Stamp Act

Our Creative Corner Saturday Challenge ~ It's a SKETCH!!!!

WOW!!!  We sure had a heck of a turnout for last weeks Basic Grey Challenge!!!  Thank you all so much for that!!!  The winner of Lindsey's $15 store gift certificate (you might want to use it this weekend since she is having a sale ~ 20% off everything in the store!!!) will be posted on our OCC Blog along with today's Challenge so be sure to check it out!!!!  You will LOVE today's challenge!!!  Our hostess this month is Jennifer and boy does she have some AWESOME challenges in store for us!!!  Today's challenge is a sketch!  If you do decide to play along and upload to SCS, please don't forget to add OCCC in the keywords section.  The actual sketch is posted on the blog AND again we have a SPECIAL surprise!!!!  I will share the surprise with you after I share my card ~

The base of my card is Chocolate Chip cardstock with a mat of decorative paper from Prima's Urban Cosmos Collection.  The next mat is first (bottom up) Certainly Celery cardstock and the next polka dot mat is from Bo Bunny and is called Chocolate Dot.  The next mat is first Chocolate Chip and then So Saffron cardstock.  I used my ticket corner punch on all 4 corners, ran gold cord around (I just used Scotch tape to adhere the pieces of the cord to the back) and then added some BEAUTIFUL self adhesive pearls from Kaiser Craft.  To adhere the ribbon, I punched a hole on the right side of the oval and then pulled the ribbon through and then ended back on the right side and then tied a knot.  The ribbon is from May Arts.   The focal image is from Inkadinkado and is called Duet (Lindsey will be getting more of these in next week).  I stamped the image using Chocolate Chip ink on Cryogen White Shimmery cardstock and then cut it out using my oval Nesties!!!  I made the frame by layering the scalloped die and smaller oval die (fit right inside the scalloped die), taped (Scotch) them on top of the Urban Cosmos decorative paper and then ran it through my Cuttlebug.  It cut and embossed the scalloped frame!!!  I then colored the birds using my Prismacolor Pencils, highlighted with my Copic Spica gold glitter pen, added my Prima Flowers and Kaiser Craft pearls to the centers of the flowers.  I used dimensionals to mount the oval on top of the Saffron piece.

Stamps ~  Inkadinkado ~ Duet  Paper ~  Cryogen White shimmery cardstock, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip & Certainly Celery cardstock and Prima ~ Urban Cosmos DP  Ink ~ Chocolate Chip  Other ~ Prima flowers, Kaiser Craft pearls, May Arts ribbon, dimensionals, ticket corner punch, gold cord, Prismacolor Pencils, Oval Nestabilities, Copic Spica Gold Glitter pen, Scotch tape,

OK, now I will share with you the awesome news for YOU!!!!  Tamara, from Mothers and Daughters Creations, was SO kind to offer a $20 gift certificate for her store to 1 lucky winner for this weeks sketch challenge!!!!  You can use any products for this challenge but you will need to use the sketch AND you will need to leave a comment (deadline ~ 12 EST on Friday ~ 7/11) with a link to your card on the OCC Blog!  That's it!!  How simple is that???  The winner will be announced on Saturday, July 12th along with our new weekly challenge post.  Also, Tamara is offering a 10% discount on EVERYTHING in her store beginning today, July 5th and ending Saturday, July 12th!!!  Be sure to check out her store as she has TONS of awesome stamping and scrapbooking products!!!

Need more coaxing to play!?!?!  Check out the "GIRLS" blogs for more inspiration!!!

Cindy
Dawn
Denise
Jennifer
Amy
Laurie

Thank you all so much for stopping by and I really hope you have time to play!

~Lynda

SCS Sketch Challenge Wednesday!!!

