Taylor's Cupcake Challenge

This is the sketch for the Taylored Expression Cupcake Challenge #53. And here's my card. The hogs and kisses stamp is by Inkadinkado and is probably 20-22 years old. I found the stamp among some seldom used stamps and remembered how much fun we had with this stamp oh so many years ago. I wish I knew then (about stamping) what I know now. I used a corner rounder on the black card base and pink pirouette and white layers. The little black dots were added because I just couldn't leave the white layer plain. The patterned paper is from Bella Rose dp series. And the black gingham ribbon was found in my ribbon stash. I'm really working on trying to get down to 1 drawer for my non-SU ribbons. I think I need to give some away!






I stamped the image with classic black ink on pink pirouette paper, then used a 2" circle punch to cut it out. I trimmed around the top of the hogs and layered it on a black scallop. I used Jill's new creative memories heart punch and used the inside heart for to add to the mix. Can you see all the little kisses on the hogs. Wouldn't it be cute if the kisses were in red. Maybe next time.
Thanks to Taylor for another great sketch challenge.

Busy, Busy Cupcake Day

Last Friday Taylor posted her Cupcake Challenge #52 It was the one anniversary for her cupcake challenges on her blog. There were 8 other sketches to try from 8 of her friends. They were all great, but I only had time to make 3 of them.
This card is Taylor's sketch.
Bree has a pink cap with a cupcake applique'. It is so cute. I used her cap as inspiration for my cupcakes on this card and the next 2 cards. She said it is a "beautiful card" and so I guess she gets this one.
The only stamping I did was the "sweet" sentiment and the little red heart. The cupcake is made from Bella Rose designer paper. I used the scallop edge punch for the top of the cupcake paper and the 1 3/4" punch for the cupcake. The pretty in pink layer is embossed with the CB Swiss Dots. The "sweet" flower is punched out with the boho punch. I added flower fusion with pink brads. What a fun card to make!
This is Stephanie's sketch. Again I used Bella Rose designer paper. I made the cupcake with the designer paper but replaced the ribbon with a rhinestone brad.
I used the chocolate chip marker to define the edges and add dots to the cupcake. The cupcake is actually attached to the inside of the card. I punched a 1 1/2" hole on the front of the card. It's had to see but I used a stipple brush to give the cupcake a background.











Monika's sketch was a bit more challenging for me. I have a mega scallop punch which is great, but it was difficult to cut through 2 layers. It would definitely be easier to use the scallop circles with the Big Shot. (Those are on my list.) Again I used Bella Rose designer paper for the cupcake. The pink with brown stripe ribbon came from Gary's store (I ordered a roll when I had to order merchandise bags...so easy to just slip a little roll of ribbon on the order.) The pink organza ribbon is from the many rolls of ribbon left over from Julie's wedding. I'm thinking about getting red suckers and attaching them to the inside. This could be Bree's valentines for the kids in her Cubbies class. I guess I could change to colors to blue and brown for the boys.
Vicki's sketch took me away from cupcakes. Bree needs a birthday card for one of her friends. The card base, the ribbon and the ink for the sentiment are certainly celery. I stamped the tugboat with tempting turquoise craft ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. The blue strips and wave are bashful blue designer papers. The life preserver is attached to the boat with black hemp. The circles on the turquoise layer were made with a cuttlebug embossing folder. And last of all, there are 2 rhinestone brads. At this age, I don't think her little friend will even notice the bit of bling!

One Little Baby for Taylored Expression Cupcake Challenge #51

It's nice to be back at home and really nice to be able to post a new card on my blog. I have been at Jill's house for the past few days helping her take care of her new baby and Bree. She had an infection and has been on antibiotics and pain medication...so I've been changing a lot of diapers...all that baby stuff! She's better and I'm home! I miss the baby!
So that said...I'll move on to stamp stuff.
I really enjoy looking at Taylor's blog and especially enjoy her cupcake challenges. This was last Friday's challenge and the card I made.


















If you look at Taylor's blog, you will see a card by Jenn Diercks. When I saw her card using the elephant from Happy Heart Day, I knew this was what I wanted to do for a card for Ty. I used markers to color the image so I could put different words over the elephant. The "one little baby..." is from Curvy Verses. I inked the first half of the verse with certain celery marker and used the stamp-a-ma-jig to place it over the top of the elephant. I wrote "Ty" inside the heart. And it's true..."One little baby...many happy hearts!"
Thanks Taylor for a great card layout and a big thanks to Jenn for a great card to CASE. Check out her work on her blog I Got Stamps

Mojo Sketch Challenge #69

Yesterday I went with Jill to take Ty for his 2 week check-up. He's doing great. Bree wore her big sister shirt and kept a close watch as the nurse practionor checked him out. So cute!
Anyway, we were gone most of the day and after they went home there was little time left for stamping. Well, I guess there could have been...but I couldn't miss Jack Bauer and 24!
So today, after working on tax stuff I took the Mojo Monday challenge.
This is another weekly sketch challenge that is definitely worth checking out.







