Inky Button - Ink Along With Me

It's Kitchen Sink Monday!

Good Morning Sistahs!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...and Lori provided us with a super fun challenge this week!  Kitchen Sink has so many fabulous floral images, (which, looking back, I don't use as much as some of the other gals do...) so she challenged us to use some non-floral images so we can show some other 3-step love.  

I have to admit that the hardest part of posting every Monday is deciding which set to use.  Nicole recently acted as my enabler with {THIS} adorable card, so I felt compelled to get the 3-Step Butterflies set a little inky, and created this:

You know how I love my Glossy Accents...so I couldn't just stamp and leave it alone, I HAD to add the Glossy Accents to the wings.  Isn't it fun?  I'm lovin' the butterflies!

Here's a close up (Click it for a better look):

Okay...now that you've seen my creation, blop on over to the rest of the crew's blogs and see what "floral-less" creations they've designed for you.

Maria Colosimo

Nicole Cooke

Tammy Hershberger

Dee Jackson

Julie Masse

Lynn McAuley

Lori Tecler

Happy Monday & Happy Stampin'

Taylor's Cupcake-aversary!

Good Morning Sistahs!

I hope you are all aware that Taylor is celebrating the one year anniversary of the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge!  Each of the ladies on the Weekly Cupcake Crew has designed their own sketch for the celebration.  As a previous Featured Cupcake Sampler, I was asked to feature Donna Baker's sketch challenge.  Not only are there fabulous sketches for you to play along with, but there are prizes too!  Blop on over to Donna's Blog: Serenity in Stamping to check out the sketch and find out about the prize you can win by participating!

Here is my take on this week's sketch challenge:

Isn't it just delish?!  Since we're celebrating a year of Cupcake Challenges it made perfect sense to cupcake it up!  The main image is from Hero Arts, the little cuppies are from The Cat's Pajamas - Loving Mew Set, and how could I resist Bella's sentiment "Yummalicious"?  

Isn't this card a vision in glittah?  I used chocolate glittah for the cupcake bottoms, holographic glittah for the cuppie frosting, and red glittah for the hearts. Needless to say, I have glittah everywhere in my stamp room.  But isn't it worth it?  When I came upstairs my hubby asked, "What the heck are you doing down there?  Rolling around in glitter?"  *giggle  (If he only knew!) *wink

Here's a close-up from a different angle so you can see the dimension:

There are a few other gals sampling Donna's Sketch so head on over and check out what they've created for you:

Carolina Buchting

Carol Halvorson

Karen Motz

Whew!  That's a lot o' stampin!  Ready for more?  Don't forget to check out Taylor's Blog, the Anniversary Celebration Headquarters, for all of the sketch challenges as well as an awesome grand prize for one random winner who participates in ALL 9 sketch challenges!  We hope you'll help us celebrate this yummy occasion!

Happy Stampin'

Happy Kitchen Sink Monday!

Good Morning Sistahs!

I can't believe it's already Monday!  And what a glorious Monday it is.  Do I really need an excuse to stamp with these fabulous sets?  Nah, but it's a great excuse to retreat to my craft room and watch girlie movies.  This weekend's selections were: 27 Dresses and Definitely Maybe.  I love them both!!  But you didn't come here to hear me babble, you came here to see a card right?  

So I have to tell you that I am absolutely LOVIN' the New 3-Step Hearts set.  (especially with Valentine's Day coming up.)  I think I've made like 4 cards for my hubby. *giggle* I am going to have a hard time deciding on which one to give him.

What do you think about this one? (The inside reads: You mean the world to me.)

The black strip in the middle is actually 3/4" Super Tape (thanks rachel!) covered with black fine art glitter.  Once I got the glitter down I stamped the xoxoxo from the Never A Loss 4 Words Set in Riding Hood Red.  Then I punched out a circle with a Marvy Circle Punch (I think it's the pink one,) and stamped the heart image.

Step 1: Ruby Red (stamped off once)

Step 2: Ruby Red

Step 3: Riding Hood Red

Then I nested the image inside the scalloped circle and another circle of Riding Hood Red, then I decided I wanted to add BLING! I mean seriously, the glittah was a little lonely without the BLING.  Finally I added Glossy Accents to the "continents" for a little more dimension and texture. Ta Da!  A card is born.

Now that you've gotten your fill of the eye candy, BLOP on over to see what the rest of the crew has cooked up for you.  And speaking of *Cooke* our very own Nicole is here in Colorado this week and we're hooking up tomorrow for a rockin' good time.  I can't wait.  Okay, NOW go check 'em out....

