Friday, October 31, 2014

Sami Stamps Special Sale

Good morning and Happy Halloween to all.



 Sami Stamps is having a Special Sale that starts today! You won't want to miss it.



What's so Special about the Sale you ask?
Each of the Designers chose an image they wanted to create
with, and each of those images is on Sale for $1.50!
Of course those image are not part of the 35% Sale!



I have used "Cocoa Wind" from the winter collection. Isn't it a beauty? I have colored it with my Copic markers. The base card is a white 6" x 6" card. The papers are from a 6" square pad ("Old World Winter" by The Paper Studio). The pad is filled with lovely, old world designs, and for my card, I've combined a soft snowflake paper with one that looks like a music sheet. In the middle I used a third piece from the pad, a red and ecru dotty paper. Unfortunately, I didn't make it quite wide enough, so you can only see a tiny bit peeking from behind the gold ribbon that I've used.

I cut the image using a die, but cut the "steam" from the cup of cocoa so that it is coming out of the die cut piece. I wanted to give the feel that the steam is drifting off into the wind. I cut my sentiment into a circle and added a small red matting behind it which I cut with the scalloped circle die. Lastly, just to give it a little more festive look, I added blue rhinestone gems (by Recollections) to the centers of the snowflakes.

Have a great week and stay safe. Go "treat" yourself to some of Sami's lovely images.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

TMS Welcome Doodle Pantry




Happy Tuesday morning, friends. I hope you're doing well today and ready for a new sketch. This week's sketch is brought to you by Debbie.  Speaking of Debbie, please keep her in your thoughts as she and her hubby are traveling this week.

This week we're sponsored by




Doodle Pantry takes pride in creating a diverse selection of doodling styles from realistic to whimsical, and all are family and kid friendly illustrations.  We hope you enjoy their wide variety of styles for every family occasion!

Here's the sketch....







This is the last DT card for the month of October, so I thought I would use the opportunity to remind everyone, one more time, that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and if you have not gotten your annual mammogram, please make an appointment to do so. Do not be afraid. Fight like a girl!

My card features "Just Wear Pink." I've used this image before, but it remains one of my favorite BCA stamps. It's simplicity is a beautiful reminder and symbol of the fight against this form of cancer.

My base card is white. I've added a layer of brown mat and pink card for the background. I cut a piece of pretty pink floral paper that I had in my scrap bag and matted it with the brown. I also matted the cut image with the brown. I punched a white strip using a Martha Stewart border punch and laid it across the middle of the front. I glued a pink rose (Wild Orchid Crafts) to the center of a white daisy (Prima) to form my flower embellishment. I added white pearls to the two upper corners.

Please visit the Tuesday Morning Blog to see more beautiful examples of Doodle Pantry images and the lovely cards my DT team mates have made using them.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Sweet 'N Sassy Tuesday

Good Morning TMS friends, we're so happy that you're here for another great sketch challenge.  This week's sketch is brought to you by Nina.  It's such a great sketch with basic elements that opens so much possibility for your creativity.

I am thrilled that Sweet n Sassy Stamps is sponsoring us once again.  I love SNSS, I have for a very long time.  Great images that are fun to work with and it's so great to see her line opening up with lots more dies, too.

Let's get started.  Here's the sketch:





As you can see, I have turned the sketch so that my design is running horizontal instead of vertical. I am using the image provided by Sweet 'n Sassy called "Pumpkin Patch." This was a fairly quick card to put together, but I think it has a rather WOW look in a beautiful fallish way. I've used a rust colored card base and one strip of designer paper, a couple of gems, and an acrylic stamp sentiment from the dollar bin at Michael's Crafts. The ink I used is Terra Cotta by Ranger.

This was a fun image to color up, and I wanted to use it for a fall card as I already have more than enough Halloween cards (especially since I don't tend to send Halloween cards - smile).

I do hope you will visit the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog and will join in this week's challenge. We so enjoy seeing your creative works in our weekly challenges.

Have a good week. I'll "see" you later.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Sami Stamps - Halloween Girls


Samantha Ratliff, owner and designer of Sami Stamps has a new set of Halloween images that are just as cute as can be. Here is a sneak peek at all of them:


This set, Halloween Girls, can be found in the Sami Stamps store and are perfect for this month's challenge -- use orange -- which you can find at the Sami Stamps Blog.

