Stamp Simply #96 - Little Black Dress

It's Friday and time once again for the Stamp Simply Challege on Sharon Johnson's blog. Today's challenge is all about the "Little Black Dress" ... here it is in Sharon's words:

Little Black Dress - The staple of every women's wardrobe -- or so they say. How many of you actually HAVE a little black dress? Not me! Anyway, today's challenge is to make a project of understated elegance using black and white. If you need to add in a little pop of another color, that's fine, as long as the project is primarily black and white and its overall feel is that of understated elegance. I think this one will produce some real beauties! Can't wait to see!!!

Well, I took Sharon literally with my main image ! It is my "Little Black Dress" by My Sentiments Exactly and I have stamped it in Versamark, embossed with Black Opal embossing powder and cut it out with a swivel craft knife.

My background panel was created by using Whisper White cardstock run through my Cuttlebug using the Swirls embossing folder. Once embossed, I swiped my Versamark pad over the top going from the corners inward ... then embossed with Black Opal embossing powder (same as the dress). It's a shame my photo doesn't really dhow the sparkle and beauty of this creation!!

I've used Offray white satin ribbon behind the dress and Offray narrow organza around the waist of the dress. The pearls are by Mark Richards and although you can't see it well, there was liquid pearls placed inside each of the black swirls. The Cuttlebug panel has been matted with glossy black and placed on Whisper White cardstock.

I've supplied a close up of the dress so you can see the beautiful sparkle it has but if you still have trouble seeing that, please "click on the image" for a better view.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you enjoyed my creation!!

My last posting ...

for a few days!!! I know, you're probably breathing a sigh of relief ... I can get rather windy at times!! LOL!! At the end of the posting, I will tell you what I'll be up to ... I'm SO EXCITED!!!!

This card was created for today's SCS sketch challenge (SC237). Today Roxie picked a card created by Judy (StampinQueen JAR) for her sketch example. What's really cool about Judy's card being chosen for TODAY, is that today she & I are "Birthday Buddies" ... yep, we are both having a birthday today! What a sweet birthday surprise for Judy!!! Pop on over and show her some birthday love!!!

My creation today is based around PEARS ... (I don't know why!! LOL ...) My main image is from the Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps (Garden). After double matting with More Mustard & Mellow Moss cs, I distressed the edges. I created the background paper by stamping the pear image from the SU Infinite Goodness set in three different inks ... Garden Green, More Mustard & Summer Sun. On the right side I used the Martha Stewart Arch Lattice punch and on the left side I added a strip of More Mustard cardstock which I've stamped a portion of the sentiment stamp from the same stamp set "Infinite Goodness". My base card is 2 ply hunter green/ivory cardstock.

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OKAY ... now for my exciting news!

I mentioned it in an earlier posting ... but in case you missed it ... tomorrow (A.M.) Tammy Hershberger (Stamp Happy) and myself are headed for Shipshewana, Indiana to link up with some of the ladies from Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Group!!! And that includes the QUEEN of STAMP SIMPLY herself ... Sharon Johnson!!! WOW ... how cool is that!!! I am SO EXCITED!!!!!

Tammy & I are leaving a day early because Joan Fricker (Joan's Garden) was generous enough to invite us to come stay with her for a day before linking up with the other ladies!! We are also taking an extra day coming back home so we can check out some (new to us) stamping stores on the way back through.

Don't worry now ... I will have my laptop with me and will be sharing photos along the way! Look out stamping stores in the Shipshewana, Indiana area ... HERE I COME!!!!!

Color Throwdown #51

Time for another Color Throwdown Challenge and what a fun color combo this was to create with!! The Color Throwdown also has some new exciting news this week!!! They now have started a sponsor program and the sponsor this week is ....




Unfortunately I don't own any DRS designs (YET) so unlike the design team, I had to use something other than DRS for my creation. Please check out the cards made by the design team ... there is some great inspiration there!!!!






As far as my card, here are the details:



Stamps: Stamp Craft
Papers: So Saffron, Garden Green, Lavendar Lace, Whisper White, SU Tea Party designer paper
Inks: Versafine Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug border embossing folders, Darice satin ribbon, Nestabilities, ZIG green marker, Creative Memores fine tip black marker & metal ruler (for faux stitching), Bow Easy





I am really happy with this card! LOVE the colors, layout and of course having the Bow Easy (purchased through Sharon Johnson's ribbon store) made my one & only embellishment look awesome!!! I hope you like it too!!!


Thanks for stopping by!!!

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #10

WOW ... another awesome sketch from the MIDNIGHT MADNESS folks!! If you haven't checked out this website yet ... you are really missing out of some awesome fun, prizes, money ... YES, I said money!!! Jump on over there ... you will be amazed! And, did I mention the weekly sketch challenge ... these ladies really know how to "live on the edge" ... check out the sample cards ... TRULY INSPIRATIONAL!!