Along with the challenges, I am trying to use some of the stash I have collected. You know...things you find on sale or clearance and think "I can use that." But then they come home with you and get buried in a box or drawer and quickly forgotten about.
So when I saw the round circles on this challenge, I remembered the buttons. . . packages of buttons. . . white ones, red ones, green ones, yellow ones...you get the picture. Yes, they were still in a little storage drawer just for buttons! It didn't matter that the red ones were not "real red." They were close enough. The patterned paper is from an Old World pack given to me for Mother's Day (or maybe my birthday?). There was a small piece that was perfect for this card. The other papers used are SU real red, pink pirouette, and basic black. I stamped sanded background stamp in both pink pirouette and real red inks on the pink paper. And I sponged some ink on the edges to distress it a bit. I don't have any nesties (they're on my wish list), but I do have a couple of punches that I was also very happy to use. The heart flowers and sentiment are acrylic stamps I purchased at a store last year. It's difficult to see in the picture, but the dots on the scallop circles were made with a Glaze Gelly Roll pen.
Wow...that felt good! I made a Mojo Monday card and used up some stuff!

Just a Little Sweet

This sketch is from Taylor VanBruggen's weekly Cupcake Challenge. Her blog is awesome and is full of "sweet" stuff that is guaranteed to inspire. But be careful! You may find yourself suddenly craving a treat from your favorite bakery (Apple Annie's in Wilmington).

On her blog are links to some other great samples using this sketch. I think there are some scrapbook pages made using this layout...so if you're a also a scrapbook addict, check out the links.









I made up my mind to participate in this week's challenge. I decided to use a tiny little cupcake stamp (even tho cupcake images are not a requirement in the challenge) and I made a tiny (3x3) little card. I used SU chocolate chip and pink pirouette paper. The polka dot "ribbon" is a strip of paper from Bella Rose DSP. The cupcake is an incentive stamp from SU and actually has a candle on top and the words "make a wish" under it. So I used the chocolate chip marker to color just the cupcake and then used the fine tip of the marker to finish the line on top where the candle had been. The pink icing is done with stampin pastels. Baja Breeze flower fusion are under the cut out cupcake. "Sweet" is from Everyday Flexible Phrases which is a retiring set and is only available until January 18th. There was a container of glitter on my table, so I couldn't resist adding just a sprinkle.
I enjoyed the challenge and hope to try one again.

More Coaster Calendars

I can't believe I still have more mini calendars. Why did I ever buy so many? These were much easier. . . just paper and ribbon. I chose the paper based on the colors of ribbon. Here I used real red, striped kiwi kiss, and double stitched chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon. The kiwi kiss paper is the only current designer paper. The others are retired. I'm really trying to use up that stash of retired designer papers. I need to find some bigger projects to make!
The designer paper is glued to the front of the coaster and a matching solid color to the back. I used the crop-a-dile to punch the holes for the ribbon, then added 2 magnet strips to the back.

New Years SCS Challenge

With Christmas and the new grandson, I haven't been able to do much stamping. So I decided to try some of the New Years Eve challenges on Splitcoast. The first challenge was to make a card for a friend incorporating a "food" stamp. This was the perfect choice. The sentiment says it all! One of my very best friends enjoys coffee just like me.
I used the cuttlebug dotted swiss on the card base (front). The layer under the coffee cup is retired SU designer paper. Both the cup and the sentiment are stamped in close to cocoa. This is one of my favorite color combos.







Another challenge was to use a retired stamp and another was to use stamps with an Eastern Influence theme. This stamp (from Calming Garden) fit both categories. I really like the set, I just rarely use it. So it was a nice to dust it off and ink it up.
On page 9 in the Fall/Winter Idea & Catalog is a color scheme for eastern eclectic. So I used this to choose the colors for the card...tangerine tango, so saffron, very vanilla, and old olive. The different colors on the stamp are achieved by using markers to ink the stamp. I also used Sanded background stamp to give some texture to the old olive layer.







This card was more of a challenge. You were limited in what could be used...like 1" of ribbon, 2 brads (or buttons, or flowers), certain colors, 1 punch...stuff like that. The color choices were a bit unusual for me (not something I usually use). This is sage shadow and chocolate chip. The patterned paper is from my ever growing stash of retired designer papers. I'm trying really hard to use them up. The flowers and sentiment are from Pocket Silhouettes (absolutely love this set). I used sage shadow and chocolate chip markers to color the image, then used the curly label punch.
I saw another challenge today that I would love to try, but I will probably be heading to Jill's to wash her dishes and play with Bree while she tends to the new baby. Sweet!