Today is sketch challenge Wednesday at SCS!  I really like the layout this week.  If you are interested in playing, you can see the sketch HERE!  Here is my card ~
 

The base of my card is Kraft cardstock which I ran through my Cuttlebug and embossed using one of the old floral folders.  The horizontal piece is first Basic Black, then red Bazzill and the top decorative piece is from the AWESOME 7 Gypsies Sushi paper!  BTW, Lindsey is going to have an Independence Weekend Celebration Sale starting tomorrow!!!  EVERYTHING is going to be on SALE!!!!  Check it out HERE! 

The vertical piece is first Cryogen White Shimmery cardstock and then another pattern from the Sushi pack.  I added a strip of Basic Black cardstock to the side which I cut using my scalloped scissors.  The focal image is from Bloomin' Beautiful which I stamped on Cryogen White Shimmery cardstock using Basic Black ink.  I stamped the image another time on the shimmery cardstock and again on the Sushi paper.  I cut out the flower part from the shimmery cardstock, colored it with my Prismacolor Pencils and the River Rock ink pad & blender pen.  I mounted it on top of the first stamped image using dimensionals and then added white Liquid Pearls to the centers of the flowers.  I then cut the flower pot out from the decorative paper and then mounted it on top of the first stamped image.  I then mounted the image on top of first Basic Black and then Kraft cardstock.  The ribbon is first off white lace then Kraft Tafetta and then I tied a little bow using May Arts black & white polka dot ribbon.

I then stamped the bee using Basic Black ink just above the flowers and then again on a piece of scrap shimmery cardstock.  I cut the body and wings out from the extra piece, added black flock using my Quickie glue pen and then mounted it on top of the first bee.  The last step was to add Stardust Stickles to the bee's wings.

Thank you for stopping by and check back tomorrow for my Mother's & Daughters Creations DT Challenge!  Have a great day!

~Lynda

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

I think I am going to have to move! LOL!!!   I was born and raised in Monterey California with street lights, sidewalks, neighbors and the NASTIEST bug I can remember is what we referred to as a Potato Bug.  They were UGLY and lived in the dirt so the best thing to do was to not dig in the dirt ~ problem solved!  I now live in Virginia and have lived here now for 15 years!!!  I have experienced a Coyote grabbing one of my chickens right in front of me, bobcats, foxes, Black SNAKES (lots of these), huge snapping turtles, being attacked by barn swallows IN MY OWN BARN!, river otters, being attacked by my rooster (may he rest in peace), a hawk killing one of my chickens and then ME learning to load and unload the shotgun so I can protect my kids and animals!!!  OMG, what has become of me!! LOL!!!  What brings me to mention my moving (just kidding of course) announcement all started on Saturday when I ran in to town.  It all started innocent enough and when I was about 4 miles from my house (I live in a very rural area) I look and right on the side of the road is a very large black bear!  No, it was not dead, it was standing there waiting to cross the road!!!  As I was sitting in the middle of the road trying figure out why I lived here, the bear very leisurely walks across the road to the driveway of the only house in the area.  It actually was exciting by scary too!!!  I am sure there will come a time that we have one on our property.....  Then, this morning there was a SNAKE in our pool!!!  The kids and I were busy retrieving the frogs from the pool and then I look and there was a snake!!!!  Mary started crying and telling me that she is NEVER going in the pool again, Joey, my hero, was telling me to get it out, get it out!!!!  LOL!!!  As I was getting ready to fish it out, I thought we better check to make sure it wasn't a Copperhead because if it was, I would need to kill it!!!  Oh fun.....  It wasn't a Copperhead so it was safely released back in to the wild!!!   And to think I used to dress pretty nicely, had my nails done and actually wore jewelry!!!!  Not anymore!  I wear jeans, shorts and t-shirts, don't wear jewelry ~ why? do the animals care?? and nails, what nails?!?!?  LOL!!!    OK, sorry, went off track for a minute there!!!  I made this card for my Dad's Birthday that is coming up soon!
The base of my card is Chocolate Chip cardstock with first a mat of River Rock cardstock and then THIS beautiful decorative paper from Memory Box ~ called Grove.  The next vertical mat is first Chocolate Chip and then the same decorative paper.  The horizontal piece is first matted on River Rock cardstock and then another piece of decorative paper from the same paper pack.  I stamped the Inkadinkado ~ Three in a Tree stamp was stamped on Cryogen White cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink.  I colored using my Prismacolor Pencils and Mellow Moss & River Rock ink pads and blender pen.  The ribbon is from May Arts and was taped (Scotch) under the image and then taped to the back of the horizontal strip.  I then took a small piece of ribbon, punched a hole in the side of image and tied a knot on that side.  The Inkadinkado Happy Birthday sentiment (Lindsey is sold out of this one!) was stamped using Chocolate Chip ink directly on to the decorative paper.