While in Pittsburgh, PA yesterday, and sharing some of my handmade cards with my dear SIL ... my BIL brought out a card that he had received several years ago that had a near-nude vintage lady with a very colorful peacock that I thought resembled this vintage image. So of course, I just had to use his inspiration card for my card today.

Here are the details on my creation:

Stamps: None

Papers: River Rock, Real Red, Basic Grey (Wassail) designer paper

Inks: None

Accessories: Image from http://www.digitalcollagesheets.com/ (The Lady's Closet), Darice gold ribbon, String irridescent pearls (JoAnn's), Prima flowers, dimensional tape, The Paper Studio mini pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope your day is a happy one!!!

FANTASTIC GIVE AWAY ..

Have you checked out the Give Away over on Melissa Bove's "Creating from the Heart" blog??? NO?? Well be sure to click on the link and check it out! You won't be disappointed! HURRY though ... time is running out!!

CPS124 & Stamp Something Challenges

I put this week's Card Positioning System sketch challenge and Stamp Something's color challenge together to come up with this pretty creation.

Here is a look at the sketch.

The color's required for the Stamp Something Challenge are pink, green & yellow. I looked through a few of my designer paper packs and came up with this dainty printed paper in the Basic Grey (Sultry) pack.

Here are the items used in this creation:

Stamps: SU Bloomin' Beauty, Magenta (sentiment)

Papers: Summer Sun, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Basic Grey (Sultry) dp

Inks: Versafine blk

Accessories: Detail clear embossing powder, metal ruler, Creative Memories fine tip black marker (for faux stitching), SU watercolor pencils/blender pen, Making Memories gems, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Creative Memories corner rounder.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please stop back tomorrow when I'll be hosting the SCS Crafty Secrets Challenge and will have my sample card to share with you.

PCP Sketch Challenge

This week's sketch challenge over on Papercraft Planet (PCP) is a fun one and something I rarely do!! It is a "NO LAYER" challenge! Yep you heard me right ...

I purchased the Lilac set from Flourishes a few months ago and hadn't got it dirty yet ... so, today was the day! I used Elegant Eggplant to stamp my image then used a blender pen to color it while the ink was still wet. I also used a blender pen and old olive ink for the leaves ... close to cocoa for the branch.

My sentiments are from the SU Warm Words set and stamped in Elegant Eggplant. I used a sponge and old olive to sponge around the outer edge of my Whisper White base card. Well ... that's it ... easy / peasy and fun!!

PCP Crafty Secrets Challenge - 071209

Happy Sunday to you all! Looks like it's going to be another BEAUTIFUL day outside and I hope to get out there and enjoy it, but right now I'd like to share a few cards with you!



In case you are unaware, I have the pleasure of posting a weekly (Sunday) challenge over on Papercraft Planet in the Crafty Secrets Group. SO ... is you have ANY Crafty Secrets products, PLEASE come join in on the challenges with us!!!



Today I thought using "GINGHAM" on our creations would be fun. That could be gingham paper, ribbon ... whatever color or style of gingham you prefer. For my sample card, I chose to use the black & white gingham styled designer paper from the Crafty Secrets RADIANT paper pack for my background panel as well as the lilac gingham ribbon around my focus panel and across/under the buttons. My image & sentiment are from the Crafty Secrets SEW SPECIAL stamp set. Since I'm still STUCK on the "poppin pastels" technique, I stamped my image in Versamark several times and used various chalk colors (see other colored creations further in posting) and cotton balls for my coloring ... then chose which one I wanted to use for my sample cards. Of course being the person I am, I just had to create cards using the other images as well!! Here are all the elements used in this creation:

Stamps: Crafty Secrets (sew special)
Papers: Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Basic Black, Crafty Secrets (Radiant) designer paper
Inks: Versamark, Amethyst
Accessories: chalk, cotton ball, Creative Memories black round tip marker, Fiskars scallop scissors, Nestabilities (long rectangle), Darice gingham ribbon, Bucket O'buttons, needle & thread, gold safety pin, dimensional tape


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Now for the other two creations:

On the other two images (which were stamped in VersaMark), I chose to use GREEN and RED chalks for my coloring. The red actually came out looking a bit pink so I tried to work around that with my background paper. (Remember to CLICK the image for a larger view.)


For the green colored image, I simply used the Nestabilities long rectangle die to cut it and matted it with SU Garden Green paper. My base card was run through the Cuttlebug part way down using the Swiss Dot embossing folder then used this swirl patterned satin ribbon from Michael's around the center. The FRIENDS sentiment is from Hero Ars and was stamped using SU Garden Green ink.



For the red colored image, I used the same Nestabilities long rectangle die to cut (as I did the others) then mounted it onto SU River Rock paper which is the same as my base card. My background designer paper is from a Colorbok (Tracey Porter) 12x12 scrapbooking pack (which I purchased at a yard sale for $4). My faux zig-zag stitch was created by using one of the "stitching" stamps that is in the Crafty Secrets SEW SPECIAL set. If you look closely, you can see I also did faux stitching around the main image but in River Rock ink. I colored my Prima flowers (which I just purchased from Tammy Hershberger (stamp happy) at Toyrifix) using SU inks & sponge applicator to match in with my designer paper. What fun!!



Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful, fun-filled weekend! Until next time ... Happy Stamping!!

Poppin' Pastel Techique ...

Over on StampTV, GinaK has a tutorial up this week refreshing us all on the "poppin' pastel" techique. It's been soooooooooooo long since I've used this technique that I instantly decided it was time!

On my first card I used Versamark, dry chalk and cotton ball applicators. For my layout, I turned to this past week's Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge and my images are from the Inkadinkado (Coastal) stamp set. I've tied knots in my Hobby Lobby organza ribbon to mimic dock roping and cut out the seashells for embellishments.

All items for this card:

Stamps: Inkadinkado (coastal)

Papers: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, DCWV designer paper

Inks: Versafine black, Versafine sepia, Versamark

Accessories: dry chalk, cotton balls, swivel craft knife, detail clear embossing powder, Hobby Lobby organza ribbon

For my second card I used Versamark, Pan Pastel (artist) paste chalks and cotton ball applicators.

This "friend" stamp set by Hero Arts was purchased at Toyrifix through my dear friend, Tammy Hershberger (Stamp Happy) several months ago and has only been inked up once ... I was curious how it would work today with this technique and I wasn't disappointed!!!!

The Pan Pastel chalks are slightly "creamy" which helped for the colors to blend beautifully. I used three colors on this medallion ... lgt. blue pastel, lgt. purple pastel & deep purple solid. I continued to spread the colors outside the medallion then used my circular Nestabilities to make my circle cut and basic black matting. The word friend was stamped in Versafine Onxy Black (afterthought - should have been embossed) and the butterfly was stamped in Blue Bayou.

Once I had my medallion completed I went on a hunt for the "perfect background paper" and found this scrap of Tapestry designer paper. I used Offray Amethyst satin ribbon to breakup the background and after running my Sizzix's swirl die through my Cuttlebut, cut it apart and used it on both the outside & inside of my card for texture. My inside sentiment is from the Stampin' Up Friendship Flowers stamp set. The only other embellishment used on this creation are the 3 black Colorbok metal dots.

I hope you have enjoyed my "poppin pastels" creations today! It's SO easy ... you really need to give it a try! Have a great weekend. I'll be back tomorrow to share with you the Crafty Secrets Group Challenge over on Papercraft Planet ... hmmm, I wonder what challenge idea I'll come up with this week!!

OCCC Challenge - Pets

This month's hostess over on the Our Creative Corner Challenge is Jenny Gropp and she's coming up with some awesome challenge ideas. This week is all about our PETS.

I am not a huge animal lover (as far as house pets goes - been there, done that) so I don't have any pets at my house ... unless you consider the collection of various rubber dinosaurs, stuffed monkey, McDonald's Happy Meal little stuffed dogs, etc. that my DH has around the house as House Pets!!! LOL!!!

Recipe for card:

Stamps: Rubber Cottage, My Sentiments Exactly

Papers: Green Galore, Whisper White, DCWV designer paper

Inks: Versafine black

Accessories: Darice ribbon, Detail clear embossing powder, SU watercolor pencils & blender pen, dimensional tape

What a fun challenge ... made me have to think out of the box a bit! Thanks for stopping by today!!

CPS123 - Card Sketch

I don't always find time to do ALL the sketch challenges I would like to do but when I saw this sketch over on the Card Positioning Systems blog, I just had to put it on the top of the pile.

I started to make this card the other day using an Inkadinkado set that I've had for quite some time. But while making the 2nd panel, it turned into a scene that I didn't want to cover up with the 3rd panel/sentiment. So, I just finished it off my own way and here is what I ended up with. The following are the items used in this card:

Stamps: Inkadinkado, Stampscapes

Papers: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White & SU Parisan Breeze designer paper

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Versafine Black, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Soft Sky, Pacific Point

Accessories: large Sponge Pod, Eclipse masking

Now today I decided to give this sketch another try and this time I followed the layout more closely. I really like how "similar" they are to each other ... yet "different". At the same time I was using more "leftovers" on my worktable! This card was made entirely out of the "scrap bin". Here are the items used for this card:

Stamps: SU Fabulous Flowers, SU Summer by the Sea

Papers: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pink Passion, SU Pink Flamingo designer paper

Inks: Versafine black, Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard, Rose Romance

Accessories: SU grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities, ZIG turquoise marker, Creative Memories black round tip marker

Thanks to all of you for being such loyal followers to my blog ... you'll never know how much that means to me! YOU are my inspiration on a daily basis ... God Bless You All!!

Stamp Simply #95 - Let the Sparks Fly!

Here it is Friday and time again for another Stamp Simply Challege over on Sharon Johnson's Blog. Today it's all about the "Sparkle" and what fun it has been! It's so difficult to get a photo to really show off the sparkle on our cards but I did the best I could.

Recipe for this card:

Stamps: SU Fifth Avenue Floral, SU Bloomin' Beauty

Papers: Whisper White, Garden Green, DCWV Garden Party designer paper

Inks: Versafine black

Accessories: PKGlitz "China Red" embossing glitter, Red glitter Spica pen, Gelly Roll Stardust pen, Offray metallic ribbon, gold Pilot marker.

Please pop on over to Sharon's Blog and check out her inspirational creation as well as the awesome creations by her design team. Thanks for stopping by today!

Meet my granddaughter ...

... she's wonderfully "one of a kind" (and I wouldn't want it any other way)!



Morgan Darlene Franjko has certainly grown into a beautiful, well rounded, good hearted woman. She is 17 ... will be a senior in high school this year and it's truly hard to believe she's already graduating ... seems like only yesterday that I was at the hospital with her Mom awaiting her arrival and commenting on how big her feet are the first time I saw her ... LOL ... (sorry Mo)!




Mo (as we call her) is very involved in many activities. She, along with her Mom and a few other friends, is a volunteer at their local Hospice. She's VERY involved in the high school band, where she plays clarinet and will be this year (as last) the bands Field Commander (she's very proud of this position!). She was on the prom committee last year (not sure about this year). This summer she's been going to Kent State Salem Campus taking Sign language which will count as a 2nd language for her upcoming school year and has been LOVING it! She also works part time in the floral department of her local supermarket and has enjoyed learning more about floral design. This is really cool since I'm a certified floral designer, it gives us just one more thing in common that we can talk about!! Oh, and did I forget to mention ... she races a "junior dragster" on the weekends with her family. That is her in the WHITE dragster (her mom is in the back in the red top & blue jean shorts) ... it's certainly a FAMILY THING!! Dad races a '67 camero and brother Jon also races a junior dragster! Mom has to do all the "leg work" getting the kids/cars on the track and back for each race.




With Mo having a week off in between Sign Language class sessions & a couple of days off work, she & her brother took the opportunity to come and stay with us for a few days and it's been GRAND!!!


Yesterday we went to visit my friend Tammy Hershberger (Stamp Happy) at her store (Toyrifix) where both kids got something new to "play with". Mo bought an awesome K-nex Farris Wheel set to put together and Jon bought a X-zylo (flying gyroscope) which he's had great fun seeing how far he can throw it. Nearly landed on the roof a few times but luckily it just went over and came back down to earth! Shew!!



Morgan spent a couple of hours putting this farris wheel together but when it was done, it was really awesome! (What do you think Tammy???) It is battery operated and turns in two different directions ... really cool. Now's she's going to try and transport it back home without taking it apart so she can show her Mom & Dad.


Morgan has always been close to her grandfather! When she was little and came to stay with us, she would always climb down in behind her grandpa's knees while he laid on the couch watch TV and she would stay there with him for very long periods of time. Last evening after returning home from seeing the movie "Ice Age" she tried crawling back into her favorite spot to find that her long legs won't let her stay in that position for very long (ouch ... can you say cramping). But Mark thought it was sweet of her to try!!!


At the present time the kids are preparing to head back home. Morgan has to work this afternoon from 2:30 to 9:00 and it will take them a little over an hour to get home, so unfortunately this visit draws to a close. It's so nice now that Morgan is driving and come to visit when she has the free time ... even if Mom & Dad are too busy to come along.


We are truly blessed with such wonderful, fun-loving, respectful grandchildren ... I am SO PROUD to say I'm their Nanna!!! Hope you enjoyed meeting MO ... with this being her senior year and DH getting better with each passing day ... I hope to have many more exciting event photos to share with you over the upcoming year! Have a wonderful day my friends ... now I have to go give my "sweeties" a kiss good-bye!

