IS it a Fish??

It is Monday and time for another CCEE challenge. This week it is the "Catchy Name Featured Stamper" challenge (CNFS). This is one of our favorite challenges that we do each month ... basically one of our members picks someone who has a catchy user name on SCS and then we create a card around that name. This week, Cindy Motherway picked the CNFS and she picked 'Fishlips'! Cindy instructed us that when we created our card it had to have fish/fish lips on it, or fish of some sort (preferably the kind that swim!)

My dilemma---I received my new Gina K stamps that will be released this week (on Thursday!) and fell in love with this seahorse image (from the Best Fishes set). So, I created this card and my husband said, "I don't think seahorses are fish. You might want to look that up!"

Ekkk! I did not have time to make another card and I knew that no one else would use a seahorse for their fish image. So I did a bit of research and found that a seahorse IS a bony fish. They don't have scales but they have a thin layer of skin over plates that are arranged in a circular pattern throughout their body. They swim upright and during times of social interaction, they turn a bright color.

Score.

So, I am proud to present my FISH card (giggle!):
I love this seahorse. It was the first new Gina K stamp I have played with and I know I will use it lots. I painted the seahorse with reinkers and then applied a layer of Shimmerz (olive and December sky) over him. Then, to add even more sparkle, I added some crystal Stickles to some of the sections.

In this picture you can see more of the shimmer. This seahorse really sparkles!!!

Materials used: Stamps- Best Fishes (Gina K Designs); chocolate chip cardstock, Watercolor paper (SU!); Designer paper-My Mind's Eye; Memento black ink; bashful blue, old olive, certainly celery, brilliant blue reinkers (Stampin' Up!); Close to cocoa Classic Stamp pad (SU!); sponge; paper piercing tool and mat pack (SU!); Shimmerz-December sky, olive, blue; Stickles- crystal (Ranger); jumbo eyelet (SU!); Cropadile; hemp (Hobby Lobby); spellbinders dies; Cuttlebug (Provocraft); dimensional (SU).

You can check out all the other FISHY CCEE creations here. Hope you will play along!

Stay tuned: Gina K previews begin tomorrow! I cannot wait to share some more of the newest sets that will be released on Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember Paper Dolls??

My Favorite Things is releasing three new stamp sets tomorrow (Wednesday) and the team is creating some fabulous things to share with you on a blog hop that will begin tomorrow morning. Just start at Kim's blog on Wednesday and hop along to see lots of awesome teasers.

Kim gave the regular team the month of December off but I HAD to make a little project with one of the new sets called Isabelle Paperdolls.

When I was little, I can remember spending hours playing with little paper dolls, dressing them up and then redressing them.

This set is adorable---you can use it to make cards, scrapbook pages, gifts etc. You can back the doll with a magnetic strip and then embed magnets in the outfits to make them stick OR you can do it the old fashioned way as I did below:

Meet Belle----with a nice wardrobe. I added some little tabs on the sides of the outfits so that you could fold the outfit onto the paper doll. The next pictures show you how the outfits attach to the paper doll (you cannot even see the tabs and they stay put!)
I stamped the main image and then colored her with Copic markers and cut her out. I embossed her with a layer of clear embossing powder. (The embossing powder strengthens the doll and also enables you to use a sticky adhesive on the back of the hair bows and then they will peel off with ease!)

Here is Belle all dressed up like a Mermaid. I stuck the little starfish in her hair (because I thought it was cute!) and I used stickles and Shimmerz to color her fin/tail. This is really sparkly in real life.

Here is Belle dressed up in her bear costume. Isn't she cute?

Here is Belle the ballerina. Every girl dreams of being a ballerina and any little girl would love to play with this doll. I added the little flower to her hair and the dress is covered with crystal stickles for extra sparkle!

This set has so many possibilities and I am sure you will see lots more fun ideas from the rest of the team. Don't forget to hop on the blog tour tomorrow! There just might be a prize at the end *giggle*.

My Favorite Things is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, December 3rd from 9-10 p.m. Eastern time. This month there are THREE new sets being released including a TOTE-ally awesome Who's that Girl set! Head over to the MFT forum on Splitcoaststampers to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

Special Thanks:

Thanks so much to Michelle and Sara for honoring me with this award. I want to pass it along to all of my readers---how could I possibly chose just 10? Thanks for all of YOUR inspiration and for taking time to visit my blog. (((HUGS)))



Thanks so much for stopping by!

Winner, a Musical Card and Another Giveaway!

Hello everyone! Random.Cara picked number 139 for the winner of yesterday's blog candy--the Pure Luxury cardstock and ribbon! Congratulations to Mary who said...."I've heard so much about that paper - would LOVE to win some to try it out. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that you pick me! Mary"

Congratulations Mary--Please email me your address so I can get your prize to you!

Today I wanted to share this Christmas card I created using the adorable Partridge in a Pear Tree stamp and the JustRite Christmas Stamp Ensemble.

