Bar Betties

Recipe
Card stock...really rust, wild wasabi, SU apple cider dp, river rock, white
ink... SU markers, bb
embellies...ribbon, stickles

Happy April Fools Day!
I wanted to come up with something really clever, but was really feeling totally uninspired. My working conditions are really starting to bother me and I find that it is just too hard to work in a very messy area. I really need to do something about that but don't have the energy to deal with it. So I'm throwing it all away! Ha Ha! April Fools!
This is another stamp image from the American Art Stamp co. I think it's funny. While I was coloring in these two gals I was reminded of a woman my family and I met while we were in Venice, Italy. We were on a yacht departing from the Hotel Cipriani and this couple comes onto the yacht. She and her husband were spending the summer in Venice at the Cipriani. This is one of the most expensive resorts that Venice has to offer, maybe even one of the finest in the world. (We had just stopped there to have one of their world famous Belinis! 6 Belinis cost $150! When my kids asked if they could have another one, my husband and I said in unison "NO!") anyway, they were very nice, but we couldn't help but notice her hair. it was the most outrageous hair color and hair style that we had seen. Bright blue and purple mixed together...not your typical blue rise that the older woman tend to get, and crazily (((is that a word?))) styled, spiked and just all over the place. At first I thought that she was Phyllis Diller! My kids couldn't stop staring at her. I on the other hand couldn't take my eyes off her 6 + carat diamond ring! LOL!
Enjoy!
I hope that your all having a magnificient day and that the pranks were kept to a minimum!
thanks for visiting!
Smiles, :)
Lorraine

Watering Birthday

Recipe:
Stamps...American Art Stamp , Watering & SU , Circle of Friendship
Paper....K & Company dp, always artichoke, mellow moss, white
ink... always artichoke, mellow moss, rose red
embellies...ribbon, baubles, stickles

I am so sorry that this photo is not as clear as it should be. i just couldn't get a good shot of it. It was a dreary day here in New York and the little bit of sunshine that filters into my dungeon was absent. ( I just can't wait to move out of the basement...but then I'll be up on the third floor of my house. this subject can be it's own post! lol!)
This is a card that i made for my niece, Christie who is now 22 years old. I missed her birthday when I was in California visiting my son. So today I wanted to take a little time and make her a card. I wanted to use one of my new images from the American Art Stamp co...and I actually had another image in mind but couldn't resist working with this one. I'm still not sure if I am as in love with this as I thought that i would be. I was totally attracted to this image, but it is so out of my comfort zone. I started with all different colors and then I came across this dp from K & Company that was so pretty (still new and unused) and decided to use that. That meant that i had to throw away the first stamped image that i had colored in. Hey, it's just paper, right? lol! So here it is...a totally different card than I had intended to make. I'm still not sure that i'm loving it...but since I'm so belated to begin with I had just better mail this out!
Thanks for the visit.
Smiles :)
Lorraine

Listen, honey...You can't scare me!

Yeah! I had a little time for myself today and stamped this card for my sister who lives in California.
My sister, Michele is a Special Ed teacher in a High School. She is absolutely terrific and everyone loves her. She is vivacious, compassionate, warm and caring. And she's one tough cookie.
Before I left for California I had ordered some stamps from the American Art Stamp Co. When I saw this stamp, I knew that I had to have it to make her a card. Little did I know then that this image would be so apropos! (I have no affiliation with this company, but check them out...they have some really neat images)
While we were having dinner one night she was telling us of a situation that arose in her class room. One of her students would not take off his sunglasses and she suspected that he was high on something so she asked him to remove his sunglasses. He refused and then started to curse at her. She removed him from the classroom and took him to the office where he created such a scene that the principle came out of his office and asked what the problem was. The student became belligerent and threatened her life! He was expelled from school and a threat assessment team was brought in! I know that this in not funny at all. it's actually quite serious. She just shrugs it off as if it's something that occurs everyday. Amazing!
So for all of the teachers out there, Thank you for all that you do!
I used some of the new paper that I purchased from SU. You really can't see it in the picture but I used the textured paper in Night of Navy. This paper is fab!
Smiles :)
Lorraine

