Ghost Masking

Hello all,

I'm back today with a card I made all because of some awesome inspiration over at Nichole Heady's blog from Papertrey Ink. They had a Make it Monday video tutorial on "ghost masking".

I absolutely loved their sample and had to try it out for myself using stamps I had. I really like the way the window looks like you might be looking through frosted glass. Yeah, just stamp on some vellum and get the same result, right? Well ink sometimes doesn't ever dry on vellum, so doing this technique insures your images won't smudge.

I didn't have a good frame stamp either, so I just used one of my Nestie dies and a CTMH marker to trace around the die and create my own frame. Worked out perfectly!

Materials
Stamps: CTMH Aspiration and Card Chatter-Birthday stamp sets
Paper: CTMH dp and cs, and PTI cs
Other: CTMH inks, hemp, and ribbon, EK border punch, PTI button, Nestabilities die

Get Well Soon

Good morning everyone! I finally had time to get a bit creative this week and make a few cards. Hard to find time for anything these days, let alone crafting and blogging. I hope to set up a few posts for you while I'm here.

I made this card for one of my "girls" in the Job's Daughters group I help out with. Mary came down with "stage 1" flu which I guess is the worst of the worst. Poor thing, I feel so bad for her! Not the best way to get out of high school for a week. So I made this in hopes to cheer her up and let her know I was thinking of her. She's the glue that holds our Bethel together. All the other girls look up to her and all the adults appreciate all her hard work running meetings and being such a great example for others. That's what Job's Daughters is all about!

SHOCKER ALERT!! I actually made this card for a few TGF challenges too! It's been a long while since I've participated in any challenges! I used the sketch from the TGF Challenge Blog's Saturday Sketch and added a scalloped dp piece to enter the Monday Fun-Day #25 challenge of circles and scallops.

Enjoy your weekend. It's FINALLY sunny here for more than just a few hours! Two whole days so far! Hopefully winter is finally behind us (it snowed last week!) and the Seattle area can get back on track for spring weather.....which is usually a lot of rain. But hey, that's why I love living here! Makes for nice green grass and beautiful trees and such.

Materials
Stamps: TGF "Get Well" set, CTMH Say it in Style ss
Paper: Crate Paper dp, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, foam tape, EK border punch, CTMH ink, opaque pearls, and ribbon

"Rotic" invites

So it was that time of year again....."Rotic" luncheon!

What is "Rotic" you ask? Well it's this fabulous word my dear friend Josie kinda invented (she makes up words a lot). Rotic is: Romantic without the "man". Get it?!

She has an annual Rotic Luncheon where she invites all of her closest girlfriends and cooks us all a fantastic multi course meal. She's an awesome chef that has worked with the likes of Tom Douglas, Holly Smith, and now works at Taste, the restaurant for the Seattle Art Museum where she's super close to becoming a Sous Chef. Needless to say, when you're invited to one of Josie's parties, you go!


This was Josie's 15th annual Rotic Luncheon! She started doing these just to let her friends know how much she appreciates and loves them. She also started them BEFORE she was formally trained. Josie was still working at Safeway (my employer as well) and worked all her way up to Assistant Store Manager before she realized that cooking was her true passion and gave it all up (serious pay cut) to go to culinary school in Scottsdale AZ.


As per tradition, or at least ever since I've been graced with a Rotic invite, I make the invitations. You might have seen the one I made for 2009 here. (I must not have taken one of last years...hmm..) Everyone said this was their favorite invites yet! Really?! But they are so simple and were a breeze to make?! I guess that is what catches peoples' eyes the most. I made them to fit in a standard A10 envelope that I also stamped on to coordinate with the invitations.



Here's a close-up of the banner detail. I have loads of old lace scraps (thank you Grandma!) and paired it with some simple hearts I cut using my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. I stamped them using PTI and CTMH stamp sets. Sorry about photographing this one with the double image....I kept the "bad" one for myself and forgot to photograph one of the good ones before I gave them to Josie.

Materials
Stamps: CTMH Noted Backgrounds, PTI In Bloom
Paper: CTMH cardstock, vellum
Other: CTMH inks and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, scrap lace, CB embossing folder, MM corner rounder, EK border punch, home printer

Faithful Friends

Greetings all! I'm back today with a Bella card. This was one of the images I've had colored up for awhile. Remember I mentioned a HUGE pile of colored images I had paired with dps all ready to make into cards, but lost my mojo to make them? Well here is one of the many that I finally turned into a card.