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I nearly forgot to show you what Morgan brought for her Pappy & me. I told you that she works at a Florist inside a grocery store ... well here are the wonderful surprises she put together for us.

I told you she was a SWEETIE!!!

Meet my grandson Jonathan ...

.... and let me tell you, HE IS ALL BOY!!! Jonathan will be 12 in September and has the energy of 10 kids (either that or I'm just getting old, LOL). He's the most LOVING young boy I know! He enjoys hunting, fishing, playing baseball, racing his junior dragster, riding his bike, racing his hotwheels (see photo at the picnic table) and playing computer/PS2 games.





Jon was very excited to learn that I had received an M-16 soft pellet gun (plastic) for my birthday to help me keep the squirrels & chipmunks away from my bird feeders and plants. He had it all figured out before I even took the time to read the directions and since he brought his rapid fire hand (soft pellet) gun with him, he was enjoying doing some target practice with them.

In these two photos, I was down in my craftroom working on a few challenge cards and since Jon doesn't really like being "alone" he joined me and worked on doing some target practice in the basement with a large box and "MY" M-16 ... what fun!!!

Jonnie just LOVES his Pappy (can you tell) and was thrilled when he was allowed to hook his Playstation up to Pappy's BIG screen TV to play his new hunting game ... made it more real he said!! When Jon was little he always called his grandfather "Pap Pap" but at some point he must have decided that was too much to say so he changed it to "Pappy" and that's what they've called him ever since! Mark is such an easy going person that he was okay with that!!! Of course, they used to call me "Nanna" ... now (thanks to Jon) it's "Neener"! What's up with that???????






I love when the grandkids come to visit ... it's nice to have noise in the house other than the TV ! Jon is a true delight because of his soft heartedness and fun-loving nature. Although he does scare me at times when he started doing "tricks" on his bike over the curbs of the driveway ... guess I'm still a "nervous Nelly" when it comes to that sort of thing.



Hope you enjoyed meeting Jonathan ... he's a real sweetie and I love him dearly! I know it sounds weird, but I LOVE BEING A GRANDMA!!!

Color Throwdown #50

WOW ... I can't believe we are already on #50 for the Color Throwdown Challenge. It seems like just "yesterday" when my friend Tammy Hershberger (Stamp Happy) told me about this new challenge blog! Way to go ladies ... each & every challenge is more fun than the last!!!! Today, Broni Holcombe (Splashes of Watercolor), is our hostess and has come up with a great color combination! What do you think of these colors???

While going through some of my "HUGE" collection of designer paper, I thought this piece of Stampin' Up "Pink Flamingo" was a good starting point for my creation since it already had two of the three colors required. My sentiment panel was cut using Nestabilities "oval" & "scallop oval" dies and the sentiment is by Endless Creations. It looked like it needed just a little "something" so I used my Inkadinkado butterflies to add a little movement to my card. My sentiment panel was also popped with dimensional tape and my red grosgrain ribbon is by Offray.



Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creations. I hope I have been able to share inspiration to someone out there in blogland!!!!!!

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #9

It's time for another MIDNIGHT MADNESS SKETCH CHALLENGE over on the "priscillastyles" blog. I have come to really look forward to doing this challenge because they are usually a little more "detailed" than I'm used to doing and that really does "challenge" me!!

This week I decided to pick one of my Basic Grey paper packs and "go from there". This is the "Ambrosia" pack and it's not one I usually reach for ... so that made it even more fun! My main image is by Inkadinkado, was stamped with Versafine Black and embossed using Detail Clear Embossing Powder. I've used Gelly Roll "Stardust" pens to color in the butterfly and SU watercolor pencils to color the flower. My side button embellishments are from a Bucket O'Buttons and I've used Michael's gold metallic elastic cording for the threading as well as for the antenna's on the butterfly (see close up view).

Well, I had fun creating today and I hope you did too! If you haven't taken the time to check out this challenge blog ... please jump on over there right now!! Not only are they fun sketches to do each week but the prizes and "money" they are giving away is nothing short of AMAZING!! Happy Day to All!!

A Vintage Thank-You ...

I found a new sketch challenge (yippee!!) over on the Carol's Sketch Fun blog and thought I'd give it a try. I got a little "off" on the sketch (I sketched it out myself on a piece of paper & didn't do a very good job obviously) but I still like the outcome.

This designer paper is by The Paper Studio and I just LOVE it! I think this pattern is what they call "toille". My other papers are Robin Hood Red, Basic Black and Whisper White.

My image is from a 4 image cube by B Line Designs and I've used SU watercolor pencils/blender pen for my coloring. My sentiment is by Stampendous and the metal dots are by Colorbok. I've used Nestabilities to diecut my main image and dimensional tape to pop it up.

