Beate Weekend Sketch #37

It's time again for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I have been in need lately of more masculine or boyish cards. I don't know if the ribbon I added on this ruined that. . .what do you think? Maybe I shouldn't have tied the knot and just left it as a band across the card? I used the Rubber Soul set A Day at the Zoo. I have had this set for a while, but this is the first I've inked it up. I just love the bold images. For this crocodile, I added some lining with a black marker to go with the color scheme. Be sure and check out what wonderful things Beate, Cambria, Jenn, Laurie, Lori, Mary Jo and Sharon have come up with for the sketch. Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- A Day at the Zoo (Rubber Soul); Paper-Whisper White, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi (SU); Ink- Wild Wasabi, Basic Black (SU); Accessories- Spots and Dots and Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folders, ribbon (May Arts), paper piercer, Basic Black marker.

Hey Sugar!

Here's a very simple card I made using the Look Who's Perky set from Paper Pretties. Isn't that the cutest little sugar bowl? I LOVE the sentiment because it reminds me of my grandma. She actually calls her little brother "Sugar" (in her Southern drawl). She has a nickname for everyone, so I've always known my Great Uncle Ray as "Sugar". She is from Pensacola, Florida and her brother and sisters still live there. It's actually about time I sent them all some more pictures of the kids. They'll LOVE this sentiment! :) Thanks for stopping by today! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Look Who's Perky (Paper Pretties); Paper- brown, patterned paper (Nana's Nursery Stack, DCWV), Very Vanilla (SU); Ink- Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip (SU); Accessories- Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (SU), brad (Making Memories), Aquapainter, white gel pen.

Happy Birthday, Oodabug Alley!

I can't believe that one year ago today I started this blog. It seems like such a distant memory deciding whether or not to start a blog. I am so VERY glad I did because I appreciate and am so thankful for all of you! You have no idea how much your daily visits and comments make me smile. I have made so many new friends all because of Oodabug Alley. . .crazy, isn't it?

In honor of Oodabug Alley's 1st Birthday, I'd like to give away some Oodagoodies! In this package you'll find:

-Autumn Leaves You Are Here Clear Stamp Set

-Stampin' Up Retired Hostess Set Weather or Not

-5 incentive stamps from SU Small Talk set

-American Crafts Uptown Green ribbon set

-All Girl Brag Book

-Heidi Swapp Ghost Alphabet

-25 sheets of 8x8 patterned paper

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Sunday, March 2, 10am EST. I will randomly draw a name shortly after and post the winner! Please only leave one comment and make sure there is a way to contact you should you win! Thanks for celebrating this year with me!

Prettie Wednesday

Two weeks ago, I challenged the Prettie Girls to make a card using dry embossing. They could use brass templates or even Cuttlebug folders. I decided to try and combine some smaller Cuttlebug folders to make this card. I used the bee from the Animals set and the flower from the Flowers set to create this scene. After I embossed the images, I went over them with Stampin' Pastels. I actually used the Basic Black marker for the bee because I didn't have a black pastel! The sentiment is from the Thoughtful Florals set by Verve Visual. Hopefully this card has already been received by Julie and made her smile!

Don't forget to check out the new Easter ribbon available in the Pretties Boutique! There's also some great sales you might not want to miss! Verve Visual has also started sneak peeks on the Verve Visual blog of the THREE new sets they're releasing on March 1st! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Thougtful Florals (Verve Visual); Ink- Basic Black; Paper- white (Georgia-Pacific), Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose (SU); Accessories- Stampin' Pastels, Old Olive and Basic Black markers, horizontal slot punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, paper piercer (SU), brads (Making Memories), gingham ribbon (Darice), Animals and Flowers Cuttlebug folders (Provocraft)

All Mixed Up

This is for today's Try a New Technique Challenge at Splitcoast, All Mixed Up. . .to mix 2 or more patterns together. This card took me WAY too long to create because it just wasn't coming together. Maybe it's because I challenged myself to not use patterned papers that I would normally use. . .or at least colors of patterned paper that I would normally use. I picked these sheets out of a block of papers I bought a long time ago. These are definitely not colors I use often, if ever. To go with the paisley paper, I pulled out my long-neglected Polka Dots & Paisleys set. . .remember that one? I just couldn't seem to stamp anything that went with the papers, so I stamped the paisley from the set on different colors of cardstock, cut them out and made this flower. Not my favorite card, but I finished it! Hope it works for you! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Polka Dots & Paisleys (SU); Paper- all DCWV; Ink- Night of Navy, Ballet Blue, So Saffron (SU); Accessories- rhinestone brad, grosgrain ribbon, paper piercer, Night of Navy marker

Happy Mail!

