No Lion, It's Your Birthday

Woo hoo, the weekend is almost here!  I can't believe we are almost half way through the year, before you know it the holiday season will be upon us. Egads!  

This week on the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge we are creating cards with an animal theme.  

I started by stamping this sweet little lion from Penny Black in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloring him in with Copic markers. I added glitter to his beautiful mane with a glue pen and some Warm Highlights Glitter Ritz glitter.  After the glue had dried under the glitter I added a bit more color with a Copic marker.  Don't worry, this glitter is so microfine, that it won't be a problem for your marker nib.  I had saved the Mojo Monday 230 sketch from a few months ago and finally got a chance to play with it.  I ended up turning the sketch on it's side as I thought it would look good to have the scallop edge on the side instead of the bottom.  I didn't have a sentiment that I thought was just right, so I generated this one on the computer using my new favorite font LD Woodland, I think it is perfect for this image.  The solid cardstocks are from American Crafts and this fun print is from an older Bo Bunny collection.  I wanted this card to be fairly flat so all layers were adhered with Tombow Mono Dots Roller, this has to be my favorite all time adhesive when you are needing to layer paper to paper without all of the fussy pop up layers.  

My Twisted Thursday teamies and I would love to have you play along with us this week.  You can find all of the details HERE.

Magnolia Gatefold

Happy Thursday!  Whew, it is going to be a hot, hot day here today.  I may have to take a dip in the pool...oh yeah, I don't have a pool.....the dogs have a little pool though and maybe they will let me cool my toes off in their pool.  :)

Today at the Outlawz challenge group the Twisted Thursday challenge was to create a gatefold card. A gatefold card is one that opens in the middle instead of on one side.

 I had originally wanted to make this a black/white card with a touch of color, but somehow I just couldn't stop with just a bit of color on the flower.  I added some pretty purple print paper from Memory Box and some lavender cardstock from American Crafts. The image is a large magnolia flower stamp from Stampendous and I just used the center portion of the flower for my panel.  The die cut squares are Fleur de lis Squares from Spellbinders.  

We would love to have you play along with us this week and you could have a chance to win some awesome prizes.  Check out the challenge HERE.

Thank You Bingo

Hi there, today I am sharing a card I made last weekend at The Great Yosemite Stamp Escape at The Pines Resort at Bass Lake, CA.  This was the 11th year for the retreat and we had a great time.  Now, I am a little bias as it was hosted by The Cat's Meow, which is where I work and teach.  One of the four AMAZING instructors this year was Alma de la Rosa from The Cat's Pajamas and this is one of the five cards that we created.  I love the bright colors on this one. I think it was my favorite. :o) 

Since today is Thursday it is time for another Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge.  This week we have a BINGO twist (bingo card below) and I was so happy because this card works for 3 ways on the bingo card.

We would love to have you play along with the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge this week.  Remember, there are prizes to win each and every week.

Faux Flower

Hello, this week has flown by and I can't believe it is Thursday already.  You know what that means, it is time for another Outlawz Thursday Twist challenge.  The twist this week was to use a flower on your card/project.  

I chose to use this beautiful Tilda Swirl die from Poppystamps and added a button to the middle to create a faux flower.  

This card was 100% inspired by these beautiful cards by Wanda Guess.  Shhh, don't tell Wanda, but I think is is a rock, rock, rockstar stamper and I love her designs.  You can check out her blog:  A Blog Called Wanda for yourself and see why I think she rocks the world.

Please come on over the the Outlawz Challenge group and check out the beautiful creations that my teamies have created.  We would love it if you would play along as there are prizes to win each and every week. 

Wedding Wishes

Hi there!  I am trying to get back into the groove after my amazing trip to NYC.  I had a wonderful time bopping around the city with my niece.  The big highlight for me was going to see The Lion King.  I have always wanted to see that show and there was something magical about seeing it in New York.  I decided not to take my camera and to use the camera on my phone instead......wrong thing to do.  Something happened and most of my pictures are gone.  I have a few I took in Times Square and a few from Yankee Stadium.  I am so bummed about this.  Next time I go somewhere, I will take my camera for sure.  

The card I am sharing with you today is for the Outlaws Challenge Group's Thursday Twist challenge.  This week, we were challenged to make a wedding themed card.  Egads, I did not know what I was going to do.  I decided to use this elegant couple image from Penny Black.  I decided to go with a CAS style as the image is so elegant.

I started with a white card base and ran it through the Cuttlebug with one of my Tim Holtz embossing folders and rounded the corners.  The Penny Black image was stamped in black ink onto some white cardstock and the corners were rounded to match the card base.  I added a wee bit of C1 Copic marker to the dress and tux and Tombow marker #192 for the leaves of the flowers.  I dotted the flowers with Tombow Mono Multi and sprinkled with Flower Soft.  I really like how clean and elegant this card turned out.  

We would love to have you join us at the Outlaws Thursday Twist challenge, each week there are prizes to win.  So get busy and create a wedding themed card and head over to the group and share it with us.  

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.

