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!

WOYWW, Some Exciting News, AND a new card!

Whoa! It's a pretty fun day around here today! Just a quick reminder to please check out my Gallery Idol Round 3 cards! I would so appreciate your vote! This is all so exciting!



Let's start with that exciting news I have to share! I am one of the new members of The Alley Way Design Team!!! I am SO super excited about this! The stamps are SO FUN and I love them and I can't WAIT to share fun creations with all of you! They have a GIVEAWAY on their blog today, so check it out!



And...as for my workspace, well, for those of you who like tidy spaces...brace yourself...it's gonna be a rough ride today! Just say'n.



My desk has not yet recovered from the aftermath of last weekend's Gallery Idol madness! Then there are rubber stamps everywhere that need inking... jelly beans...because Tami said I needed them. HA! :-) And, right there in front you can see a beautiful card created by the amazing Joscie! Even my husband said it was a cute card! :-) That Xyron was my life saver when I was paper piecing the cowboy and cowgirl cards for Gallery Idol, let me tell you! I love that thing! (I have four of them...that's the only zebra one...it's WAY FUN!) You can see the other WOYWW participants at Julia's Blog!

And finally, I have a card for you! I made this one with the CAS challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers and the CAS-ual Fridays Sweet Spot Challenge!



I used Tami Mayberry's You Go Girl! set by Gina K. designs, papers from Amy Tangerine Sketchbook line by American Crafts, and glorious silk ribbon from May Arts!



Whew! SO MUCH FUN STUFF!!! Thanks for stopping by and thank you all SO MUCH for your votes for Gallery Idol!!!

Jingle Out!

Breathtaking Butterflies New Release Blog Hop!

Gallery Idol Note of the Day: If you haven't checked out my super fun Gallery Idol Round 3 Cards I NEED your vote! You can use the widget below to vote and you can see my cards in detail in THIS POST! Thank you SO MUCH for your votes!!!



And now onto today's blog hop! If you came from Katie's blog you are almost done! Skipping Stones Design has a BRAND NEW release and it is a GORGEOUS ONE! We are celebrating with a blog hop!!! We also have a brand new sketch challenge out and one random person who plays along with the sketch and links up to the Skipping Stones Design post will win a set of FREE STAMPS! YAY!

Here is the card I created with the BRAND NEW BEAUTIFUL stamps - Breathtaking Butterflies AND the sketch for this week!



I used twine from The Twinery to create the bottom portion of the card. I just love how pretty it looks woven like that! A few pearls mark the path of one of the butterflies, adding just that little something to complete the card.



Here is the full hop list! I'm the last stop, so if you just found the hop through me, hop on back to Skipping Stones Design to start at the beginning!

Wendy Price
Stephanie Mino
Megan Aaron
Wendy Jordan
Pamela Young
Cyndi Bundy
JoAnn Valderama
Connie Mercer
Karen Baker
Katie Gehring
Jennifer Ingle

Jingle Out! Don't forget to vote! THANK YOU!!!!

Gallery Idol Round 3 - It's ROUND-UP time! Yee-HAW!

Hello, my dear friends! I am so crazy excited and honored to be participating in ROUND 3 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Competition! Thank you ALL so much for your votes! We totally did this together and I can't thank you enough! It's time to begin Round THREE! The challenge for this round was to create two cards, one masculine and one feminine, using one identical product in both cards. This was challenging, but OH.SO.FUN. For reals, you guys! Here are my cards together...




Yee-Haw!!! Yup! I went a bit western for this one! I started with a fabulous stamp from Pink By Design from the Best in the West stamp set. The cowboy stamp was PERFECT for this challenge! I used 'him' on both cards and simply added a pony tail and made a few little changes here and there to create one cowboy and one cowgirl using the exact same stamp! YAY!

I also used several papers from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection on both cards. I used the 6x6 version of each of the following papers on BOTH cards:

Paige's Portraits (b side)
Sienna Spirit
Cobalt Compostition
Adi's Adoration

Cyndi's Sketch
My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy True Blue Pleasant paper

I also used Flax Twine from The Twinery and cork sheets on both cards! YAY!

I paper pieced the two figures, which, yes, took a lot of time, a lot of cutting, and a lot of piecing! LOL! Here are the photos of all of the tiny pieces:





And that doesn't even include the cactus on the cowboy card and the bag and the flowers on the cowgirl card! I love paper piecing, though! I really do! It's so much fun!