Recipe:
Stamps: SU Looks like Spring BG stamp, American Art Stamp co. - Teacher
Paper: White, night of navy, summer sun
Ink: bb, su markers
embellies: ribbon, prima flowers and brads

Ginger Blossom Valentine

I'm still working with the SCS sketch challenge SC162. However the layout is flipped a little bit. I used Ginger Blossom DP and am still using my Gina K designs stamp set Just So Hippy. I am in love with this set! OMG! It is so much fun to play with this!
This is the 2nd Valentine made. 5 more to go! I may not have time to post tomorrow, so i'm posting this now.
Thanks for peeking in!
Lorraine



Recipe:
stamps: Gina K Designs , Just So Hippy
paper: Ginger Blossom DP, cameo coral, groovy guava, river rock, ruby red
ink: Su markers, bb
embellies: prima flowers and brads, baubles

Hippy Love

Playing with the Sketch Challenge SC162. Wow, lots of layers... Lots of measuring. Working with the sketch challenges takes me a little out of my comfort zone, but it takes me beyond the simple sketches that i always seem to fall back on. LOL
I used this sketch to make one of the many Valentines that must be made before i leave for Florida.
I still had the Berry Bliss paper on my desk and used it with my new set from Gina K., called Just So Hippy. I think it's really cute. I'm going to have to play with this set a little more!
Thanks for checking in!
Lorraine




Recipe:
Stamps: Just So Hippy, by Gina K
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pom, close to cocoa, Berry Bliss Dp
Ink: bb, Purely Pom
Embellies: May Arts Sheer Polka Dot Ribbon, brads,baubles, stickles

Chelsea's 18th is coming!

My oldest daughter, Chelsea will be 18 this Saturday. The day that she was born is still so vivid to me! Right after I delivered her the doctor put her on my stomach and she immediately pooped! I just looked at the doctor and said to him...Is this what i have to look forward too? we both laughed.
I made this card a little early...i have a very busy week. I am leaving on Sunday to go to Florida. I am meeting my sister there and we will be visiting with my father. He lives on the ocean and the view is amazing. I'll take pictures so that i can share them with you when i come back. I need to make some Valentines' Day cards before i leave! ugghhhh




this is another Rubber Romance Diva. The owner of the company sells them on a site called Etsy.com, her seller name is burnt cookie. Shipping is only $2 per order. (I am not affiliated with this company at all...just like to pass on a great deal when i can!)
I opened up another new pack of dp called berry bliss and started designing around the paper. I colored her in with su markers and some water coloring...and then sponged...i just love sponging. lol

Recipe:
Stamps: Rubber Romance, Nan & SU Whimsical Numbers
card stock: pretty in pink, white, close to cocoa, purely pom, & DP Berry Bliss
embellies: ribbon, prima flowers, baubles, stickles


It's warm here in NY. 62 degrees, but not a pretty day. i hope that where ever you are you have sunshine!
thanks for stopping by.
Lorraine

Cowgirls Have It.

I went into my dungeon to make a birthday card for my daughter. She is going to be 18 this saturday, but while cleaning up my desk i came across this sentiment from rubber stamp ave and decided to stamp a card using it. i am so happy with the outcome of this card! Carrie and some sass! LOL
i started off by picking out the dp i was going to use. i just had to open my new package of western sky from su. i used my su markers to color her in and also did a little bit of water coloring. lots of sponging and i fell in love!
i hope that you are having a wonderful day!
thanks for stopping by!
lorraine

recipe:
stamps: carrie from rubber romance, sentiment "cowgirls have it" from rubber stamp ave
card stock: du dp western sky, soft sky, blue bayou, river rock, white
ink: bb, river rock, blue bayou, soft sky, ruby red, creamy caramel
embellies: prima flowers essentials, bauble from m's, velvet ric rac ribbon from may arts

Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes

boy or girl, no one knows!

