Colour Create week 17, Charisma Cardz #20

Hello folks, I hope today finds you well.
I started working on this card yesterday,
finished it up today and am happy to get to posting!!
This weeks colour combo at
The Colour Create Challenge Blog
is Lemon, Pink Sorbet and Chocolate.
Mmmmmmm, mention food and I am there!!!
There was an extra option to go for a
shabby chic look with our creations. Will do.

I also decided to incorporate into this project
this weeks challenge over at
Charisma Cardz Thursday Craft Challenges
which is to use flowers, lace and pearls in our creation.
Oh, I think I'm in love...
This will be my first time playing with Charisma Cardz
and I am excited to hop around and visit.
Additionally, their challenge this week is brought to us
by their DT Sally, whose hosting her first challenge,
so here we have 2 firsts and I am thrilled to participate.



I spent more time thinking of what I should do than doing it.
This is very well thought out. Now execution, well, it's okay,
but I tried to include every bit of challenge into my card
and went as shabby chic as my image selection would allow.
The end result, I like it.



I hope everyone managed to enjoy their day,
and hopefully squeezed in a little crafting time.
My youngster can smell a holiday from a mile away
and always elects NOT to nap,
making for a most miserable evening.
This evening proved true to form,
but despite my wrestless tot and eager stepdaughters,
I finished the project, along with the lovely
extra work load holidays bring us moms.

Off to bed I head. Until next time,
Stephanie

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #50, buttons!!!

Hello out there.
Hope all is good with ya.
Here's a card I made to play along with
the Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog,
which is to use some buttons, and of course,
a Penny black image in our creation.


Those are supposed to be flowers around hedgie.
My pic is looking a little washed out, I am afraid.

Thanks for looking,
Happy Crafting to you,
Stephanie

Scrapping 'n' such

Howdy y'all.
Haha, yes, I am feeling rather in tune with Kansas today, lol.
I don't have any specific challenges to enter this stuff in,
but here's what I've been up to this week.
Thought I'd share just for the fun of it.


Here we have a card for my stepdaughter
whose Kindergarten graduation will be taking place tonight.
She likes all things pretty so I think she'll like the pink.
Ballerina stamp by WhipperSnapper, flowers by Stampabilities.


Here we have another wedding page.
Don't mind my uber small sentiment... It says,
"Hand in hand, down the seaside they strolled."
I may have to redo that,
it's way out of proportion with the rest of the elements.


Photography by the talented Heather Hart,
she's based out of Santa Monica from her studio A La Mode Photography.
She specializes in maternity photos in a natural setting,
check her out here

Heather is a delight to work with, and trust me,
she's captured us in the most beautiful way possible.
We're sorta rough around the edges...
Yet our memories of that day portray elegance and beauty.
Okay, so obviously I love her and if you should be interested in
amazing seaside photos of yourself and family (and animals!!)
she is one to note.


Well, that's all for now.
I mentioned in an earlier post that my
Blogger isn't working properly.
I read yesterday that this weird glitch has something
to do with the Followers gadget,
so I disabled mine and have noticed that
the only pages that I am able to visit
are conspicuously absent of this gadget as well....
Hmmmmmm..... so, I hope to visit more of you soon.
Now, let's see if this will post.

Til next time, Stephanne

Bumblin' Blogger Bummer

Hi folks,
I don't think I am alone in finding it next to impossible to visit this week.
75% of the links I've tried to access shut down (abort) on me.
There are a great many people whose projects I want to see up close and personal
but while Blogger is on hiatus, those visits will have to wait.

However, from those itty bitty frames displayed in "my Dashboard"
everybody's been beautifully crafting their little fingers off!!

So I will see you soon, I hope....
Stephanne

Colour Create Sky Blue, Tan and Ecru

Hello to all.
Today's been a long one, laundry, kids, cooking, etc.
Alas, I have finished a page and used this weeks colour combo
at Colour Create Challenge Blog to guide me.
This week is Kim's beautiful choice of Sky Blue, Tan and Ecru
with the added option of adding gloss, glitter or graze
to the challenge.


