Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

Hello! I am trying to stick to my New Year's goal of jumping into some new stamping challenges, so today I'm sharing my first time with the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. I always love sketches because I don't have to think about the layout, I can just focus on the fun stuff, like colors, images, and embellies!

Here's the latest sketch:

And here is my card based on the sketch:

The colors I used were inspired by the plaid paper in the new Gina K Designs True Love Patterned Paper Pack (this card is also going into the Stamp TV Mix It Up Monday Challenge). I used Pure Luxury Grass Green, Passionate Pink, Black Onyx and White. The patterned paper is from Echo Park's Be Mine paper pad. The images/sentiment are from Gina K STV Kit "Sent with Love" and from the "Hopeful Hearts" set. I colored with my Copics and used an SU punch and Spellbinders Eyelet Pendant for the details.

I really like this sketch and think I'll add it to my sketch book so I can use it again! Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop over to the Mojo Monday blog so you can join the fun!

CMC Copic Challenge

The holiday madness is finally behind me and a new year has started! Whew! It was fun while it lasted, but I have to say I'm mighty glad to have the holidays behind me and a fresh new year stretching out in front of me. Don't you always feel like you can conquer the world when a new year starts? I do, and while I don't really make resolutions, I do try to think about things I'd like to accomplish in the new year. One of those things for me is to participate in more challenges from a variety of blogs and websites. So, this is the first one I'm jumping into - it's the Color Me Creative Classroom Copic Challenge group. The challenge this time was to do projects that were in cream, white and gold. Of course, since this is the Copic Challenge group there had to be copic coloring also! Yikes! Coloring gold is a real challenge! At least it was for me, but here are my two creations for the challenge.

This card has a base of Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Ivory base weight and Pure Luxury Good as Gold that was embossed with a Sizzix folder. The image and sentiment are both from the Gina K Designs set called "With This Ring." I used Spellbinders classic circles and scalloped circles as well as the Fancy Tags.

This one also has a base of Pure Luxury Ivory base weight, a layer of Good as Gold and a layer of Ivory layering weight paper that was embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder. The pears and sentiment are from a Gina K Designs set that I've had for quite a while and really haven't used much, but the pears seemed like a good choice for coloring gold (they actually look more golden in real life than they do here; they also have some sparkle on them that didn't show up in the photo). The set is called "Fruitful Harvest."

I hope you enjoyed these creations. They were fun to make and did provide a challenge for me when it came to the coloring -- I hadn't really tried doing a gold look and it wasn't as easy I had hoped! LOL! That's what challenges are for, right? To stretch us and to help us improve our skills.

Thanks for stopping by! Smiles :-)

Inspiration Blog Hop

It's time for the  Stamp TV Center Stage Spotlight (CSS) alumni November blog hop. This time around is an inspiration hop based a super fun photo! I hope you came here via the amazingly talented Karen's blog. If you didn't, be sure to hop back over to Stamp TV and start at the beginning so you don't miss any gorgeous creations this group is sure to be sharing along the hop. Now on to the inspiration photo!

Cool, huh? I think this is actually a fun Advent calendar, so each of these is a little box that would hold a treasure for each day of Advent until Christmas. We were to use any part of this photo as our inspiration. I was inspired by a couple of these; see if you can guess which ones!

Here's my first card:

Card details: 
Stamps: Gina K Designs - A Year of Flowers and STV Kit Wishing You Joy
Paper: SU Cherry Cobbler; Gina K Designs White and Fresh Asparagus; DP - Echo Park - Season's Greetings
Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler; Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers
Misc: SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter; Spellbinders Eyelet Pendant

And here is the second card:

This didn't show up very well in the photo, but I inked the snowflake first with Bermuda Bay ink and then with Versamark. I used the SU Iridescent Ice embossing powder and in real life it is sparkly and has an iridescent shimmer to it. Sorry I couldn't get it to show up in the photo.

Card Details:
Stamps:  Gina K Designs: Blessed is the Season and Holiday Hospitality
Paper: SU Bermuda Bay and Early Espresso; Gina K Designs White and Silver Lining; DP- Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas
Ink: SU Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso; Versamark; Copic markers
Misc: Brad - Basic Grey; Baker's Twine - Raisin Boat; Embossing Powder - SU Iridescent Ice

Did you figure out which of the little boxes in the photo inspired me? If not, take a look at the one in the bottom right corner of the photo and the one in the top left corner.

Thanks for visiting and now be sure to leave a comment here and on the other blogs as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (November 22), 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 from Gina K Designs!

Now head on over to see my very talented friend, Linda. I'm sure she has something awesome waiting for you!

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!

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!

Stamp TV CSS Alumni Inspiration Hop

Welcome to another Stamp TV CSS Alumni blog hop. This time we are doing an inspiration hop based on the fabulous picture below. I hope you got here from Karen's fantastic blog. If not, head back to Stamp TV to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don't miss any of the beautiful creations of the CSS alumni.

Here is the photo we used for our inspiration. Isn't this a gorgeous bedroom? I was inspired by the colors, the textures, and most of all by the rug on the floor.

Here is the card I created based on my inspiration from the photo. I am a bit disappointed with the photo of this card because it doesn't show the shimmer from the SU Shimmer Paint I spritzed on it. I think it is prettier in real life, so you will just have to use your imagination and give it some shimmer!

Card details: 
Cardstock - Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Kraft, Ocean Mist, and Ivory
Stamps: Gina K Designs - Wild at Heart and Tag Lines
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Crumb Cake
Other: Sizzix embossing folder; Stampin' Up ribbon; Stampin' Up Shimmer Paint Champagne Mist

Thanks for stopping by. Now hop along to the blog of Linda Payne and see the gorgeous creations she has to inspire you!

August CSS Sketch Challenge Hop

Welcome to another fun blog hop being hosted by members of StampTV's Center Stage Alumni. This time around the hop is based on a Sketch Challenge. If you came from Karen's  fabulous blog, then you're right where you should be. If not, you can also go to StampTV to see a list of all those participating.

Here is the sketch we had to work with.

The sketch was created by the very talented Melissa Cash who is celebrating her birthday today! We decided to surprise her and design birthday cards using her sketch! We wish you a wonderful birthday Melissa and here's the birthday card I made especially for you!

This is a fairly simple card so I decided to add detail to it with the buttons, not only along the bottom edge of the focal image as depicted in the sketch, but to dress up the flowers as well! The card base is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown. The next layer is SU Crumb Cake and the patterned paper is leftover from a Stamp TV kit. I used Nestabilities long rectangles to create the scalloped brown layer and the focal image layer, which is Pure Luxury Ivory. I stamped the flower from the Gina K Designs set, Garden Silhouettes twice. I used markers to color the petals, stems and leaves.The birthday wishes sentiment is from the same set and is stamped with Vivid Coffee Bean.

A simple birthday wish, but I hope you like it Melissa! :-)

Make sure you leave a comment at each blog as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (August 16th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and the lucky winner will get a stamp set of her/his choice valued up to $24.95!

To continue with Melissa's birthday celebration and to see more cards, head on over to Linda's blog to see her amazing card!