I'll be back tomorrow with my card for Jacksonbelle's Design Team Tuesday challenge!  Thank you for stopping by!

~Lynda

Second OCC Challenge Card.....

Since I haven't made anything to show you today, I thought I would share with you the first card I made for OCC ~ Our Creative Corner's sketch challenge on Saturday!  I made 2 and chose my second one to include for Saturday's challenge so here is my first one ~
The base of my card is Sahara Sand.  I put a small strip of Summer Sun at the bottom and then a mat of Bordering Blue.  The upper and lower decorative papers are 2 different patterns from the new Memory Box ~ Provence set.  The ribbon is from Micheal's.  The center thread was not yellow until I colored it with my Summer Sun marker!  The first mat (from the bottom up) is matted with Summer Sun cardstock and then I used another piece of the bottom floral decorative paper and lined it up so it looks like the flowers continue up on just that panel.   The next panel is first Sahara Sand and then another pattern from the Provence pack.  I then stamped the Inkadinkado bird from Birds Galore on a decorative blue piece of paper (from Provence as well) using Sahara Sand ink.  I cut it out out and mounted it (using dimensionals) on top of the first bird I stamped on Shimmery White cardstock using Sahara Sand ink.  I colored the leaves using a blender pen and Mellow Moss ink pad.  The clear jewels are from MAMBI and the pewter buckle is from We R Memory Keepers.  I punched the bottom of the Shimmery White piece using my Martha Stewart punch and used the same punch on a scrap of Summer Sun cardstock and then adhered them together and offset the 2 so you can see a very thin Summer Sun mat. 

I think I covered everything!!!  If not, please don't hesitate to ask!  I need to work on my card for tomorrow's Jacksonbelle DT Challenge!!!

Before I go, I want to mention something that may of interest to some of you!!!  The Shimmery White cardstock I use is not SU!  Last Fall I found a place that was MUCH cheaper!!!  Here are the links for the 2 colors I use most often.  They do have lots of other colors, types and matching envelopes, in case you are interested!!! 

Cryogen White and Poison Ivory.  The Cryogen White is the one I use most often.  It is the same color as the SU! Shimmery White.  It is not a bright white but not vanilla.  The Poison Ivory is VERY close to SU!'s Vanilla but of course is shimmery, not mat.  I use these all the time still.  I thought I would just use them around the holiday's but I have been using them a lot!!!  The company is called Cutcardstock.com. 

Have a great day and check back tomorrow for Lindsey's DT challenge Tuesday!

~Lynda

You're Special....

