Guitars Really Are Beautiful!

I just want to take a moment to thank all those who have voted in Round 4 of Paper Crafts Gallery Idol and encourage you to head on over and vote now if you haven't already! Today is the last FULL day to vote! EVERY SINGLE VOTE counts!!! Thank you SO MUCH for your support!





Well, you may have noticed a fun new blinkie in my sidebar! I'm excited to be joining the Simon Says Challenge Blog Design Team! Today we have a BRAND NEW challenge for you and it's a fun one! We want you to create ANYTHING BUT A CARD! It's easy! Simply make something...ANYTHING...just not a card, of course, and link it up over on the challenge blog! You could win an AWESOME prize just for giving it a shot!!!

Here is what I have created for this challenge!







This is actually what I gave to my Daddy for Father's Day! He loves guitars...he plays, he's in a band, and he simply appreciates the beauty of the instrument. I created this for him to hang in his office at his school!







A closer look shows you some of the goodies I used to create this fun frame! I began with a fabulous stamp from Stampendous! I used the Stampendous! Cling Music Score stamp for the background. I love this stamp! I layered papers from the Echo Park This & That Collection, and accented with burlap string and woven burlap from May Arts. A couple of fabulous trinket pins from Maya Road finished it off wonderfully! You can also see a bit of woodgrain washi tape tucked in with the papers that I inked with tea dye and frayed burlap distress inks! Love distress inks!







By participating in this challenge you have the chance to win a $50 Gift Voucher to Simon Says Stamp!  YUP!  Pretty fabulous!!!!

AND...that's not ALL that Simon Says Stamp has to offer right now! There is a FABULOUS blog hop for you to check out, too!

A FABULOUS Blog Hop to celebrate the launch on the new Simon Says Stamp Exclusives Dies starts today!  You will need to hop over to the Simon Says Stamp Blogto join in the FUN !! LOTS of fabulous prizes on offer !

Love Hurts {WOYWW}

I want to begin by thanking you all so much for your votes so far for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Round 4! If you haven't yet voted, please use the widget below (click through if you are in a reader) or to the right to cast your vote! You guys have got me this far and I know we can take this to the next round! Thank you SO much for your support!

It's time to show off my workspace for WOYWW! This is going to be astonishing...it's a mess! HA! Yes, I know...not so astonishing! LOL! Actually, it's not as bad as it could be, or as bad as it was, so I guess there's something there, right? LOL!



Kind of a strange angle today, but I was going for something a bit different, so...there you have it! HA! As for what you see there, well, I have a lot of ink pads out..that's strange because that is something I usually put away each time. You also see several toilet paper tubes...I was keeping those in case they asked us to use something strange for Gallery Idol. Well, they did, and I didn't use them! LOL! I may still do some stamping with them, though. We shall see. Lots of adhesives. I was working on cards last night when the tape on my ATG broke and I was too lazy to fix it so I just pulled out the Glue Glider Pro. LOL! The Xyron X is often out, as I use it for my paper piecing! YAY! I also have an ATC to share with you today...



Yup...kind of a 'dark' one this time around, but a bit tongue-in-cheek, as well. I used the wicked cool Coffee Break Designs anatomical heart stamp from Retro Cafe Art Gallery! LOVE this stamp! I pooled Crimson Twinkly H2O's in the center and used a straw to blow the shimmering paint out over the heart. The shell casings are also from Retro Cafe Art Gallery! The stickers are Cosmo Cricket. I just love how powerful the use of color and contrast can be!



Thank you for stopping by today and thank you, again, for your awesome support and for your votes in the Gallery Idol contest! It's all so very exciting! Just say'n.

Jingle Out.

A High Flying Happy Birthday!

Before we get started I just want to remind you that Round 4 of Gallery Idol has begun! You can vote using the widget below (click through to see it!) or the widget at the top right of my blog. For more pictures and explanation of my card, click on the link above directing you to the card! It's a fun one!!! YAY!!!!



