Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives---when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.

Friday, October 28, 2011

CSS October 28 Sketch Hop

Welcome to my blog. I hope you arrived here from Linda's marvelous blog. If not, and if you want to start from the beginning of the hop, jump back over to Stamp TV where you will find the list of everyone participating in today's hop.

Today we are doing a sketch hop using this great sketch created by Melissa Cash.


This was such a fun and easy sketch to work with, so I made two cards to share with you. If I'd had more time I probably would have made more, but I will definitely be going back to this sketch again.

Both of my cards were made using stamps from the new Stamp TV kit, Wishing You Joy. I would have to say that this is one of my all time favorite Stamp TV Kits. I'm a huge fan of the holidays, and there are so many fun images and great sentiments in this kit. I'm sure many of my holiday cards this year will be made using it.

Here's the first card:
This was a really quick card to make. The main card base is made with Pure Luxury White heavy base weight card stock and the strips are Pure Luxury In the Navy and Silver Lining. I embossed the strips with some Cuttlebug folders that are one inch strips. They work perfectly for something like this. I stamped the ornament image in Versamark and embossed in silver. The edge of the oval is also embossed with silver, which I did by going around it with a Versamark pen. I colored the ornaments with Copics and filled in the stars with a glitter pen. The snowflakes were in my stash of stuff and I don't know where those came from. Easy to make, but not so easy to photograph; too much shiny, sparkly stuff, I guess.

And, here is the second card:

For this one I used a Pure Luxury Ivory base and Lipstick Red that was embossed with a Sizzix folder from SU. The paper strips on this one are from the Cosmo Cricket Dear Mr. Claus, which is one of my favorite new paper pads. It has a very vintage Christmas look to it and some really fun designs. I stamped the trees onto PL Ivory using Memento Tuxedo Black and then paper pieced them with more of the Cosmo Cricket paper. I didn't put a sentiment on the front of this one because it was busy enough with the paper strips, so it will just get a greeting on the inside.

Well, that's all for me! Hop along now to see what the creative Karen has in store for you. Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (November 1), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that lucky person will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Special CSS Blog Hop

Today we are doing a special blog hop for some very special kids. Our blog hop is a Card Drive for Kids with Spina Bifida. The four kids below were all born with spina bifida and October is spina bifida awareness month, so we made cards to send to send to these adorable, intelligent, fun-loving kids. 


You should have arrived here from Karen's wonderful blog, but if you didn't and would like to start at the beginning so you don't miss anything, jump back to Stamp TV.


I made two cards for the hop (and will be making two more, so I can send a card to each child). Here is the first one that will go to one of the boys, I think. I used the Gina K Designs stamp set called "Framed Friends" for both cards. On this first one I used the little versions of the stamps and then used the large stamp of the kitty for the second one.
This card started with a Pure Luxury Pumpkin Spice base with a layer of Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg dp. I used PL Chocolate, Ocen Mist and Ivory for the rest of the card. I stamped the little animals/bug with Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored with Copics. The sentiment if from the GKD set, Tag Lines. I edged the tag with Memento Potter's Clay.
This card will go to one of the girls. I started with Pure Luxury Passionate Pink layered with SU Going Gray and Echo Park Be Mine dp. The kitty and greeting were stamped with Memento London Fog. The kitty was colored with Copics and the pink sponging around it was done with Memento Angel Pink. I made the dots around the tag using a pink Spica pen.


Would you like to join us in putting a smile on the face of one of these kids (or all of them)? Here is what you need to do:



  • Create a fun, uplifting card or cards for one or all the kids listed below (you can click on their names to read more about each of them). The card can be anything cheery, encouraging, supportive, etc.  Please DO NOT send sorry, get well or anything like that. Remember, we want to cheer them up. The kids:
    • Madison: 2 years old
    • Logan: 2 years old. (turning 3 on October 17th!!)
    • Tanner: 2 years old (turning 3 on December 25)
    • Rebekah: 9 years old
  • All cards need to have a message in it for the child/family.  Please also sign your name and where you are from.  On the card envelope, write the name of the child.  Please, don't seal the envelope, as the parents might want to read the cards before the kids see them.
  • Cards must be received by October 31st to be eligible for the drawing (see below for the photo and list of prizes)
  • Mail your card(s) to Giovana Smith along with a piece of paper with your name, address, e-mail address and blog (if you have one). This will help a lot to contact the winner a lot faster!: 
Giovana Smith Card Drive for Kids 181 Perry Way Yakima, WA 98901 


Everyone who mails in a card for each of the children will be entered into the drawing to win this grand prize! 
  • Awesome companies have donated amazing prizes for you! More than $400.00 in prizes!!
    • Heartfelt Creations: 8 stamping sets + 1 Coordinated Die Set. Value: $150.00!
    • Gina K. Designs: 2 StampTV Kits: Value: $70.00 (Gina will send the prize direct to the winner!)
    • Unity Stamps: 10 Itty Bitty Stamps. Value: $70.00
    • SP & Company: 3 Stamp Set. Value: $40.00
    • Lawn Fawn Stamps: 2 Stamp Set: Value: $30.00
    • Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: 1 Stamp Set. Value: $11.00
    • Spellbinders: 2 die sets!! (Not included in the picture yet)

I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards. Now take a hop on over to Melissa's blog. I'm sure she has something fun and creative waiting for you!