Huggabugg - TOO CUTE!

Happy Monday everyone!

This will be a short post since I am on my way out the door to satisfy one of my other addictions - Partylite.  It's release party night so I'll be high from all the new smells when I get home!  

Anyhoo, it's also Mojo Monday and Julee came through once again.  The sketch is awesome:

I thought I'd ink up one of the new stamps from Stamping Bella and chose the "oops" stamp that I got accidentally - Flutterby Huggabugg.  I pulled out an old Simply Scrappin' Kit and used the DP and textured CS - Pretty in Pink, Real Red & Wild Wasabi.  Here's the end result:

Recipe: Stamps: Flutterby Huggabugg (Stamping Bella)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black and coordinating colors for coloring image  Paper: Simply Scrappin' Kit (Winter Bright, retired) Accessories: Nestabilities (Circle and Pinking Circles), blender pen, white gel pen, adhesive pearls (of course!), Versamarker, Iridescent Ice EP, paper piercer, Swiss Dots EF, Buttons, ribbon, ticket corner punch, jumbo eyelet, Cropodile

Isn't she cute?  I just love all of the cute Buggs and hope to be able to buy some more of the new releases soon.

Have fun tonight everyone - I know I will!!  TTFN!

A Sunday Sketch For Me to Try. . .

I ordered a few (OK, more than a few but don't tell my husband) Bellas from Stamping Bella last month when they were celebrating their Bellaversary but I'm just getting around to mounting them now.  The last time I mounted my Bellas on the EZ Mount, I used my scissors - let me tell you, that was one long, painful process.  This time I thought I'd try a tool my sister gave me for Christmas last year but I have NEVER used: Creative Hot Marks.  I am SOOOO glad I remembered I had it because this tool made my life INFINITELY easier.  I was able to mount all 12 of the Bellas I ordered in less than 10 minutes!  YIPPEE!  Before I get to my card, I just want to tell you how impressed I am with Stamping Bella's customer service.  When I opened the packages last night I realized I had received a stamp I hadn't ordered because it had obviously been mispackaged.  The label on the outside said Lovey Huggabugg, and the sentiment stamp was correct but the Huggabugg stamp itself was the Flutterby Huggabugg.  So, I immediately emailed SB to let them know about the error and to find out what they wanted me to do with the stamp.  Ryan immediately emailed me back (this was 9:30 p.m. his time on a Saturday night!!) and told me to keep the incorrect stamp and the correct one would be mailed out first thing Monday morning!  How awesome is that???  So, if you ever have a chance to order from Em and Ryan, please be assured that the service will be amazing!  (Oh ya - and the stamps are pretty wonderful too!)

OK - So I got up this morning, put Raisin Bread in my bread machine, folded laundry, flipped the loads and then sat down to make a card.  I hadn't done Jen's Sketch For You To Try in awhile so I thought I'd click over to see hat she's got going on - a completely new look on her blog for one thing.   Right now she's got some pretty amazing blog tarts up for grabs so be sure to check out all the details!

So, here's this week's sketch:

I knew I wanted to use one of my new Bellas but couldn't decide which one.  I finally decided to use Lattebella along with the sentiment from one of My Favorite Things sets.  Once again I went to my paper stash and tried to find one that I probably wouldn't normally use.  I found one from Basic Grey's Romani collection and used the coordinating CS Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango and Red Riding Hood.  I stamped the Bella on watercolor paper with my Versafine Onyx Black ink and waited a couple of minutes for it to dry.  Then I used my blender pen and classic inks to color the image.  I cut her out using my rectangle nesties and layered her on the TT and OO.  I added some flowers and adhesive pearls along the left side, a photo corner punch accent in the top corner and my sentiment at the bottom.  I ran the Vanilla layer through my CB in the Swiss Dots folder (I am sooo in love with the Swiss Dots) and started putting it all together.

Recipe: Stamps: Lattebella (Stamping Bella), MFT "Hot Stuff" (sentiment)  Paper: Basic Grey DP (Romani), Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, watercolor paper  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, coordinating Classic inks  Accessories: Ticket corner punch, adhesive pearls, blender pen, paper flowers, swiss dots EF, Cropodile, pewter jumbo eyelets, ribbon, red cord, oval punch, 1-1/4" circle punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, designer label punch, rectangle Nestabilities (regular and scallop), photo corner punch

Thanks for stopping by - I'm going to get this in the mail tomorrow so it's not staying here for very long.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and enjoy your week!  Tomorrow's another Mojo Monday sketch so be sure to check back!