Well, it's Tuesday and that means it's time for a brand new Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge! Did you know that you can win free stamps with each of our weekly challenges? Yup! You don't even have to have SSD stamps to play! Simply create a card based on the sketch and link it up over at Skipping Stones and one random winner each week gets FREE STAMPS! It's pretty fabulous! Just say'n. Here's my card for this week!



I saw a hot air balloon on my way to work yesterday! It was gorgeous! It was pink and white ans so pretty! This card, on the other hand, well, I'll be honest, it's one of those ones I just don't love...I keep questioning it. *sigh* I guess we all have those sometimes. I do love those hot air balloons, though! They make me super happy!!!



I actually got to use three different sets on this card, and I love that, too! I love that they can mix and match so well! I used the Uplifting Set, the Gettin' Old Birthday set (sentiment), and the butterflies and dandelion flyaways from the Dandelion Dreams set!

K, so now that I'm talking about it, I don't hate it as much! LOL! It really is a fun card, so I guess I will go with that! Now...head on over to Skipping Stones and check out what the other girls have created! But don't forget to vote first!!! Your support has got me this far and I can't thank you all ENOUGH! You guys are AMAZING!!!!

Jingle Out!

You're Sharp! Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Round 4

Wow! Here it is! Time to show you my card for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Round 4! I cannot thank you all enough for the votes that have brought me this far! I am now in the Top 10 and would love your votes to push me into the Top 5 with this round! This week's challenge was to create a card using household items.

Click the widget below to vote!  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!! SO exciting!!!! (If you are reading this in a Reader, please click through to see the widget!  thanks!)





Well, I am a former teacher and my husband is a current teacher. That means we have LOTS of pencils and paperclips around our house. LOTS. As in...you cannot enter a room without running into such things. Just say'n. SO...I decided to put those things to use for my card today!





EEEK! This card was SO STINKING MUCH FUN TO CREATE!!!





I began by creating my own patterned paper for my card. I hand drew the blue and red lines to create notebook paper using PrismaColor colored pencils. I punched the edge with an EK Success punch to get the fun notebook look. This is mounted on a grey cardstock base. The title, well, that, my friends, is a very special SNEAK PEAK at some new alphabet stamps soon to be released by The Alley Way Stamps! The font was just perfect for the theme of my card! I love it!





The star is scribble sketched with a PrismaColor graphite pencil and then a fun stripey paperclip is added to the corner! YAY!





And then there are the pencils! Yup! They are each cut to the exact same size and then lined up on the card. I used a crazy super sticky tape made by Scotch to adhere them. I sharpened the one and flipped it the opposite direction from the others and then tied with with a bit of fabulous baker's twine from May Arts.

I hope you love this card as much as I do! I really feel like it is totally me and I had SUCH a blast creating it! The Hubbums was a great help on this one, too!!! I love that he has supported me so much through this! He's pretty much awesome. Just say'n. You will find the widget to vote at the top and bottom of this post as well as in the sidebar. If yo have already registered, you will not need to do so again, simply login with your username and password. Thank you ALL so VERY much for your incredible support! I have the bestest friends in the world! You guys are AMAZING!!! Thank you!!!!

Jingle Out!

May Arts Graphic 45 Blog Hop - Curiosity, indeed!

I'd love your votes for Gallery Idol Round Four!  See the post above for more details!  Click the widget below to VOTE!  Thank you SO MUCH for your support!




Graphic 45 and May Arts have come together once again for an amazing week of blog hopping goodness! Today is the first day of the hop, and MAN, are you guys going to love this stuff! Be sure to visit the May Arts blog each day this week for the links for that day AND chances to win great prizes!

I got to use the fabulous Old Curiosity Shop Collection from Graphic 45. I paired it with the fabulous Black Sheer/Nylon Edge ribbon and beautiful crochet lace from May Arts! The rest of my supplies were mostly bits and pieces from around my studio!



I began by first layering the Grapic 45 papers inside the Tim Holtz boxes.




The next step was to add the Graphic 45 stickers in a few of the boxes. I brushed the back with cornstarch and adhered them with foam tape for dimension. I love that the postage stickers have stamps for places in Massachusetts! WAY FUN BONUS!!!!




