the canvas just a bit.  For all of the seashells and flowers I used a combination of Tombow Power Tabs and Tombow Foam Tabs.

Look at this pretty rainbow of color!  When I watercolor, I layer many colors, so even though you might not see each color individually, they are there. 

Yes, I was the kid in school who had to have every color of crayon in the box. :)

Summer CHA Folder

Hi, I hope you all are surviving the heat.  Before you know it fall will be upon us.  I don't mind the heat but anything over 100 degrees is a bit much, even for me. :)

Today I am sharing a decorated CD/DVD folder that is quick and easy to make and a nice way to dress up CD/DVD's that you might give as gifts.  Below you will find a PDF with the  measurements/instructions to create one for yourself.

After cutting, scoring and folding the cardstock to create the folder, I cut an opening in the front flap of the folder with a decorative punch.  Any punch will work, be creative!

Once that part is done, you will want to run some strong adhesive onto the glue tabs and then fold in half to create the pocket.  I used Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots and it worked perfectly!  I also used the Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to adhere the pretty print cardstock from Authentique to the front of the folder.  To hold the button firmly in place, I used Tombow Power Tabs.

Quick tip:

Remember to finish off your buttons with some floss, twine or ribbon to give your project a "finished" look.

Click HERE for a PDF file of the instructions.  If you create a folder (or two), come on back and leave me a link, I would love to see them. 

Happy July 1st

Hi there everyone!  I didn't intend to post today, but sometimes funny things happen and things change.  Lately, I have been forcing myself to create and I needed desperately to find Mr. Mojo.  I am sure he has been hanging out at the lake enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having here in Cali.

I love, love the digi images from By Lori Designs.  I think Lori and HannahBug are rockstars when it comes to drawing their adorable images.  Tonight I went surfing and bought a few new designs to play with.  I was on Facebook and found this sweet, sweet card created by Sheri Gilson and fell in love with the layout.  I left her a little comment asking if I could "borrow" her layout idea and Ms. Lori Boyd promptly commented back an let me know that it was her TPE154 challenge on her Pink Elephant challenge site and that if I got it in gear (okay, she didn't really say that) I had until tonight to upload for the challenge.

The race was on!

I decided to use Lollipop Independence Julie for my card.  I printed out the image and started hustling.  It usually takes me hours to make a card with lots of layers as I am the slooowest designer in the industry.  LOL 

I used papers from the Authentique Glory line that was released in May.  I love, love the vintage look of this paper collection.   

Okay, I promise this is going to be a week full of posts.  I am going to try to post at least one card each day through Friday.  Wish me luck!

Flag, you're it!

Today I am sharing three cards I created using the popular flag/banner/fish tail cut that is being used by stampers/crafters all around in blogland and the internet. 

 There are several ways to create the flag cut but the method I prefer is below:

1.  Cut paper to the width/length of flag that you want.

2.  Cut a slit in the center of the end that you want the flag on.  The depth of your cut will determine the angle/depth of your flag.

3.  Cut from the right and left corners to the top of the slit that you created in step 2.  Remove this piece and you will be left with a nice flag.  

On this card, I started by cutting each of the flags from the Lifestyle Crafts Sweet and Spicy paper collection using the method above.  I adhered the flags to the white panel with Tombow Mono Dots Tape Roller, wrapped the twine around the white panel and then adhered it to the light blue panel with Tombow Foam Tabs. The light blue panel was adhered to the tangerine card using the Mono Dots Tape Roller.  The flower was cut from the MFT Prima Donna Petals die.  I used Tombow Mono Aqua adhesive to hold the petals together and a Tombow Power Tab to attach the flower to the front of the card.

For my next card, I created a layered flag by cutting the layering piece of cardstock just a tad bigger than the top piece and using the above method to create the points. All of the papers used for this card are from the Authentique Loyal collection and were adhered together using the Tombow Mono Dots Roller and the button was attached using a Power Tab. 

The flags for my final card were created in the same manner as the previous two cards.  One thing to note about this card is all of the different looks you can create for your flag tails depending on the width/length of your cardstock and the depth of your center cut.  The cardstocks used on this card are from Authentique's Glory collection.  All elements for this card were adhered with Tombow Mono Dots Tape Roller and the button was secured with a Tombow Power Tab to hold it firmly in place.  I used this layout on THIS card and love how different it looks just by changing the colors and embellishments.

Hoppy Easter

Hi there and welcome to my blog!  If this is your first visit or you've been here before, I do thank you for stopping by and commenting.  I love to read each and every sweet comment you leave me.

The card I am sharing with you today is for this weeks Twisted Thursday challenge on the Outlawz Challenge group.  This week our Twisted challenge is to create a card with an Easter Theme.

This adorable bunny from The Cat's Pajamas Sugar, Sugar set does the trick!

I inked up the stamp with some Adirondack Espresso ink and then colored it in with Copic markers.

The pink panels were embossed with a CB EF (sorry, I don't know the name).  The image was colored with Copic markers and some Warm Highlight ECD Glitter was added to the eggs for a bit of sparkle.

We would love to have you join in on the fun over at the Outlaws group.  Every day of the week there is a new challenge.  You can find today's challenge HERE.

Whatever you can do...

Hi! 

Today I am sharing my Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge card with you.  This week we are creating cards and projects using "Anything with Wings"  You can check out the challenge and the rest of my teammates incredible creations HERE.

I used a couple of new products for this card and I love them both!  First, I used some print cardstock from the new Loyal collection from Authentique.  Love, love this collection.  Although this card leans to the feminine side, most of the prints would be great for the guys in our lives as well. The next new product I used is the Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Nostalgic Collection from Core'dinations and I LOVE it!  When you emboss this cardstock with an embossing folder and then sand it lightly, the kraft color shows through.  I used it on both the purple and green embossed pieces on this card.  

Be sure to head over the the Outlawz Challenge Group and check out today's Twisted Thursday challenge.  We would love it if you would play along.  There are always prizes to win!

Dogwood Thinking of You

Woo hoo, it's Outlawz Twisted Thursday time again.  This week the challenge is to use dies/punches.  Oh how I likey my dies and punches.   You can find all of the details here.

For my card this week I am using the beautiful Dogwood image from the Gina K. Designs, Dogwood and Butterfly set illustrated by the very talented Theresa Momber.  I used the Classic Oval and Classic Scallop Ovals from Spellbinders, Medium Scallop Edge Die-namics die from My Favorite Things and my MS Butterfly punch.  The embossed background is a Sizzix Embossing Folder.  The print paper is from Authentique and the ribbon is from Gina K. Designs.  The flowers were colored with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils. 

We would love it if you would play along with us in the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge.