Inspiration Challenge & Speedy's Friends

Once again, Smilin' Stef picked a great site for the Inspiration Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers. The Bicycle Muse has all kinds of accessories for bikes and bike lovers. Too bad I don't own a bicycle. I never learned how to ride a bike as a kid (imagine that); my late husband taught me to ride.

Anyway, I picked one of the colorful bags as my inspiration -- Kitsch Kitchen Pannier - Floral. I thought the bright colors and pattern looked so pretty. This is my result.




In the front yard of a previous house in which I lived was a variegated camellia, which I loved. You must understand that I definitely have no green thumb, and I did absolutely nothing to this plant. But, despite my lack of attention, it bloomed each and every year.

Speedy the Cat's Friends' challenge was to use three flowers on your card. So, after cutting out and using the center piece of the Spellbinders frame, I stamped two camellias, coloring them with Copic markers and sponging the background randomly. I stamped the third one on a piece of scrap paper and cut it out. Then I cut another frame from MFP Spring Leaf cs and taped the flowered piece into the center. The third flower I popped up to give some depth. Those Cuttlebug leaves are probably not camellia leaves, but they looked pretty close.

All the materials on this card are available at Mark's Finest Papers.

Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Apples and Camellia
Ink - Palette Moulin Rouge, Jardin Moss, and Raw Sienna
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Spring Leaf; Basic Grey Lemonade
Accessories - Spellbinders Classic Frame, Copic markers, Brads, Sponge daubers, Pop dots

StampinB & Summer Fun

NancyRuthwas the Stampin'B's hostess this week, and her summer challenge was right on time – it is definitely summer here in Florida. It was almost 100 degrees the other day. Florida and the ocean go hand-in-hand (despite the oil spill), so I chose sailing as my summertime activity.



I stamped the sailboat from SU's Winds of Grace set and then masked it so I could then stamp the waves and sponge in the water. I added some white with a gel pen on the waves to look like breakers. After I stamped the birds, I noticed that I had a smear where I neglected to clean off the edge. NancyRuth’s solution to a smudge is to add a flower, but that wouldn’t work here – so I added the sentiment instead! To keep this CAS card uncluttered, I merely punched two holes with my Crop-A-Dial and set some eyelets; then I ran some blue twine through the holes and tied a bow.

Stamps - SU Winds of Grace, sentiment from Mark's Finest Papers' Tropical Vacation
Paper - Mark's Finest Papers Snow Storm Smooth and Bang Up Blue
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Palette Reflection Blue and Ballet Blue
Accessories - Copic markers, Sponge daubers, Eyelets, Twine, Word Window punch, torn paper for the cloud template, Mega Curved Rectangle Nestabilities

Inspiration Challenge & Speedy the Cat's Friends

Today's challenge site for the SCS Inspiration Challenge was LoveArtWorks, an Etsy store of very interesting clay pieces. After looking through the site, I settled on one of artist Kristen Love's black, white and one-color creations as the starting point of my card. I also wanted to incorporate this week's Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge to use embossing.





This is the bowl I chose as my inspiration piece. Her one color (in addition to the black and white) was red -- perfect for the cherries. I stamped the images with Palette Noir Black and clear-embossed them. The background was embossed with a new Tim Holtz crackled embossing folder. There was just enough room on the background piece for that little sentiment.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Cupcake Birthday
Ink - Palette Noir Black
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Ripened Tomato
Accessories - Copic markers, Circle nestabilities, Tim Holtz crackled embossing folder, Pop dots

Stampin'B's Challenge #63

Faith (Markie's Mom) was the hostess for this week's Stampin'B's DT Blog challenge. I took her literally when she gave us this week’s challenge – “An apple a day” – by using a soon-to-be-released Mark’s Finest Papers set called Apples and Camellia. The challenge was actually to use red, green, and something round.




The apple is stamped with Palette Charcoal and colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. All the DP is from the Basic Grey Sugar Rush paper pad. The sentiment is stamped in Noir Black and clear embossed, and the charm is tied with some twine.

Fun challenge, Faith!

Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Apples and Camellia
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Basic Grey Sugar Rush DP
Ink - Palette Charcoal, Noir Black, Landscape
Accessories - Circle Nestabilities, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Twine, Charm, Clear ep, Sponge dauber

MFP Blog Hop - Day Four

Mark's Finest Papers Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All four sets are available TODAY! For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs on June 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. On Saturday (June 12th), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! Four different winners, one winner for each day. THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning! The four Winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive one Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month.

We end the Blog Hop with nothing but empty calories!!!

My first card is rather simple and doesn’t need much of an explanation. The background paper is from DCWV’s The Sweet Stack. The sentiment and cake/cupcakes are stamped onto MFP Snow Storm White and cut out with a Labels Nine die, and matted with a larger diecut from the Sweet Stack. I added the brown checkered ribbon and the birthday cake charm.

The layout for my final card for the Blog Hop was found on Page Maps, a favorite site of mine for layouts. The DP is all from Basic Grey’s Nook & Pantry paper pad. I paper-pieced the icing on the cupcake using one of the same DPs, and colored the rest with Copic markers. The card base is Yum Yum’s Blue Eyes and the matting is Bang-Up Blue.

Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what they did with this fun set and comment on each blog. You have one more chance to win one of the stamp sets to be released in July.

Here is the Blog Hop LINE UP:

June Guest Designer- Samantha
Nancyruth

Lois (that’s me)

Vicky

Jeanne
Anne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Liz
Claudine
Dawn
Mark’s Finest Papers

MFP Blog Hop - Day Three and Stampin'B's Challenge

Mark's Finest Papers Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY! For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs on June 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. On Saturday (June 12th), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! 4 different winners, one winner for each day. THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning! The 4 Winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12,, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month.

My first card is serving two purposes – the Stampin’B’s challenge for this week and also Day 3 of the Blog Hop. Today's set is called More of Speedy the Cat's Friends.

Joanne (jojot) was hostess for the Stampin’B’s challenge this week –her challenge was to make a seashore card. I really had to struggle to get a seashore card that would work for the Blog Hop also. I may have been stretching my imagination limits with this card. The spaniel is the stamp from More of Speedy the Cat’s Friends, and I think he’s trying to decide if he’s up to surfing. (Check this out!) I incorporated a few stamps from MFP’s Tropical Vacation on my card also. The most fun was making the surfboard, which is actually a Spellbinders die from the Surf’s Up Shapeabilities set. All of the background is sponged, masking the sections as I went along.

I’m not really a cat person, but this kitty is so cute and fluffy that I loved making this fancy card for her. Her little rug is made with suede paper in shades of pink. To make this as feminine as possible, after stamping the sentiment in Palette Moulin Rouge, I added the rhinestone flourish to the Basic Grey Green at Heart DP. To dress her up in style I added her sparkly collar with the red heart.


Don’t forget -- For another chance to win a free stamp set, be sure to visit the blogs of the rest of the design team and comment on each.

The Blog Hop line-up is:

June Guest Designer- Samantha
Nancyruth

Lois (that’s me)

Vicky

Jeanne
Anne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Claudine
Liz
Mark’s Finest Papers

MFP Blog Hop - Day Two

Mark's Finest Papers Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY! For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs on June 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. On Saturday, (June 12th), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! 4 different winners, one winner for each day. THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning! The 4 Winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month.

Again I have created two cards with today’s set – Pears and Hollyhocks (one for the pear and one for the hollyhocks).

Let me tell you up front, I just love this pear. I did a simple card -- similar, but not identical, to one we had made at Faith’s technique retreat in May. I scored in 1/2 inch on all four sides of the card and then centered the Labels One nestability diecut. The pear and diecut are sponged with Memento Dandelion and Pear Tart. The orange ribbon matches the flowers on the pear, and the pear charm was my final touch.

The layout for my second card was an old sketch challenge (#135) on SCS. It’s pretty self-explanatory – stamped in black, colored with Copics, and a few rhinestones. I added some sponging with Memento Pear Tart. The hummingbird is popped up on a pop dot. The hardest part was getting the corners lined up right.

Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what they did with this lovely set and comment on each blog. You have a chance to win one of the stamp sets to be released in July.

Here is the Blog Hop LINE UP

June Guest Designer- Samantha
Nancyruth

Lois (that’s me)

Vicky

Jeanne
Anne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Joanne
Julia
Cathleen
Claudine

Mark’s Finest Papers

MFP Blog Hop - Day One

Mark's Finest Papers Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY! For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs on June 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. On Saturday, (June 12th), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! 4 different winners, one winner for each day. THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning! The 4 Winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month.