I love this Bella image. I think it's "DogwalkaBella" from Stamping Bella. Makes for great cards to send to people that have pets, or maybe lost a pet. The sentiment is from the PTI "With Sympathy--Loss of a Pet" stamp set. I just inked up the part of the sentiment I wanted to use for this card. This was also the very last of some CTMH paper pack that I've had hanging around forever. Can't remember what it was called....

Enjoy your Tuesday! It's been fabulously sunny here in the great Pacific Northwest for the last 5 days!! It's a winter miracle! These are my favorite type of winter days. And NO SNOW! Excited for another New Girl episode too. That show is soooo funny!

Materials
Stamps: DogwalkaBella-Stamping Bella, With Sympathy-Loss of a Pet-PTI, Flourish background stamp is Enjoy Life from CTMH
Paper: DP and cardstock--CTMH
Other: Copic markers, button, covered brad and inks from CTMH, Nestabilities die, foam tape, pearls also CTMH

Fun bookmarks

Hello all,

It's been a crazy-busy week for me! Since all the snow FINALLY melted at my place a week ago Friday I've had something to do every day after work. I'm exhausted! ...and my poor house is a mess! Yikes!

I was supposed to train a new Dairy Department Manager at another Safeway store today, but when I got there I found out that he called in sick! Ugh! Good thing it was the store closest to my house. And since I've already had a full cup of coffee, I decided to run a few posts for the week.

So here is one of the MANY projects I did while I was suck at home for 5 days due to the 14" of snow and ice. I recently bought the "All Booked Up" stamp set from Papertrey Ink with the matching Mat Stack die. Made for easy bookmarks that are super cute!

I'm totally in love with kraft paper! I use it on pretty much every project. So I cut out a dozen bookmarks in kraft, and a dozen in plain white. I have a lot of friends that love to read, so these will make great little gifts. They're easy to add into an envelope when I mail a card too.

Well, enjoy your Tuesday. As I was finishing this post, I got a call back from the Store Manager that she'd like me to come back and at least set their department up for the next audit. Back to work I go....

Materials

Stamps: All Booked Up-PTI

Paper: CTMH Kraft, White Daisy, and Smoothie cardstock

Other: CTMH Chocolate, Cocoa, Pear, Smoothie, Lagoon, Sunset, Juniper, and Sweet Leaf inks

Greeting Farm combo

Good morning everyone! Back today with a card I made for two TGF challenges. The first one is from the WOW challenge which is a sketch challenge, and the second is the FFF challenge which is to create a patriotic card.

I've had this Cheeky for quite awhile, since I won one of the TGF challenges a long time ago, and I chose her specifically to make a card for my brother who is in the Army. Well, I'm just now getting around to using her! Not that I haven't sent my brother cards, 'cause I have. Even though she's supposed to be a sailor, I colored her in Army colors. July 10th is his birthday and I thought this would be a great card to make for him. Hope he likes it!

Materials
Stamps: TGF Cheeky Sailor, Verve-American Hero
Paper: Crate Paper Portrait dp, CTMH cs, PTI kraft
Other: Copics, foam tape, Nestie die, CTMH ink and ribbon, Memento ink, Coluzzle

SCRS catch up

Good morning everyone!

Well, my little (and I mean little) roll I was on as far as posting goes didn't last very long. Sorry. Life caught up with me. Six-day work weeks and my BFF's baby shower I had to plan left little time for creating.

My one creation, other than the card today, are the two huge garden beds of veggies my Mom and I planted about two weeks ago! I'm so excited to actually be sustainable and grow our own food. I wanted to learn how to can, so we planted lots of roma tomatoes, green beans, and beets. I love pickled beets!

So anyways, onto the card today..... I had time last night to make this card for the last Sparkle Creations challenge which was a sponsor sketch, but Blogger didn't like me so I couldn't post it last night in time for the challenge deadline. :( Oh well. Blogger likes me today though!


I decided since I missed the previous week's challenge, which was an easel card, that I'd make my first ever one! Plus....Sparkle told me they weren't that hard after I whined that I'd never made one before. And what do ya know?! they are easy!