Daffodil

Hello!  Today I am sharing a fun Spring daffodil card.  In my part of California, the daffs have been mighty confused to say the least.  I have a bed of daffodils in the front yard and usually it is full and abundant by now, but not this year.  You see, they were all starting to come up and open and we had a crazy storm that dumped 12 inches of that cold white stuff and it sent my poor little flowers into a tizzy! I think they are finally coming around though.  :)

This week on the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge we are having an "Anything Goes" week.  

I had seen a card using this layout some time ago and jotted it down on a piece of paper and tucked it into my "to do" file and when I saw this pretty image from Stampendous, I knew the two would come together and play nice with each other.  The design is pretty straight forward.  If you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

We would love to have you play along.  Come on, it will be fun!

Check out the challenge HERE.

Color Me Hoppy

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

I created this card with the Bunny Side Up set from The Cat's Pajamas and some pretty paper from We R Memory Keepers called Good Day Sunshine.  I just love the colors in this collection. 

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!

 

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!

Thank You

Hello.  Whew, it feels good to get in the studio and do a bit of stamping.  I have been sitting out a bit and nursing a sore left shoulder/arm.  I am not 100% yet, but I was itching to get into the studio and get inky.

Today's card is for the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge today.  

The challenge is to use:

Glitter, green, brads and ribbon.

I have to admit, this card was a comedy of errors while it was coming together.  I decided to do a clean and simple card because I didn't want to overwork the arm.    Maybe that was the first mistake. LOL  Anyone who knows me, knows that clean and simple cards usually take me as long as layered up foofy cards do.

I picked out the Mediera stamp from Amuse as it had been sitting on the shelf forever and it needed a little love.  I stamped the image across the front of a white panel with aqua and moss inks and was pretty happy.  Oops.....I had intended to emboss one of the images with some crystal embossing powder so to fix that boo boo, I stamped the image again and embossed it with the crystal powder (hard to see, but it is there) on a small panel, layered it up and placed it over one of the moss images.  I then proceeded to layer to an aqua panel and then the green card using foam tape between the aqua and green. I stamped the sentiment on the front and I am thinking it looks pretty good at this point.....but.....I forgot to add the brads!  I cut off the legs from the brads and added them to the card with some Glossy Accents.  So after a bit (a long bit) I am happy with the card and set it up to take pics.  Guess what?  No stinkin' ribbon on the card.....good golly, I really should have gotten up from the desk and walked away at that point but where would the fun be in that?  I tied a little knot of ribbon, added it to the top and called it done.  

Thanks for hanging in there to read all about my saga.  I love you all!

You Float My Boat

Helllloooo my dear and sweet blog followers!  This week my fellow Outlawz design team members and I are sharing masculine cards with you for our Twisted Thursday Challenge.  

Since we are nearing Valentine's Day, I thought I would share a card that would be great for my special valentine.  Someday we would love to own a boat and spend our "extra" time floating around the Sea of Cortez soaking up the sun (for me) and fishing (for him).  I used stamps from the Our Craft Lounge Crafty Clear Smooth Sailing set and added a wee bit of paper piecing on the sail and flags.  

We would love to have you share your masculine cards with us this week.  You can find all of the details here at the Outlawz Challenge Group.  You never know, you may win a prize too!

Sweet on You

Hi there, today I have joined up with the rest of the OutlawzTwisted Thursday team to bring you Valentine cards.

I went a little "die" crazy on this one as I used the new heart dies from Lifestyle Crafts and the TClassic/Scallop Rectangle Nesties.  The design was inpired from the FTL172 layout.  The sentiment is from the new MFT Pure Innocence Berry Sweet set

Be sure to pop over to the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge and check out what the rest of the team has created.  We would love to have you play along as well.  You could win some nice prizes too! 

Cloud 9

It's Twisted Thursday time on the Outlawz Challenge Group and this week our team is creating an Anything Goes project with a twist to use red.

My card uses stamps from the Our Craft Lounge Crafty Clear Love in the Air set.   

We would love to have you play along, you can check out the details HERE.

Happy Birthday

Hi there, today I have joined up with the rest of the Outlawz Twisted Thursday team to bring you birthday themed cards.   

When I sat down to create this card, I had lots of scraps left over from this card on my desk so I decided to use them up.  The base card is Bubblegum Pink from American Crafts.  To create the main panel I stamped the Big Fabric Background from Hero Arts onto some Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock with Orchid Brilliance ink and then trimmed it down to the size I wanted.  The image panel was layered onto GKD PL Chocolate cardstock.  The sentiment (from GKD) was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and cut out with Spellbinders Fancy Tags die and layered to a Spellbinders Petite Oval Scallop die cut piece.

For the finish I tied some chocolate/cream striped grosgrain ribbon (May Arts) into a ginormous bow. 

This card came together very quickly and was easy peasy!

Be sure to pop over to the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge and check out what the rest of the team has created.  We would love to have you play along as well.  You could win some nice prizes too!

Hello Friend

Helloooo my dear friends!  Today on the Outlawz challenge group the Twisted Thursday challenge is to create a card/project with "Friendship" as the theme.  