I’ve got two cards for today’s set – Believe in You

During the recent Virtual Stamp Night on SCS, one of the challenges was to do something new. I had never done a Recessed Window card and liked the result so much that I decided to make another one for the Blog Hop. The card base is a wonderful shade of green from Mark’s Finest Papers called August Greens, and the DP is from the Basic Grey paper pad Capella. The hummingbird is stamped with Palette Noir Black and colored with Copic markers. After stamping the sentiment, I sponged around the edges of the white cardstock with Palette Landscape to soften them. The two circles were added to give some interest to the frame.

For my second card I chose the large egret and cut him out using the largest Labels Nine Nestabilities. To get the mat, I turned the solid DP over and drew around the outside of the die – then cut it out with scissors. The scene is colored with Copic markers and sponged around the edges. The only embellishments are the six Martha Stewart pearls.

Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what they did with this lovely set. And remember, you have a chance to win one of the stamp sets to be released in July.

Here is the Blog Hop LINE UP:

June Guest Designer- Samantha
Nancyruth

Lois (that’s me)

Vicky

Jeanne
Anne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Mark’s Finest Papers

Featured Stamper -- Pleated Ribbon

Today's Featured Stamper on SCS was Nikki Schmaltz. Her gallery was new to me, but I certainly enjoyed looking through it. I found a card she made back in November of last year that I decided to CASE -- Plum Flourished.

My version has the same layout and feel, but I changed the colors -- and a few other things. I liked the rounded corners, so I kept them.






In place of the stamped flourishes, I used some Reflections rhinestone flourishes I found at Michaels the last time I was there. This week's Crazy4Challenges cards were to include pleats. I've not done that before -- mainly because I really didn't like the look of the staples or stitching which is usually used to keep the pleats in place. I found that, if you use LOTS of Scor-Tape, you can get the pleats to stay -- without the distraction that the staples or stitching usually causes. I had just enough of this pretty ribbon left from Mark's Finest Papers Premium Paper Craft Pack -- I've Got the Blues . . . and Greens for the pleated ribbon and little tab. The rose, which is colored with Faber-Castell pencils and Gamsol, is from Mark's Finest Papers set called Spring Roses and the sentiment is from MFP Ladybugs and Carnation.

Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Spring Roses, Ladybugs and Carnation
Paper - SU Taken With Teal, Shimmer White
Ink - Palette Raw Sienna, SU Taken With Teal
Accessories - MS lace border punch, Reflections rhinestone flourish, Faber-Castell pencils, Gamsol, Ribbon

Stampin'B Challenge #61 - Masculine Card

Vicki Dutcher was hostess for the Stampin'Bs challenge this week and asked us to create a masculine card. As I make birthday cards for the residents of an assisted living facility, I’m always needing masculine cards – so this was a welcome challenge.




This is a pretty simple card – the double trees (from MFP Our Family Tree) were stamped in Tim Holtz Distressed inks: Wild Honey, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain. They were then cut out using Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles and matted twice, once in Deepest Mahogany and once in Basic Grey Archaic DP. Both the tree panel (Corn Husk) and the card base (Naturals Collection Ivory) were sponged with Wild Honey. The sentiment is cut out with the largest Spellbinders Double-Ended Tag die.

All materials on this card are available at Mark’s Finest Papers.

We'd love for you to play along with us.

Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Our Family Tree
Paper - MFP Naturals Collection Ivory, Corn Husk, Deepest Mahogany; Basic Grey Archaic
Ink - Tim Holtz Distress: Wild Honey, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain
Accessories - Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles and Double-Ended Tags, Brads, Sponge daubers

Graduation 2010

About a week ago, I made a graduation card for my grandson. One of the women in my office saw it and asked if I would make a similar one for her son, who is also graduating this year.

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The card on the left is for my grandson, who graduates next week. His school colors are blue and silver, and their nickname is The Silver Hawks. I went onto the school's website and found a drawing of a silver hawk just the right size. The repeating school name and "Class of 2010" were computer-generated.

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My friend's son's school nickname is The Warriors. I had to scramble to get that logo because 1) I couldn't find the warrior without words around it; and 2) it was way too big. A little bit of computer magic and some white-out, and I was successful.

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The mortarboards are actually the envelopes. The orange tassel was originally a yellow bookmark tassel, which I colored with an orange marker. The silver one is silver cord wrapped several times around a CD case and cut.