Hope to be back tomorrow with a Greeting Farm card. Enjoy your Monday. It's my one day off here, and it's SUNNY!!

Materials
Stamps: SCRS Crusin' Chloe, PTI Button Bits (sentiment)
Paper: BG Wander dp, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, foam tape, stitching, Memento ink, CTMH ink, buttons, EK punch

peacock

Look at me, I'm on a roll with the posts!! Back today with another card I made using the card bases I stacked up at Nona's. I decided to play with this beautiful peacock stamp from CTMH. I love the soft look of this stamp. To get the two tones, I used the "rock & roll" technique with two contrasting colors to help the image stand out. I also used a shimmer mist and pearls to to add to the pretty. You can see a close up of it below.

Materials: All CTMH. felicity pp, Circle of Life ss, Thoughtful Sentiments ss, Barn Red ink, Sorbet ink, Chocolate ink, pearls. Shimmer mist.

June Card Class cards

Hiya all! Back today with the cards from my last card class. This month's focus was Father's Day and masculine cards. I know we all need more masculine cards at the ready! We used Close To My Heart's "Lucky" paper pack and this awesome vintage set also from CTMH. I absolutely love the bicycle! Everyone had fun doing some good old fashioned wet embossing. In fact, they loved it so much that they wanted to emboss the clock on the other card! The embossed bicycle is the one I gave my dad. He got all mushy when he called to thank me. ;)

Enjoy your Monday. I'm meeting up with my good friend Josie and we're going out to Dim Sum for lunch with some of her chef friends from the restaurant she works at. Yummy!!

Materials: All CTMH. Lucky L2 pp, Your Life ss, Say It In Style ss, Olive ink, Outdoor Denim ink, Chocolate ink, Sunset ink, Goldrush ink, Desert Sand ink, cocoa ribbon, hemp, badge buttons. AC buttons

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all your fathers today! This card is actually the card I sent my Uncle Doug. This was one of the card bases I made with the Felicity paper I was using up while hanging out with Nona and Sparkle last month. The Fleur de lis makes great masculine cards. When I went over to my Aunt and Uncle's place yesterday for a family Father's Day celebration, my Aunt just gushed over the card I sent. I love seeing the joy on peoples' faces when they get one of my cards!

Hope you all enjoy this day with all the men you love! My sister is coming over with her family to my parent's house for Papa's Day. I'll be back tomorrow with some more stuff to share.

Materials: All CTMH. Felicity pp, You & Me ss, Say It In Style ss, Cocoa ink, Indian Corn Blue ink, hemp, buttons. EK punch

Mystery Monday post

Hello everyone!

Here with another sporadic post! Lol!

I decided to partake in this week's Mystery Monday challenge over on the Farm Fresh Challenge blog. This time we're CASE'ing Kim Dellow's beautiful card that you can see here. I used the same layout and cut out Cupcake Anya just like she did with the fairy. Tried making felt flowers again to mirror the handmade flowers from the inspiration card.

Can you say bright yellow?! This neon yellow from the BG Luscious line is crazy! I liked pairing it with the pink and red. So fresh and cheery!

Materials
Stamps: TGF Cupcake Anya, sentiment is A Muse, CTMH You & Me
Paper: BG Hello Luscious dp, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, foam tape, Stickles, felt, rhinstones, stitching, CTMH ink, Memento ink, EK punch

Dream

Here's another finished card I made while hanging with my girls. Nice and simple. I forgot how much faster solid stamping is! I used my kraft knife to alter my CTMH acrylic stamp by cutting out the "time to..." sentiment out of this cool label shape. Left the embellishments off since the dp was kinda busy and that helped the stamped flower stand out better.

Card class tonight. Making some Father's Day cards with the CTMH Lucky paper pack. I hope my class doesn't mind that I'll have Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final on while class is going! Can't miss my Canucks rebound from that ugly loss on Monday. Hope Boston enjoyed all their goals then, since that is all they're gonna get the rest of the series. Now Vancouver can win it at home!

Materials: All CTMH. You & Me ss, Felicity pp, cocoa ink, Barn Red ink, Goldrush ink, Sorbet ink, Hollyhock ink, foam tape.