Maria Colosimo

Nicole Cooke

Tammy Hershberger

Dee Jackson

Julie Masse

Lynn McAuley

Lori Tecler

Happy Monday and Happy Stampin'

Two Lips?

Good Morning Sistahs!

Thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers and well wishes for my Aunt.  She's doing well, and the Doctors are looking to transfer her to a rehabilitation center as soon as her temperature regulates.  (She does well, then her fever spikes, then she does well again.)  I really appreciate you all!

An amazing woman who works at my son's school is helping take care of her sick family member.  My son asked that I make a card for her so he and his friends could sign it.  Who am I to deny the boy a handmade card?  As I was stamping this card, I remembered that one of the fantastically wonderful gals I work with lost her grandfather over the weekend, and figured I should just make two cards.  So here are two versions of the cards I made using Kitchen Sink's New 3-Step Bitty Tulip Bouquet.

I'm not sure if I prefer the sentiment in the middle...

...or at the bottom.

What do you think?  After I took the photos, I decided to add Glossy Accents to the bowl so it looks like the tulips are sitting in water.  I'll do my best to remember to get a photo before I give them away.

Thank you again for your love and support as we get my Aunt back on her feet.  I hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday!

Happy Stampin'

PS. Don't forget to stop by and check out the Blue Plate Specials over at The Sink!  You never know what'll be on sale!

Say a Little Prayer

Good Morning Sistahs!

I told you yesterday that I had another project to show you.  Unfortunately it is a project I'd rather not have had to make.  

My Aunt's birthday was Friday and she was supposed to celebrate at dinner with close family and friends, but never ended showing up.  As it turns out, she was instead transported to the hospital with a brain injury.  The doctors finally diagnosed it as a stroke, but because of the location they weren't able to operate.  She spent a little less than 24 hours in the ICU, and was then downgraded to the Intermediate Neuro Care Area (INCA) Saturday afternoon.  With all the family and friends coming to show their love and support at the hospital we managed to over-stimulate her.  So because so many people wanted to share stories and say prayers with her, my mom asked me to make a book for people to sign in case my Aunt was sleeping when they came to visit.  So I created this:

This is the first time I have ever used my Bind-it-all!  Not bad for my first time right? *wink  I also decided to make pens to match the cover.  I took two 7.5" x 5" covers and cut 36 pages of cardstock in soft pastel colors so people could write little notes to her.  We took it to the hospital Sunday and people have already started writing in it.  It's also a great way to add a splash of color to my Aunt's hospital room.

If you would be so kind as to say a little prayer for her to have a speedy recovery my family and I would greatly appreciate it.

I hope to have more for you tomorrow, but with all the activities we have going on, I might not be able to post until Thursday.  

Thanks for all your love and prayers!

Happy Stampin'

It's Kitchen Sink Monday!

Good Morning Sistahs!

Today is Kitchen Sink Monday and it's time for another Crew Challenge!  This week's challenge hostess is the fabulous Julie Masse!  She brilliantly asked us to create a set of Thank You cards.  I tried to keep them simple because after going over my thank you card list, I found out that I need a set of 12.  Yikes!  I also needed to mail them, so I wanted to keep them to 1-Layer.  Here's what I came up with:

  

I used the 3-Step School Days and the Mix it Up! Monogram and Alphabet set to created these super simple Thank You cards.  I used my Nesties to emboss the frame for the *A*, then stamped the Many Thanks on the outside using the same color.  I love this red color, but decided I wanted to spice it up a little so I stamped them in rainbow colors!

Aren't these colors so fun!?!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the font that the *Thanks* is written in too.

Now, hurry on over and check out all the Thank You cards created by the very talented Kitchen Sink Crew!  And, if you have the time, you should play along with us!  Our new *What's Cookin' With Your Kitchen Sink Stamps* theme is *Show the Love.*

Maria Colosimo

Nicole Cooke

Tammy Hershberger

Dee Jackson

Julie Masse

Lynn McAuley

Lori Tecler

Come back tomorrow, because I have a few more projects to post.  I also have to play with the new Kitchen Sink releases; I have some Tulips you are going to just LOVE!

Happy Stampin'

Three Days In A Row!

Good Morning Sistahs!

I am so excited that I actually have something to show you today.  Now, I only took one picture, but I think I'll try to post more a little later.  So today I went to meet friends to make cards and stamp my heart out.  I packed my car to the gills making sure I had every tool, ink pad, and scissor known to man, so I would be sure to be able to complete my task list.  And what did I do?!?!  Yep you guessed it, I forgot my stamps at home!  DOH!  I know!!  How does one forget their stamps?!?!  