Oh my goodness.... I hope you all have been as busy as me so you haven't noticed that I haven't posted anything lately!! LOL!!!  The end of the school year usually seems to go like this.  Lots of functions going on at my kids' school which is lots of fun but definitely does not leave a lot of extra time to do, oh I don't know like what... STAMPING!!!  I will share a card with you that I made some time ago and have not yet posted ~
I LOVED this little bird set!  The set is from Hero Arts and can be found HERE!  What is so cute about this set is that it comes with the little rhinestone flowers that I added on the branch.  Anyway, the base of my card is Whisper White with a mat of purple decorative paper which is part of the same Crate Paper Kit as the top mat ~ Kaitlin by Crate Paper.  The top Whisper White piece was done by using one of my circle Nestabilities and embossing a circle in the center ~ NOT cutting, just embossing.  I then used the same size circle and cut out the center from the decorative paper and then cut the scallops using a large scallop die to cut the scalloped edges out.  I adhered this with my Quickie glue pen around the outside of the embossed circle.  I then stamped my tree branch and bird using Basic Black ink.  I colored using  my watercolor crayons and a blender pen.  I highlighted the bird using my Sakura Clear Jelly Roll Glitter pen.   I stamped another bird on a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock using Basic Black ink, colored her using Watercolor Crayons and a blender pen, cut her out, taped her on the card and then added some glitter with the above pen.  The sentiment was then stamped next to the bird using Basic Black ink and I added a green rhinestone flower which came with the stamp set.  How sad is this?  I stamped the sentiment crooked!  There is NO reason for this to have happened!  These are clear stamps, I should not be stamping crooked!!! What irritates me the most is that I always do the sentiment last so when I screw it up, it's too late!  Since I can't stamp straight, I do find myself using rub ons more!

The scallops were made using a Martha Stewart punch and the ribbon is some OLD Making Memories purple velvet ribbon that I have had for a long time! 

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I am going to be scrapbooking ALL day tomorrow and can't wait!  We also have Guinea's hatching which is so fun!  I will take some pictures and post them so you can see how darling they are and to think they grow up to be so ugly is just amazing!!!

~Lynda

Puppy Hugs.....

Wow, 2 postings in one day!!!  What has gotten in to me?!?!?  LOL!!!  It must be because all it has done here this Spring is rain so I haven't HAD to do my outside chores and the inside ones, well.....we won't go there!!! LOL!!!   My Aunt and Uncle just got a new little Cocker Spaniel puppy so I wanted to make a little gift to send them. 

Here is a picture of the card, which was based on Cindy's MFT Sketch Challenge #31.  BTW, did you know that the amazing Cindy Haffner is blogging now???  I am so excited that she has decided to do it!!   Anyway, here is the card ~

The base of my card is Chocolate Chip with a mat of the red which is the back of the fire hydrant/bone SEI Paper.   The striped paper is also SEI and can be found HERE.   I matted the striped piece with Chocolate Chip cardstock and then added silver eyelets so it would MAYBE look like a collar!!  Not quite huh?!?!?  You really need to use your imagination!!! LOL!!!  The focal image is so STINKIN' cute!!!  I love this new set from MFT.  It is called Friends Furever and can be found HERE!   I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink.  I then colored with my Prismacolor Pencils.  I added some glitter to "Rocky's" collar with my Copic Spica Clear glitter pen.  I also cut a fire hydrant out from the decorative paper and mounted it on the front using a dimensional.  The Puppy Hugs was stamped on Whisper White cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink and then punched out using my small oval punch.  I also used my Paw tracks wheel and Chocolate Chip ink to make paw prints on this piece.  I mounted it using dimensionals.  The focal piece was then matted with Chocolate Chip cardstock and then the red from the fire hydrant decorative paper.   BTW, the dog on this card is a little bigger than my Aunt & Uncle's new Cocker!!!

Here is a picture of the "cookie" jar!

In case you didn't know, the dogs name is Rocky!  I used my Quickutz to do the name.  After punching them, I ran them through my Xyron and then slapped them on the bone!!! LOL!!!  The bone is actually another stamp included in the Friends Furever  set which in this case I stamped using Chocolate Chip ink and then stamped on Whisper White cardstock.  I then cut it out and added the silver eyelet at the top.  I also used the Paw Tracks wheel and Chocolate Chip ink on this too!  The heart is just a little jewel I had laying around.  The jar is from Target.  I have had the dog bone ribbon for years!!  I got it from Oriental Trading.  It is self adhesive so I stuck it around the outside of the lid.  I then added silver cord to tie the name plate on.   I decorated the outside of the jar with the coordinating Park Buddies rub ons.