I love the look of layered backgrounds so I pulled out a couple of my favorite Hero Arts background stamps and went to work.  First I inked up the Large Fabric Design with Orchid Brilliance ink and stamped into on some ivory cardstock and then I inked up the Friend Definition stamp with Rich Cocoa Memento ink and over stamped it.  I trimmed the panel down to the size I wanted and then layered it onto some GKD PL Chocolate cardstock.  I die cut another piece of Chocolate cardstock with the Cat's PJ's Pinking Cut Up die and added it to the print piece.  Next, I added some crochet ribbon from May Arts and created a rolled flower with some May Arts Striped Grosgrain ribbon.  For the flower, I folded a strip of ribbon in half and then cut it about 3/4 of the way down every 1/4" or so.  I then rolled it up and secured the bottom with a Tombow Power Tab.  I fluffed the flower a bit to give it a shabby look and then plopped a big pink brad from American Crafts right down in the middle and layered it onto a American Crafts Bubblegum pink cardstock. To finish off the card, I added a few Kaisercraft pearls and some leaves from the Poppystamps Meadowleaf die.  

Why don't you head on over to the Outlawz challenge group and play along with the challenge this week.  You could have a chance to win some fabby prizes.

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.  

 

Twisted Thursday Snowman

It's Twisted Thursday time on the Outlawz Challenge Group and this week the DT was given the challenge to make a card/project with a snowman and the twist is to add glitter.  The challenge was an easy one for me as I love both snowmen and glitter.  

I stamped the snowman from the Our Craft Lounge Tweet Winter Wishes set in black ink onto some white cardstock and colored it with a combination of Tombow Dual Brush pens and Prismacolor pencils.  I added some Stardust Stickles to the ground for that pretty snowy glisten.  On the gloves, hat, scarves and ear muffs I also added some OCL Breezy Blue Sparkly Fluff.  If you could see this in person you would see that the sparkly fluff looks like a pretty yarn with metallic threads running through it.  I would love to have a hat and scarf like that :)

Well, I am off to finish my wrapping and do a little baking.  Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season.

Twisted Thursday Holiday Gatefold

Good Morning! 

 I am back today to share my card for the Twisted Thursday challenge on the Outlawz Challenge Group.  This week we are creating Gate Fold cards using holiday colors. 

 I was thrilled with this challenge because I hadn't made a gate fold card in quite awhile so I had to put my thinking cap on.  I am really happy with how this card turned out.  Closed, this card is 5 1/2" square so I had quite a bit of room to work with.  I started with this amazing Pinecone Globe image from Memory Box and layered it to a red embossed square, some Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Soup paper and then to a pretty Wild Asparagus Fleur de lis square die cut.  I added a wee bit of coloring to the image with some Copic markers and then topped everything off with some glitter.  

The sentiment is from Hero Arts and is actually one long clear stamp that I cut apart so that it would fit into the circle.  

We would love to have you join us this week, you can check out the challenge here.

Twisted Thursday Ornament

Hi there and happy Thursday to you all!  

This week on the Outlawz Challenge group the Twisted Thursday Challenge is to create an ornament or a card/project with an ornament on it.  

It had been quite awhile since I had made one of these glass ornaments so I pulled out the supplies and got to work.  I filled the ornament with a thin clear drying adhesive and then added some Polished Pigments (remember those?) and glitter.  While the ornament was drying I stamped/embossed the Poinsettia Topper from Outlines in gold ink/ep onto some red cardstock and then did the same for the leaves onto some green cardstock and then cut them out.  Before adding the poinsettia topper, I attached little pieces of green ribbon that had been adorned with a red rhinestone to the top of the ornament with glue dots.  Add the topper and a ribbon and you are done.  These are fun to make in all colors.  Great for gift giving too!

We would love to have you join us this week over at the Outlawz Challenge group.  Did you know you could have a chance to win a fabulous prize just for playing along?

CAS Let it Snow

Good morning!  I hope this finds you off to a good start for the week. The season may be fall, but we have had some unusually cold weather last week with snow at the 8000 ft level.  Lucky for me I am only at 3200 ft elevation and we only had the cold and not the snow.  I am so not ready for the white stuff.  I do like              stamping snowflakes though and have tons of them in my stash.  

I am working on my CAS skills.  I actually completed this card in less than 30 minutes.....a new CAS record for me. :)  I started with some Gina K. Designs kraft cardstock (this is the best kraft cs on the market IMHO) and embossed it with the Snowflakes CB EF at the top and very bottom of the card, leaving a little ditch for my sentiment.  The sentiment is from Verve's Holiday Phrases set and the snowflake is from Penny Black.  The date on the side of the snowflake is 2001 and I bet that I have had it since then.....it has been well loved!  The stamping and distressing were done with the new seasonal Gathered Twigs Distress ink.  The red print is from the Memory Box Distressed Dot collection.  We all love our bling so I finished my card off with a few red gems.  Who doesn't love a little sparkle?

Todays card is for two challenges:  The Outlawz Sunday CAS1009 challenge which was to use your favorite stamp(s) and the CR84FN40 challenge which is to use: red, brown and kraft.  Isn't their graphic beautiful?
 

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