Get Well Already!

This is how I felt all day yesterday and evening, but I managed to make this card anyway.

Stamp: Get Well Hanna (Hanna Stamps)
Paper: Nenah Classic White, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Berry Blissful DSP
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers
Acc: Burgundy Rick Rack (Fancy Pants), Buttons (SU!), Raspberry Thread (DMC), Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Thanks for dropping by for a visit! Have a great day!

Mother and Child and Some Thanks

To make this card, I played two challenges that I really enjoyed.

When I saw the sketch challenge at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, I loved it and knew I just had to play! I knew exactly which image to use -- the only problem was, I didn't know the name of it. It was actually one of the samples that I had gotten from the Copics Certification Course last January. Anyway, I really enjoy playing the FTTC challenges and did you know that two weeks ago I was their winner? That was fun finding out! 

In deciding which colors to use for this card, I came across the OCC Challenge for this week, which was to "use your own favorite color combo."  One of my favorite color combos, which I use a lot, is pink (pink pirouette, pretty in pink, regal rose) and green (certainly celery, mellow moss, kiwi kiss, old olive).  This really was a very easy challenge... Loved It!!

Stamp: All Holidays (SU!)

Paper: Neenah Classic White, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Melissa Frances Pattern Paper

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers

Acc: 1" White Organdy Ribbon (SU!), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Nestabilities Scallop Circle (Spellbinder), Corner Flourish Die (Provo Craft), Prima Flower, Dew Drop (Robins Nest)

Special Thanks:

The last few days, I have been receiving beautiful birthday cards in the mail from wonderful, thoughtful people and I just want to say a special Thank You to them:

Tina (Mill Creek, WA) - I love that scallop velvet ribbon you used! Beautiful and vibrant! Thank You! (ps. start blogging again!)

Gina (Center Line, MI) - I really like that glitter you used... but, I was wondering, what is that "frosting" you used on the cupcake?  Thank you, Gina!

Lynn of St. Louis - ADORABLE! But of course, it's from YOU!  Thank you so much my uber friend! It's a beautiful creation and I love you!  Hey, I just looked at your return address and it does NOT say St. Louis! 

Toni (Vacaville, CA) - Beautiful card! All that embossing... I really appreciate it.  Thank you also for that fun clear stamp!  I love it! I've been wanting one of those trays with the cupcakes! Wow!  Very sweet of you!  Thank you, Toni!

Jovita (El Mirage, AZ) - WOW! Thank you so much for all the goodies! First of all, the card is so cute... the image and sentiment are great! Second...you're too generous, with the fairy stamps, stamped images and a package of tags.  I'm overwhelmed with all of it.  Thank you so much!  It was so unexpected and you're very sweet!

Reader's Weekend

Would you like to be in the spotlight at Caardvarks? Of course! Here's how!

Caardvarks is celebrating Reader's Weekend, May 1-3, by spotlighting our readers. We'll showcase reader cards and projects all weekend long. Think of it as a great big show-n-tell event to thank our readers for their support and participation for the past two years. Your submissions will be published at Caardvarks!

Sound exciting? If you'd like to be included in our mega-posting Reader Weekend, please email us with a card, project, or unique technique idea. We'll choose gobs of items to highlight throughout the weekend.

Email: Caardvarks@Yahoo.Com with your entries by Wednesday, April 29th at midnight PST.

* Photos should be between 100 - 200lb and photographed well *
* Provide a brief description and/or directions for creating your item *
* Provide a link to your blog, website or gallery, and provide your name *

You'll want to stay close all weekend long - it'll be eye candy extreme!


The current Caardvarks Challenge, Tree's a Crowd, which is sponsored by Taylored Expressions, is to create a *NEW* tree-themed card. There's still time to participate in this challenge, but you only have until Thursday, April 30th at midnight PST and you must link your card/project to Mr. Linky (at the bottom of the post on the Caardvarks' blog). Look at the great prize.... a new stamp set from Taylored Expressions. I love this set, and also the sentiments that comes with it. For all the details, check out the challenge at Caardvarks for a chance to win this prize. You will also see "tree" sample cards from the design team members.

