THANK GOD FOR STAMPING!

Truly! I am so grateful to the Lord for providing me with the ability to create. There is so much going on in the lives of the people that I love that I have been getting tension headaches, muscle aches etc. But then I go into my little craft room, pull out a set of stamps, some paper and some pretties and soon the tension begins to ease (not the sadness - but the tension). I truly am thankful for a God who understands the release that creativity produces.

I visited with my brother and his family last night. My SIL has decided to stop chemo and all artificial means of prolonging her life after a VERY long battle with cancer. I will miss her and will grieve not only her absence but also the after-effects my brother and his children will suffer without her. When I left their home I closed myself in my stamp room and began re-visiting the card I posted yesterday. The tension began draining away.

I used the same color scheme on this card but did not use Groovy Guava cardstock at all. This card is much more "me". The layout was inspired by the Wednesday Sketch Challenge on Splitcoaststampers - but I did change it up a bit. The image is from Stampin'Up's Beautiful Blooms set and was stamped in the center of a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink. Without reinking the stamp I randomly stamped 3 other images onto the cardstock. The main image was colored with Cameo Coral and Pretty in Pink markers for the flower and Sage Shadow and Always Artichoke markers for the leaves. The fainter images are Pretty in Pink flowers and Sage Shadow leaves. The background is stamped in Close to Cocoa using the Itty Bitty Backrounds set also from Stampin' Up. The flourish images are stamped in Craft white ink with a clear acrylic stamp from Hobby Lobby called "Swirls". I added faux stictcing and dots and finished the card by placing the brad and ribbon as if the image were framed and hanging on a wall.

This second image is for a recipe book I am giving to one of my nieces for her bridal shower on Sunday. The Smokey Mountains always bring back good memories for me as my parents took us camping there every year as I was growing up. I am fortunate that my niece share's my love of the Smokies and it's variety of foods. Chow Chow is one of her favorites. (Along with the Corn Chowder served at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge!!!) The image is not stamped but is an original drawing from my Matt n Mandy line. Someday I hope to release my own stamp line of round faced children - but haven't made the right connections yet. We'll see what God has in store.

Thanks for visiting and sharing my work and my woes. I appreciate your interest and the validation of what I enjoy.

As always I would ask that you leave a comment when you visit. Just lets me know who is reading and also makes me very HAPPY! :)

Have a wonderful day, give thanks for your blessings, and take time each day to do something that brings you joy.

Jill

I WON AN AWARD!!!!!

I opened my email this morning to find that I was honored with this award by a new blogging friend named Julia. She has a great blog with LOTS of cute cards and wonderful ideas so if you have a chance, go check out her work.

Here is a sample of one of her cards. Isn't it adorable!!!!

There are rules that come with receiving this award because, well - it's just important to share! The rule are:

1. Pass the award on to 5 other bloggers (5 and only 5 - and no re-awarding the one who gave it to you).

2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog (which is going to be difficult for me because I have only been blogging for a couple of weeks and don't think I have any dedicated followers who blog!)

3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog (which will be EASY as everyone visiting my blog is NEW) and live in another part of the world.

4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

I have chosen the following people to award - their work is wonderful!

Julie Buhler

Faith Hofrichter

Sharon Johnson

Krista Quick

Kittie Caracciolo

Take a peek at their blogs to see the beautiful work they do! They have inspired me and you will leave their sites with tons of ideas. Thanks for stopping by here to visit me and share in my award! It TRULY made my day!!!!

GETTING INTO THE GROOVE

Yesterday's color combination challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to use Groovy Guava, Sahara Sand and Whisper White on the same card (or scrapbook page etc). I thought it would be easy - Sahara Sand and Whisper White being so Neutral - but then when I sat down with the colors in hand I realized I had NO IDEA what to do with them! So I began building - layer by layer.

Since I'm not one that goes for the brighter, vibrant colors and like the muted tones best I decided that the Sahara Sand - or in my case Kraft cardstock,since I don't have Sahara Sand - should be the top layer to tone things down a bit. I cut all my cardstock first so that all the layers would be the right size and punched a scallop circle from each of the Groovy Guava and Kraft cardstocks. I don't have Groovy Guava ink but the Cameo Coral works very well with the Groovy Guava so I stamped the floral image from the Stampin' Up Boho Background set and punched it with a 1 1/2" circle punch. Then I sponged Cameo Coral around the edges of all the pieces Whisper White and Groovy Guava cardstock and sponged Creamy Caramel around the edges of the pieces of Kraft Cardstock.

Using a flourish stamp from Hobby Lobby I randomly stamped the rectangular pieces of cardstock using white pigment ink. Once dried I adhered the pieces on the card before stitching into place. I added the Groovy Guava Ribbon sticking into place at the knot with a glue dot and popping up the medallion with Dimensionals. I added the white dots around the medallion and rectangular pieces with Stampin'Ups white gel pen (the only one I've EVER found that works!), popped the brads into place and finished the card by stamping the sentiment (also from Hobby Lobby) in Chocolate Chip.

I hope you enjoyed looking at this card. Remember to leave a comment if you would be so kind.

May God bless you and keep you safe in His care.

Jill

I KNOW - I CREATED A SCENE.

Actually - this scene is still part of the Splitcoaststampers Dare to Get Dirty Challenges. Apparently you have to be a Fan Club member to view all the posts - but you can see my entries in my Splitcoast gallery.

This card was definitely a challenge for me as it required using two stamps, masking the first image before stamping the lighthouse and then masking both stamped images before creating the sky and sand. I used sponge daubers to create the multi-colored sky and colored the images using Julie Buhler's "No Copics, No Problem" technique.

Thanks for looking. Oh - and leave a comment if you would be so kind. That way I have an idea if anyone is looking! :)

SO MUCH FOR MY DAILY POST!

I know - the plan was to post a stamped creation to my blog every day as inspiration to get everyone "stamp happy" - but then people I care about are hurting and somehow a blog post about stamping didn't seem to be of real importance. There were people and relationships that took priority. There are many sad things going on right now in the lives of people I care about - and if any of you who believe in God's ability to provide strength and comfort would be willing, I would ask that you pray for the Jim Phillips family as he lost his wife this past week. I would also ask that you pray for Jeff & LuAnn and their children as they face the final weeks of her battle with cancer. Finally, I ask that you pray for safe travel for my sister Jody as she travels home to be with our brother's family during this difficult time.

I did stamp a little on Sunday evening and participated in the Dare To Get Dirty Challenges for FanClub Members on Splitcoaststampers (SCS). This card was inspired by the layout sketch by Holly, aka Toy on SCS.

It was a very easy card to put together. I started by stamping the sentiment using a stamp from the "With Gratitude" set from Stampin'Up. I used the Coluzzle to cut the ovals from Very Vanilla and Pumpkin Pie cardstock and sponged Creamy Caramel ink along the edge of the Very Vanilla oval and Pumpkin Pie Ink along the edge of the Pumpkin Pie oval. TheVery Vanilla oval is PURPOSELY off-center of the Pumpkin Pie oval. The designer paper rectangle is from a Hobby Lobby paperpack (Old World I think) and the flowers were from a pack from Walmart. In the center of each flower I glued an amber colored Gemstone that I purchased from The Keepsake Element in Bloomington, Illinois. Next, I tore leaf shapes from SU Always Artichoke cardstock, scored the veins using the bone folder and adhered into place under the flower petals. The final step to finish the card was to use a Chocolate Chip marker and apply the dots around the More Mustard card front and the two ovals.

That's it for today. If you would like to see the other cards I made this weekend you can see them in my Splitcoaststampers gallery. Until the next time, may God bless you and keep you and those you love, safe within his care.

Jill

MAKING UP FOR YESTERDAY

If you read my post from yesterday you know that I was extremely frustrated at the length of time it took me to make just ONE card. Tonight however, I was on a roll and created 3 cards from conception to completion in about 3 hours. That still seems like a long time per card - but the vellum card was pretty detailed.

