With Gratitude - Mojo Monday challenge #281

Wow - another year has passed and here I am writing a blog post.  I've been totally distant for almost a year to anyone who may still read this!!  In that year I've moved into my own home - like a real adult!!  I have pictures of the craft studio coming later this week.  I've been snowed in all day and started looking at my list of challenge blogs -- where I encountered the Mojo Monday challenge for this week.    So here's what the sketch was for this week:

 And here's what I've come up with:

I used the Thankful Accents stamp set on PTI Simply White card stock with Ranger Archival Black Ink.   I put it up on pop dots, over the paper with the sentiment on it.  The other two circles were cut using a 2.5" circle paper punch out of scraps (the stripes are from the My Mind's Eye new Collectable collection).  I then took a circle stencil that was slightly smaller than the paper circles and drew three circles all offset from one another using a black pen.  Some black seam binding and a black card base and everything was set. 

As always the inside is designed to match.  I have the perfect person for this card!

Thank you all for stopping by!

Crisis in the Magoo Household ...

All - I just want you all to know that we had a crisis today in the Magoo Household.  Everything with today's card was going swimmingly, until I went for the black organdy ribbon - and found that I was out.  Red Alert!!!  After a severe breakdown, some tears and hyperventilating into a paper bag, I was able to calm myself - and think, what would GinaK do?  Of course!  Some grosgrain ribbon - with a pre-tied into a bow!  It was a eureka moment to be sure... and the red alert status was downgraded to a yellow alert.   And tomorrow, a venture to the Hobby Lobby to acquire more of this staple of the craft room.  You all can now sleep easy knowing that all will soon be right in the world!

I give you the result of the crisis - and this weeks entry inspired by the Case Study Challenge #23!

It actually turned out quite lovely - I die-cut everything using my Slice - the red curly thingies (technical term), the black and white circles. All Slice - so versatile!! The stamps were from Verve - Hearts on Fire - and the ribbon has been previously explained.

The white/clear gems I received in last months Key Ingredients kit - and they came with Embellie Gellie, which I'd honestly never used. But I must say it is magic... magic.  And as always the inside has to be as pretty as the outside!

Pretty neat huh?  Well now that I've had my moment of panic - I'll sign off for now.  I hope everyone has a creative and healthy weekend - hug those you love and let them know.

See you next week with more exciting tales in crafting...

Cupcakes Make Everything Better - Viva la Verve Week #2

On Friday I found a new scrapbooking store!  I was so excited - it was neat, organized and amazing.  Well I found a EK Success punch there that I just had to have - had to.  It is called Real Estate Sign.  And it was perfect for sayings on cards - see:

Just the white part is the actual punch and I went through and made my own mat for it.  But its beautiful.  The stamps are from Verve Stamps.  I combined two sets: Cupcake Affair and Fairy Tales.  Fantastic huh?

And as always - the inside should be as pretty as the outside -

Tomorrow, a The Greeting Farm in its most purple form. Thanks all for stopping by!!

Birthday Birdie!

Its always nice to have birthday cards around - just in case someone surprises you and you feel like doing more than just posting a message on their facebook wall.  I recently had a co-worker ask me to make up cards, so that his wife could have a stash just like this to dip into.  Well here's one of the cards that I made for them:

I used a quick paper piecing technique for this card-  for those of you who may not know what that is:

1) Stamp the image that you want to piece on multiple colors - for this one I chose a periwinkle, brown and aqua with a base of white. 

2) Decide what parts of the image you would like to have in what color.  And cut them out carefully - so as not to lose the edge of that part of the image.

3) Use some glue, to affix the peices on the white background image - this creates an awesome look, in very little time. 

I then used a Spica pen to give all of the black a bit of sparkle and shine. And the stamps are Verve Stamps - Birthday Suprise!

Pretty neat huh? Always a good thing to keep several cards on-hand!

For Tomorrow: My Very First Video Review (If I have time this week, I'm hoping I will) - I'll be reviewing a new toy that I got last month that makes quick embellishments out of any kind of paper.

Viva la Verve - January 2011 - Week One

So, as I pointed out in a recent blog post - Verve Stamps have quickly become one of my go to companies for unique and beautiful images that are also versatile. I only have four sets, but I already feel like I have infinite possibilities when it comes to what I can do with them.   It allows me to step out of the box a bit and create something that I wouldn't normally have done.   This is my first Viva la Verve challenge, and I loved the sketch - it may become one of my new favorite challenges. 

I was thinking about all of the people that make a difference in our lives, and they normally don't' get the appreciation they deserve - and then I set out to make a card for one of them.

Here's what I came up with:

It ended up being extremely cute.  I used the Fairy Tales set and double stamped the circle from that set in two different colors - PTI Chocolate Brown and Technique Tuesday Lilac.  It actually made the whole image pop- cool huh?

And as always - the card has to be just as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside - so a little bit of decoration, with a sentiment from AmyR's Thank You Sentiments set.

Pretty neat!  Exciting to be entering yet another new challenge - Hope to see you all tomorrow, when I use Verve stamps to create a paper pieced bird to wish someone a fab day!.

Life is in the Little Things - CASE Study Challenge #20

Wow!  Its the New Year!  I look back at the past year, and it went so fast.  All kinds of things happened - all seem like just yesterday.  I'm so excited to be on a creative streak and to be able to share it with everyone here.  So here's a quick little post for this, the first day of 2011 or 1/1/11!

CASE Study Challenge #20

So the challenge was to create something using this very beautiful card as inspiration:

So here's mine:

Isn't it lovely?  I'm just in love with Verve Stamps at the moment, and this was a set I bought about two years ago when we lived in the other apartment.  I wasn't sure what to do with them until I saw the inspiration card ... and then it was just that - inspiration!   So using my Hearts on Fire and Fairy Tales stampsets, I set off to make this creation.

 

The cardstock is from Papertrey Ink - Raspberry Fizz, True Black and Stamper Select White. The stamps were stamped using Tuxedo Black from Memento and then highlighted with a Sakura Stardust pen in Grey.  The Bling is Kaiser Crafts. 

And a card isn't finished until the inside is as pretty as the outside:

What do you all think?  I want to wish my readers a Happy New Year - I'm looking forward to meeting new crafting friends this year - trying new things - and improving my skills to share with all of you!