I then added bits of lace inside a few of the boxes and adhered chipboard pieces around the outside of the box.




I wrapped the sheer ribbon around the box entirely and secured with tape. I then added a layered bow with a chipboard accent (tied on with May Arts Burlap String) to the top of the box.




Finally, it is time to fill the box with trinkets and goodies! This is the best part! My spiderwebs, Glass bottle and the Charlotte doll head are from Retro Cafe Art Gallery. The metal clothespin is Graphic 45, and the other bits and bobs are pretty much random things I found around my studio. Yup. I officially have weird stuff. I sculpted that little monster head toward the bottom ages ago and never added it to a doll, so I figured he was just about perfect for this project!













I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial! Don't forget to check out the other great Graphic 45 and May Arts posts today!


Alberto Juárez :
Gloria Stengel
Nicole Eccles
Jingle
Charlene

I'll be back later today with my Gallery Idol Round 4 Card! I can't WAIT to share it with all of you!

Bowling For Friends with Gourmet Rubber Stamps

HA! Bowling for friends! That's HILARIOUS!!! LOL! At least I'm not bowling OVER friends.... or STRIKING friends...or...okay...I'll stop now. *sigh* LOL!

But, in all honesty, the two brand new Appetizer sets from Gourmet Rubber Stamps that are being released today couldn't be more perfect for what I have to say to all of you, my friends, today! You see, WE DID IT AGAIN!!!! That's right, folks! Your votes have put me in the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Top 10!!! I am beyond thrilled about this and so honored to be standing beside these amazing designers! WOW. That's pretty much where I am on that one. Just say'n.

You Bowl Me OVER! No...for reals, you guys...you totally do!



This card uses the fabulous new Kingpin Appetizer set! I LOVE THESE STAMPS!!!! AND...we have a great sketch challenge for you this week thanks to the wonderful Jeni! I used the sketch (turned, of course) to create my card! The papers are from the Echo Park Happy Days collection and the twine is from The Twinery.



*sigh* And, while you totally bowl me over, I want to send my sincerest THANKS to each and everyone of you for supporting my Gallery Idol journey! You are FRIENDS! And, this card, is a perfect fit for that! I used the brand new Gourmet Rubber Stamps Sentiments Squared collection for this one! Don't you just LOVE the subway art style of these sentiments? SO FUN! AND...even BETTER...you can get these in GIANT SIZE, too! Gourmet Rubber Stamps is releasing each of these four designs as Coveralls, as well!!!! They are 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 - start planning your holiday decor giving now!!!! These are PERFECT!

So...head on over to Gourmet Rubber Stamps, check out the new awesomeness, treat yourself to something fabulous, and then have jelly beans for breakfast because, my friends, today is a VERY. GOOD. DAY! Just say'n.

Jingle Out!

Nice Grill!

Gallery Idol Note of the Day: Voting is open through noon Mountain Time today! If you haven't had a chance to vote, I would so appreciate it! Thank you SO MUCH to all who have voted! Your support is AMAZING and I can't thank you enough!!! To vote, simply click on the widget to the right or visit this post! Thank you!

Every now and then I see a set of stamps and for some reason I can't just see the images as they are, but rather, my brain starts turning them into all kinds of crazy fun things! When the Alfresco set from Paper Smooches arrived in my mailbox I had this idea almost instantly! LOL!



Yup. No idea where that came from, but it is STILL cracking me up! HAHAHAHA!!! Love! The grill and the smoke are actually the grill stamp from the set. The toothy grin is actually the rind from the watermelon slice! FUN!!! I just masked it and used the rind and then used a gold glitter gel pen to color a couple of the teeth! HOW FUN IS THAT? HA!!! The nose is actually the top of the salt and pepper shaker! LOVE! AGAIN!



It really is super fun what you can do with just a little masking here and there! I added the eyes and popped the image up from the background, letting the smoke remain a bit set back. The glitter stickers are Making Memories. This was just plain 'ole FUN to make! I hope you like it! Just say'n.

Have a grill'n day!

(Yeah, so that doesn't make any sense, but I'm going with it anyway. Just say'n. HA!)

Jingle Out!