Party Pooch

 

It's been a good few weeks since I've spent time in the craft room.  I'm usually a hide-in-the-air-conditioning kind of girl in the summer but for some reason this year I've been wanting to spend more time outside.  The weather's been gorgeous for the most part and my friend, Michael, basically told me, "If you're not going to make use of your waterfront then I will!"  He planned a birthday dock party for me and comes around regularly to drag me out for a swim.  I'm loving it.  We practically lived down at the dock when I was a kid but in the last few years, especially since our last two dogs haven't been interested in swimming, we haven't been down there much.  I'm glad that has changed this year.

The casualty of that change is that I'm making fewer cards but the weather will turn eventually and cards will take priority again.  I managed to make a few cards today.  This one is for The Card Concept and I think it fits into the Clean and Layered category.  The adorable pooch in the inspiration photo spoke to me immediately and I dug out my Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs and these fun sunglasses from MFT.  This guy definitely looks ready to party so I thought the Reverse Confetti sentiment was perfect for him.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Real Red, Pacific Point, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Oh Happy Life 6x6) Amy Tangerine

Stamps:  (Dog from Crazy Dogs, Hat from Crazy Things) Tim Holtz, (Sentiment from Birthday Wishes) Reverse Confetti

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Sunglasses) My Favourite Things

Markers:  (R17, R20, R22, Y17, E33, E35, E37, E53, C7) Copic

Other:  (Nuvo White Crystal Drops) Tonic

Back in Action!

Hello hello!  We are back on the rock after a fabulous vacation in Vermont and New Hampshire.  We rented a gorgeous house out in the woods that was so peaceful - it was tough to leave it.  Sadly reality was calling and it's back to regular life now.  

I actually managed to get some cards made today. Usually it take me ages to get back into the card making groove when I've been away from it for a while but today felt pretty good.  First up is a card for the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge.  This came together fairly quickly as it's just simple paper piecing.  I love that laughing moon - he just makes me happy.  :)

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Smokey Slate) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (All from Cosmos) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Gems:  Recollections

Next up is a card for the AEIHeartU Sparkle challenge and the Simon Says Sparkle and Shine challenge.  I used the little balloon die from AE's Icon Fill in the Blank and the sentiment is from Storybook.  I also made a version with blue balloons.  Gotta cover all the bases and I know my little card stand at the animal hospital is in desperate need of restocking so I need to make as many cards as possible this weekend.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Pink glitter) DCWV, (Smokey Slate) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Storybook) Avery Elle

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Clear Super Fine Detail) Ranger

Die:  (Icon Fill in the Blank) Avery Elle

Last but not least is a card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and the Seize the Birthday Anything Goes challenge.  I used a little strip of this adorable Jillibean Soup paper on the side and paper pieced the Amy Tangerine camera which I love and is one of the few stamps that has gotten more than one inking. The sentiment is a combo of Mama Elephant stamps.  That's it for tonight.  I'll post the rest of the cards tomorrow! 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) PaperTrey Ink, (Riding Hood Red, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Sightseeing Stew 6x6) Jillibean Soup

Stamps:  (Camera from Aspire) Amy Tangerine, (Smile from Flashy Letters, Sentiment from Say What) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko,

CASology #118

Welcome to Week 118 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:

This week's cue word seems very appropriate as today I am grateful that my home is safe and undamaged. Last week Bermuda was hit by two storms within 6 days.  Tropical Storm Fay hit us on Sunday followed by Hurricane Gonzalo on Friday.  TS Fay ended up being a blessing in disguise.  It caused a lot of damage but it also cleared out a lot of trees which greatly lessened the impact of Gonzalo.  My family has been so very lucky.  While we lost a lot of trees and had damage to our waterfront our house is fine and so are we.  A lot of people lost roofs and some people haven't had power since Fay hit.  We got power back quite quickly although internet and cell services have been erratic.  

This pile of branches and foliage from TS Fay was only the beginning...

I wasn't sure I'd get to play along this week as we've had a long slog of cleaning up but I managed to get into the Craft Cave for a bit yesterday afternoon.  It felt so good to get inky again and our internet came back over night just in time for me to post.  It's not my best card ever but I'm grateful to be able to make one at all.  Be sure to head over to the CASology page and check out the gorgeous designs from the rest of the design team and then play along!

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Meghan McMillan

Gillian Ross

Kimberly Wiener

Joyce Mehrberg 

May Sukyong Park

And this week's guest designer:

Rahmat

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that the deadline for entries is Monday at noon (CST).

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Houses from Hey There) Amy Tangerine, (Sentiment from Home Sweet Home) Market Street Stamps

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Pale Tomato, Butter Bar, Tide Pool) Hero Arts

CAS(E) This Sketch #30

Welcome to Week 30 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch designed by N@ Ali:

I flipped the sketch upside down so that my safety pins would be right side up and stamped and embossed my sentiment in white.  I used the colours from this week's Dynamic Duos challenge - so perfect for a baby boy card!  I'm also going to enter this card in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.  

I'm looking forward to seeing where this sketch takes you all.  Check out the rest of the DT designs here and then play along!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Bashful Blue, Midnight Muse) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Safety pins from Lovestruck) Amy Tangerine, (Welcome from CL352) Hero Arts, (Baby from Petite Cherub) Rusty Pickle

Inks:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

You Rev Me Up!