I inked only half of the Merry Christmas ring and then positioned the stamped image so that it is framed by the sentiment.
I colored the image with Copics and used some Shimmerz Rustic Red on the bird after it was colored so it is really sparkly!


I used a bell from a Christmas tag to help embelish the card along with some May Arts ribbon.



Here is another look at the card---the bell really rings so this card makes NOISE! Fun!

Stamps and May Arts ribbon can be found at Stamper's Dream store!

Materials used: Stamps-Partridge in a Pear Tree (Impression Obsession); Christmas Stamp Ensemble (JustRite Stampers); Memento tuxedo black; Copic markers; Cardstock- I Wish Designer paper pack (SU!); bell; ribbon (May Arts); circle punches (SU!); jumbo eyelet (SU!); corner punch (SU!); paper piercing tool (SU!); dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for joining me for the week-long Blogaversary! It has been so much fun having you all celebrate along with me. Today, just leave a comment on this post and be entered to win a Scor-Mat by Scor-Pal! You can view what it looks like HERE! One comment per person. Random.Cara will pick a winner on Monday at 5:00 p.m. CST! Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT Blog Hop and the Blogaversary Celebration Continues

I apologize. I am sick with a stomach bug today. The winner of the MFT set will be posted as soon as I am well enough to count through the entries. Luckily, I had this post written already....The winner of this blog candy and the one from yesterday will be posted as soon as I am feeling up to it.

Welcome to the My Favorite Things Blog hop! The MFT team is showing the newest set from the BC DZYNS line And Then I Said today. If you want to jump on at the beginning, head on over to Kim's blog. There is something fun waiting for you at the end!!

I wanted to use this fun and funky set in a different way. The sentiments in this set are geared towards teens and I thought a lot of people would be showing you the set in that form. So, I decided to put a little bit of a Victorian feel to mine:

The image was paper pieced with the My Mind's Eye paper and I used some lace and a button brad to convey a more mature theme.

I added a pearl necklace to her and cut out some of the leaves from the dp and added them around the image. I added some Olive Shimmerz (which MFT carries!) to the leaves. Boy, do they sparkle IRL!


I hope you like my MFTeaser of this set. And Then I Said will be available at My Favorite Things on Wednesday night. Now after you enter to win the Blogaversary candy below...hop on over to Cindy's blog for another MFTeaser of this set!

Materials used: Stamps-And Then I Said (BC DZYNS - My Favorite Things); Memento Tuxedo Black ink; cardstock-vanilla (SU!); Designer paper-29th Street Market, Playground Stripes (My Mind's Eye); Copic markers; Shimmerz Olive Green; Creative Memories Circle Cutting template; paper piercing tool and mat pack; flower; brad (Oriental Trading); Lace; corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); dimensionals (SU!).

Today, I have a Spellbinders Flower Creations die set to give away! (Click HERE for picture.) Just leave a comment on this post and Random.Cara will pick a winner on Thursday at around 5 p.m. CST!

Please note: Winner's must contact me within three days of winning or I will pick another winner from the same post!

Thanks for stopping by!

Heart to Heart Spotlight #5- Verve Visual

Continuing with my goal of honoring the companies who graciously donated to the Heart to Heart Blog candy, today I am featuring VERVE VISUAL.

Julee Tilman is the owner and illustrator of VERVE and she is also a FABULOUS designer. Her cards leave me speechless so (unfortunately) I spent more time second guessing my projects than actually designing them!

The first project is a card that features Abundant Blessings. I stamped the ferns and brown accents first on vanilla cardstock. I stamped the flower images each one time on white cardstock and colored them with Copics. Then, I applied a layer of Shimmerz Paints over the marker (I used Sunflower and Pumpkin Pie.) I also outlined the tag and the vanilla main piece with Sunflower Shimmerz to add some sparkle and color to the edges. I added some Olive Shimmerz to the greenery. I attached each layer of the flower with a dimensional--to give it a lot of depth. I curled the edges of the flower to make it look more realistic.

Finally, I added some crystal stickles to add even more shine. I completed the card by adding some raffia and matting the main panel on brown cardstock that I scored with my Scor-Pal. On the mustard layer I added some piercings.

Here is the flower close up:

You can see a bit more shimmer in this picture although it is much more sparkly in real life.

And here is a cute little project that features Some Bunny. I love this stamp! I thought this would make a perfect tag for this white pail I found at the dollar store (3 for $1--SCORE!) This would make an adorable shower favor (maybe I can convince my little sister to have another girl so I can make these!) or even a little lift for a friend.

I stamped the sentiment "Some bunny loves you" in black Staz On right onto the pail. Worked perfectly. I added a bit of ribbon and the candy and done! Easy to mass produce but sooo cute.

Here is a better view of the sentiment stamped on the pail:

Thank you Julee / Verve Visual for your generous donation to the Heart to Heart Blog Candy. You are amazingly talented and have a big HEART too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Season's Greetings

Hello everyone! Happy Friday. Whew---this was a busy week with two releases!
I will post a lot of my release samples soon---but I am catching up on some housework and family time this weekend. (I will be back to post details about the WCMD activities AND the PC magazine blog candy winner!)