The cards are part of the "Dare to Get Dirty" challenges on Splitcoaststampers.

The first one is from Monday's challenge: DTGD08LAURIE - GOT VELLUM?

This is my entry for Michelle's Masculine entry as well as Lauren's Monochromatic Magic.

The final card today is for Jenn Balcer's Wednesday's Challenge to make a card which was inspired by this fanciful cake.

So - that's it for today. Post a comment and let me know what you think or if you want details.

Have a wonderful day and remember to give thanks for your blessings.

BEARY FRUSTRATING

This card was created as part of the Dirty Dozen Ribbon Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. It was a VERY frustrating challenge for me because it was completely BACKWARDS from the way I normally create my cards. I usually start with the image, choose the papers based on the image colors THEN choose my accent pieces. The challenge was to choose the RIBBON first and create a card around the ribbon. This card took me two tries and 2 1/2 hours of placing the ribbon, then replacing the ribbon, adding a bit here and a bit here, etc.

FINALLY a finished card!

I used the Beary Best set from Stampin Up (retired) as my base image and sentiment. Added the craft store ribbon attached to ribbon brads and a silver and red heart shaped brad hanging from one of the bear's paws.

BUTTERFLY BLING

My goal is to complete a minimum of one new card a day. So far - so good. It has now been 5 days and I have met my goal so far.

This card was inspired by a sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers (or so I thought) but since I couldn't turn my computer back on because of the storms I tried to remember the sketch while I was putting this card together. Guess how I did. I got 2 parts right. Number 1: it's a card, Number 2: the rectangular element in the bottom left corner. The oval was supposed to be a circle and the butterfly placement should have been a square of some kind. Oh Well! I still like the card. Once again the color is not EXACT as I took the photo under Fluorescent lights - but it is very close.

Cardstock colors: Whisper White and Brocade Blue

Supplies: Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Stardust Stickles, Brocade Blue, Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Almost Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue & Not Quite Navy Markers, Dimensionals, Blue Jeweled Brads, Barely Blue Organdy Ribbon, Glue Dot, Coordinating Designer Paper

SU Stamp Sets: Seasonal Sprays, Small Script, Natural Beauty (all retired)

DIRECTIONS:

Stamp Daisy image from Seasonal Sprays stamp set onto Whisper White using Stazon Jet Black Ink. Using Coluzzle cut oval just large enough to include all the image. Cut a second, slightly larger oval from Brocade Blue cardstock. Sponge Brocade Blue around the edges of the white oval. Sponge Not Quite Navy around the eges of the Brocade Blue oval. Using the Brocade Blue Marker apply evenly spaced dots around the inner perimeter of the white oval.

Using SU markers, color the leaves using Mellow Moss and shading with Always Artichoke. Color the center of the flowers in Barely Banana and shading with Apricot Appeal. Shade the daisies with Bashful Blue. Apply dots of Stardust Stickles to the flower centers and each of the small flowers.

While the flowers are drying, stamp the butterfly from Natural Beauty onto Whisper White using Stazon Jet Black Ink. I use the Stazon because the Basic Black on Whisper White takes longer to dry and tends to smear into lighter colors. Color the butterfly image with Barely Banana shading with Apricot Appeal. Color the edge of the wings in Bashful Blue and darken the circles in the wings with Not Quite Navy. Apply Stardust Stickles over the butterfly wings. Once dry slightly fold the wings up.

Layer Brocade Blue Card, a piece of 3.75"x5" Whisper White, and a piece of 3.5"x4.75" Designer Paper. Adhere ovals to card front and using a glue dot place the butterfly. Run a Stardust Stickles Border around the edge of the Whisper White Rectangle. Allow to dry.

Stamp "wish" from the Small Scripts stamp set onto Whisper White using Brocade Blue Ink. Punch using a small rectangular punch and glue into hardware using Crystal Effects. Thread Ribbon through eyes on hardware and secure to card using jeweled brads. Once everything is in place, apply Stardust Stickles to hardware.