Home Sweet Home

Green was my mother's favorite color. On our last vacation together, I had bought her a souvenir, which I had wrapped for her. It was a green sweater with the ship's logo and I was planning on giving it to her after we got back home from port, which was Christmas Day 2005. That was the same day I took my mother to the emergency room... she never came back home. Last week my husband was clearing out our bedroom retreat and found her unopened present. To this day, I still don't know what to do with it.

I didn't realize until I finished this card how much it reminded me of my mother: the empty rocking chair, her favorite green color, flowers for her love for gardening, and the words "Home Sweet Home" because that was exactly how she made our home.

The stamp set I used is Hanny Granny from Hanna Stamps.

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Adela

Oh, Please Take Two!

Good morning and Happy Friday! As some of you know, I live in Southern California where earthquakes are known to happen frequently and at anytime.  A few months ago we had a fairly big one -- big enough that I had several broken glasses on the floor and several other items. Well, yesterday around 5pm, another one hit and my girls and I went under the dining table right away. Our dog and cat even joined us under there. Three hours later, another one hit, which was bigger than the previous one.  A few minutes later, another smaller one. Even now, I just felt a small aftershock (3:30 am). I'm really afraid of earthquakes because they are so unpredictable, but I also love my home here in California. Oh well.... On with the project...

This project was made for today's Hanna Stamps' Friday Challenge: Make Anything But a Card 3D.  There is no time limit to this challenge, however, if you participate in challenges for the current month, all players will be entered in a drawing during the next release party to win a free set from Hanna Stamps! 

Have you ever been to a social gathering and wished that there was a polite way to tell someone to have a mint -- if you know what I mean?  Well, when I saw the medicine bottle image in the newly released Doctor Hanna set, I started thinking of all the fun projects I could attach this image to. One of them was this matchbook style TicTac holder/cover. It's a very simple cover to make, but what makes it special, of course, is the sentiment on the bottle, "Take 2 Before Stamping." Now, how perfect is that?

So, next time you have a stamp class or workshop, place a couple of these on the work table or make several to give as gifts to customers.

Stamp: Hospital Hanna (Hanna Stamps)

Paper: White, Pretty in Pink, Bravo Burgundy, Pattern Paper (SU!)

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers

Acc: Scallop Border Punch, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Felt Button (Sizzix Die), 1/8" White Satin Ribbon, Mint Container

3D Tuesday Challenge~Accordion Folders AR Style

Elegant and country is what I ended up with when I made this week's 3D Tuesday Challenge for Paper Craft Planet. I just couldn't decided which way to go and what size to make, so I made both! The first one measures 4" across and 4-1/2" high and can hold 3" x 3" cards or gift tags. At first I attached the ribbon on the back so you can just tie it closed whenever you want, but then I decided to keep the ribbon tied by pushing the pin trinket through the layers of the ties. To open the folder, you simply slide off the ribbon... very simple.

This next accordion folder I had made especially for a baby to go along with our Mother and Child Theme over at PCP. It's perfect for storing baby cards, mementos or photos. It's 7" across and 5" high and as an afterthought, I added a divider inside.

Before I show you the tutorial on the basics of making this accordion folder, I'd like to invite you to play along with us... I'd love to see what you come up with. There are many uses for accordion folders and I've only shown you two of them. When you're ready to upload to PCP, click "photo" until you get to your photo gallery. Now you can go ahead and Add you Photo. It's Very Important To Add The Tag! For this Challenge, the tag (keyword) is 3d9. If you have any questions, just ask me anytime. Okay, on with the tutorial

Here are the pieces and dimensions needed to make a basic accordion folder:

Score where indicated with the dotted lines. On the two smaller pieces, fold back and forth like a fan.

Glue the edge of one of the "fan folded" paper along one side of the solid cardstock, aligning the top and side edges -- bottom will be 1/2" shorter, that's ok. Repeat with the opposite side.

At the last minute I decided to add a divider: cardstock 3-1/2" x 6-3/4". Glue one side of the divider to one of the "fan folds." Repeat on other side.

