Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Time to scare you!



BOO! Are you scared?

Flying Al from justjohanna stamps, Doodlebug papers & stickers, and QK Uptown Girl.

This one was in October '07 Cards magazine and was my first pub with them.

Happy Mischief Night and thanks for visiting the blog today.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Another sentiment quandary.




I was torn between "High there!", "Thanks for the support", and "Friends in High Places", so I decided the heck with it and copped out.

The fun thing about this card, other than the ever-so-cute justjohanna stamps, is that I chose old, but beloved/hoarded patterned paper and spritzed it with Glimmer Mist, which updated the papers with a nice shimmery sparkly shine. That stuff is such fun to use. A spritz adds so much!

Sadly, I doubt you can see the effect because my scanner does not like shiny and shimmery. Feh. Oh well.

Thanks for visiting!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Dreary Friday & Tag, you're it!



It's cold, overcast, damp, and dreary here today, which is Friday, even if the date says Wednesday. Blech. So, here's a cup of tea/cocoa/coffee to brighten your day.

Stamps are justjohanna. The patterned paper has been in my stash forever and I kept it when I paper purged last spring. I'm glad I did because it does work well with that stamp.

Now here's the "Tag, you're it!" part of the post. My friend, Donna, tagged me, but I don't know enough bloggers that would actually answer the questions, so if you're reading this, "Tag, you're it!" Post back to let me know that you ran with it. *grin*

Here are the rules!
1) Link to your tagger, and also post these rules on your blog; 2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird; 3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs; and 4) Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my facts.
1. Sometimes I crave chocolate candy. I know, that's not weird at all.

Here's the odd part. Just buying the candy satisfies that craving. When I was working, I'd buy a candy bar, stick it in my drawer, and discover it months later after it had "bloomed". Now I just buy it and give it to my dh. That works since he's a thin guy and can use some calories.

2. I used to play the violin and wasn't too bad. I quit after I told the high school orchestra leader what I thought of him. In very plain terms.

He still remembered me six years later when he encountered my sister.

3. I'm a night owl and am usually up til 3:00 a.m.

4. Lost is my favorite show ever and not just because Sawyer is serious eye candy. I would most definitely not put him in a drawer for later. *guffaw*

5. I still haven't read the last Harry Potter book because I don't want for the series to end. So for me, it hasn't. This drives my dd to distraction because she wants to talk about it with me.

6. I have the car of my dreams. I dream small. Petey, my burgundy PT Cruiser, is great, though he goes too fast. It's the turbo's fault. Not mine. Now why didn't my own personal police officer believe that? (He's mine because he gave me a warning and then ticketed me twice within a year - *sigh*)

7. This is a secret. I get a huge kick out of the teenager. She's fun to spend time with, when she's not being totally annoying, procrastinating, or being a slob.

8. Here's a freebie. I love taking surveys because I'm ever so opinionated. And I'm usually right too. *snort*

I don't understand why political campaign people never call me for to complete a survey or for my opinion!

So, tag you're it!

Aren't you glad you visited today?

Thanks!

Monday, October 22, 2007

She's an overachiever!



Priscilla le Chef dreams big and is definitely a "Type A" personality and an overachiever! Just look at the size of that cupcake.

Priscilla is also very wise and knows that cats like pastry too. I know that our cats love any kind of muffin and also love certain types of cookies. Our dearly departed Raoul Duke loved apple turnovers, though being a considerate cat, he always left us the apple part.

Anyway, all stamps are by justjohanna.

Priscilla le Chef was colored with Prismacolor pencils and Eco-house's #115 Xtra Mild Citrus Thinner, which I use instead of Gamsol. The Citrus Cleaner works great, is much better for me and the environment, and leaves a pleasant orange scent in the air.

The strawberry cupcake was colored with chalk and the sentiment was colored with Prismacolor markers.

I used Eclipse Tape to mask the cat so she could be in front of the ginormous cupcake. Eclipse Tape is awesome stuff.

The papers are Basic Grey & Scenic Route.

Thanks for visiting today.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Decisions, decisions.



"I taut I taw a puddy tat!" or "Rut roh"? I couldn't decide, so I didn't. The stamps are all from justjohanna.

I've been neglecting the blog yet again. I've been busy reorganizing my craftroom as my lovely dh got me two Mini Stackables. I've moved almost all of my mounted rubber stamps into these great rolling units. This freed up drawer space, so I decided to reorganize my patterned paper, which lead to me reorganizing my stickers, and rub-ons. Next up on the reorganizational hit parade are my embellishments and the chipboard collection. I also will be putting all my solid ribbon into my second Pull-Ez, since the first one has made it so much easier to see, chose, and use my ribbon. I can't wait til I'm done since I really would love to sit down and get a ton of stamping done. Alas, it'll most likely have to wait til next week.

In between all this fun reorganization (fall cleaning?), the teenager and I have been visiting colleges, which has been enjoyable. She's good company and entertaining. We've got another Road Trip this coming weekend and will be visiting two more colleges. Then the following weekend will see us visiting yet another two colleges. After that Petey (my PT Cruiser) and I will take a break from being road warriors... Or maybe not. Oh. I should mention that she's loved all four of the colleges we've seen thus far though they are about as dissimilar from one another as you could possibly get...