I have been VERY lucky to receive some awesome mail lately! Just look at these!

The first one is from Carolyn King, aka Cammie. Carolyn is just the sweetest thing! She is so supportive and helpful and I am so happy to have her as a "virtual" friend. I can't believe this work of art showed up in my mailbox! Thank you, Carolyn! If you haven't checked out Carolyn's blog, what are you waiting for? LOL She is so creative and you don't want to miss it!

The next card I received was from Melanie Muenchinger from Hands, Head and Heart. She sent me this adorable card for being one of her Hippy Mentions for her Just So Hippy contest. Is this not the most adorable card? That frog is just the cutest and I LOVE the card itself. . .what a neat creation! Melanie calls it a Reverse Topper card. I HAVE to make one of these. . .they are so unique! Thanks, Melanie! I LOVE my card!

The last card I received is from Faith Hofrichter from Stampin' With Markie's Mom. Faith and I recently traded some stamps and she sent me this card in the package. OH MY WORD! I have seen many of Faith's creations on SCS, as she participates in the challenges daily and each and every one of them is a masterpiece! I have never seen one in real life until now. You cannot believe the detail on this card! The butterfly is so life-like it's amazing! Thank you, Faith, for this gorgeous card! I just LOVE it!

On another note, be sure and check out the new Easter ribbon at Paper Pretties! It's BEAUTIFUL! Also, Christie has further reduced sale prices in the SALE section of the Pretties Boutique. There's lots of stuff in there, so check it out!

Howdy

Here's a card using supplies from my February Paper Pretties subscription box. The set is Ride 'Em Cowgirl from My Favorite Things, which hasn't been released yet. The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I just flipped it to fit the image. . .hope that was allowed! :) I colored using Copic markers. I wanted to add some hemp twine on the card, but couldn't find a good place to wrap it around, so I ended up stitching it on the left and right side. The paper is Heidi Grace from the Wild Daisy Rd. Collection.

I can't believe it's Sunday already! The weekend just FLEW by! I need to get some serious laundry done today! Yikes! It IS nice and sunny here, though! Still cold, but at least it's bright and sunny. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Ride 'em Cowgirl (MFT); Paper- white (Georgia-Pacific), Basic Black (SU), Wild Daisy Rd Collection (Heidi Grace); Ink- Onyx Black (Versafine); Accessories- hemp twine, Copic markers, 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches, gold brads (Making Memories)

Love Bug

Last night I was supposed to go to a workshop being held by my upline, Kathy. Isaac and I headed out and ended up turning around and going back home because of the weather. It was just starting the freezing rain and I was afraid of what it was going to be like coming home if I went. I was looking forward to going too! The hostess of the workshop, Sandy, (Hi Sandy!) bought everyone one of these mailboxes and she challenged us to alter them for her workshop. I had my camera all ready to take pictures and share everyone else's mailboxes with you! I still do want to see everyone's mailbox, so I hope somebody took pictures! :) I bet you could all guess what I was going to make with my RED mailbox, huh? Yep. . .it's a sickness. LOL I decided to pull out my Pick a Petal set that I haven't used in ages. I just LOVED the ladybugs that people were creating with it. I took the circle from the Simple Serif Mini Alphabet and stamped the black dots over the white dots. I used the Love Bug sentiment from the Kim Hughes Hugs and Kisses set from Cornish Heritage Farms. I made the ladybug twice and stuck them on either side of the flag so that you could see her from either side of the mailbox. I finished it up with the glittery paper from The Glitter Stack and some polka dot organdy ribbon. Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Pick a Petal (SU), Hugs & Kisses (Cornish Heritage Farms); Paper - Basic Black, Whisper White (SU), patterned (DCWV Glitter Stack); Ink- Ruby Red, Basic Black (SU), StazOn Jet Black; Accessories-1" circle punch (SU), black polka dot organdy ribbon (May Arts)