Finish gluing both sides until the folder is completed.

Glue the 1-1/2" portion of the remaining piece of pattern paper to the back of the taller side of the folder.

Now comes the fun part ~ decorating!

Now it's your turn ~ I'd love to see what you come up with! If you're new, join our group HERE and play along!

Trees a Crowd Challenge at Caardvarks

THE CARD:
I love this whimsical tree from the Branching Out set from Taylored Expressions. For this card, I stamped the trunk and branches onto Vanilla cardstock and, using a sponge, smudged Olive ink over the branches. Next, I stamped the "leaves on the tree" stamp onto vellum using VersaMark. Turning the vellum over on a piercing mat, I carefully traced over the image with a stylus. Once the images were traced, I used my Copic markers to color in the leaves. I stamped and cut individual leaves and encased them between the cardstock and vellum paper -- a type of shaker card, I guess . Then I sewed the vellum and Vanilla cardstock together, added the birds, label, ribbon and leaf charms.

THE CHALLENGE:Create a *NEW* tree-themed card and post it by Midnight on April 30th, PST. Check out the Caardvarks site for all the details and make sure you visit the other designers' fantastic inspiration cards on their blogs (their links are on the right side bar). Don't forget to link your card to the Caardvarks Challenge Site so we can see your creation!

THE PRIZE: The winner of this Tree Challenge will win Taylor's Branching Out stamp set. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Stamp: Branching Out (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Vanilla, Old Olive, Brilliant Blue, Vellum
Ink: Espresso (Adirondack), Copic Markers, Old Olive Classic Ink (SU!)
Acc: 1/4" Old Olive Twill Ribbon, Shapeabilities (Spellbinders), Leaf Charms. Sewing Machine

Two Cards, Three Sketches

Just look at this cute little Sophie G! This image reminds me a lot of my older daughter when she was about three years old... she loved to play dress up and wear high heeled shoes. Sometimes I miss those days!

You know, it's actually easy to make a card when the sketch and colors have already been picked out for you. Usually, it takes me time just to decide on a color scheme or a layout. But these two cards were easy. For both cards, I used the sketch found in this week's Our Creative Corner Challenge and the colors Ruby Red, Basic Gray and Baja Breeze from Color Throwdown #38 (CTD38). 

For a little bit of interest, I added paper piercing to both cards, which was the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC11) this week.

So, three challenges with two cards -- pretty easy!

Card 1:

Stamp: Perfume Sophie G. (Hanna Stamps), All Holidays (SU!)

Paper: Neenah Classic White, Ruby Red, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers, At You Spica Silver, White Gel Pen (Ranger)

Acc: Ruby Red Taffeta Ribbon (SU!), Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Folder, Oval Punch and Scallop Border Punch  (SU!), Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), Piercing Tool and Mat, Dimensionals

Card 2:
Stamp: Card Games
Paper: Neenah Classic White, Ruby Red, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Basic Black
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers
Acc: Gray Taffeta Ribbon (SU!), Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Folder, Oval and Corner Rounder Punch (SU!) Piercing Tool and Mat, Diamond Brads (SU!), Dimensionals

Wall Hangings - 3D Tuesday

It's 3D Tuesday Challenge at Paper Craft Planet and this week's challenge is to make wall hangings. I've come up with two samples using the Top Notes Sizzix die. You know those cardboard backing that comes with the pattern paper from Stampin' Up! packages? I save all of those because they make great little die cuts. I've made lots of frames with my Nestabilities using those white cardboard inserts among other things. This time, I used it as my base for these wall hangings.

For the larger one, I actually cut two Top Notes, trimmed off part of one end of both pieces, then taped them together to form this larger piece. Then, I covered it with pattern paper. The large flower is from the SU! Pretties Kit which I stamped using a background stamp to give it color, instead of the usual sponging technique. I originally had stamped "Happy Mother's Day," but it looked too plain, so I ended up making a frame with my Nestabilities and added a picture of myself with my younger daughter.