Will do... here kitty kitty...


If you look closely, you can see that I've added glitter to her nose and the tips of her ears. Just kiddding, she sorta matches the pallette though...

I have about 700 pages that ought to be scrapped.
This is one from a wedding, mine to be specific,
photography brought to you by the amazing Heather Hart.
Anyone anywhere near the Pacific should check her out!!
http://www.alamodephoto.com



I have struggled with these photos holding out for
the right hue of reds and creams,
but you know what, I think blues and browns are gonna overrule this project,
say for a few pages with my red roses.
I HOPE I can stay motivated and scrap another page or two by weeks end,
but life won't wait so we'll see how that goes.



I feel like there were little touches that would have made a big difference but I promised myself I would NOT spend another cent. No shopping for this project, NONE, so the backing is a little too blue for my liking and the flowers aren't as ornate as I have been drooling over a couple of techniques I've noticed and want to try, nevertheless, a page.

I gotta stick my grumpy behind in bed, goodnight all.
Until next time.
Stephanne

House Mouse is Movin' into one sweet retreat!!

Hello to all who may find this.
I have finally completed my card for this weeks challenge over at
the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog,
which was to make a project with our interpretation of MOVING.

I made this for a friend who will soon be moving into
her first home.


The inside is done with the same papers and the sentiment says,
"Home Sweet Home."
Well, that is the name of the stamp...
you know those miceys are punny funny.


This image was a bit of an undertaking, so many bits and peices to detail.
I went basic with other components of the card to let the image shine.
Lots of diamond glaze, lots of "icing."


Thanks for taking a peek at my card. Til next time.
Stephanne

Colour Create Challenge 15

Hello everyblogger,
I'm glad you've stopped by.
I hope you stick around because tonight I've finished something
a little out of my norm.
Nope, no kitties, no micies, no vampy reds or blacks.
Tonight I bring you my card for this weeks Colour Create Challenge Blog.
Our colour combo:



With the option of adding paper piercing.
I didn't do any peircing, but I did manage to stick to the color scheme:



This is a card for my Godparents' birthdays
that are relatively close in timeframe.
The colour challenge is good for this project because
although this is a floral creation, the pallette is neutral/masculine.



My "Birthday" sentiment is on the interior, along with a pocket
for the gift card I'm sending.

I hope all is well in your world. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Stephanne

PBSC Black and White + 1, here kitty kitty....

Good day to everyblogger, hope you are enjoying your bloghopping ;)
Today I bring you a project for this weeks challenge over at
Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog
which is to use the colors black and white, plus one.
I, of course, went with red.
I happen to have a surplus of this color combo because of a past challenge
that I went shopping for. It was a sketch challenge here at PBSC and I had just was "Uplifting Occasion" off the 'Bay. Needless to say, excited.
You can see the project in a past post (Older Projects...)



And, of course, I chose a kitty for the project.
A stamp called Merry Kitty, I blocked out the bulb of the ornament
and turned it into a ball.
I defaced a little cheapo notebook and turned it into this busybook.
Busy because I have a heavy hand and because of its sentiment.
You can see that I've been lazy and am posting before completing the project
by the opposite blue side of the notebook peeping up in the background.
You can also witness my eagerness to continue on, as I did not let my ink dry and it bled a little when I added diamond glaze. Shoot. Okay, it bled a lot...

I stuck to the rules, the image is colored with black and red watercolor pencils and brick red distress ink. If you happen to have questions about anything used, ask and I will tell ya.

Hope your day continues on in a most terrific way. Please feel welcome to leave a comment, I very much enjoy knowing that someone out there visited my blog, and of course, I will be able to visit you too!!

Stephanne

My creamy, chocolaty, rasberry-red Penny Black flower storage jar

Good evening, good morning, good tidings. I hope all is well with you all.
I have been graced with an opportunity to make something for myself.
I combined this weeks Colour Create challenge, which is to use red, chocolate and cream (I'm getting hungry...) with the extra option of adding ribbon.
I also decided to go Penny Black with my image selection, then had to figure out how to use 3 shapes in order to join in at PBSC this week.



