Hello, everyone!

It's been awhile since i've posted, i know. Aside from being super busy, we no longer have the net at home, for now. Until we get it back, my posts will be few and far between. i've been making tons of Christmas cards and hope to post them before too long...
i hope everyone is well and has a wonderful Christmas! And happiest of New Year's!

Mojo Monday, Week 10

Julee over at Poetic Artistry has come up with another great sketch for her Mojo Monday challenge. i had made a card for this week's challenge a few days ago but wasn't quite happy with it, so i went back to the drawing board. Here's the final outcome, and i don't like to brag on myself, but i'm very happy with the results. Unlike most of my cards, i'm keeping this one for myself, especially after all the work i put into it.

i started by stamping the leaves and cutting them out. i didn't know exactly how it would all go together, so i just played for awhile until i got it right. Paul, my DC (darling companion), actually helped a lot with the details. i sought his opinion a few times over the course of putting this together, and he had some great ideas that i didn't think of, like outlining the leaves in the left corner in gold, just to name one. i adhered some of the leaves directly onto the cardstock, and the rest i added pop-dots to for a 3-D effect. The background (that says "autumn, fall") is CS i stamped and embossed to make my own PP. The sentiment is actually a "Thanksgiving" stamp, but i wanted to break it up. The finished card measures 5" x 5". It took a couple days to make this, but it was worth it. i just love it when a plan comes together!

Ingredients: CS - stash, Paperbilities; stamps - Stampendous' Leafy Silhouettes, MM Magnetic Rummage Alphabet, sentiment by Anna Griffin from All Night Media; ink - Pallette Hybrid, Colorbox, gold gel pen; ribbon - Michael's; brads - MM; EP - Stampendous; chalk; pop-dots.

Holiday collage...

i've been on a creative spree the last couple of weeks, and i'm loving it. i haven't had tons of time to craft, but when i have i just felt like i was in the zone. Here are a few cards i've made recently...

These first two are CASEd from a card in the Nov/Dec 2005 issue of RubberStampMadness; the artist is Hannamaija Teisko. There's no online link to her card (that i know of) and i'm not going to scan in another artist's work without permission. i only tweaked it slightly, adding some script behind the images rather than the gold mesh she used. i also used different stamps. The above card uses gold accents, like hers, and the card below differs only in that i used silver. Oh, and obviously, her card did not include the PTI sentiment.

Ingredients: watercolor paper; CS - stash; stamps (hold on,there's a lot of them!) - Limited Edition's Women Trio, Stampendous' Leafy Silhouettes, Inkadinkado (script), foam architectural stamps from Michael's (i don't have the original packaging and can't remember who makes these!), Typewriter Alphabet by Rebecca Sower from Nostalgiques, sentiment from PTI's Take a Bough, little stars from TT's Loves Me, Loves Me Not; ink - Ranger Archival, Versamark; watercolor paint; embossing pen; EP - Ranger; gold ribbon by Offray, silver fiber - unknown; Stickles; envie from PTI.

This card follows the same idea but with a few adjustments. The only supplies that differ here are a few of the stamps, but all come from some of the above sets with the exception of the "rays" above the woman's head; that one is from the now defunct A La Carte Art Stamps - it's the top half of a vintage stamp. Also, the letters that make up "dream" come from Making Memories' magnetic Rummage alphabet set. Oh, and i added some chalk to the card base.

These cards are super-easy and fun to make. i started with a piece of watercolor paper and randomly added watercolor paints in two colors. After the paint dried, i stamped to my heart's content, keeping the images close together so that i could get a lot into the square when i punched the paper with my 1 3/8" square punch. Some of the images i embossed, others i just stamped. Then i just adhered the squares as i liked to the card base (which i either chalked or stamped and embossed) and added any words or ribbon. You end up with a nice collaged effect that looks like it took a ton of time but really was fairly quick and easy. Ofcourse, leave it to me to find a way to make "quick and easy" take forever - i spent over two days on these three cards! Haha..

Thanks for stopping by! Hope everyone's doing well and having a fabulous day!

Christmas sneak peeks...

i have been spending hours over the last few days in my craft room, hunched over my desk making Christmas cards and working on the batch for my customer. i have so many things i want to show here, but can't yet. Some of the x-mas cards will be going to people who read my blog, so i don't want any spoilers. i do, however, have some little sneak peeks of the x-mas batch...





i've been making good use of the new Papertrey Ink set Take A Bough (thanks, Dana!) - it's a lot of fun to play with!

This year i decided to keep most of my x-mas cards fairly simple, relying more on paper and stamps than embellishments like ribbon and metals. By doing this, i'm able to make more cards more quickly (a big plus since, like last year, i plan to make all of the cards i need to send out and not rely on any store-bought ones) and i spend less on shipping.

Well, i'm off to make some grub for Z.'s dinner. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

You Make Me Smile...

My buddy Heidi nominated me for a You Make Me Smile Award! Thanks so much, Heidi! You make me smile, too! :) i am supposed to nominate others that make me smile. There's so many who deserve it, but today i'm nominating 3 (several i wanted to nominate have already been nominated by others!).

The first blogger who makes me smile is Roberta. i recently discovered her blog while searching for others interested in polymer clay. She has some amazing polymer creations, and she uses her handmade beads to make some truly beautiful jewelry. Go check out her blog and you can see for yourself!
Another talented lady who makes me smile is Julee of Verve Visual fame. i'm sure most or all of you visit her blog already, but for anyone who doesn't, you won't be disappointed when you go! Her handmade cards are beautiful, and her Mojo Monday challenge is great fun. It's no wonder her new stamps are so popular - she's got boatloads of talent!
And finally, a blogger who is already famous in the crafting world, Kristina. i doubt she reads my own blog, but i sure visit hers a lot! Her style is simple, eye-catching and memorable. If you check out any of the paper-crafting magazines, you've probably seen her designs before. Go to her blog for some serious inspiration!
And anyone who's blog or site i've linked to on my own blog - all of you make me smile!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thank you to all my readers...

i just wanted to say thank you to everyone who visits my blog and especially those of you who leave me such nice comments! i really appreciate your support and compliments on my artwork. In the beginning, i responded to comments on the comment page, but i quickly realized that most of us don't have the time to go back and reread comments on others' blogs. i just wanted you guys to know that i read every single comment and am always uplifted by your kind words. i will be posting some handmade blog candy sometime in the near future, so be on the lookout for that! ;)
Have a great day everyone!

A thank you card for someone special!

My buddy Dana over at Kismet, Art and Life recently sent me a wonderful package of goodies (including the new PTI set Take a Bough!) for my birthday, so ofcourse i had to send her an extra special card to say "Thank you". i worked on this card over the course of a couple days (i'm often in and out of my craft room trying to juggle the rest of life and art, too!). i was very happy with how this one turned out.


i actually colored the roses with Prismacolors first, but when the rest of the card began to overwhelm the main image, i went back over it with markers. i actually liked the combo of the two, though you wouldn't know by looking at it that i'd used pencils, too.

Ingredients: CS - stash, Paperbilities; stamps - $1 stamp from A.C. Moore (roses), foam harlequin stamp, SU!'s Noteworthy; ink - Ranger Distress ink, Colorbox Fluid Chalk, Marvy LePlume II markers; ribbon -Bobbin ribbon; brads - MM; pop-dots; Prismacolor pencils; envie from Office Max (don't know brand).