I am using the "Spooky Flower 2" image for my card. I have colored it with Copic markers and then cut it into a rectangular shape. The card is orange, matting is black, and the background pattern paper is from my stash (manufacturer unknown). The three patterned papers immediately under the image are by My Mind's Eye from the 6" x 6" pad called "Haunted." The circular sentiment (with spider) was cut from another patterned paper (again manufacturer unknown) that I found in my stash. The circle and scalloped circle dies are by Spellbinder. The black ribbon is from my stash. The two black gems in the upper left corner are by Recollections.


Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Let's Change Tuesdays


I make a motion we change Tuesdays to another day of the week. Seems that even when I remember, I forget!  It occurred to me last night that I needed to write up my Tuesday Morning Sketches blog because I (thought) I was supposed to be at work this morning. Long story short, I went to work only to discover that I'd read the wrong schedule. OK, that is great because I realize that I didn't get my blog entry written and can do it when I get home -- yeah, right. I totally forgot about it again! Consequently, I vote that we change Tuesdays to another day of the week and maybe I'll have better luck remembering it.

I hope everyone is ready for a new sketch.  This one is inspired by Jessi.  I like the idea of it allowing for lots of patterns and textures.  Our sponsor is DRS Designs, one of our "resident" sponsors.  We're always so delighted to have them sponsor!



It's also our Judged Challenge which means there's an added twist.  This week we're doing Holiday themes.  Now this can mean "recognized" holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas 
 Hanukkah (Chanukah), etc. or it can mean personal holidays such as birthdays.

Here's our sketch:


My image is called "Witches Feet." I've colored it with my Copic markers and then cut it into a rectangle to be the top layer of my papers (as per the sketch). I matted it with both black and orange card.  I've used black for my card base, and my patterned papers are all from the 6" x 6" pad by MME called "Haunted." My sentiment is computer generated and matted on orange. The moon is a little die cut that I found in my stash. I had a lot of fun with this image and card.

Please stop by the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog to have a look at what the other DT members have done this week for your inspiration. Please remember to use BOTH the sketch and the twist (holiday theme) if you are joining us in this week's challenge. 


Tuesday, October 7, 2014

TMS Get "All Dressed Up"



Happy Tuesday morning to everyone. Today we have a super sketch for you to use. Our sponsor this week is "All Dressed Up," and my image just happens to be called "All Dressed Up for a Magical Day."

Here is our sketch for this week:


Do you send out Halloween cards (curious minds want to know)? I didn't used to, but after I became a member of my first design team about four years ago, I started sending them to my grandkids with a little extra "treat" inside. The older ones really appreciated that (smile).

I've used a 6" x 6" black card base and mounted a piece of DP from My Mind's Eye on top. I colored my adorable little witch and her kitty with Copic markers and then cut the design into an oval using a Spellbinder oval die. I then traced around that die to get my black mat. (The next size die would have been too "big" which is why I chose to trace and hand-cut the oval mat).

I cut the fishtail banner from a piece of DP from the same My Mind's Eye pad and matted it with black card. The flowers are from Petaloo. The corner piece is from Cheery Lynn.

Stop by the blog for more inspiration for using this week's sketch and then join us in our weekly challenge.

Friday, October 3, 2014

The Pumpkin Patch


I remember when the children were little and we'd decorate the house for Halloween. It wasn't until we had grandchildren that we started making an annual trek to "the pumpkin patch." Now that both the children and grandchildren are older, we don't do much in the way of decorating, and we've not visited a pumpkin patch in years. To be totally honest, I MISS it -- the decorating and the pumpkins!

Sami, on the other hand, has a delightful little son who still thinks visiting a pumpkin patch is "da bomb"! So, in honor of pumpkin patches everywhere, she has titled her new release "The Pumpkin Patch." Here is a thumbnail of the new sketches:


Aren't they all just adorable?? I have used "Resting on my Pumpkin" for my DT card. After coloring my image with Copic markers, I have made a purple card base (yes, that is purple, but photographed more blue -- which is OK because orange and blue are complimentary colors - smile). I have taken two pieces of Halloween DP from the 6" x 6" pad called Haunted by MME, and have matted them with black matting. I have placed a black ribbon and bow on the bottom of the dotty paper. I also matted my image with the black. I've layered the two DPs and the image in the center of my base. I then cut two spider web corners (Cheery Lynn Design corner dies) and adhered them in opposite corners to finish off my front.

Stop by the Sami Stamps blog at  www.samistamp.blogspot.com  and have a look at all the FAB cards the DT have created with this super FAB release. I guarantee you will be delighted!