Blog Candy Alert!

I've got lots of blog candy for you to check out today. Stop by the following blogs and check out their gorgeous creations!

Claire at Crafty C's Crafting Library has some amazing blog candy to celebrate 36,000 hits in one year. You go girl!

Bev at All the Things I Love is offering an adorable Whiff of Joy stamp as part of her Christmas Candy.

Fran at Franmade has 2 Whiff of Joy stamps up for grabs.

Cathrine at Papir Paradiset Mitt is offering an adorable stamp by Stampavie.

Merry Little Christmas...

Debbie at Pink Poppy Craft Box is doing a sketch challenge for a chance to win some wonderful blog candy. You have to make Christmas card using this sketch, tell her what is on your Christmas list, and spread the word to be entered to win.

Well, now that I've got the spread the word part covered, let's see what is on my Christmas list this year. Hmmm... Could it be stamps? Yup, think so! LOL! I am also wishing for some more copic markers to round out my colors, and some of the new Nestabilities.

Now that I've got that covered, let's move on to the card I made for the challenge.


For the main image, I used Carol Singers by Elzybells Art Stamps. I masked off the 3rd caroler and the lamp post as they would have made the image too large to work for this sketch. They were colored in with copic markers and highlighted with a white gel pen. The sentiment it from one of the Studio G holiday clear stamp sets I picked up this year. Can I tell you, I have that song going through my head now, and it just won't go away?!?

The paper is SU Garden Green and Ridinghood Red, and DP from the Be Merry line from My Mind's Eye. I ran the dotted DP through my cuttlebug with the snowflakes embossing folder for a little extra oompfh. Obviously the paper is bigger than the folder, so just line it up carefully and run it through twice to get the whole thing.

The snowflakes are an assortment of Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies and 2 Martha Stewart punches. I layered them with Mono Aqua and pop-dots, and added stickles for some sparkle.

Mothers & Daughters Creations Card Challenge #20

This weeks card challenge at Mothers & Daughters Creations was a color challenge. You needed to use SU Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, and Ridinghood Red, and then bonus points to anyone who used a gingerbread man on their card. Now I know I have a gingerbread man stamp - that cute one with a row of them that Studio G put out last year - but I'll be darned if I can find it anywhere. So, in the gingerbread spirit, I used this cute Studio G gingerbread house instead.

The image was colored in with copic markers (R27, E31, E33, G21, G94). I added stickles for some sparkle - after all, what's a gingerbread house without the sprinkles?

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Now then, before you think I am completely vain, let me assure you that the Melissa in question is not me, but actually a co-worker. Would you believe that including me, there are FOUR Melissa's who work in my division (and there aren't THAT many employees!)!!!

The Melissa in question happens to be a good friend of myself and DH, so I had to make her something pretty for her birthday. She is a very exuberant person, so I chose bright, cheerful colors for her card.


I used Partygirlabella for the main image, and colored her in with copic markers. I stamped an extra set of the balloons and popped them up (no pun intended) to make them look like they are actually floating. I went over the balloons with SU Crystal Effects, and I'm pretty happy with how realistic it made them look. Bella needed some bling, (doesn't every girl?) so I added some stickles to her outfit, hat and cupcake.

The sentiment, ribbon, card stock, and designer paper are all SU.

Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call

Whiff of Joy is having a call for a guest designer, and I decided to enter. For the entry, you need to create a card or scrapbook page based on this sketch provided by Katharina, and using at least one Whiff of Joy stamp. You can find all of the details on the Whiff of Joy group on Paper Craft Planet. What?!? You're not a member yet?!? What are you waiting for? Follow the link here, or the button in my side bar and go join!

I chose Willow with Hot Chocolate for my entry since she is my all time favorite Whiff of Joy stamp. She's just so sweet!


I decided to use some pretty, but retired, SU designer paper that I've been hoarding, and based my color scheme on the paper. I colored Willow with copic markers, highlighted her outfit with a white gel pen, and then highlighted her hair with a Sakura gelly roll pen. I like the shimmer of the Sakura pen better than white highlights on dark hair. It just seems more realistic to me. The mug was covered with SU Crystal Effects to give a ceramic-like finish. It is really nice in real life, trust me on that one!