Beate Weekend Sketch #36

Here's my interpretation of Beate's latest Weekend Sketch Challenge. I finally broke into my Fall Flowers Designer Paper and paired it up with the So Many Scallops Sale-a-Bration set. Maybe the "flower" from So Many Scallops is a little too "perfect" for the flowers on the paper, but I thought maybe the outlined white flowers on top were throwing me off. I stamped the flower in Groovy Guava and then again in Old Olive on olive cardstock and punch out just the center. I punched the Groovy Guava flower out with the scallop circle punch. I added a smaller circle punched from Really Rust cardstock to the center of the flower along with a rhinestone brad. The background was made using the Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. As finishing touches, I added some faux stitching (my favorite) and some matching ribbon. Be sure and check out what Beate, Cambria, Jenn, Laurie, Lori, Mary Jo and Sharon have created with this sketch. I'm sure they're fabulous! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- So Many Scallops (SU); Paper- Fall Flowers DS, Really Rust, olive, white; Ink- Groovy Guava, Old Olive; Accessories- rhinestone brad, paper piercer, Old Olive and Really Rust markers, scallop circle punch, 1" circle punch, Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder.

SWAK

This is what I came up with for the third challenge from Stampin' In Your Jammies at Paper Pretties. It was a color challenge, to use Chocolate, Pink and Ivory. The ladybug is from the Lovebugs set. I just inked up the female ladybug (is that redundant?) and colored her with a blender pen. I colored the SWAK stamp with markers and added some faux stitching, ribbon and a couple of Dew Drops to embellish. Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Lovebugs, Sealed with a Kiss (Paper Pretties), Paper- Chocolate, Ivory, patterned paper (DCWV); Ink- Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel (SU); Accessories- blender pen, Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest), paper piercer, Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink markers, small flower punch, ribbon (May Arts)

Back to Basics

Julee from Verve Visual wanted to do a Back to Basics Series on the Verve Visual Blog this month and asked us each to post a project that was very basic. As she put it, "something you would have made before your stamp collection took on a life of its own." When I thought back to when I started stamping and what got me hooked, I have to say it was the Versamark pad. I LOVED the watermark you could create with it! (I was also amazed by heat embossing, but we're talking before I owned a heat gun!) I love the subtle but elegant look the watermark gives. So in my beginning stamp days (BFT as I sometimes joke--Before Fancy Tools), when I didn't yet own every color of ink pad and a bunch of fancy tools to go with them, I had a Versamark pad and a black ink pad. I would use an image to watermark and then stamp a sentiment over it in black ink. I usually used a very simple layout like this and finished it off with some complimenting ribbon. Very quick, very easy. . .very simple! It feels good to go back to the basics sometimes! :) Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Serenity (Verve Visual); Paper- Soft Sky, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU); Ink- Versamark, Onyx Black Versafine; Accessories- black organdy ribbon (Darice).

Opulent Pumpkin Celery

Yep! You read it right! LOL Orchid Opulence, Pumpkin Pie and Certainly Celery. When I first read this Color Challenge over at SCS today, I thought "WHAT?" It actually didn't turn out as back as I thought it would. I still don't think I'm sold on this color combo, but I'm glad I tried it! I used the Fancy Florals Remixed and Thoughtful Florals sets from Verve Visual. I absolutely LOVE how this flower layers, I really do! Now that Julee has released an acrylic version of the stamp set, it's a cinch to stamp the layers of the flower. The Pumpkin Pie piece was embossed using the Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug embossing folder. To finish it off, I added the pierced border, the rhinestone brad and the May Arts ribbon. Thanks for stopping by. . .you really do brighten my day! :) SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Fancy Florals Remixed, Thoughtful Florals (Verve Visual); Paper- Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery Designer Prints, Whisper White, Orchid Opulence (SU); Ink- Pumpkin Pie, Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery, Basic Black (SU); Accessories- Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug folder, duo satin ribbon (May Arts), paper piercer, rhinestone brad.

Happy Winter

Here's another card I made for Stampin' In Your Jammies at Paper Pretties. This was the sketch challenge. I used the Snowflake Kisses set. Believe it or not, I used scraps from my scrap bin for this card. I didn't cut into ONE new sheet of paper. My scrap bin is overflowing like you wouldn't believe. I really need to use more of my scraps. Do you all have overflowing scrap bins?

Tonight, Paper Pretties is releasing the Look Who's Perky set! Be sure and stop by to check out the new set or to say hello! Hope to see you there! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Snowflake Kisses (Paper Pretties); Paper- pink (DCWV) pale pink, light green (unknown) white (Georgia-Pacific); Ink- Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Bordering Blue (SU); Accessories- lollipop ribbon, brads (Making Memories), small oval punch (SU).