I have a friend, yup, i got me one...her name is Maria. We met each other through our sons and have become great friends. we have beach days together, family vacations together, girls nights out and over the years have shared many laughs and tears together. we have all these dates in common. my daughter and her son have the same birthday, my son's birthday is her wedding anniversary, her daughters birthday is the same day that my mother passed, ...are you getting the picture? cause there are more! LOL!
she has 4 kids...boy, girl, boy, girl... like me... and she is always on the go. she is one busy working mom.
in passing she tells me...Did i tell you?...my sister Christine is having her first baby at 40, can you imagine... and i'm throwing her a shower. I need 50 invitations! Don't you have something already made up that i can use?...I just laughed at that one...yup, just go to the card rack and pick them out babe! i'm sure you'll find 50 baby shower themed cards in that rack! LMAO!
so this is what i finally came up with. we don't know if Christine is having a boy or a girl...and i was struggling with colors...i tried the yellow and green, the lilac and yellow and just didn't like anything. and then i thought hey, what's wrong with pink and blue. no time to shop and put a SU order in so i had to use what i had in my stash.
let me know what you think...or if you have any suggestions...these were kind of a rush job...lol
thanks and have a great day!
recipe:
stamps: Simple Somethings, SU
card stock: confetti white, dp paper from sams club
ink: bb, bashful blue, pretty in pink
embellies: ribbon, glitter glue, mega and jumbo punches, pop up's

Black Belt!

My sister in law, Kelli just earned her black belt. She has worked so hard to accomplish this..years of training. (Now Kelli is a tiny little thing. If she weighs 100 pounds i would be very surprised. but she had always had this amazing upper body strength! When we all get together to make homemade raviollis, she's in charge of making the dough! and we make lots of dough! )
I wanted to make a little something for her to let her know how proud we are of her. I also wanted to keep it simple. I knew that i wanted to add a belt to this card and wanted that to be the main image on the card.
I stamped white paper with versa mark and then heat embossed it with black ep. used my ticket corner punch, added some brads on each corner. I stamped Congratulations on white paper with black ink, and then framed it with black cs. I tied black ribbon around the band, secured the ribbon with 2 black flower brads and used 2 jewelry charms for the belt buckle and looped the black ribbon through it. It's very simple, but i know that she will get a kick out of this when she receives it!
Thanks for visiting!
Lorraine

Where's the MOJO?

I think that i have lost my MOJO. I'm just not in the mood. However, i did see this challenge over on SCS for this Dahlia Flower and thought that i would try it. I combined it with the SC161 layout challenge. I thought that this would be so much fun to do. well if you like origami, i think that you would. I first used my mega circle punch to make the dahlia flower. OMG! so big.so then i used my 1 3/8 inch circle punch. much better! i was putting all my layers together and i just didn't like it so i punched out some circles, the directions says to punch out 8, however for some reason i needed 9. I have about 27 different circles punched out.if anyone wants them let me know, i'll be happy to send them to you as i don't see myself making many more of these flowers...primas are so much easier! i just couldn't find my mojo making this. This is the best of what i was able to come up with. Let me know what you think!
Recipe:
Card stock: Pixie Pink, Paper from Sams Club
Ink: elegant eggplant
stamps: Warmest Regards

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!

RAK

What a wonderful surprise for me when i opened my mail today. I received this RAK from Stacy. It was so kind of her to think of me, with all that i have been going through. She is so sweet. It made my day! Visit Stacy's blog. She is one of my SBS sisters and has some wonderful creations.

This picture does not do the card justice at all. it's beautiful! The butterflies are cut out and popped up. the shimmer white paper is just a stunning way to showcase these fluttering butterflies. Thanks so much Stacy. You really made me smile.