This was a fun challenge and I'll be checking back in next week to see what Carol has to offer. Hope you enjoyed my creation! Happy Day!!

Crafty Secrets "Leftovers" Challenge

Sorry I've hit you with 3 postings today but it was a great
stamping morning and just had to share it with all of you!!!

Today's Crafty Secrets Challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) today is hosted by Carla Mayfield (Stargirl on SCS) (Paper Pastorale Blog) and she has asked us to use our "leftovers". WELL, If you are anything like me, you have plenty of those laying around!!!

The leftovers I have used are as follows:

1. The "Notes" journaling box cut from the bottom of a Crafty Secrets booklet image.

2. The background Crafty Secrets Radiant designer paper (almost wasn't big enough ... shew!).

3. Other than the base card ... the cardstock used was in the "scrap heap". I actually cut the matting for my main image out from the center of the matting behind the floral panel.

4. The Around the Block floral frame tape are pieces I had cut for another project then changed my mind on embellys used.

Other items used on this creation are as follows:

Stamps: Crafty Secrets "Bird Notes"

Papers: Garden Green

Inks: Versafine black ink

Accessories: The Paper Studio silk flowers, SU paper flower, Target brad, SU watercolor pencils, Zot 3d glue dots

THANKS SO MUCH for putting up with my CRAZYNESS! I so love hearing from all of you! See you again soon. Happy Day!!!

Here's a fun technique ...

This week's CCEE Stamper's Challenge is a technique challege called Modern Grid. This is a new technique to me and I just LOVE IT!!! So easy and great results!




This challenge was hosted by Dawn Lusk and here is the way you do the technique in Dawn's words:

If you haven’t tried this technique before it is pretty easy to do, here's how:

1. Stamp your image or images randomly over your card
2. Now take a ruler and black marker and draw lines equally spaced vertically and horizontally. Make sure you stop your line when you get to the stamped image and then start again on the other side of the image.
3. Add dots or doodles to some of the squares. You can also color in some squares if you desire. You could also add smaller image stamps that suit the theme or words too. You can see what I mean about other images and words by one I did when I first learnt this technique here.


My main image is a $1 image by Sugarloaf that I found in the $1 bin at Pat Catan's. I stamped it using Versafine Black and embossed it using Detail Clear embossing powder before adding my "Modern Grid" lines with a Creative Memories fine tip black marker & metal ruler. I colored in the image using SU watercolor pencils & blender pen ... added the Rubber Stampede musical notes and Inkadinkado birthday sentiment.



I had this scrap piece of Cuttlebugged white background which I colored using blue & green chalk and cotton balls. The pretty in pink matting was a scrap piece as was the ivory cardstock I stamped my main image on. My ribbon is by May Arts and I used Bow Easy to make my bow.



Please give this technique a try ... I just know you'll be impressed with how easy it is to do and the dimension you'll achieve. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope the sun is shining in your corner of the world!!!

OCC Challenge

This week's Our Creative Corner Challenge was to use Red, White & Blue in your creation. I'm late getting around to doing this challenge ... and with July 4th already gone ... I decided to use my R,W & B in a summery creation.

I thought this image from the Stampin' Up "Summer by the Sea" set would work nicely and I finally got around to using my Michael Strong Mosaic Frame image (of which I cut out the center part).

On a piece of dry white cardstock I cotton balled my background using tones of blue chalk for the sky area and tones of green for the grassy area. I then stamped my image using Versafine Black and embossed it using Detail Clear embossing powder. Stampin' Up watercolor pencils & blender pen were used to do the coloring.

I stamped my frame image onto dry white cardstock using Not Quite Navy ink then embossed using PKGlitz "Squash Blossom" embossing glitter. I used my swivel craft knife to cut out the center part of the framing image. One of the nice things about this image is that you can use it all or cut away those pieces you don't want and reuse them on a different project.

My sentiment was stamped in versafine black ink onto a piece of dry white cardstock which I cut using my Rectangle Nestabilities. I used the next size up to cut the real red matting and I popped it up using dimensional tape. The main image was matted using basic black cardstock, added two little red brads by Making Memories and mounted it all onto a real red cardstock base.

As a last minute thought, I ran outside and took a photo of the "inside" of this card. After stamping my Inkadinkado birthday sentiment image, I used the same technique of using blue & green chalk with a cotton ball to give it color. I colored in the words with a red Spica glitter pen and the bottom was created using the Martha Stewart Arch Trellis border punch.

I hope you enjoyed my creation! Thanks for stopping by today!!

NE Ohio Shoebox Swap Announcement!

Good Monday Morning Everyone!!!

