Good Coffee ....

... Hi! Good afternoon - I'm finally getting to play along with the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - FCLBH. I've been running around like a mad thing this week and only managed to get into my craft room late last night, and finished off my card this afternoon. I used some new stamps on my card:

Stamps: Stamplorations - Caffeinated Zen 1, Literary Caffeine-ations; Sugar Pea Designs - Espresso Yourself
Inks: Gina K - Kraft, Dark Chocolate; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Early Espresso; Copics; Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear

I've used the colours from the current Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#161. I started by stamping the large coffee cup directly on the card and then added the words. I only added colour to the cup on this image. Using my MISTI, I stamped the cup again twice and coloured in the cup and cup band. I put the completed images back in the MISTI, inked up with Versamark and then heat embossed with gold tinsel embossing powder. Then I very carefully cut out the whole coffee cup and the lid and band from the other image. I used dimensional tape to adhere the cup and again when I attached the band and lid. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark brown card. On the white panel, I stamped a portion of the coffee cup, added a greeting and a few coffee beans.

I've just had a quick look at the Coffee Challenge and there are over 1000 entries! It's going to take a while to get around and have a look at all the wonderful creations! That's all for now - see you again soon.

Uniko - Autumn/Fall ....

.... Morning! I'm here with a card for our new challenge at Uniko - USC#43. The timing of our challenge couldn't be more perfect - today is that start of Autumn - and our challenge is to create an Autumn/Fall theme project with the optional twist of Halloween. My card is relatively clean and simple:

Stamps: Uniko - Originally Organic
Inks: Versamark
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frames Borders #6 and #7; Uniko - Originally Organic
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copper Satin Mirri Card; Copics;p Wink of Stella - Clear; Copper Embossing Powder

I got inspiration for my card from the current challenge at Inspired by All the Little Things - IBALT#64. I used the colours of copper and blue and used autumn seed heads on my card. I die cut some copper satin mirri card and white card with this lovely cross stitched edged die. I stamped the greeting directly on the white panel in Versamark and heat embossed with copper powder. I stamped using my MISTI - I did a light stamp, coloured it with Copics, put it back in the MISTI and restamped with Versamark and then heat embossed. I cut out the finished image with the matching die. I added a touch of sparkle to the image with a clear Wink of Stella brush and finished with some pale aqua gems. On the inside I cut mat layer of copper card and added some more of the flowers to the white panel - I've left a space for me to write my message.

Do visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to join in with this challenge - deadline for submission is midnight BST, Friday 27th October - that's 7.00pm EDT for those of us in the States.

That's all from me today - see you soon.

Sweet Sixteen .....

.... Good Morning! It's Kat's 16th birthday today. By some strange miracle Kat was up early this morning :) We wished her a Happy Birthday, she spoke to her Nanny in Leicester and she's opened her card. She loved it!!! Yea. To celebrate we're having a birthday brunch at Fox Hill Golf Club - they do a wonderful spread. Kat started her birthday weekend with dinner on Friday night with her best friend Alyx at The Cheesecake Factory in Novi (we dined there too, but at a different table). The girls spent yesterday together at The Heritage Festival in Northville and then at home - I think they spent the day chatting, laughing, listening to music and just enjoying being together. Last night I finally made Kat's card:

Stamps: Visible Image - Sing, Tomorrow Doesn't Exist, Rays of Light; Uniko - Simply Said Birthday; Winnie & Walter - Moonlight; Your Next Stamp - Whatnot Sentiments One; Stampin' Up! - 25 Days
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Cherry Red, Black Onyx; Distress - Black Soot
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear; Lindy's Starburst Spray - Rudolf's Nose Red; Dylusions Stencil - Cobweb Lg

I got the idea for this card from Kat, she sings all the time, she loves all things Goth and Halloween, and she's very fond of black and red. I spritzed Lindy's red spray over the cobweb stencil. Once dry, and after cleaning the stencil, I lightly sponged over the edges of the stencil with black distress ink. I rubbed over the surface with an antistatic bag and then stamped the number and singer in black and heat embossed with clear powder. I positioned the musical notes to come from the microphone, stamped and embossed that image. Then I stamped the star burst and word 'birthday' in cherry red ink. I finished the front by stamping the word 'happy' and adding just a touch of sparkle to the dress with a clear wink of stella brush. I used a sponge to define the edges of the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card. On the white panel I stamped some cobwebs, some pumpkins, added a greeting and finished with some stars.

I'm submitting this card to Inkspirational - INK#143, where they have a photo for inspiration. My take on the photo is to use a silhouette image of a singer (another of the arts), the musical notes floating in the air, and to create an overall background that suits my daughter. I'm also playing along with Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#14 where it's Anything Goes!

Before I go, I have to share few photos of my gorgeous girl:

Our Goth Girl - it's actually a handbag she's holding! Taken by Alyx.

Kat - photo taken by Alyx, her best friend.

And this one is Kat, Pluto and Alyx - taken in April when we went to Disney. They're still little girls at heart!!!

That's all for now. Have a great day.

Christmas Owl ....

.... Hi again, I'm definitely getting back into my groove, I've another card to share today. This time it's a Christmas card (you're going to see lots of those in the coming weeks) and it's really CAS:

Stamps: Dare 2B Artzy - Owl Be Home 4 Christmas, Daddy Owl; Concord & 9th - Joy; Uniko - Background Builders Chevrons
Inks: Gina K - Red Velvet, Grass Green, Black Onyx; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

I've used the sketch from Christmas Card Throwdown - CCT#17 for the layout - so pleased to be playing along. As it's a one layer card with a coloured in element I'm going to play along with Less is More - LIM#345. There's an owl on here so I'm going to enter AAA Cards - AAA#98 as they want creatures great and small.