She loves me!

Yesterday I received some sad news.! My "Aunt" Margie passed away. She really wasn't my aunt, she was one of my moms best friends. When i was little and i would run away from home i used to run away to her house. She lived 3 houses away! As i got older I would still run away to her house! lol! she was a cool lady and i loved to sit and talk to her. so many great memories... i'll miss her. so this card is for Margie...i loved her and she loved me!
If i do not post for a few days, i'm sure that you will understand.

Recipe:
Stamps: HM - She loves me!
paper: going gray, black, white, pixie pink, & unknown dp
ink: bb, pixie pink, wild wasabi, prisma color pencils and gamasol
embellies: ribbon, prima flowers, stickles, rhinestones, heart brad

New Rubber

it's always fun to play with new rubber! This stamp is from the Rubbernecker stamp co. ( i'm not affiliated with them in anyway)
I don't know if this is supposed to be a boy frog or a girl frog, but isn't this frog adorable?! I opened up my new package of dp from SU called ginger blossom and took it from there. I watercolored the image and sponged around the edges with a dauber. I also distressed the paper with the ink pads direct to paper. There's so much going on...ribbon on the corners , ribbon on the bottom, frayed ribbon, prima flowers, brads and stickles completed this card.
This card measures 5 inches square.
recipe
stamp: Frog with flowers from the Rubbernecker Co.
card stock: Groovy Guava, River rock, ruby red, cameo coral. SU ginger blossom dp
ink: river rock, groovy guava, ruby red, close to cocoa
embellies: ribbon, brads, stickles

It feels good to be back

It felt so good to be able to go into my dungeon (my craft space is in the basement...soon to be moved to another location...more on that later) and make something today. I haven't done anything in so long i felt like i was back to card making 101!
I made this for my brother in law, Rick. It took me more time that i care to admit! lol! Lots of stitching on this and i used my cropodile to make faux brads! His birthday is this Sunday. Happy Birthday Rick!
recipe
stamps: Wanted, Circle of Friendship
card stock ; outlaw dp, sage shadow, really rust, close to cocoa and chocolate chip
ink: vanilla craft & choc chip
embellies: choc chip ribbon, star brads, and clear baubles (the baubles i found at M's in the floral department)

Hoppy Birthday, Jack!

This is a card made for my nephew, Jack who is going to be 5 years old. For Christmas he wanted this frog game so we bought it for him. He called me Christmas morning gushing because he loved the game so much. He was so excited. So for his birthday i thought that i would keep the frog theme going.
Let me know what you think. i think that he's really cute!
Recipe:
Stamps: Penny Black Leaping Frog with flower, Sentiment SU Unfroggetable
Cardstock: Old Olive, Summer Sun, White, SU Dashing DP
Ink: Old Olive, Summer Sun & copic markers
Embellies: M's Ribbon, rain drops, brad, and baubles(found these in the floral department at M's!)

and the winner is...

Picked by random number site...Congratulations to Kerry J, She said "We're going to GA and FL next month too! We're taking the kids to Disney and then driving back to hubby's parents place in Atlanta for a week or so. Hubby also has a conference to go to in Atlanta. I'd love to go on a cruise with my hubby though - anywhere - I'm not picky!" please email me (Gabbie96@aol.com) your snail mail address so that i can get these out to you.

Wow...so many comments left for travel destinations! Isn't it wonderful just to think about it. Who knows, maybe that thought will lead you to a reality and you'll be able to take that trip of your dreams.
Here's a card that i made for the Splitcoast challenge for a Kick Stand card. i thought i'd post it here, cause it's so apropos.
The Filigree BG and the Eifel tower were stamped with Versa Fine and them embossed with black ep.

Recipe:
Card Stock: black and vanilla
Ink: Black , craft vanilla
Stamps: Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps - French Mail, SU - Filigree BG
Embellies: sheer black ribbon, versa fine, black ep, clear ep, vanilla pearls from the Pretties Kit

Riveting Thank You's!

