Wednesday, September 30, 2009

IO DT Challenge- Gratitude

Yep, it is time for another Impression Obsession Design Team challenge, and this time the theme is gratitude. Could I have been any more literal? I chose to use a saying that actually mentions gratitude. I was very close to grabbing my "thanks a latte" saying, but autumn papers and stamps were calling me.

To make the card, I layered many pieces of paper from the Basic Grey Indian Summer collection, including yellow leaf paper cut from my Nestabilities Labels Five die. Man is that paper gorgeous! I stamped my pumpkin (B7335) three times onto the Indian Summer paper and cut them out. To accentuate the pumpkins, I colored the crease lines with an orange colored pencil. To accent the pumpkins, I added some bows I made from some yellow hemp. To finish the card, I stamped Share Gratitude (A5517) onto the card and added some faux stitching with a brown marker.

Need more gratitude inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Shirley created.

Want to win some IO goodies? You have two opportunities.
1. Make your own IO gratitude card and submit it to Shirley. Information about the contest can be found here.

2. Dina has some awesome blog candy on her blog, and you can find it here.


Monday, September 28, 2009

Halloween Crow

Did I mention that I love Halloween cards? I know, I know, I say it every few days. I just can't help it. There are so many cool Halloween images out there. One of my newest ones is from Impression Obsession, and I think it is the first crow I own. Or is it a raven? In any case, it seemed perfect for Halloween.

I think I will have to describe some of the things in the picture that didn't show up. I stamped the harlequin background onto black paper with Versafine ink and embossed it with clear powder to make it glossy. The stars and moons were colored with Stardust pens so that they sparkle, and I layered the crow piece and the harlequin piece onto silver metallic paper for extra shimmer.

I will try to keep up with posting, but I have a lot going on this week. I have three scheduled classes, and next week I am off to Albuquerque. I can't wait. Balloon Fiesta here I come!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Skulls and Waterfalls


One of the things I really like about Leigh Hannan's images is that they are just so different and quirky. Lots of people have skeletons for Halloween, but how many have skeletons with masks on sticks? For this card, I cut out an oval and tag using the Accucut machine. I colored the skulls and accessories with Prismacolor pencils and added a saying that is also from Impression Obsession. I don't think you can tell from the photo, but the brads are nice and sparkly.....love them!

My crafting friends will have to excuse me now as I share some personal weekend picts. I acknowledge that probably the only person interested in the rest of this post is my mom!

I met my mom at the Homestead over the weekend for a relaxing getaway. It is located in the Allegheny mountains, and it is HUGE. I can't tell you how many times we got turned around.

We walked the grounds a lot, and there are flowers everywhere. I can't even begin to estimate what they spend on landscaping. Here are flowers in the spa garden:

We had tea everyday in the lobby. I think it might have been one of the highlights of the trip. When we checked in, we were told, "When you hear the piano playing between 3 and 4, it is tea time. Have a seat in the lobby, and you will be served." Loved that!!!


We spent a lot of time outdoors even though it was cloudy the whole time. Here is the site we were greeted with when we entered the Allegheny mountains:We hiked the Cascades gorge and signed up for the guided tour that took us by 13 waterfalls. The trail had more rocks to climb than I expected, but I did it. Yeah me!


On the way home, we stopped by Falling Springs Falls. It was very foggy, but gorgeous!


Thursday, September 17, 2009

IO DT Challenge- Holiday Gifts

Today the theme for the Impression Obsession Design Team is holiday gifts. I decided to make a photo/card holder, because lets face it, I know a lot of people who have cards to display!

This is the time of year when I start looking at sale bins for items I can alter for gifts. I recently found this photo holder:

I really liked the dark wood, but what where they thinking when they put a large metal question mark on the side? I just don't get it. In any case, I ended up getting it for 97 cents. Woohoo! I layered some Memory Box Dewfrost paper on top since the browns and blues coordinated with the color of the wood and added an Impression Obsession snowflake (B7270) as a focal point. It is the same snowflake I used in the last challenge. I guess you could say that I like it!

I colored the snowflake with a blue Tombo marker and then added some stickles and clear rhinestones. Here is a close up:

I repeated the pattern on all sides of the holder. Here is a side view:


Need more holiday gift inspiration? Check out what Dina, Jeanne, and Kathy created.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Happy Birthday

Okay, I have made a lot of cards lately that have been cut from my new Nestabilities Labels 8 set. I just can't seem to stop....I'm in the Labels 8 zone.

For this card, I stamped the background flowers and flourishes by Lizzie Anne designs onto white cardstock using black Memento ink. I colored them with Copic markers and added a few green rhinestones. I then stamped "Happy" onto green paper using black Memories ink and cut out the saying. It is really hard to see from the picture, but the saying is popped up on the card using foam mount tape. I then added the word "birthday" to the bottom of the card. Both of the words came from the "Happy Everything" clear set from Wordsworth.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Moxie Fab Stamping Challenge

The Moxie Fab blog showed various card making styles last week, and I thought I would make a card for the stamping challenge. Basically, you had to make a card that had some stamping on it. Umm...no problem!

I decided to make a card that used colors that I don't normally pair together....red and turquoise. I was attracted to the paper by My Minds Eye, so I thought it would be fun to play with. I cut out some paper using my Nestablilities Labels 5 dies and then used my Copic airbrush system to edge my white paper with blue ink. I then added some snowflakes and a saying from Impression Obsession and added some Stickles to the card to make it sparkle. I cut out a snowman from another My Minds Eye paper and popped it up on the card using some foam mount tape.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Lattes at Noon

I just love this saying! It is by Art Impressions, and it makes me laugh every time I read it. Let me look at it again....yep, still funny. I paired it with a cup and saucer stamp by Stamps N' More along with one of my favorite Hero Arts birds. Unfortunately, the bird is discontinued. The paper is Basic Grey, and I colored all the images with Prismacolor Pencils (no gamsol).

I hope everyone who celebrates Labor Day has a wonderful 3-day weekend. I'm thinking about going to a movie and visiting Great Falls. Who knows. I might even have time for a latte at noon! Mmmm....coffee.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

IO DT Challenge- Different Point of View

As promised, today is the day of the Impression Obsession Design Team challenge featuring "A Different Point of View." We were challenged to take a stamp and turn it into something else or use it in a different way. As I said Monday, I had a hard time getting started, but once I did, I couldn't stop! I ended up making three cards using coffee beans, a snowflake, and a heart.

For my first card, I used the brand new snowflake ( B7270) image and turned it into a flower. I used some of my Basic Grey Lemonade paper and cut out a frame using my Nestabilities Labels 8. I colored the "flower" with Prismacolor pencils and cut out a stem, leaves, and grass from more of the patterned paper.

Next, I stamped the filigree heart three times with green ink onto green paper, cut them out, and assembled them to make a shamrock. To finish the card, I used a border from the CL160 Lucky Clover clear set and added some green rhinestones (hard to see from the picture).

Finally, I took a coffee bean from the CL231 More Coffee clear set, added a little doodling, and made ladybugs. I spelled out my saying using the CL47 Scribble clear set.

I really enjoyed this challenge. Nothing gets the creativity going like forcing yourself to look at things in another way (that, and the sheer panic over coming up with a decent idea).

Want to see other "different points of view" cards? Check out Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Shirley created.