But first, I wanted to share this simple holiday card with you. I used the Ornate Seasons image from Inkadinkado. I stamped the image another time and cut the bird out and added some Shimmerz Paint (rustic red) to it so it is super sparkly in real life!


Here is another view of the card:

Materials used: Ornate Seasons (Inkadinkado); Cranberry crisp ink (SU!); Cardstock-very vanilla (SU!); Designer paper-Basic Grey Fresh Snow (Blitzen Collection), Basic Grey Silent night and pinecone brown (Figgy Pudding);buttons; hemp (Hobby Lobby); Oval Nestabilites (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Cropadile; eyelets (Making Memories); Sakura Stardust Gellyroll pen; Shimmerz Paint (rustic red); Corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)


You can find this stamp and tons of other fantastic stamps, embellishments and supplies at Stamper's Dream Store!

Thanks for stopping by!

Shimmer Daisy

Although I am busy getting some cards ready for the two releases this week, I managed to squeeze in a quick card using two sets by illustrator Asela Hopkins (for Gina K Designs)-Botanical Dreams, Flowers for Daisy.

I used my Shimmerz Paints to add some incredible shine to the daisy. It is hard to see in the photo above--but hopefully this close up gives you an idea of the shimmer!

Check out the flower center! I used pumpkin Shimmerz Paints on the flower center and sunflower on the edge of the circle and all along the card border....resulting in some amazing sparkle....love it!

Materials used: Flowers for Daisy, Botanical Dreams (Gina K Designs); Brilliance Black ink; old olive ink, ruby red ink (Stampin' Up!); cardstock-vanilla, ruby red, barely bannana (Stampin' Up!); Copic markers; Shimmerz Paints-pumpkin, sunflower; Oval nestability dies (Spellbinders); Tag dies (Provocraft); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); raffia; dimensionals (SU!).

Stay tuned for some sneak peeks from the newest releases from My Favorite Things (release on Wednesday, September 3) and Gina K Designs (release on Friday, September 5). I have a new set that will be released through Gina K on Friday so I am very excited to share my projects with you! Stay tuned for your chance to win it!

Check out the forums on Splitcoaststampers for sneak peeks and party information:

My Favorite Things

Gina K Designs

Thanks for stopping by!

Shimmering Tag

It is time again for the weekly CCEE challenges I do with a bunch of buddies from SCS. This week we had to create a TAG! I don't make a lot of tags so I thought it would be a fun challenge for us to do.

Of course, I was then stumped on what to do for this challenge...but ended up creating something more elegant than cute (which is what I was thinking of when I first thought of the challenge!)

I based the whole tag around this Anna Griffin butterfly stamp, which has always been a favorite of mine. I stamped backgrounds on the vanilla and olive cardstocks. The flourish is a Quic Kutz die, which I used in my Cuttlebug.


Hands down--my favoritist part of this tag is the AMAZING shimmer it has. It is hard to capture it in the picture but the whole tag just glistens. How did I get it to do that???

Easy--using a new product called Shimmerz Paints. These little jars of paint are fantastic---they add serious shimmer! They are non-toxic, water-based and come ready to use (no mixing required--woohoo!) And, you can use them on glossy and non-porous surfaces! They have 35 colors and three limited edition colors for fall. I am super impressed with how much sparkle they have and how easy they are to use.

For this tag--I used Sunflower on all the edges of the vanilla cardstock. The flourish is painted over in Green Olive and I added Angel Wings to the distressed areas of the choc chip paper in the background. I colored both layers of the butterfly with Copics and painted Pumpkin and Sunflower Shimmerz over them.

Here is another view of the tag so you can see the dimension. In real life the flourish is so sparkly and so is the butterfly. They really make the tag!


And another:


In this photo, you can actually see a bit of the shimmer on the background distressed piece and along the vanilla edges. Again, it is difficult to pick it up the Shimmerz in the photo, but to see it in reality--it is awesome!



Materials used: Stamps-butterfly (Anna Griffin-All Night Media), Weathered (Stampin' Up!); French Script (SU!); cardstock-choc chip, old olive, very vanilla (Stampin' Up!); ink-close to cocoa, river rock (Stampin' Up!); Copic Markers; Shimmerz Paints (Angel Wings, Green Olive, Pumpkin, Sunflower); Sponge; Paint brush; Chipboard tags (SU!); Flourish die (Quic Kutz); Cuttlebug distressed embossing folder (Provocraft); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Paper flower (Bazzill Basics); Copper brad (Making Memories); hemp (SU!); ribbon (May Arts); Sentiment rub on (Royal & Langnickel); Buttons (unknown); Glue dots.

You can check out all the other tags from my amazing CCEE friends here on Monday. Hope you will create your own tag and play along! Check out the CCEE blog for details!


***Don't forget to get entered to win blog candy here. You only have until noon on Monday!

Thanks for stopping by!