Here is a picture of the top of the jar.  I used my Creative Memories cutter and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities to layer the paper ~

The sticker on the top is another coordinating piece from SEI and can be found HERE!   Yes, I know it is upside down!  What the heck was I thinking???  Oh well, when they look at it from the back, the hydrant will be right side up!!!  It is not me and how I screwed it up....it is the screwed up way people look at things!!! LOL!!!

Thanks again for stopping by!

~Lynda

Hoooo's Thinking of You?????

I REALLY like the layout of my card!  I wasn't sure at first but I am so happy with how it came together!!  The layout is from Lauren's Sketch Saturday.   No, no original thought today!

The base of my card is Whisper White but I completely covered it with a blue from some old Chatterbox decorative paper I had.  I used my scalloped scissors to cut the bottom and added a small piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock to the bottom.  All of the decorative papers are from Chatterbox and were matted with Chocolate Chip cardstock.  The focal image is the owl from this DARLING Playful Animals stamp set from Hero Arts.   I stamped the owl using Chocolate Chip ink on Whisper White cardstock.  I then cut and embossed the circle using my Nestabilities.  I then cut a scalloped circle, also with my Nestabilities, to mat the owl on.  I added another circle under the scalloped circle of Chocolate Chip cardstock.  I colored Mr. Owl using my Prismacolor Pencils and then added glitter to the owls eyelashes and edges of the leaves using my Sakura Stardust Clear glitter pen.   I mounted this on the front of the card using dimensionals.  The flowers are from Prima and the blue rhinestones are Hero Arts Light Blue Gemstones.   Oh, the sentiment is also included in the Playful Animals set!  You can find all of the stamps and accessories (except the flowers & Nestabilities) at Stampers Dream.

I hope to have my tutorials ready tomorrow for you so be sure and check back!  I hope you have a great day!

~Lynda

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day!
I hope you all are having a fun day!  I was able to take a little time and stamp this morning so that makes for a really nice Mother's Day!!  Today's featured stamper is my friend Jennifer.   I love everything that Jen does but I had to narrow my choices down to just 1, for now!!!  The card of Jen's that I decided to CASE is HERE!   I changed everything except the layout.  Here is my card ~

The base of my card is River Rock.  I then took a mat of Basic Black cardstock, added a small Whisper White edge of cardstock on the top and then added my decorative Cider decorative River Rock paper on top.  I used my Martha Steward scallop punch/embosser along the bottom of the polka dot paper.  I then added Hero Arts Black gemstones at each "flower" along the bottom.  I stamped the large flourish from Inque Boutique ~ Nightingale stamp set on top of the polka dot paper using River Rock ink.  I added SU! black grosgrain across the top and then added this UNBELIEVABLY beautiful ribbon from May Arts to add some color.  The only problem is that there is actually brown, not black, in the ribbon but it doesn't look bad and I REALLY liked the color it added!!!  My card tomorrow was TOTALLY based on the blue version of this ribbon ~ that's how much I liked it!!!

I stamped the bird from the same Nightingale set on Whisper White using Basic Black ink.  I colored the bird using a blender pen and Rose Red and Old Olive ink pads.  I added some glitter to the birds top knot and ends of the swirls using my Stardust Clear glitter pen.  Here is a close~ up ~

The 3 dots were first stamped using another stamp for the Nightingale set.   I then added these cool Clear gems from Hero Arts that look like bubbles.   The sentiment is from Gina K and was stamped on Whisper White using Basic Black ink.  I then used a flourish from the Nightingale set and stamped over the top of the sentiment using Rose Red ink.  I stamped off 2 times first to get a pale Rose color.  I then used my circle Nestabilities to punch it out and emboss around the edge.  I then cut a large circle from River Rock cardstock and then a scalloped circle from Basic Black cardstock.  I mounted this on the front using dimensionals. 

You can get most of the supplies I used from Michelle at Stampers Dream.   