For those of you who live in the NE Ohio area, I just wanted to make you aware of a Shoebox Swap that will be going on Saturday, July 25th in Barberton, Ohio. A good friend of mine, Anita Kurtz, will be hosting this event and we're trying to let all of the surrounding area stampers aware!

This is a SHOUT OUT to Lana Edwards, Kris Turner, Carol
Smuts, Sandy Egbert, Kim Bradfield, Terri Snode, Julie, Crystal and any other NE
Ohio stampers I've met along the way and hope to meet at this event!!!

HERE IS THE LINK Anita has set up over on SCS and the first posting pretty much lays out the "groundrules" for a shoebox swap. They are a LOT of fun! You get to do different projects, meet new stampers from your area and munch on some goodies too!! If you have ANY questions you can either leave a post on the linked thread OR email me at www.akadafney@yahoo.com.

HURRY!! SIGN-UP DEADLINE IS JULY 19th

Please give it consideration and let Anita know of your intentions! It will be AWESOME FUN!! Tammy Hershberger (StamperTammy) and I will be there too and can't wait to see you all again!!

Cards to Share ...

With DH not feeling well today and all of our company headed back home, I took the time to do a little cleanup in my craftroom and make a few cards while I was at it!!




I've started doing a Crafty Secrets Challenge over on Papercraft Planet every Sunday and nearly forgot about doing one for this weekend ... Oooops! Since we are already into the month of July ... I figured why not do a "Christmas In July" challege. I just LOVE this Vintage Christmas set by Crafty Secrets and so that's what I chose to use for my challenge sample creation.


Card Recipe:
Stamps: Crafty Secrets
Papers: Whisper White, Crafty Secrets Radiant dp, Basic Grey dp
Inks: Versafine Black, Real Red
Accessories: Offray grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities, sponge applicator, Mary Engelbreit Rose Corner punch, EK Success snowflake punch, gold & red Stickles, SU eyelet border punch.

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Here are a couple other creations I came up with while trying to reduce the size of the "scrap" pile on my worktable!!!



I've used a scrap piece of DCWV (I think) designer paper to stamp my images on to create this scene and the base card is of SU Pacific Point. The images I have used are primarily Stampscapes - (Lakeside Cabin, Rocky Peaks, Oak Branch & Scenic Sentiments #4). The "eagle" is by Art Impressions. After stamping the cabin image, I masked it off using "Eclipse Masking" then continued to overstamp with the mountains and tree branch. Once all stamped I embossed using detail clear embossing powder and colored using SU watercolor pencils & blender pen. I'm really happy with the outcome!

For this sympathy card I used a rose patterned scrap piece of DCWV designer paper for my background on my river rock card base. The sentiment is by Stampin' Up and is called "Thoughts & Prayers". After stamping the image using wild wasabi ink and the sentiment using Versafine black ink, I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the rectangular Nestabilities and before removing it from the die, sponged the edges using rose romance ink. The rose colored organza ribbon was also a scrap piece I had close by. I really like how the distressed edges of the background panel really sets off the main image.



I hope you have enjoyed my creations today as much as I enjoyed making them!! And how wonderful is it that I was able to use up MORE scraps than I CREATED!! LOL!! Happy Day Everyone ... hope to see you back here again tomorrow ... GOD WILLING!!!

More July 4th Fun

How lucky are we to be able to have friends & family visit over the July 4th weekend. Not only did we have the kids (daughter & grandchildren) as well as Toldeo friends (Mark & Nancy Beelman) here earlier in the week, but we also had a visit from DH's nephew Kevin & girlfriend Connie to celebrate & cookout on the 4th of July!! The last time Kevin & Connie came to visit, they helped us bring in the New Year. I sure hope they don't wait for another 6 months before coming to visit again!!




I introduced Connie to Stamping & Card Making on their last visit so of course we spent a little time together in my craftroom playing with paper & ink on this visit. She's a "natural" and I'm afraid I've created a Monster!! LOL!!




Since Kevin & Connie were here ... and we made TONS of food (steak kabobs, chicken kabobs, corn on the cob, potato salad, fruit salad, Bush's grillin' beans, mushrooms & zucchini to grill) ... I decided to invite the couple across the way (Travis & Christie) to join in on the festivities. They are around the same age as Kevin & Connie so I just knew they'd hit it off!! Besides ... they were home all alone and had to eat ... needless to say, we had plenty to go around.




After dinner the conversation got around to some of the latest movies and since both couples are HUGE movie goers (and the "old folks" are not), Travis ran back over to his house and brought back a whole bag full of Blue-Ray movies to pick from. The final decision (since K & C had seen most of them) turned out to be "Matrix". Talk about a NOISEY evening ... between the sarround sound system on our TV and all the fireworks going off around the neighborhood ... Yikes!!! But it sure was nice to share the evening with more friends & family!!