Just sitting here

....literally. I'm still sick, and I'm just sitting around in my PJs, drinking tea while I set up this post. I hate being sick. Especially since we've finally have had a streak of good weather. Ugh! Oh well, that's life. I tried making some cards today, but only felt like stamping out some Bella images to color later. That, and get hooked on Dexter via Netflix. Anyone have seasons 3-5 they want to share with me?!

So today I'm sharing one of the cards I made while hanging out with my crafty gals, Nona and Sparkle, a couple weeks ago. I brought some paper I wanted to use up and just cranked out a bunch of card bases and a few finished cards. This is one of the ones I actually finished and I love pairing this bird with the sentiment.

Materials: All CTMH. A Tweet ss, Card Chatter-Sympathy ss, Felicity pp, Barn Red ink, Cocoa ink, Sorbet ink, Dessert Sand ink

May SFYTT

**UGH! I set this post for 6 "pm" instead of "am"! GRR!**

Hello all! Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend. I also hope that you remembered the significance of Memorial Day and reflected on those who help protect our country so that we are allowed the joys of barbecue weekends. Sad to say, but 6,018 soldiers have lost there lives since we started combat in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001. I thank them so much for their sacrifice so that I may sleep soundly, and I'm thankful for my brother who has already served three tours to the Middle East and has returned safely each time.

So now that my serious speech is over, onto the fun! Can you say "last minute"?! Only posting my card for the May SFYTT on the LAST possible day! Eek! I like living on the edge. ;) Isn't this Ruby image so cute?! It's another from Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps, and as you've learned from me, anything mirroring the Seattle lifestyle I always have to get it! It was another image that I paper pieced. I also tried making my own felt flower. I've been seeing them in blogland, and decided to try it out. You Tube has been my friend, and I'm going to try a couple more techniques with them.

**Update**So I guess I DID jinx the weather! It was overcast all day Sunday, but the sun made it's appearance on Monday. And the new router I bought to hopefully fix my wifi vs. iPad issue totally worked!! Yippee! Even made my laptop faster! :D

Materials
Stamps: SCRS Rainy Day Ruby with sentiment
Paper: BG Hello Lucious dp, PTI kraft, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, foam tape, CTMH ink, Memento ink, Nestie dies, felt, pearl, EK corner rounder, Stickles

Vanishing post

So, I posted this card last Saturday, and then it seemed to vanish. :( I don't know how that happened....well I might. I think I forgot to set the date of the post before I published it so it posted the wrong day and then when I went to fix it, it just disappeared. Oh well.

Now it's back! This is the card I made for my brother, Jeremie, to give to his Australian Army friend who married an US Army lady last Saturday. Jeremie said it was one of the best weddings he's ever been to (or seen on TV! haha!) He wanted a special, custom card made by his sister *aww* and asked that it include both the American flag and the Australian flag. Larger feat in my mind than it actually was when I set down and drew it out with my Copic multiliner. I think it turned out great! I like how is elegant without being too frilly.

I can't believe all my shows are done for the summer! All but Glee and House that is. Five-0... awesome, Survivor... a bit predictable, CSI...nail-bitting, Bones...sad but happy. Ho, hum, what am I to watch now? Hopefully Hell's Kitchen starts up again.

Materials
Stamps: CTMH Wings and Affection, BG mini set
Paper: CTMH cs, pearlized paper
Other: Copics, foam tape, pearls, ribbon, CB folder, CTMH ink, Stazon ink

Happy Mother's Day

Hello all. Long time no blog, yeah? Believe me though, I have LOADS of images colored and ready to go, as well as some cards to share. Yay!

Today's card is my Mother's Day card I'm giving to my Aunt Cheryl. She's a fantastic gardener and is a plant expert at Molbak's Nursery, so Daffodil Charlotte was the perfect choice. I couldn't wait to get my SCRS order from Sparkle when we met up with Nona for a craft night together! I bought these mini silk daffodils just to pair with this image. I used this week's SCRSC sketch.

I hope you all have a great day planned with your loved ones. Mine's packed with an early shift at work, then late breakfast with my parents, grandparents, and uncle (Aunt Cheryl has to work), then off to do a six hour shift at a rest-stop to help raise money for the Shriner's Hospital! Whew! I'm going to be a tired puppy! Good thing I have the next day off so that I can take Mom to her favorite shopping place--Goodwill! We have tons of fun hunting for treasures.