So rather than drive all the way across the Earth to get home, I decided to finish a project I've had brewing in my mind for a few months now.  And surprisingly I didn't forget the photo CD at home.  *giggle  Now, before I show you this photo, I want you to read my disclaimer:

I do not scrapbook.  I only make cards.  I made this acrylic album for my very dear friend whom I love dearly.  I know that she will in no way judge me for what I do and do not do with these photos.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, here's a little peek at the album I worked on ALL DAY today.

I know you can't tell from this super simple layout how much work went into creating this project.  I made this album for the kids that I watched over the summer.  I put all our fun photos in this album and had fun reliving our summer together.  I actually finished all 12 pages.  (Well mostly finished it, there are just a few minor details to add.)

I am completely exhausted!  I don't know how you scrapbookers do it.  This was hard work!  I promised I'd have fabulous things to share, but because I have no brain cells left, I could only show you what I did with paper and pictures, and not what I did with ink and rubbah.  Please forgive me!  I hope to have my fabulous card posted for you tomorrow...or Thursday...or...well you get the idea.

Thanks again for stoppin' by to see what I came up with.

Happy Stampin'

Happy Kitchen Sink Tuesday!

Good Morning Sistahs!

This is a very special week sistahs!  Not only do you get Kitchen Sink Monday, but you also get Kitchen Sink Tuesday!  (As if we really need another excuse to play with fun and wonderful stamps. *wink)  As promised, I have your Sneak Peek of the new Kitchen Sink Stamp Set 3-Step Love Birds.  I figured I should probably get a jump-start on my Valentine's Day cards, and this set is perfect.

My hubby is always hard to make cards for, usually because I'm inclined to add bling and glittah and ribbons and...well...you get the idea.  So this time I decided to let the stamps speak for themselves.  My hubby's favorite color is blue so I decided to make a girl and a boy love bird, (I'll let him be the blue bird. *giggle) and it comes with both words that I use to refer to him: MY LOVE!  (He's stored in my cell phone that way....I promise.)  Here's what I came up with:

The card itself is 4.5 x 4.5.  I used my Label 1 Nesties.  It's hard to tell, but both birds were cut out and glued down onto a piece where I added a "sky" background using my chalks and homemade cloud template.  I ran the card through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder and placed the dark blue layer on pop dots.  (The boy bird is also up on pop dots.)  I rounded the corners because I liked the way it compliments the rounded corners of the Label 1 die.

I can't wait to play more with this set!  It's absolutely fabulous!!

Pink Bird Layers:

1 - Pink Pirouette

2 - Pink Pirouette

3 - Pretty In Pink (Stamped-off once)

4 - Pretty In Pink

5 - Regal Rose

Blue Bird Layers:

1 - Bashful Blue (Stamped-off once)

2 - Bashful Blue

3 - Ballet Blue (Stamped-off once)

4 - Ballet Blue

5 - Brilliant Blue

Thanks for stopping by...TWO DAYS IN A ROW!  (You might want to come by tomorrow too, I have a fun card to show-off...as soon as I finish it. *wink)

Happy Tuesday & Happy Stampin'

Happy Kitchen Sink Monday!

Good Morning Sistahs!

Don't you just love Mondays?  I know I do, especially Pre-Release Mondays!  Yep, the new Kitchen Sink Sets are going to be released tomorrow!!  Under normal circumstances you would be getting a sneak-peek here today, but the postal gods were not smiling upon me this weekend, so you're going to have to come back tomorrow to see what I've cooked up.  In the meantime, here is a little something I whipped up using Never a Loss 4 Words and Playful Frames & Journaling.  

I love all the trees out there made out of circles so much that I had to create my own.  The Playful Frames & Journaling Set lent itself to my imagination PERFECTLY!!  I used the circles to create the tree, trunk, and grass.  Once I stamped the trunk, I masked it for the grass and the sky.  For the sky I created a cloud template using the slit punch then went over the white with Bashful Blue chalk, then again using Brilliant Blue.  I cut out the tree and popped it up on foam squares then added BLING!  TA-DA!  Easy Peasy.

Now, hurry over to the rest of the Crew's Blogs to see Sneak Peeks of the new sets being released.  (You can even enter for a chance to win all 4 sets on Maria's Blog {HERE}.)

Maria Colosimo

Nicole Cooke

Tammy Hershberger

Dee Jackson

Julie Masse

Lynn McAuley

Lori Tecler

Don't forget to stop by here tomorrow to see what I've created!

Happy Stampin'