 As usual I'm being a total Last Minute Lucy and scooting in with hours to spare for the Moxie Fab challenges.  I'm actually entering this card in two Moxie Fab World challenges - the Make A Card With A Window challenge and the Make Your Own Background Paper challenge.  

I started off by using the colours from the Play Date Cafe.  I thought they were kind of masculine and the sentiment was inspired by the Zoom Goes My Heart stamp set from The Craft's Meow (designed by the fabulous Karen Baker) which is on my (very long) wish list.  The sentiment (which I created with Lawn Fawn's Claire's ABCs) led me to these cute little Amy Tangerine car and heart stamps.  I chose the Papertrey Ink Fillable Frames die for the window because it made me think of an exhaust cloud which I'm sure you'd have with all these cars around!!  The picture below shows the window a little better.  As usual now that I've finally made one window card they don't seem so scary anymore!  Perhaps I'll try a few more...  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Car & heart from Ready Set Go Amy Tangerine, (Border from Fillable Frames #5) Papertrey Ink, (Sentiment from Claire's ABCs) Lawn Fawn

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron, Certainly Celery) Stampin' Up

Die: (Fillable Frames #5) Papertrey Ink

CAS(E) This Sketch #12

Welcome to Week 12 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch designed by Lisa Arana:

This was a tricky card to photograph thanks to the clear Ideaology Film Strip Ribbon so the picture is at a bit of an awkward angle but at least you can read the sentiment.  :)  I've been coveting that ribbon ever since I saw it on the cover of 365 Cards.  It's so cool!  I used an Amy Tangerine stamp and patterned paper to go with the film strip and spelled out the sentiment with Smitty's ABCs from Lawn Fawn.  Head on over to the CAS(E) This Sketch blog to see the gorgeous creations from the design team and then play along!  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Melon Mambo, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection) American Crafts

Stamp:  (Camera from Amy Tangerine's Lovestruck) American Crafts, (Letters from Smityy's ABCs) Lawn Fawn

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Ribbon:  (Tim Holtz Film Strip Ribbon) Ideaology

CASology #25

Welcome to Week 25 of CASology!  Here's the cue card for this week:

This cue word provides for a lot of options - New Year's Day, New Baby, New House, New Dog, etc.  Or perhaps you use a new stamp or a new technique.  I used new stamps on this card and new washi tape.  (I'm way late getting on the washi bandwagon but I'm loving it now that I'm on board!).  Also, the card was made for a co-worker who's leaving and heading off to a new life in Canada.  Lots of newness going on here!  

Time for you to get busy and see where the cue word takes you.  First, though, go and check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the design team including our three fabulous new teammates!  They are super talented and I'm thrilled to be working with them every week!

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Rosemary Dennis

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Maureen Merritt

Meghan McMillan

And this week's guest designer:

Deb

Link up your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submisions are due by 4pm CST Sunday, 6 January.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Patterned Paper:  (Sketchbook collection) Amy Tangerine

Stamps:  (Plane from Lovestruck) Amy Tangerine, (Sentiment from Heydey Sentiments) Hero Arts

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black Tsukineko

Die:  (Instant Camera Frame) Sweet Stamp Shop

Washi Tape:  Crafty Basics

Framed Hello

It's been a while so I wanted to play along with the latest Tuesday Trigger at the Moxie Fab World.  I was inspired by the frames and their colours and wanted to do some masking especially now that I have the handy Stamping Mask Paper from Inkadinkado.  I've tried using post-its but never with much success.  I also have the Eclipse Art Masking Tape but the rolls I have were too small for the frame stamp.  The Mask Paper worked beautifully!  I may have to try masking more often now. This challenge also got me to use ink colours I usually forget I have.  I tend to reach for Stampin' Up colours first but today I dug out some Colour Box inks and they were fabulous matches! They also give really smooth coverage. I must put them out where I can see them so they get used more often.  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Frame from Lovestruck collection) Amy Tangerine

Inks:  (Shabby Pink, Apricot, Lettuce)  Colour Box

Alpha Stickers:  Scenic Route

Creepy Photo Ahead...

Good morning!  A quick post before I jet off to work. Neat and Tangled is hosting a new challenge called Little Tangles.  The first challenge is to create a Hello card which is perfect because my favourite N & T set is Just Hello.  I stamped the envelopes on a selection of Amy Tangerine paper and popped them up on the card.  The sentiment is two put together. Colourful and cute no?  Check out the challenge if you haven't already.  You don't have to use N&T stamps but they have free digi stamps if you want to try some out!

And now for the creepy part.  I'm not generally squeamish about bugs - remember our housemate from here?  However, centipedes, especially the giant variety, make me scream like a girl.  I've always been terrified of getting chomped by one - they give a nasty bite - and unfortunately they are plentiful at our end of the island.  Just a couple of week ago my mom was battling one on her porch.  She tried to smoosh it with a wine bottle, broke the bottle and ended up impaling it on the jagged edge of the bottle!  LOL!  Go mom!  Yesterday I found one in our kitchen and was pretty sure it was dead as it was all curled up so I tried to stretch it out to show you how big they are.

This one - at about 5" fully stretched out -  is actually on the small side.  Anyway after being prodded around and stretched out it decided it wasn't dead any more and it went berserk - started spinning around and going crazy!  Cue Jen screaming and running from the room and Luis rolling his eyes as he went to deal with the beast.  The perils of living in paradise!