I'm afraid to say that I don't think we'll be having more visitors anytime soon. It was a little rough on Mark (as you can see) and today he's not feeling very well and has spent most of the day in bed. Hopefully he'll recouperate and be more "chipper" tomorrow.




I can only hope that you all enjoyed your Independence Day weekend as much as I did!! God Bless You All and thanks for stopping by!!

Friends & Family ...

HAPPY 4th of JULY EVERYONE!!!!

What a beautiful day it is here in NE Ohio and how blessed are we to have the freedom to enjoy it!!! My DH's nephew & girlfriend (Kevin & Connie) came last evening to share the 4th with us and it looks like the weather will cooperate and let us have a cookout. There is a young couple who live across the street whom I noticed are "home alone" this weekend, so I just popped over this morning and invited them over later for a bite to eat & to spend some time chit-chatting. They are nice kids and being in the same age group as Kevin & Connie, I thought they would have a lot in common ... so it's going to be a fun day! I already have the coffee brewing, crepe batter mixed up and the strawberries cut & thickening ... now if this crew would just wake up, we could get the day started!! LOL!!

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We recently had friends from our old neighborhood in Toledo come to visit along with our daughter & grandchildren. What a fun, relaxed time we had and granddaughter, Morgan snapped a few photos for me to share with you all.

We always enjoy visiting with our friends Mark & Nancy Beelman and the fact that they hadn't seen my daughter or grandchildren since we moved here to Akron (6 years ago), they really enjoyed seeing the kids again and seeing how much they've grown. Morgan enjoyed talking with Mr. Beelman out on the deck and helping him do the grilling (wasn't that sweet of him to be "grill master" for the day) while Carolyn, Nancy & (My) Mark chit-chatted in the kitchen.

Grandson, Jonathan has A LOT of energy so he was in & out doing various things to stay busy when he's visiting Nanna & Pappy. He has his own bike here so he took several trips throughout the development and then he found an OLD football in the garage and asked if someone would throw it with him. Everyoneelse was busy so even though I'm not very good at it, I spent a little time in the yard tossing the football back & forth with him. It was great fun but certainly proved just how OUT OF SHAPE I really am!!! LOL!!

Our neighbor Tony Zawarhi (same age as Morgan) stopped over to share the "info-mercial" he had made for a school project with us and it was so funny ... we all enjoyed it tremendously. It's amazing what these kids have to do for school project now a days ... technology has certainly advanced since my days in school!!! While he was here, he was telling us about how he had learned to "swing dance" at church camp a few weeks ago. I "conned" Morgan into dancing with him and here are the results. GREAT FUN!! Tony's a really good kid and we enjoyed his visit!!

Thanks for letting me share my visit with you! Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Catching Up on Challenges ...

I have had out of town company the past few days so I'm a little behind on my card making & posting! My Toledo, OH company has returned home and now we are awaiting the arrival of our Pittsburgh, PA company. WHAT FUN!!!! With DH's illness, it seems like it's been SO LONG since we've been able to entertain friends & family ... sure feels good to see Mark enjoying their company too!!! I will have some photos to share in a separate posting.

Anyways ... on to my cards.

For today's STAMP SIMPLY #94 - Stars & Stripes Challenge, I have used my recently purchased stamp set by Flourishes. This set is called Patriotism on Parade and with every set they sell, Flourishes is making a donation to the Wounded Warrior program. If for no other reason than that, I felt I needed to make this purchase.

Please be sure to pop on over to Sharon's blog and check out all the details on this challenge. Also, you'll want to be sure and jump on over to her Design Team ladies blogs to be inspired by their works-of-art!!


This creation was certainly done in Stamp Simply fashion! The only stamps used were those mentioned above and the other details on this card are as follows:
Papers: Real Red, DCWV designer paper
Inks: Versafine Black, Versamark
Accessories: Fiskars decal scissors, PKGlitz embossing glitter, dimensional tape, swivel craft knife.


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This first card was for yesterday's Color Throwdown Challenge hosted by my dear friend Tammy Hershberger (Stamp Happy) and what a great color combo she has given us to play with. Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky ... probably three colors I would not have put together myself but I certainly like how this came together!! Here are the items used for this creation:



Stamps: Endless Creations (purchased at Tammy's Store - Toyrifix) & AMuse
Papers: Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Chocoate Chip & SU Groovy Guava designer Paper
Inks: Chocolate Chip & Groovy Guava
Accessories: SU Eyelet border punch, Stampendous Dot Sparklers, dimensional tape, Michael's brown satin ribbon, sponge applicator


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by & see what I've been up to! Hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend and much as I am!!