Stamps ~ Inque Boutique ~ Nightingale and Gina K. ~ Rectangle Greetings   Ink ~ Basic Black, Rose Red, Old Olive and River Rock  Paper ~ Basic Black, Whisper White, River Rock & Cider DP   Other ~ Hero Arts ~ Black Rhinestones and clear bubbles, scalloped circles & regular circles ~ Nestabilities, dimensionals, May Arts ribbon, black grosgrain, Martha Stewart scalloped punch/embosser, Stardust clear glitter pen, blender pen   

Thanks for stopping by!!!

~Lynda

Happy Birthday from all of us!!!

Boy, I am on a roll!!!  I have another card for you!!!  This card is for Cindy's MFT Sketch Challenge #27!  As usual, I didn't COMPLETELY follow the sketch because I couldn't fit a sentiment on the card where it was supposed to go!  I am sure Cindy will forgive me!!! LOL!!  Anyway, here is my card ~

The base of this card is Whisper White with a mat of Basic Black cardstock and then the orange and then striped pattern from the NEW Basic Grey Cupcake Collection!!!  Jennifer sent me this paper collection for my Birthday!!!  She also included a Quickie Glue pen which will NOT go to waste!!!  Thanks Jen!!!  If you are looking for this paper, Tamara will have it in her store within the next few days!!! 

The strip across the bottom is first Basic Black cardstock in which I used my scalloped scissors to add the decorative edges and then a red decorative piece from the Cupcake collection.  I topped it off with ribbon I got from Michael's.  I did add Black Diamond Stickles to the centers of all of the flowers on the ribbon.  The stamped image is by My Favorite Things and is called Let's go for a walk (Michelle has this on sale).  I stamped the image using Basic Black ink on Whisper White cardstock.  I colored using my Prismacolor Pencils and my Copic Spica glitter pens.  The balloons were punched using my Quickutz.  The "string" is by Making Memories.  I threaded  a small needle and poked 2 holes at each dogs mouth and noses.  I wanted to make it look like they had the strings in their mouths....  I taped the balloon end of the string to the back of each balloon and then took another piece of the string and tied a knot at the base of each balloon.  I mounted these balloons using dimensionals. 

Here is a close up of the dogs faces ~

Have a great day!!!

~Lynda

Get Well Soon......

Good Morning!
It is dreary and rainy here AGAIN today!  It really needs to stop.  It is Spring now so the weather really needs to start acting like it!! LOL!!  OK, I'll stop complaining because I know that some of you are still getting SNOW!!!  My card is for Cindy's MFT Monday Sketch challenge and is really appropriate for the weather we have had lately!

I LOVE paper piecing and on this card I did a lot of that!  The base of my card is Celery and is 5 1/4 square.  The next mat is Basic Black cardstock.  All of the decorative papers are from Daisy D's and can be found HERE!   On top of the pink striped paper I used a strip of Celery cardstock and then a mat of the butterfly decorative paper.  The flowers are from Making Memories and were glued on using Elmer's glue.  I also added MAMBI crystals to the center of each flower using Elmer's glue again.  The stamps are all from MFT and is called Rain or Shine.  I stamped the focal image using Basic Black ink on Basic Grey Mellow cloud paper.  I colored a few of the parts using Prismacolor pencils and paper pieced the rest.  I also added some glitter using my Copic Spica clear glitter pen on the dog collar and umbrella handle.  I matted this on Basic Black cardstock and mounted it using dimensionals.  The clouds were stamped on the same Basic Grey Mellow cloud paper using my Versamark.  I then heat embossed using Ranger Antique Crystals embossing powder.  It gave it some glitter and texture.  I then cut them out and mounted them using dimensionals as well.  The sentiment was stamped using Basic Black ink. 

There you go!!!  I have another card to share and will upload shortly.  I got all my new Basic Grey stuff from Lindsey and since I love it all, I am not sure which to start with!!!  I also saw Tamara today and got a few new things from her too!!!  I better get busy because you will all want to see this stuff!

~Lynda