I've been wanting something a little more snazzy than the plastic bag my ever-growing supply of flowers is in, was looking at plastic tubs and had to kick myself. Why in the world should I BUY something when I could very well make something myself? Talk about recycling!!


Well, you can see that I opted in on the ribbon.



As far as my shapes go, I have a square, rectangles and ummmm, flowers? Flower-shaped flowers... I think that constitutes a shape, does it not? Kinda can't tell specific shapes when everything's stretches around a jar huh.



There's my lovely overloaded jar. I had some plain creations last week, I had to compensate... Leave a comment if you feel like it. I sure do appreciate your feedback!!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #46 Anything Goes

Good Evening to all, Tonight I will bring you one last creation before heading to bed. It's for this weeks Penny Black challenge, which is sort of a doosey for wayward crafters like myself: Anything Goes. The only rule to this challenge is that you incorporate a Penny Black image in your creation. Hmmmmmmmm...... Well, there's always those adorable cats in undies stamps that need no reason to be used. They are great for just about anything, so says me anyway. Just a little note card for a friend. Cute, simple, pretty colors. Yep, that's it:



I hope you enjoy taking a peek at my project, please feel free to leave a comment. I appreciate it and always return visits.

Good Night, Stephanne

Colour Create Week 13, Orange, Brown and Green

Good evening once again, I am uploading in bulk tonight.
I finally got a chance to craft this week and was able to make something for
the Colour Create Challenge blog whose challenge is to use green, brown and orange, and as an added challenge, to make the creation for a man.
So here's what I came up with:



It's time for me to start making Father's Day cards and this Changito image is just right for my family of monkeys.

Thanks for looking and any and all comments are appreciated.

Take Care and Happy Crafting, Stephanne

House Mouse challenge #35 Get Well Soon

Hello everyblogger. Hope the night finds you well.

I typed up this great descriptive post and somehow erased it all so now I am just going to give the streamlined version.

I had to think outside the box for this challenge because I don't have any stamps specific to health concerns. This is what I came up with:



It's my first experimentation with the Gruffies, but I can see how they will be just as addicting as the miceys and the Hoppers. I love this stamp, it makes me think of my dad's blue, rusty wheelbarrow that I'll bet he still has, lol.




Hope you'll find the time to leave me your thoughts, they are very appreciated.
Stephanne

House Mouse Monday Springtime Challenge

Good evening to all, I hope all is well with you.
This week over at the House Mouse Challenge Blog, the theme is Springtime. Participants are challenged to create based on what comes to their mind when thinking of this terrific season.


When I think of Spring, Bambi always comes to mind. The whole movie sort of embodies, or perhaps helped mold?? my ideals about Spring. Beyond fancy Disney songs about April Showers and becoming "Twitterpated," which is the basis for my image selection... everything is renewed and restored, blossoms everywhere, new life all around, it's a beautiful time of year. Bunnies abound, birds nests full of freshly hatched chicks, BABIES!!!!



When I was younger, my brother and I believed that if you blew all the fibers off of a dandelion, you could make a wish. My dad will tell you otherwise: you can make a yard full of weeds... Psssshhhh.

Please feel welcome to leave a comment, I truly enjoy feedback.

Bright and sunny PBSC #45 entry

Good Morning fellow crafters, or good evening, depending on what side of the planet you're on. I hope the day (or night) finds you well.

Last night I finished my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog. This week there was a sketch kindly brought to us by PBSC design team member Nat.
I decided to make my Mom a Mother's Day card with this layout. I've had the thought in mind since I bought this stamp in February, I've just had the darndest time putting it together.

What I finally decided on doing was to let go of any preconceived notions of what I wanted the end result to be, and pulled colors and papers that I know my mom would like and let the project come together on it's own, with the guidance of the sketch, of course...