As always, thanks for taking the time to peek at my work.

Hope you have a blessed day today.

HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!!!

What a morning!!! I woke to the alarm going of at 5:30. All was dark and quiet both inside and outside and the sky was just turning that morning shade of grey until the sun completely pops it's head up over the horizon. I grabbed the cell phone (my alarm) and decided I was going back to sleep for another 15 minutes before I'd get up and take my shower. Just as I closed my eyes I could see flashing lights. Police? Tow Truck? Okay - SLOWLY open those slumbering eyes and I see flashes of lightning. Next thought - "oh - better turn off the computer". As soon as my feet hit the floor all "you know what" breaks loose outside and the tornado siren a block from our house starts blaring. Then the dogs start getting agitated, DH jumps out of bed and runs (fast walks really) to the t.v. to get the news that we are under a severe thunderstorm and tornado warning until 6 a.m. What's a girl to do with that news? No computer because of the lightning. No shower because of the lightning. Can't go back to bed in case a tornado forms over my house and I have to take cover. Aha! Go finish the card I started last night before bed!!! I know, I know. It's really an addiciton!

I always use Stampin' Up Cardstock for my cards (it's the Best!) but the image itself is stamped using Stazon Jet Black Ink on Strathmore 140# Watercolor paper. I've only recently begun using the watercolor paper instead of Whisper White - and I'll not go back. The SU markers blend so beautifully on the WC Paper! I stamped the image 3 times and completely colored one of the images, cutting out the upper half of the card on a diagonal. The 2nd image I colored 3 of the large pink roses, cut them out popped them into place on the 1st image with a Dimensional. The 3rd image I colored ONLY the largest rose and popped it into place with another Dimensional.

Using the scoring blade on my Cutter I scored 1 " diagonal lines on a piece of 4x5.5" Always Artichoke cardstock and adhered the rose image to to it. This was layered onto a Confetti Cream 4.25x5.5" card. The "Always" stamp is from the "Small Script" set and was punched using the small oval punch and glued into the SU Hodgepodge hardware piece using SU Crystal Effects. Two small pieces of Mellow Moss Organdy Ribbon (retired) and Voila! Finis!

I have to tell you - I love how this turned out! It looks so much better IRL - the color in the photo just doesn't do it justice - but you get the idea!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and that the storms of this morning didn't cause anyone too much trouble.

IT WAS A BUSY WEEKEND ...

...so I didn't get a chance to post any messages yesterday. I hosted a stamp class/workshop from 3 p.m. to midnight so there was NO WAY I was going to try to stay up and post to the blog.

One of the wonderful ladies at the class gave me this beautiful card she made. I love it!!!! It was stamped in black ink on CORKBOARD! I had never seen a card made this way - it is so unique and creative. Thank you Lori Lauterbach.


I'm still working on designs for my Christmas cards using Chocolate Chip, Kraft and Very Vanilla Cardstock. These two go together quicker than my two previous attempts. I like the layout of the 4 squares the best - but again it takes more time than the other layout and since I'm making about 75 cards I really want something quick.


I woke up this morning EXHASUTED by the late night last night - but HOUSEWORK will just keep piling up so I forced myself to do the dishes that were waiting for me at midnight (thanks to the wonderful men that live in my house!!!!), vacuum, dust etc. Then I was on a roll so I decided to rearrange my living room which required deep cleaning of all the nooks and crannies as well as removal of the cobwebs from my cathedral ceiling. I HATE cobwebs but since I get dizzy standing on chairs when reaching overhead they have been accumulating for quite some time. Today DH found some extensions in the garage for our shop vac so I was finally able to take those disgusting things down!!!! By the time I finished the early afternoon was gone which left me little time for card-making but where there's a will there's a way and I created ONE card. This is it:

Isn't this image a crack-up. It's a 1997 stamp from PSX. I bought it used last night at the class I held. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. I have two sisters and we have exchanged "3 sisters" pins for the past several years. The first one was a beautiful pewter pin with the 3 sisters holding hands. The next year my oldest sister found a pin and gave it to us for Christmas. It was 3 elephants!!! (Yes - we are LARGE women!) The most recent pin came from my other sister who lives in South Africa. It was a beaded pin of the 3 African women. When I saw this stamp all I could think was "OH MY GOSH!!! It's the three sisters again!"