Willow was layered onto SU card stock in Close to Cocoa and Regal Rose to match the designer paper. I added brown sheer ribbon (found in the $1 bin at Michael's) and Prima flowers with pearl centers to finish off the card.

Don't forget, you can click on any photo to make it larger if you want to see a detail a bit better. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mothers & Daughters Creations does a challenge every Monday and Thursday on their blog, and this was my entry for last Monday's challenge. This was an easy challenge for me - all you had to do was make something Fall related. Well, I still needed a Thanksgiving card for an out-of-town friend, so it was the perfect excuse to get busy.

One of my SCS buddies was nice enough to send me some of these fabulous pumpkin images, and unfortunately, I don't remember what company made the stamp. Sorry about that! The image was colored in with copic markers, and then had some white gel pen added for highlights. I added frost to the pumpkin and leaves with a bit of stickles. Around here, we've had snow off and on for the past several weeks, so Thanksgiving pumpkins need a little frost on them. LOL!

Happy Birthday Carly!

Today is my niece's 5th birthday, and of course I had to make her a special card to celebrate. Carly looks a lot like New Year's Tilda, so that determined what image I was going to use for her card.

I wanted something pretty and girly for the background, so I sorted through my paper stash until I found this pretty designer paper by Making Memories called Box Flowers. I colored Tilda in with copic markers, basing my colors on those found in the DP (there is pink in there, honest). When I was finished coloring, Tilda was highlighted with a white gel pen, and carefully cut out with my paper snips.

Tilda needed something birthday related to sit on, but I couldn't come up with any stamps that were the right size, so I drew the cupcake by hand. The wrapper was colored with copic markers to match her outfit, and highlighted with white gel pen. I made the frosting with brown liquid applique, and added several colors of stickles for sprinkles. I then used pop-dots to make Tilda sit on the cupcake.

Do you think she will like it?

Blog candy alert!

Debbie at Passion for Crafts is celebrating 12,000 blog hits with this super generous blog candy.


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Lynsey at Lynsey's Place is offering this drool-worthy blog candy to celebrate 5,000 blog hits.


Be sure to stop by and congratulate them both, and check out their fabulous blogs!

Skating...

I am just loving the stamps that came in the Magnolia Winter Club! This is the first time I've ordered it, and it certainly won't be the last!

For today's card, I used Tilda and Edwin skating. Isn't it just the sweetest image? They were colored in with copic markers and pain-stakingly cut out with my trusty paper snips (and an exacto knife for those tricky little skates!). I used a white gel pen for highlights, and a Sakura gelly roll pen to add some sparkle to the blades on the skates.

The background is "Skate Pond" by The Stampin' Place. I masked off the bottom half of the pond and stamped it onto a piece of SU Soft Sky. I added some color to the town and background skaters with copic markers. I used a Versamarker to color in the pond (expanding it a bit) and embossed it with SU Iridescent Ice EP. I then sponged white craft ink onto the areas where I needed snow, and accented it with some white liquid applique. I finished off the card with a sentiment from the SU hostess set, Best Yet.

Magnolia Winter Club - Tilda with Bell

As promised, here is the first of several cards I have made since my Magnolia Winter Club arrived on Monday. This one actually got a "Wow!" from my husband, which is quite the compliment coming from him! LOL! In person, this card looks like one of those 3-D cards that changes depending on the angle you are holding it at. Kind of hard to capture that in a photo though.


The main image is Tilda with Bell, and was colored in with copic markers. Tilda's outfit was highlighted with a white gel pen. I don't really care for using the white gel pen for highlights in hair, so I decided to try something new, and used my Sakura gelly roll pen to mimic light reflecting off of her hair. I used a bit more on the bell for a nice metallic shimmer.

The background for this card was fun to make. I stamped the row of trees from SU Lovely as a Tree onto a piece of Bordering Blue cs, and then sponged the "ground" with white craft ink. While it was still wet, I embossed it with SU Iridescent Ice EP, and let me tell you, it sparkles like crazy! I then added white liquid applique "snow" to the base and branches of the trees, and added dots of snow to the sky with a white gel pen. This was layered onto Pretty In Pink and Chocolate Chip cs, and Tilda was attached with pop-dots. The sentiment is from a $1 Studio G clear stamp set.

Check back tomorrow for another card made with images from the Magnolia Winter Club.