And here is my end result, which my mom is sure to appreciate:

The PB stamp is called Poppy Fields and the sentiment is by Great Impressions, I swapped out "friends" for "moms" though.

When I saw this stamp, I knew it was just right for my Mother's Day card. Mom is a bit of a gardener, as much as she can be out in the desert... And we are from the Antelope Valley in California, where poppies bloom in such tremendous glory about this time every year.



You can see them blooming off the side of any road. Fields of beautiful fiery poppies as far as the eye can see, it really is a beautiful place this time of year. There is an annual poppy festival as well, photographers flock to the A.V. to capture this beautiful sight.

I have so many memories of poppies, harvesting seedlings in the front yard (which is now illegal, mind you!!), picking a poppy from the side of the road (which is now, also illegal!! PROTECT THE POPPIES!!!) Clearly, this stamp was a must have for me and will be nostalgic for my mom, who couldn't care less about stamping (unbelievable, I know!!) but will certainly like the poppies. Her favorite colors are yellow and orange, thus, the bright pallette.

Okay, enough about me!! Time to post the card!! Enjoy your day Penny Black fans!!
Stephanne

A Karma Award?!?! Really?!?!? Wow!!

The Karma Award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

This morning, as I sat down on my throne to start my morning ritual of web surfing and coffee consumption, I hopped on over to scrapperjulia's blog
http://scrapperjulia.blogspot.com/
and found a delightful sight. Julia has passed onto me a Karma award!! That is really a nice gesture, I feel kinda warm and fuzzy right now!!

And here is my promise to scrapper julia and all of our fellow crafters out in Blogland:
I will reopen this Karma Award on my blog in 1 month. At that time, I will pass along this karmic torch to 8 inspiring bloggers. (I have to wait, not sure I've been on here long enough to make such a tough decision, gotta get to know my blogger buddies, lol)

So, sometime in late May, I will be passing on the Karma Award to 8 inspiring crafters, stay tuned!!

Enjoy your day, Stephanne

Colour Creating the night away!! Week 12

Hello to all of you out in Blogland, I hope we find you well!!

Tonight I bring you a card that I'll stick on the Colour Create Challenge

this week, as the colors are black, white and pink,

with the optional challenge of adding in polka dots,

and well, I love ALL of those components, so... had to give it a whirl.

As I see this card, it is a mess.

I misaligned the stripes while gluing,

I flocked Fluffles, which made my piercing less than precise,

my hand-made sentiment is not really that impressive,

I CHOPPED into a circle.

So, sort of a mess. It speaks to my being a rookie, lol.

Despite its imperfections, I captured what I set out to capture,

and I've been working on it for A LONG TIME,

so I'm gonna share!!!

Usually, I like home-made, but in this case, I might have taken away from the card. In fact, I might yank the sentiment off!! This card is for a friend of mine who, once or twice a year, I send a box of goodies. With shipping as high as it is, semi-anuually is the best I can do!! Anyhoo, we call them Magic Boxes, or majick if you are feeling up to it, a magic box packed full of little pick-me-ups and home-made goodies, Magic Boxes would put a smile on anyone's face.... The colors are her favorite, so this seems like the card challenge I needed to get me to crank out a card for the next Magic Box.

I had a hard time with Fluffles, I wasn't sure just what to do with the image ((Frilly Fluffles))I decided on layering the hat, created a faux feather and added ribbon, flocked Fluffles, glazed the box, colored with watercolor pencils, If you happen to be curious about papers or accesories, drop me a line and I will get the specifics for ya.

Thanks for looking at my creation, hope you didn't get a headache or anything, I know it's a bright and busy one. If you feel so inclined, leave a comment.

I love them, they makes my day =)

Stephanne

Sweet little gift!! PBSC #44

Good evening to all.
I know that this little gifty is a little late
to add to the challenge over at
Penny Black Saturday Challenge,
I hope no one minds that I still intend to post it!!
The challenge was to create gift for someone special,
using at least one Penny Black image.

Could be a bag or a tin or a tag, or any other awesome gift you might concoct.

I decided to make a gift card holder.