I used Designer Paper from the SU Afternoon Tea, SU Old Olive and Bayou Blue Cardstock, SU jeweled brads, Watercolor paper and Walmart Grosgrain Ribbon. The inside simply says: Guess Who?


Hope you've had a restful day today. Thanks for looking.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

I had the day off work today to get ready for tomorrow's SU workshop - but I stayed up late last night and was able to get most of the work finished so that I could PLAY today! Yay!!!! So - I decided to work on the design for this years Christmas cards. For the first one I used the SU set "Lovely as a Tree" but decided I really didn't want to Coluzzle 150 ovals to make all the cards I will need. I might try a variation of it though because I really did like the card.

I double stamped the large pine tree from Lovely as a Tree onto Very Vanilla Card Stock then randomly stamped the small spots from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Creamy Caramel. (Anyone who knows me knows which stamp this is cuz it's my favorite!) I sponged the edge in Creamy Caramel and adhered it to the Chocolate Chip Oval. I placed the ovals onto a piece of Kraft card stock that had been stamped in Close to Cocoa using the "Weathered" background stamp from SU. Then I rounded the upper corners of the Kraft Card Stock and the upper corners of the Chocolate Chip card face and adhered them together. The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip and is from the SU set "Holidays & Wishes". To finish the card I cut three small strips of natural twine and tied them together with a small piece of ribbon and stuck them into place with a glue dot.

The second card I made took ALOT longer to make because I had to design, draw and print the image onto watercolor paper using the computer. I love the Hanglar Stanglar stamps - but since you can't purchase them outside of Sweden and Norway I decided to create my own line of round faced children. This drawing is from my "Matt n Mandy" line of drawings. It uses the same color scheme as the card above and also incorporates the "Weathered" background stamp and "Itty Bitty Backgrounds."

I colored the image using Julie Buhler's "No Copics, No Problem" technique. You can view the tutorial video on her blog at http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/no-copics-no-pr.html . I must say the Stampin Up Markers actually blend BETTER than the Copics. See the cheeks - those are Copics that DID NOT blend. I was a little irritated because I had finished the entire card before doing the cheeks and they came out DOTS! Oh well - I will know the next time to use SU markers and do the faces FIRST in case I botch it again!!! LOL. I also thought I might add some Liquid Applique to the tree and the top of the tree stump on the next one.

Hope you enjoyed looking. Until tomorrow -

NEW TO THIS BLOGGING STUFF . . .

I've never blogged before - if that's really even the correct use of the term - but I have recently been visiting the sites of other stampers and have been impressed with what they have done. Therefore - here I am giving it a go.

I'm a big fan of the Splitcoaststampers website: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

and get great ideas, encouragement and inspiration from the many talented artists showcased on that site. Today I was able to join in on the "Ways to Use It" challenge: Spice it Up.

I drew and pieced the chili peppers then layered them onto SU Whisper White Card Stock with the edges sponged in Real Red. Using Real Red and Creamy Caramel ink I stamped one of the images from the Stampin' Up Itty Bitty Background set around the peppers. The image was then framed using Stampin' Up Cardstock in Real Red, Garden Green and Whisper White. I attached red brads to the four corners then adhered the image to the card. Using a white gel pen I added the words "hot stuff" and the faux stitching around the bottom portion of the card. The last step was to add Crystal Effects to the lower area of the image and sprinkle on some crushed red pepper flakes.

It was a fun challenge - even though when I first came across it I thought it would be impossible to do! The inside of the card reads: jalapenos, chili peppers, tobasco sauce and YOU! I think it's DH Valentine's card for next year!!!!