I used my MISTI to stamp the owl, removed the card and coloured the owl. I put the card back in the MISTI and stamped it again in Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with clear powder. Next I stamped the zig-zag lines to match the owl's clothes. Again, using the MISTI makes this process very easy. I finished the front with a simple sentiment. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel added a Christmas greeting.

I've really settled back into my regular routine. I've recently added an aquarobics class on Monday morning - it's so much fun, but I think I've rediscovered muscles that I'd forgotten I had!!! That's it for now. Take care.

TMR - Technique and DT Call ...

... Hi! I'm here this morning with my card for our new challenge over at The Male Room - TMR#69. We have a fun theme for your masculine projects; for the next couple of weeks - we want use to use MASKING. I've made an autumn themed card:

Stamps: Stampendous - Pattern Leaves; Concord & 9th - Kindhearted
Inks: Versamark; Gina K - Sweet Mango, Tomato Soup, Kraft, Honey Mustard, Warm Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Charcoal Brown, Black Onyx
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Early Espresso; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gold Embossing Powder

Using my MISTI I stamped the large patterned leaf in the centre of the card. I coloured it with Copic markers then I ran a dust buddy over the image, put the card back in the MISTI and stamped the image again with Versamark and heat embossed with gold powder. I added a touch of sparkle to the leaf with a clear Wink of Stella brush. This method gives a really crisp image. I masked the leaf and used my MISTI to stamp the repeat sentiment in the background. This is a technique that I learnt from Jennifer McGuire. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark brown card and on the white panel I partially stamped the leaf twice and added a greeting.

I'm submitting this card to a few challenges: Less is More - LIM#345 - where it's one layer week with colouring in, Creative with Stamps - CWS#18 where they want leaves, and House of Cards - HOC#09 where they have colour and/or text - I've got both.

Do visit The Male Room to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to play along.

Now the bit in the title where I said DT CALL - The Male Room is looking for some new DT members - full details can be found on the blog.

That's all for today. I'll be back again tomorrow.

12 Days of Christmas - day 5 ....

.... Morning! I made another card in the 12 Days of Christmas series - no, it's not Day 2, it's actually Day 5:

Stamps: Graphic 45 - 12 Days of Christmas; Concord & 9th - Joy
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frame Borders #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Shimmer Spritz Spray - Frost; Clear Embossing Powder; Brusho - Alizarin Crimson, Rose Red

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC09 where the optional twist is spritz. The idea for the background comes from City Crafter Challenge Blog, but that challenge has closed. The process of making this is the same as yesterday - die cut the panel, add some brusho crystals and spritz with shimmer spray - love the result. It's always different. Once dry, I used my MISTI to stamp the image and sentiment - several times to make sure that I got good coverage of the watercolour paper. I heat embossed with clear powder, layered it on black card and adhered it to the card. The inside has yet to be done!

I will be completing this series of cards - there are so many pretty colours of Brusho crystals!! That's all for now - see you soon.

12 Days of Christmas .....

.... Hi! I've been having so much fun in my craft room, and that's good because I've hardly been in there for the past few months!! I'm working on building up my Christmas card stash. I need lots as I've many friends and family in the UK, along with friends here. So here's another Christmas card:

Stamps: Graphic 45 - 12 Days of Christmas; Concord & 9th - Joy
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frame Borders - #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Brusho - Sea Green, Leaf Green, Lime Green; Sheer Shimmer Spritz - Frost; Clear Embossing Powder

This is the start of a series of 12 Christmas cards. I die cut a panel of water colour card using a stitched die, applied some Brusho crystals and spritzed with a frost shimmer spray - I just love the effect you get. Once dry, I used my MISTI to stamp the image in black - I repeated this step a couple of times to make sure I got reasonably good coverage, and then heat embossed with clear powder. I added a simple sentiment and layered the panel on black card. I've not done the inside of the card as yet.

I'm submitting this card to Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#258, to City Crafter Challenge Blog - CCCB#378, and to Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge - HLSCAS09.

That's all for now! See you soon.

Christmas Joy 2 ...

... Hello again! I'm on a roll! I've been shopping recently and got a super layering stamp set from Hero Arts, and I've used it here to make another ultra CAS Christmas card. It's another one that would work well for mass production:

Stamps: Hero Arts - Colour Layering Joy
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizzazz; Gina K - Black Onyx; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Silver Tinsel Embossing Powder

The colours are from the new Paper Players challenge - PP#361. I'm also submitting this one to Merry Monday - MM#255 and to Happy Little Stampers Christmas - HLSXMAS09.

I used my MISTI to help make sure that my layers were accurate. I started by stamping the solid word in pale pink. Next I stamped the shadow layer in Versamark and heat embossed with silver tinsel embossing powder. I finished by stamping the thin word joy in black and adding some words above. I completed the front by adding some stylised foliage around the word in green. On the inside I simply stamped some more foliage.

Once again my card has come out slightly grey when its actually bright white! I think I need to change where I take my photos.

I think that might be all for today, but it's so nice to feel creative again. I'm sure I'll have more to share with you in the next few days. For all my friends in Florida - please be safe and take care. Bye for now.