I finally finished my thank yous!
The other day while on the forums over at SCS i saw this thread about Anna Griffin stamps. Someone was inquiring if anyone had ever used them and if they liked them. I saw some interesting responses, one person said that she disliked them so much that they were going into the trash! I got all frantic, because i knew that i had a set that i purchased off ebay and had never used it. Did i need to trash it? Well i'm so glad that i didn't. I inked up the tree stamp and it held the ink and made a lovely image. There is such beautiful detail in the tree itself...i was very impressed. These lovely trees turned into my lovely thank you notes! LOL!
The Janome still had the rust thread in it from my dh birthday card so i stitched away and then stitched some more.
I used my hodgepodge, which never seems to get used...i never seem to know what to do with it! LOL!
The brushed copper paper from SU gave it the finishing touch that i was looking for!
Thanks for looking and have a great day!
Recipe:
stamps: Anna Griffin - In the Garden, SU - Riveting
card stock: choc chip, really rust, brushed copper, and white (i should have used vanilla but am all out...my order is taking a long time to come!)
Ink: choc chip, really rust, Tim Holtz Distressed Fired Red and Tea Dye
Embellies: Circle punches, thread, ribbon, hodgepodge

Punch Art

This is something that is so different for me to do. I was inspired by a card made by my sister in law, Elizabeth. Not hard to do at all. just perfect snips! lol!
It's like Spring here in New York. 68 degrees. Doesn't this look like Spring too?
Stamp 4 petals for the wings and then carefully cut them out. I stamped them with certainly celery. Punch 3 1/2 inch cirlces and 3 3/4 inch circles. Layer your punched circles starting with the smaller ones and then add your bigger ones. draw two lines for the antanae and add silver brads! then add your wings! all done!
Thanks for stopping in.
Recipe:
Cardstock: choc chip, white, certainly celery
Stamps: Pick a Petal, & Stem Sayings
Ink: Choc Chip
Punches: 1/2 inch circle, 3/4 inch circle punches

Zoe Bella

My daughter has the coolest snowboard get up evah! It's chocolate chip, with cool caribbean and white paisley print. So cool. she looks so hot when she's on the slopes...my little black diamond boarder! She was invited to go with her friend to their ski house. We always go to Vermont, to Smugglers Notch the week between Christmas and New Years! This was the first time in 12 years that we didn't go. So when the opportunity came up for her I thought it was a wonderful thing.
When i saw this stamp on StampingBella. i just knew that i wanted it. She's called Daisyboardbella. and i knew that i wanted to try to make her boaring outfit just like my bella! What an ordeal. first i stamped the paisley bg stamp onto choc chip with cool caribbean. that didn't work. (it's the first background layer) then i stamped chocolate chip on the cool caribbean with the paisley bg stamp. getting there, but still not it. (it's the panel behind the image) then i tried dtp (direct to paper) with the chocolate chip on the cool caribbean and stamped the paisley with cool caribbean. this was looking better. I paper pieced her outfit, added the May Arts sheer polka dot ribbon, some prims hydrenga flowers and some stickles and she was done. What i need to do is find some chocolate chip, cool caribbean and white paisley printed paper! I showed the card to my Zoebella and she started cracking up! She thinks i am a nut!
No recipe for this card. i've already explained it all. lol!

A Birthday Card

My husbands birthday was yesterday. I felt so bad for him. His cousin died suddenly and he had to attend his funeral. Not the way you want to spend your birthday. I didn't stamp anything on the inside of this card. I just wrote him a nice note letting him know how much he was loved, especially on his day.
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Enjoy!
Recipe:
Stamps: Wanted, Bronc Buster, Warmest Regards
Paper: Outlaw DP, Really Rust, Vanilla. Sage Shadow, Choc. chip
Embellies: Brads, Ribbon, and yarn