Materials
Stamps: SCRS Daffodil Charlotte, CTMH Fringed Phrases
Paper: BG Offbeat dp, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, CTMH ink, Memento ink, rhinestones, silk daffodil

FFF--Digital Get Down

First off.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Hope you all had a great weekend and fabulous holiday! My weekend was very busy with work and time with friends(see more below).

My card today is for this week's Farm Fresh Friday which calls for using a digi image. I miss being a part of the TGF Critter Crew, so I used one of my favorite Marina images: Robbie the Seal. He makes me smile how happy he looks balancing all those delicious cupcakes! And speaking of things that are over, this is the VERY last of my Nook & Pantry dp. So last that I actually used the front cover of the paper pad for this!

My favorite local band, Cody Beebe and the Crooks were back home after a touring for their debut album. It was so awesome to see them again Saturday night for a huge show at the famous Crocodile Cafe. They're such a great bunch of guys that are very down to earth. Their sound is a blend of rock, blues, folk, and jazz. We're all excited for where they're headed! Check them out on iTunes and at their website!

Materials

Stamps: TGF Robbie the Seal digi, PTI Postmark

Paper: BG Nook & Pantry dp, PTI kraft, CTMH cs

Other: Copics, foam tape, Nestie, Coluzzle, CTMH ink, hemp, and Splendor fabric brad, PTI buttons, Stickles

SCRSC #38

Materials

Stamps: SCRS Traveling Josh, PTI Everyday Button Bits

Paper: BG Wander dp and kraft basics, CTMH cs

Other: Copics, CTMH ink, brads and hemp, Memento ink, EK punch

Well, I intended to post this yesterday to submit it into the Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Challenge #38, but my computer was giving me grief. Sometimes I just want to hurl it out the window! Last week's SCRSC was a sketch challenge, which was good since I had this Josh image colored up and ready to go.

My younger brother was here for two weeks on leave from the Army. He recently returned to his base in Fort Campbell KY from his second tour in Afghanistan. For the first week, we did a lot of family stuff together and just spent some quality time. The second week, his Army buddy Alex flew in. Alex has never been west of Fort Campbell, so this was a fun time to show fim all the sites of the Northwest. Here's the family when we went to the Chateau St. Michelle Winery.

Here's the boys when we took an impromptu ferry trip from Mukilteo:

They both exhausted me doing so many things, but it was a lot of fun and I miss them already. They left Friday morning to travel down the west coast. First stop is Portland OR to spend some time with our Cousin Lacey, then down highway 101 to see Tillamook (he LOVES their cheese) and then down to California to see the Redwoods and LA/Hollywood (where they pic up a buddy from the Australian Army), San Fran, then on to VEGAS! I know they'll have a great time.

Freckle face SFYTT

Hee hee! Isn't this Puddle Jumper image cute? I just had to add freckles to her face (might've added too many, but oh well). I also modified Lucy by trimming off her handbag. I colored it up, but ended up not liking the color combo.

I'm cutting it close to the February SFYTT deadline! Yikes! But at least I did it! Use my new CB folder I bought from a friend and another of the felt flowers I made. Fun, fun! Kinda goes with the Material Girl dp feel. Oh yeah, AND I used my new EK border punch. It's one of those punch/emboss ones, not that you can tell with this dp.

Materials
Stamps: Puddle Jumpers Lucy, CTMH Thoughtful Seasons
Paper: CC Material Girl dp, PTI kraft, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, EK punches, CB folder, Memento ink, CTMH ink and hemp, felt, Nestie die

Scooter Chloe

Sharing another SCRS card today. I saved this portion of my BG Wander paper specifically to use this Scooter Chloe image with it. Can you see? "Scooter Rental"! Haha! Couldn't resist.

Used my black thread again, and yet again, it got a little crazy. I tried to do a simple zigzag stitch in the corner, but the thread broke just as I started and still made the holes in my paper. Since I couldn't line it up perfectly stitch in the same holes, I just went back and forth a few times to make it messy looking. Whatever! It's fine. ;)

Last day of CU. :( It's been a blast. Can't wait to do it all again next year! Hope to have some pics to share soon.

Materials
Stamps: SCRS Scooter Chloe, CTMH Fringed Phrases
Paper: BG Wander dp, CTMH cs
Other: Copics, foam tape, Nestie, Mement ink, CTMH ink, rhinestones, stitching