Love is in the air

The Christmas stamps have been put away and the Valentine stamps have been taken out. It is a sign that time is moving on. 

Try Stampin' on Tuesday is featuring yet another great sketch to challenge us. The twist is plaid- which I didn't even notice that till this card was done and posted on the TSOT blog. Oh well- the twist is optional. 

I made the main panel first and originally was going to place it on white card stock, but it just didn't look right. it looked ever so much better on the kraft paper. the sweet little mouse was from an old StampinUp set. 

This will be my last challenge at TSOT for a few months. Life and school is really putting a cramp in my creative time. I hope to be back by the summer, when I will have graduated with my BSN.

Please continue to check out the great challenges at TSOT and I will see you all before you know it!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  The challenge sketch twist at Try Stampin' on Tuesday is "sparkle it up". Well duh?!!? Isn't New Years all about the sparkle?!!? The party chick stamp is a very old Inkadinkado stamp. It sure was perfect for this challenge. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see all the glitter and bling on it. 

 I had such fun with this sketch that I made two cards. Hubby will get the house mouse card as he just loves cute cards with cute little critters on them. 

Wishing everyone a healthy, creative and blessed 2014!

  

Getting my art on.

Usually I don't bother with tags, but this year I have had a few requests for them. At Try Stampin On Tuesday, we are skipping our usual sketches to provide all of you with holiday tag ideas.

It was the perfect opportunity for me to get my art on and forget about CAS - if just for a wee bit. :) 

The tags I will be showing you harken back to a number of classes I took from the king of distress himself- Tim Holtz.

Here is how I made them.

First- I gathered my supplies.

Second- I stamped my image with white pigment ink and embossed with white powder.

Third- I sponged on a variety of blue distress inks.

Forth- I grabbed a big background stamp and stamped over the whole tag with walnut stain ink.

 The baby tag, I stamped my sentiment with espresso truffle and sponged it with the same distress inks from the base tag. I added a ribbon at the bottom as an accent and lastly I tied the baby tag to the base tag.

Here are each of the tags by themselves.

 

Please join us at TSOT with your tag designs!

Let it snow!

Last week we had our first hint of snow, snow showers on the way to work. Areas north of me received a dusting and yet today it was 60 degrees! I say enough is enough! I am ready for winter and I am ready for it to snow! Just in time for this week's sketch challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday.

I had fun with this challenge. I turned the sketch on its side, just so my sentiment would fit!! 

The background turned out gorgeous- looks like scrap book paper huh? It is a big background stamp from Impression Obsession-Snowflakes. I love this stamp and it inks so well. I won a challenge at Just Add Ink using it with red ink last year. 

Let this great sketch kick start your creativity and join us at TSOT this week!

Life is Beautiful

The theme to go with the sketch this week at Try Stampin' on Tuesday is vintage. Yikes! This has never been anything that I dabbled in. In fact I really had to go through my stamps and papers to find stamps that might work. Plus I had to do a bit of research on the net. 

I will let all of you be the judge of what I created. Is it "vintagey" enough? 

I started with the "lace border" from Papertrey Ink's Love and Marriage set in distress ink colors, victorian velvet and bundled sage. I built the card from this stamp and colors. I added the dogwood stamp from Hero Arts colored in matching colors with copic markers. I used some vintage rose paper that I distressed and the Memory Box trellis die. The card is finished off with this great saying from Papertrey Ink's Meadow Greens set.

While this was "fun" and it really stretched me- let me get back to what I enjoy and am good at- CAS with a cute and whimsical bend.

Please show me how it is done, by joining us in the challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday!

Spooky Spiders

Having computer issues is like having your car break down. It's so frustrating, especially when you have some place to be, or like me blog postings and design team challenges to do.

My DH spent the day completely redoing my computer and he is still not done. I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to complete this blog, because all my pics are in I-photo and he hasn't reinstalled my programs yet.

It is a testament to how much I have learned about the computer that I figured out how to get my pictures from my camera (Thank God I hadn't deleted them!) to the blogs without I-photo.

Halloween is just around the corner and the theme for this week's sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday is spooky. I thought this sketch was a no-brainer until I realized that the circle is where the sentiment goes. I had to rethink my whole plan. I am much happier with what I came up with though.

Please join us and show us what you created using this sketch and the theme spooky.

Sue T.

Give Thanks

More Thanksgiving Cards when we are having an Indian summer. The sky is a brilliant blue and the sun is shining warmly in the 80's. 

Over at Try Stampin' on Tuesday the theme for our sketch this week is "Give Thanks". I wanted to do a bit of a spin on the sketch, so the I die cut the circle to create a window. I created a "floating element".

I used my favorite Thanksgiving set from Amuse- Bounty of the Season. I use it quite a bit. And because I just finished the Online card class, Insider, I decided to finish the inside of my card. The sentiment was strategically placed behind the sentiment on the front of the card.

I hope you join us with your own creations at Try Stampin' On Tuesday.

More fall cards

The sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday also includes a fall theme. This is a very popular theme right now at many challenges. Fortunately I have quite few autumn type stamps. This tree stamp and die from Memory Box is one of my favorites. Depending on how you color it, it can be for any season. Last August I used this stamp for a card for a friend. Gives you an idea how you can change up the stamp.

Please join us Try Stampin' on Tuesday and share your creation!