Look Who's Perky!

Here's another little peek at the new set Paper Pretties is releasing tomorrow night, Monday, February 18! It's called Look Who's Perky! Just so you know, the coffee pot doesn't really have that face on it. I drew it on there because I just thought it needed a little happy face with all the bright colors! I know, I know. . .I can't really draw. That's why I stamp! LOL Hopefully you've seen some of the Prettie Girls' peeks at this set. It really is a fun set, so check it out tomorrow night! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Look Who's Perky (Paper Pretties); Paper- Real Red, Whisper white, Basic Black (SU) yellow, patterned paper (DCWV); Ink- Summer Sun, Real Red (SU); Accessories- polka dot organdy ribbon (Doodliedoo), Aquapainter, paper piercer, Basic Black marker, brad (Making Memories)

Valentines

When I started seeing Melanie's stamp set, Just So Hippy, I thought it was adorable and I loved each person's project that I saw made with it. I didn't order it because I could go broke if I ordered every stamp set that I think is adorable! (I'm sure you all can relate). Then, Melanie posted this adorable treat on her blog and I HAD TO HAVE this set! LOL I just thought this was the cutest thing and SO PERFECT for Savannah to take to preschool for Valentine's Day! So, I whipped up 16 of these for her to take. They are filled with Sweetheart hearts. Savannah LOVED helping make them and she picked the color! Sorry to all of you who dislike purple. (you know who you are LOL) So THANK YOU, Melanie, for this adorable idea! I will use this often! :)

I also received a Valentine in the mail! It came from Jami at Crazy Daisy Creations. I have often referred to Jami as my little sister! Look at this adorable Valentine card she sent me? Do you think it was made especially for me? So, so cute! I just LOVE that little ladybug couple! Jami even went to and had the card postmarked in Valentine, Nebraska! What a wonderful touch! I was so thrilled about this thoughtful card that I finally had to call Jami! (it was a long time coming) She is just the same adorable little sweetheart "in real life" that she is over the internet! Jami, it was WONDERFUL to finally chat with you. Thank you so much for this adorable Valentine. I just adore it! You're the best! Big HUGS!

Warms My Heart

Here's a "sneak peek" of the Look Who's Perky set that Paper Pretties will be releasing on Monday, February 18! It's perfect for all of you coffee lovers out there! :) Check the other Prettie Girl blogs and the Paper Pretties website for more peeks of the set. For this card, I used the Stampin' Up Spunky Spots jumbo wheel (again) because I thought it went well with the polka-dotted coffee mug. Can you tell I LOVE polka dots? The ribbon actually has a chocolate colored edge, but this picture makes it look black. It's really not so dark in real life. Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Look Who's Perky (Paper Pretties), Spunky Spots jumbo wheel (SU); Paper- chocolate, rust, mustard (DCWV); Accessories- ticket corner punch, horizontal slot punch, paper piercer, Chocolate Chip marker (SU), brads (Making Memories), Copic markers, lollipop ribbon.

Beate Weekend Sketch #35

Here it is, Friday again! Time for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. To start this card, I knew I wanted to use my Out on a Limb set from Papertrey Ink, and I just received my Spunky Spots jumbo wheel from Stampin' Up, so I thought I'd combine them. There were "berry" looking stamps that go on the limb that I thought would go with the polka-dotted background. I added some Dew Drops from the Robin's Nest as an embellishment. You can barely see it in the picture, but the focal piece has embossed edges. I ran it through my Cuttlebug with my Nestabilities rectangle die. This was a different, but fun layout! Be sure and give it a try! Don't forget to check out what Beate, Cambria, Jenn, Laurie, Lori and Sharon have come up with. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and that your weekend is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink), Spunky Spots jumbo wheel (SU), Paper- Whisper White, Basic Black, Soft Sky (SU), Ink- Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir, Soft Sky (SU); Accessories- polka dot organdy ribbon (Doodliedoo), Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest), paper piercer

Happy Valentine's Day!

This was just something fun and cute I found on Melissa's blog. See what color rose you are by following the link! Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Once I get pictures uploaded, I'll share Savannah's Valentine treats and a Valentine I received with you! Have a great night!

You Are a Light Pink Rose

You represent sweetness and grace. Your vibe: Kind and gentle Falling in love with you: is like falling in love with a best friend

What Color Rose Are You?

Pucker Up!