Another Plain Jane

Are you tired of these verses yet?  They just fit inside my new nesties so nicely. . .  I went through my paper stash and found this paper - I have no idea who made it or where I got it.  I guess it's not really *that* hideous but normally I would NOT put pink pirouette, kiwi kiss, and tangerine tango together on the same card.  But here, it kinda works. . . 

Here's the card sketch:

And the result:
My rectangles are a bit too high/low but I can't change that now!  LOL  I got a new embossing folder yesterday too so I thought I'd try it out on the black layer - it's kind of got a flower and viney design on it.  The black layer was actually a last minute addition. 

K- Off to bed I go.  Not sure what I'll do tomorrow - laundry is calling so I'm sure that will be on the list.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

Viva la Verve

Another Friday means another Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge and this week I combined it with the Color Throwdown Color Challenge:

I spent my day in town yesterday and just *had* to make a stop at my LSS. When I saw the Curved Rectangle Mega Nestabilities I knew I couldn't just leave them there!  

I don't use Mellow Moss a lot in my cards so it took some effort to wrap my brain around this combo.  This Plain Jane verse from Verve fit perfectly on the VV layer. When I finished layering the rest of the nestie layers, I thought it was too stark so I got my paper piercer out and went around the borders.  Part of the Viva la Verve Challenge includes a "twist" and this week's twist was to use BLING somewhere on the card - EASY PEASY!!  I alternated green and black rhinestones all the way down the DP layer.  Done!  

I'm going to try to do another card tonight.  I've got a whole stack of new Bellas that need to see ink so maybe I'll use one.  I read a great book today, "Firefly Lane," by Kristin Hannah.  It was a WONDERFUL story about two best friends and the journey they make together through their lives - through the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's.  I laughed and cried and remembered how much I love and appreciate my girlfriends.  They are the ones that will be there through it all - good and bad - and stick beside me anyways.   You know who you are. . . Thanks.

I'm going to get busy on my card - maybe pull out some really hideous DP and see what I can do with it!  

Verve is Looking For Love. . .

Verve Stamps is releasing some new stamps on Friday and Julee is celebrating!!! She is hosting the "Looking For Love Release Challenge" over at Splitcoast Stampers and what great challenges she has for us!  Julee must know that some of us are "keeners" so she posted a .PDF of all 4 challenges at the beginning of the week!  Thanks Julee!!

The first challenge was a color challenge and I kind of used this color scheme for all of my cards.  I have to admit, I have NEVER used Blush Blossom in ANY of my cards but I kind of like it - a cross between pink and apricot.  I also used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch for this card 'cause I loved the sketch so much!  Unfortunately, the Blush Blossom looks REALLY pink in my pictures so you'll just have to take my word for it - it REALLY is Blush Blossom!!!

Recipe: Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Best Yet (Stampin' Up)  Paper: Kraft, Blush Blossom, Riding Hood Red, SU! Holiday Treasures DP  Ink: Riding Hood Red  Accessories: Nestabilities (Labels 2), adhesive pearls, Hodgepodge Hardware (bookplate & swirly clip), kraft taffeta ribbon, spiral punch, Swirls EF & Cuttlebug

The challenge for Day 2 was a sketch.  I opened up my brand new Plain Jane from Verve and used it for the image in this card.  The rest of the card came together pretty quickly.  Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE my Martha Stewart border punches???  AND how much I LOVE adhesive pearls????  AND how much I LOVE SU!'s taffeta ribbon???? *giggle*  It really doesn't take much to get me excited.  

Recipe: Stamps: Plain Jane (Verve) Paper: Kraft, Blush Blossom, Riding Hood Red  Ink: Riding Hood Red  Accessories: Ticket corner punch, dimensionals, adhesive pearls, Martha Stewart's Lace Doily border punch, Swiss Dots EF, Cuttlebug, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, Marvy corner punch

Today's sketch was actually the last card I did and my brain was not really working very well after doing the other 3 cards first.  I had trouble deciding what colors to use, what border punch would look the best and what image would fit into the size of square I had already cut out.  I'm still not totally enthralled with the result but it's done.  Oh, have I mentioned that adhesive pearls are my new favorite embellishment???  And I didn't put anything in the top left corner (where the bow is) because with the flower on the top of the cupcake, it would have been too much up there.
Recipe: Stamps: Cupcake Affair (Verve), sentiment from Stamping Bella  Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red  Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red  Accessories: Nestabilities (Scalloped and Plain Squares), Swiss Dots EF, Cuttlebug, Martha Stewart Lace Doily border punch, adhesive pearls, paper flower, Versamarker, Iridescent Ice EP, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon

OK, now tomorrow's sketch hasn't been posted by itself yet so I can't show it to you tonight.  I will come back tomorrow and edit to add it but, for now, you're going to have to trust me!  I had trouble picking an image for this one but when I saw these cute lovebirds (from an unknown acrylic set) I figured it would work perfectly.  I just realized that I didn't put a sentiment on the front of this one but I *think* it's pretty self-explanatory, don't you???  Ugh - and my ribbon is crooked... *sigh*   Whatever...  It's kind of hard to see in this picture but the birdies and the hearts are embossed with Iridescent Ice EP.

Recipe: Stamps: Unknown acrylic set Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Blush Blossom Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red  Accessories: Nestabilities (Labels 2), Argyle EF, Swirly EF, Cuttlebug, paper piercer, metal swirly thing, kraft & riding hood red taffeta ribbon, riding hood red grosgrain ribbon, black adhesive pearls, Versamarker, Iridescent Ice EP

SO - that's it for me tonight.  I have a busy day tomorrow and then Friday will be busy too - it's NAIL DAY!  I've been having lots of fun with glitter lately but I may go for something completely different this time.  We'll see how adventurous I am when the time comes!

Stay warm wherever you are and may your mojo never be far away!  

Another Mojo Monday!

Boy, it feels good to have those creative juices flowing again!  It's really amazing how quickly you can get in a funk - even more amazing how quickly you can get OUT of it when you have great inspiration.  

It's Monday and that means Julee gives us a WONDERFUL sketch to get us going.  This is the first week Julee comes to us from her new blog dedicated to Mojo Monday sketches.   

I started by going through my paper stash - I don't think I have ever used this DP (retired Porcelain Prints).  I used Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla CS along with Blue Bayou ink.  The sentiment is from Verve's Plain Jane collection.  I really love the simplicity of all these verses and hope to use them a LOT in the future.  I used my Top Note die for the sentiment layer and inked the edges for a bit of depth.  The rest of the card is pretty simple - vanilla brads, antique brass HPH swirly-thing, leaf charm, velvet flower, button, wire, Martha Stewart border punch and my trusty ticket corner punch.
I really love how this turned out - it seems to have a lot going on but it really is very simple and elegant.  I hardly ever use my Hodgepodge Hardware but I'm going to try to use it more often because it just gives a card that "sumthin' sumthin'."

K - I'm outta here for tonight.  I made it through the first day back but I'll tell you what- 6:30 AM came AWFULLY quickly!  LOL  Thanks for stopping by!

I'm BAAAAACK. . .

Wow - what a busy couple of weeks it has been!  We had a wonderful Christmas with my side of the family and I spent many hours reading "The Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End" by Ken Follett - excellent reads if you like books set in medieval times and don't mind the fact that they are both over 900 pages long!  I spent WAYYYY too much time in my jammies and enjoyed every minute!

Today was the first day I spent any real amount of time on the web and discovered that there's a new Verve weekly challenge - and a sketch challenge, my favorite!  Viva La Verve challenges are posted on Friday and this week's sketch looks like:

 Another part of this challenge is to use hardware of some kind on your card - brads, eyelets, bookplates, frames. . .whatever metal you've got!  I opened my new Snow Wonderful set from Verve and picked the snowman and sentiment to use for this card.  I've decided that I need to try to use up some of the retired DP that I have in my stash and found this Wintergreen DP still hanging around.  I used the coordinating solids - Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery and Soft Sky - some ribbon, silver brads, ticket corner punch, Nestabilities, my VersaMarker & Iridescent Ice EP (for the snowman), a paper snowflake and rhinestone brad complete the card.

I also paper-pieced the scarf and inked the edges with Always Artichoke.  The card itself is one from a box of pre-folded cards I got at Michael's a LONG time ago - another item I have decided I need to make use of!  

Hopefully, you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend time with family and friends.  I know I have enjoyed just being in "hibernation" mode - it had been so nice to have DAYS go by when the phone doesn't ring at ALL!!  LOL  Monday will be a rude awakening, that's for sure but it will be time for me to get back into the swing of work *and* playing along with my usual challenges.  

See you on Monday!