For the Howdy! card I wrapped the bottom of the card with flax twine for my dessert sand! I stamped the cactus from the same stamp set on Amy Tangerine Viridian Vignette and created a lasso from twine, as well. I LOVE THAT PART!!!! No, for reals, though...I seriously love the lasso! It's just so much FUN!!! I {heart} fun things. Just say'n. His pants are Core'dinations cardstock and his boots are Padma's Pattern from the Sketchbook Collection and his hair is from Glitz Designs Happy Travels Planes paper. The background paper is from the Echo Park This and That collection. All others are from the list above.




Now...when it came to the Cowgirl card, well, she has RODEO on her mind, alright...RODEO DRIVE, that is! She's an urban cowgirl and ready to shop!!! I pieced her the same way I pieced the cowboy. She uses the Sydney's Snapshot paper for her boots, and the background is the B side of the Ivory Impressions paper. The cloud stickers are from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook sticker booklet. The city stamp is from Jilliebean Soup's You Move Me set. The tiny flowers are from the Stampendous! Vintage Typewriter Perfectly Clear stamp set.




I created the flower cone from scratch by rolling a paper cone, stamping the flowers and fussy-cutting those, attaching them to wire, and adhering to the card. The bag made me SUPER HAPPY! I searched for a good font and then printed up the little 'Bloomies' bag and gave it a twine handle! *LOVE THAT!*

Okay...so now that this is the longest post in all of eternity! HAHAHA! You can find the widget at the top of this fun post and here at the bottom, as well as at the top right of my blog! If you voted in the last round you will NOT have to register again, you can simply login!



Thank you ALL for your amazing support! It means the world to me!!!!! Thank you!!!! And YEE-HAW!!!!! (Tee-hee...sorry...it had to be done. Just say'n.)

Jingle Out!

Yesterday is For Remembering...

Quick Note: Gallery Idol Round 3 Voting begins at 2pm Eastern Time today! Please come back then to see my cards for the Round 3 challenge and VOTE! YAY!!!! I'm so stinking excited! Just say'n.

Now...back to the feature presentation....

Breathtaking Butterflies. *sigh* Best name for a stamp set EVER! Maybe it's just because I really LOVE butterfly stamps. No...for reals. I have a few sets with them, but I still always want more when I see fabulous new ones! LOL! There is just something about a beautiful butterfly image that gets me every time. That's why I was SUPER EXCITED when I found out that the June release for Skipping Stones Design was to be the Breathtaking Butterflies set! This set is STUNNING and we are releasing it tomorrow with a blog hop STUFFED FULL of inspiration! Today, a few of us have a sneak peek for you!



*sigh* Isn't that butterfly just wonderful? And OH, that sentiment! I love it! To give the butterfly a natural, colorful, look, I stamped it in the yellow ink first, rocked it in the green ink, and then followed with a more subtle rock in the blue ink to darken the edges. I love all of the glorious color! YAY!



The patterned paper is Echo Park and the tape is from Love My Tapes. I do hope you visit the Skipping Stones Design blog to see the other sneaks! These girls ROCKED IT!

See you at 2 for the Gallery Idol Round 3 madness to begin!!! YAY!!!!

We did it!

OH, my goodness, than you all SO MUCH! Your votes got me into Round 3 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol competition! I am SO STINKING EXCITED!!! I can't even thank you all enough! Our next challenge is a fun one, too, so I'm really looking forward to working on that this weekend!

So...this morning, I had the privilege of LITERALLY being on Cloud 9 after hearing the announcement! Yup...fog. Lots of it. LOL! My drive in was covered with a thick, dense fog that was actually absolutely beautiful! The sun was working SO hard to shine through it. It was really a very neat experience. And then...all of the sudden, I drove out of the cloud and the sky burst into blue radiance and the sun shone brightly and I felt like the sky was just greeting me with a great big, "Hello! Good Morning, Massachusetts!" It was brilliant! So beautiful! Just one of those times when you have to thank God for being pretty cool. Just say'n.



My card for today is a cloudy one, but still full of cheerful color! I had color on the brain last weekend after the GI challenge! LOL! For this one I stamped the clouds from the Bella Blvd. Sunny Happy Skies set by Unity in different colors and cut each one out to mount to the card. I chose a colored background *gasp!* for this card and I think it works pretty well. The Get Well sentiment is from the Samantha Walker Encompassed Grace set! I love it! Such a pretty font!



A sketchy outline around each cloud and the entire card grounds the elements and offers a playful twist! This one was pretty fun to do!

And...before I leave, thank you again, for your votes for Gallery Idol! I am so excited and so honored to be moving on to the next round. Now...Let's DO THIS!!!!

Jingle Out!