On Monday night, Stampin' In Your Jammies took place over at Paper Pretties. For those of you who don't know, it's like a mini Virtual Stamp Night. There are 3 challenges over 3 hours. You have an hour to complete and upload each challenge. This is the card I made for the Spotlight Technique Challenge. I haven't done the Spotlight technique in a long while. I thought it worked perfectly for this sentiment and this image. They are both from the Sealed With a Kiss set from Paper Pretties. I'm hoping to stop back in again later. I have to get a bunch of things finished right now, and Arwen's napping, so this is the time to do it! :) Thanks for stopping by! Maybe I'll see ya later! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Sealed With a Kiss (Paper Pretties); Paper- Whisper White, Basic Black (SU), patterned paper (DCWV Spring Stack), Rose (Magnolia); Ink- Onyx Black (Versafine); Accessories- Copic sketch markers, small and large oval punch, horizontal slot punch, slit punch, wide grosgrain ribbon.

Prettie Wednesday

Two weeks ago, Joanne issued a sketch challenge to the Prettie Girls. Here is what I came up with. I have had this stamp set FOREVER and have barely used it, so I dusted it off for this challenge. This card was supposed to be mailed already. . .sorry Christie! I only just made it this morning! :) Time just keeps slipping away! I got this clear set at Joann's ages ago. I had this Dawn Houser "dress" stamp on a block of wood, but when I saw the entire CLEAR set at Joann's, I HAD to have it. As you can see, the dress is MUCH smaller than the original stamp I had. I colored it in using a blender pen and a Malted Mauve VersaMagic ink pad. The brads are Great Big Brads from Hot Off the Press. They're just plain black, but I took the script stamp from the set and stamped it on the brads in Craft Whisper White ink then poured clear embossing powder over them and heat set it. I loved the look it gave the brads, and the really cool texture! Hopefully Christie will like this when it shows up in her mailbox so late! Be sure and check out the other Prettie Girl blogs (in my sidebar) to see what they came up with for the challenge. Last week was my turn to issue a challenge and mine was to use dry embossing on a card. So, if you'd like to play along, let me know when you make something! You can use the brass templates or even a Cuttlebug folder. . .just so it's dry embossed! Have fun! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Dawn Houser Daydreams set ( Clear on Clear); Paper- black, white (Georgia-Pacific), pink; Ink- Palette Noir, Malted Mauve (VersaMagic); Accessories- white organdy ribbon, slit punch, Great Big Brads (Hot Off the Press), clear embossing powder, blender pen.

Tilt Card Tutorial

Here is a tutorial for the card from this post, just in case you missed it! :)

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
-paper cutter
-craft knife
-stamps of choice (here, Just So Hippy from GinaK Designs)
-cardstock
-2 pennies
-Stampin' Dimensionals
-scissors
-Aquapainter
-ink pads (here, Wild Wasabi and Palette Noir)
-adhesive
-embellishments as desired





Step 1

Ink up and stamp just the head of the hippo. (I tried stamping the whole body and then putting the "behind" on top, but it looked weird when the behind moved and there were still legs there) LOL.















Step 2

On a scrap piece of paper, ink up the whole hippo and stamp. Cut out just the "behind".

















Step 3

On the piece of cardstock that just has the hippo's head, use your craft knife to cut out a square big enough for a dimensional to fit through, leaving a little space on each side. Attach dimensional to penny, then put penny behind cardstock with dimensional coming through cut square.






























Step 4

Peel off backing and attach another penny on top of dimensional to form your "penny sandwich". (the third photo is a side view so you can see the pennies on either side of the cardstock)






























Step 5

Color the hippo.














Step 6

Attach the hippo's behind on top of the penny. Once attached, tilt the piece from side to side to see that it works. If the hippo's behind doesn't tilt, try cutting the square a little bigger so the penny sandwich has a little room to move. Be careful not to cut the hole too big. . . unless you want the behind to spin around, that is!































Step 7

When you're happy with how the piece tilts, flip the whole piece over and apply dimensionals to the four corners. You want the penny sandwich to have room to move, so you don't want it to touch the card base.
















Step 8

Apply mattes, embellishments and sentiment to finish card!





