Birthday Gift

I have had to make a birthday gift for my grandma since June! I just couldn't get my act together and sit down and put something together. I finally finished it, though, and she LOVED it! I saw this particular box on Natasha's blog, Palm Trees and Pogo Sticks. It was perfectly what I needed! I visit Natasha's blog every day, and she ALWAYS has wonderful creations posted. This gift set box was no exception! Thanks for the GREAT idea, Natasha! I saw another ADORABLE box like this on Laurie Schmidlin's blog, Just Give Me Stamps, but it was for the 3x3 cards. I still want (and HAVE TO) make that one, but I needed something in a size my grandma could mail. I did use Laurie's idea of tying the cards up with raffia, though! Thanks, Laurie! (I just LOVE Laurie's blog too!) I kept the cards very simple. I learned from giving my grandma card sets before. She doesn't like anything too complicated, and if the cardstock is anything but white or cream, she won't use them because she "can't see what she's writing!" Too funny! I thought these MissyB Designs bugs would be great for my grandma. Once I decided on the stamp set and the design, the box went VERY quickly. There are 2 of each design for a total of 8 cards. I think this is going to be my new favorite gift for a while. . .until my family gets sick of seeing them, that is! :) Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- MissyB Designs, You're Bugging Me, sentiment by Papertrey Ink, Little Lady; Paper- DCWV red, yellow, purple, black, blue, Whisper White; Ink- Basic Black, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Lovely Lilac, Ballet Blue, Bordering Blue; Accessories- polka dot ribbon from Doodliedoo, slit punch, hole punch, Aquapainter, Stardust gel pen, raffia.

2-5-7-10 Box

I just LOVE papercrafted boxes. They are always so cute! When last week's tutorial came out at Splitcoaststampers for the 2-5-7-10 Box, I HAD to make it! I finally got the chance. It really is simple too! Just cutting and folding! For this box I used my MissyB Designs set, You're Bugging Me. I just LOVE this set. I used the butterfly for the background of the box too. . .it makes it look all swirly and whimsical. The butterfly is colored in Regal Rose with a blender pen, then I added some sparkles with my Sakura Stardust pen. I watercolored Bordering Blue around the butterfly and added some "bling" for the final touch. Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your week is off to a great start! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- MissyB Designs, You're Bugging Me; Paper- Regal Rose, DCWV Watermelon, Whisper White; Ink- Regal Rose, Basic Black; Accessories- white gel pen, Sakura Stardust pen, paper piercer, organdy ribbon, Word Window punch, bling from Walmart, blender pen, Aquapainter.

Playing with Markers

Today is just a simple card. It's actually Dawn's Small Square Pocket Card. I just LOVE these little cards! If you click on the link, it will take you to Dawn's tutorial and you can become addicted as well! :) I just wanted to make a simple card today because my main goal was to play with my Prismacolor markers. I've had them for a while and have only used them a couple of times. Once the Alcohol Marker Tutorial went up on Splitcoast, I tried to blend more with the markers rather than just color. My first attempt was awful! They bled horribly! I thought maybe it was the paper I was using, but I think it was just my markers. Most people you've seen coloring with markers lately have been using the Copic brand. I've never used Copic, so I don't know how different they are from the Prismacolor. Anyway, for this card I used Shimmery White cardstock and I had a MUCH BETTER experience with blending. So, maybe it was the cardstock. . .who knows. This still didn't color exactly as I wanted, but I'm still practicing and I'm very happy that the color didn't bleed! Next time I'll try the same cardstock as before and see what happens! :) Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- You're Bugging Me, MissyB Designs; Ink- Palette in Noir; Paper- Shimmery White, DCWV orange and unknown green; Accessories- Prismacolor markers, Mega oval punch, Giga scallop oval punch, ribbon from Doodliedoo, horizontal slot punch.

Quick and Simple Card Set

Today's Try a New Technique Challenge on SCS was to create Speedy Cards for Good Causes. Basically it's to make cards that are quick and easy to produce in bulk, or by themselves in about 5 or 10 minutes. The challenge specifically looked at the Need a Lift Forum on SCS and encouraged people to make quick, easy cards with the MOST IMPORTANT thing being to GET THEM IN THE MAIL. I can totally appreciate that. I always think "oh I should send a card to so and so", then the days keep passing by because I haven't created "my masterpiece" and the card never gets sent. The challenge encourages you to just send a card. . .it's the thought that counts, not how many embellishments or techniques you used. So, I made this VERY quick card set with my MissyB Designs You're Bugging Me stamp set. I just LOVE all of the images and they are very simple and quick to color. The most involved part of it was adding the shading in the background. Stardust Stickles adds the perfect sparkle to the wings. I think I made this whole card set in about 10 minutes. I think I'll make up a few of these for gifts! I'm so glad I took a look at the challenge today! :) SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Missy B Designs, You're Bugging Me; Ink- Palette in Noir, Bordering Blue, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Lovely Lilac, Summer Sun; Paper- Watercolor paper; Accessories- Aquapainter, Stardust Stickles, Doodliedoo polka dot organdy ribbon.