Enough of my rambling. Thanks for visiting.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Tea Time!




I love coffee. I love tea. I love this little tea pot and teeny tiny tea cups by justjohanna.

I also love Eclipse tape, which made the masking a snap, my Stamp-ma-jig, scallop punches, and ribbon.

Thanks for visiting!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

One Sketch - Two cards





Here are two cards made from the sketch in justjohanna's September newsletter. You can sign up here to receive news and the monthly sketch.

Both cards use justjohanna stamps. The swirl was made using a template by the Crafter's Workshop, who makes great templates in many sizes, including a new 6x6 size.

Thanks for visiting today!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Announcing the winner of my challenge!

I was out of town with the teenager visiting a college, which we both liked.

Anyways, while I was at the hotel this morning, I popped onto the hotel's p.c to check my list of participants and to choose my winner. I used the highly scientific method of writing the names on slips of paper, crumpling them, mixing them around, and borrowing a 5 year old, who chose....

Tania as the winner!

Congratulations Tania!

Thanks everyone for participating in my challenge. Your work was great and very inspiring.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

My challenge for WCMD!



Hi all!
My challenge for WCMD is to create a card using a slide mount or a frame! I love using slide mounts and frames. It's an easy way to create a focal image!

Once you've made your card, post it on the justjohanna message board's gallery, your blog, or other on-line gallery and then share the link in the comment section of this post!

You may enter as many times as you'd like for my challenge.

You have until midnight PDT to complete the challenge and post the link to your card.

Prizes:
Participants in this challenge will be entered into a drawing for a limited edition "Flying Al on Earth" rubber stamp. You can see him here!

If you have already won "Flying Al on Earth", then the 2nd prize will be a "Flying Al with Stars" rubber stamp, which is one of my favorites! He's a collectible, rare stamp because he's not available for purchase! If you have already won two prizes, then the 3rd prize will be a Free Shipping Coupon. If you have already won three prizes, then another winner will be selected.

Additionally, you will be entered into justjohanna's grand prize drawing of the following ...

One Grand Prize of $250 justjohanna shopping spree! Wow!

One $50 justjohanna shopping spree.

Five 25% off your order coupons for the justjohanna web site.

***
Here are two of my cards using slide mounts. The first card is a 4x4 that uses a cardboard slide mount that was sponged with Liquid Chalk ink, heat set, responged with more of the same color ink, and heat set again. Then I took some crumpled up plastic wrap and used that to pounce the same ink onto the slide mount, and yes, heat set again. Then I stamped the tiny tea cup onto it.

The big cup was stamped and colored using Prismacolors. I mounted the image inside the slide mount, added a ribbon, and a button, and mounted the slide mount onto Flair's wonderful coffee paper!

The "Feeling Blue?" card uses a large honkin' slide mount that I covered with Chatterbox patterned paper. The peacock was stamped using blue VersaFine and colored with Prismacolors.

The felt flower was cut using my Big Kick machine. I run a piece of cardstock through my Xyron machine, adhere the felt, and then cut it with the Big Kick. The cardstock gives the felt a bit more "body", so it doesn't shred.

This card fills a bunch of different challenges from my team mates! It's monochromatic, uses a felt flower, has faux stitching, and has bling! Yahoo.

I can't wait to see what you all do with slide mounts and/or frames. Have fun!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Something colorful on a dreary Wednesday!


It's overcast and dreary today, which makes my sinuses ache and the cats get testy.

So, I'm counteracting all of that by posting a bright and cheerful card featuring Aloha Priscilla from justjohanna stamps. I think she's totally fabulous, especially sitting on a mountain of Jolie's flowers. I was delighted to use several packets of Jolies, which I had purchased at an EK Success warehouse sale over a year ago. I think that the "thrill of a great deal" possessed me since I bought a motherlode of them! Yikes. Anyways, I used black to make the bright colors pop".

Special Announcement!
I thought that I would mention that justjohanna has a design team search going on right now. You can find information about it here. If you love the stamps, you should go for it! If you do decide to enter, good luck!

Thanks for visiting today!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Cardvarks' Challenge Card: Scallops!



I've really been enjoying the scallop trend and include them in many of my cards. Here's a recent Thank You card using justjohanna stamps' Lizette, Hearts Branch, and Merci Birdcoop, a Spellbinder's Nestabilities scalloped frame, and Fancy Pants papers.

Thanks for visiting!

So excited! World Cardmaking Day is Saturday!

Yep, that's right. It's Saturday, October 6th. Cardmakers from all over the globe will be celebrating their shared obsession with creating cards!

Johanna, of justjohanna fame, has created an exclusive stamp for this special day. Additionally, she'll be giving away a shopping spree at justjohanna stamps. Want more info? Click on the button on the right!

Additionally, justjohanna's dt and Lime Tart's design team will be hosting challenges on their blogs. Plus, we'll all be celebrating at the newly launched justjohanna message board. Be sure to visit and sign up to participate in all the great World Cardmaking Day festivities!