Not like it's anything hi-tech, but I made it from scratch.

I used a stamp called Sweet Love for this sweet challenge.

And, of course, the gift card that needed something

to be delivered in is for See's, which is, in my opinion,

the BEST chocolate on this side of the Pacific!!!

There were little mice and choco treats along with this image,

but they will be saved for a later date (recycled images!!)

I hope I didn't give anybody chocolate cravings at this hour of the night!!

Happy Crafting to all of you out in Blogland!!

My coffee, creamy, chocolaty dream!!

Good Afternoon to all,

I am happy to say that I am done with this weeks House Mouse challenge,

brought to us by America: Multiple Images.

The concept is to use multiple images, either by restamping the same image multiple times,

splicing up an image into several frames,

using different images in one project, etc.

I also intend to submit this card in this weeks Colour Create Challenge,

as their colour pallette is Chocolate, coffee and cream

with the optional challenge of adding distressing to the enrty.

For my mousies, I went with a chocolate theme and since chocolate is

my favorite thing in the universe,

I really had to take this project seriously!!

I used 3 HM images, Chocolate Truffles (Stampa Rosa!! '97),

Peppermint Delight, and Chocolate Delight.

I stamped Chocolate Truffles about 70 times (j/k, 4 times) and layered its components to make

an actual chocolate box and for lots of dimensional chocolates!!

Sorry Mudpie, I know this stamp was all about you, but.... I covered Mudpie so I could have

all the mice in there...

Chocolate Delight has been pierced out and scattered about the project.
Peppermint Delight is how I got Monica in here, I cut her mint out and

gave her a truffle instead.


I used watercolors on the images,

put a little diamond liquid over the chocolate.

For depth, I glued Monica directly

on the choco pile,

Mudpies feet are glued onto a truffle and

I raised his head and candy up with a

foam mount (wanted him to look like he was

REALLY into that chocolate!!)

Maxwell and Amanda are resting on

3-D glue dots.

For the box, I used craft card stock,

layered it over the stamped image, added a little bit of structural elements,

and heat embossed the lettering with clear powder, then coloured it in with

watercolor pencils.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my card.

Leave me a comment, I LOVE feedback from

my fellow crafters!!

Enjoy your day, Stephanne

House Mouse Monday Challenge #32

Happy Easter to everyone!!! I have finally completed my card for this weeks House Mouse challenge. The challenge was to create "something sweet," sentiment or flavor...





So here is my project, it is a housewarming card for a friend of mine. I've incorporated sweet into this one in both respects. I used watercolor pencils on the HM image (((Raccoon Helpers))), you can see I have lots of practicing to do with the pencils, but still, not too bad. Wanted to stick with the homemade feel so I wrote my sentiment rather than more elegant strategies.





I am once again grateful for the challenge blog helping me to complete projects. I stamped this image weeks ago and didn't quite know which direction to go in. Alas, something sweet. Ah ha!!





If you took a look, then leave some evidence that you were here!! I am feeling a little lonely in Blogland, and feedback is ABSOLUTELY appreciated!!

House Mouse Monday Challenge #31

Good evening to all, fellow crafters and random bloggers. I've been working on getting my Easter project finished so I can 1: Take pix, stick it in a blog and join in on the fun at the HMMC, and 2: Send these little candy bags out in the mail before I lose my timely edge... This week the challenge is Bags and Boxes; use one, make one, decorate one, do something with a bag or a box.

There is a very thin line between not enough embellishments and TOO MANY embellishments... I may have crossed the line. Too late. Of course the bags started out white, so dressing them up was mandatory.

Most everything was peiced together by me, except for some flower stickers.

Well, the bags too. Didn't make those...

My micey's are painstakingly colored with my magic box of Crayola's. I'd love to get into the wonderful world of Copics but can't afford any more crafting addictions.

Welp, those are the bags, and no, still not sick of that stamp!!

If you checked it out, please feel free to leave me a comment, even if it's just to tell me to lay off the adornments.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!! Stephanne