Hope that all made sense and that you had fun! I'd LOVE to see any "tilt cards" that you make! Be sure and post a link for me!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Here's a card I made with Melanie Muenchinger's set Just So Hippy. Melanie was having a contest to win a free set of her new release, Just So Hoppy. All you had to do was submit a project using the Just So Hippy set. This is what I came up with. I'm not sure if this technique already has a name, but I'm just going to call it a Tilt Card. It's basically the same as a Spinner Card, but I made the "track" much shorter so that the hippo's bottom doesn't "spin", but tilts from side to side. I've taken a couple more pictures to show that. So, imagine reading the sentiment and with the first "Hip" you tilt the card right, and with the second "Hip" you tilt the card left!:) Funny, huh? Melanie has called this the Rump Shaker, which I TOTALLY love. . .isn't that a great name? I was so excited and extremely honored to get a Hippy Mention for this card in her contest! I think I'll definitely be making more of these because I know a lot of girlfriends who would get a kick out of it! Melanie thought people might want a tutorial on this, so I'll work on writing one up today.

Don't forget that tonight is Stampin' In Your Jammies over at Paper Pretties! It's like a mini Virtual Stamp Night! There will be 3 different challenges. . .one each hour. All you have to do is create and upload your submission by the end of each hour! Sound like fun? My fellow Prettie Girls are doing this from CHA, so it will start at 7pm PST. Hope you can make it! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Just So Hippy (by Melanie Muenchinger for GinaK Stamps); Paper- Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery (SU); Ink- Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery (SU); Accessories- Cuttlebug Spots and Dots embossing folder (Provocraft), ribbon from Michael's, paper piercer, pennies, dimensionals, Aquapainter.

Excellent!

I received this award from Kylie over at Krafty Kylie! Wow, thanks, Kylie! How very sweet of you! Be sure and check out Kylie's blog. She is very talented! I am supposed to give this award to 10 other people. I can't believe I have to narrow my list down to 10, but I pass this award along to: Joanne, Michelle, Alex, Jillian, Jana, Christie, Julie Desper, Julie Masse, Lorie, and Jenn. Hopefully, none of you have received the award yet, but if you have then realize that I SECOND the first vote! LOL

You Light Up My Life

Today's the day! Verve Visual has released two brand new stamp sets and two old favorites that have been remixed! For this card, I used Fancy Florals Remixed. Even though I LOVE making flower cards with this set, I cut apart the "petals" and use them for other things. Do you remember the Peacock card I made a while ago? Well, this time, I thought I'd use the "petals" as flames in a fire. The "wood" was made using the Word Window punch. I was going to draw some "dimension" to make them look more like logs, but I was afraid of messing it up so I just left it alone. Hopefully they look enough like logs to you! :) The sketch is from Julee's latest Mojo Monday sketch challenge.

Remember, all of the stamp sets at Verve Visual are 15% off this month! If you were planning on entering the Honorable Guest Contest, you have until Friday, February 15 to submit your entry! Be sure and check out the Verve Gallery to see what the Design Team created with these sets! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Fancy Florals Remixed, Polka Stars (Verve Visual); Paper- yellow, chocolate (DCWV), Whisper White, Really Rust (SU); Ink-Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, More Mustard (SU); Accessories- ribbon (May Arts), Word Window punch, horizontal slot punch (SU), hole punch.

Different

I just LOVE the Serenity Prayer that is in Verve Visual's Serenity set. It is so inspiring. I used colors that are VERY different for me. I don't usually use the striking contrast of black and red, but I thought it worked well with the flowers. It gave it an oriental look, in my opinion. What do you think? The FOUR new sets will be released tomorrow, although you can pre-order now! What's even more exciting is that ALL stamps (including the new release stamps) are 15% off this month! Julee's even added free shipping for orders over $40. Head on over and check it out! Don't forget about the Honorable Guest Contest! You have until Friday, February 15 to submit your cards for the contest. You could be the next guest designer for Verve Visual!

On a personal note, the girls are doing MUCH better! Both of their fevers are gone. All that remains is the coughing, a little sneezing, and Arwen's RUNNY NOSE! I have never seen a child whose nose runs as much as Arwen's! Isaac has the sneezing and coughing, but not as bad as the girls. . .and at least his nose isn't running! Even my husband is sick. Somehow, I escaped the sickness. (knock on wood) Thank you all for your well wishes! Hope you have a wonderful day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Serenity (Verve Visual); Paper- Scarlet's Letter (Basic Grey), Basic Black (SU); Ink- Versamark; Accessories- black embossing powder, paper piercer, Basic Black marker, black organdy ribbon, 1 1/4" circle punch.