For the smaller wall hanging, I wanted to make a more contemporary one for one of my girls. So, I chose her favorite colors, added her initial and a few embellishments, and that was it.

These are really quite easy to make and they make great gifts. So, join me and play along with this challenge. You might even be able to get a Mother's Day present made with this one! When uploading your photo to PCP, use tag/keyword 3d8.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!
Adela

Hello, Friend

I love this ginormous flower from PaperTrey Ink's Friends 'Til the End set. I'm not a big "big" flower fan, but this one was an exception. To make it stand out, I stamped both the large and small flower images onto a piece of black card stock with VersaMark, poured white embossing powder over it then heat embossed it. I wanted to add a touch of color to the edges of the petals (which you can't really see in the pictures, but it looks really good in person), so I took my deep pink metallic pencil and rubbed it on the outer edges of the petals. I smudged that around with a blender pen.

I attached the smaller flower over the larger one with dimensionals and placed a pearl in the center. I wanted the flower to really stand out, so instead of using the pattern paper that I had intended to use initially, I decided to just use the same color as the card base behind the flower but just dry emboss it with the Cuddlebug. I inked the edges slightly with regal rose ink. Add the bow, stamp the sentiment and that's it.

I've Been De-Spammed!

Yay!!! No more audio ads!! Thanks to my wonderful friend, Katie, of Paper Makeup, she called a friend of hers to get his suggestion on how to help me get rid of my annoying spammer and it worked! The culprit was my game at the bottom of my blog. I can't believe that my "bubble game," the one I've had for over a year, has to be deleted. I loved that game! But more important, my blog is back to normal. Thanks so much Katie, you're the Best!!

By the way, did you know that Katie recently started her own stamp company? Paper Makeup Stamps -- not only is she a talented card designer, but now she's an awesome stamp designer, too!

I feel so much better now!

SPAM

I got this photo of one of Hawaii's favorite food from my Super Nova friend, Jen, who happens to live on my favorite island of Maui. Why do I have it on my blog? Well, I do like this Spam -- the beef version -- but I despise the other SPAM!!!

I'm sure you've noticed the annoying audio ad that's been playing on my blog the last couple of days. I have no idea how it got on my blog and I've tried so many things to try to get rid of it. I've deleted several comments because I read that sometimes, comments that people leave can carry viruses. I've deleted several other things, too, but it's still there.

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am well aware of this horribleness and I'm trying my best to fix it. If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE, I'm open to anything. I just might end up having to delete this blog and reopen a whole new one, which takes a whole lot of time and work.

Thanks for your patience.
Adela

Sage Mother's Day

Flowers are big on Mother's Day, so for this card I decided to use a flower image. This one that I used is from a Stampin' Up! hostess set, which I didn't think I'd ever use, but now I'm really liking this set! Anyway, I used the sketch from Taylor's Cupcake Challenge (TECC63) and the color combo from Color Throwdown (CTD37). 

Stamp: Echoes of Kindness
Paper: White, Cameo Coral, Pink Pirouette, SU! DSP
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers
Acc: Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Bling, White Twill Ribbon, Crochet Thread, Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart)

Thank you for visiting... have a wonderful day!

Adela

Mother's Giving Heart

Mother's Day cards are a little difficult for me to make without thinking of my dear mother. I'm sure most of us feel the same way as I do that our mother is the best -- well, that's how I feel: my mother was the best there was. She showed unconditional love to all her seven children. She was generous, always ready to give help to so many people even though she had very little, herself. My siblings and I found all this out after her memorial when one by one, people would come to us to tell us how much my mother's contributions and help meant to them: how she gave yearly to a summer program at church, but never wanted her name mentioned and how she gave regularly to other children who might need extra cash, not to mention her relatives back in the Philippines. Many more people with similar stories of my mother came to us... and you could really see the gratefulness in their faces. I get teary eyed when I think about how my mother had helped so many people and never expected anything in return. I truly admire her and I wish I could have told her how proud I am of her.

Stamp: All Holidays (SU!)

Paper: Neenah Classic White, Pink Pirouette, Melissa Frances PP

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Pink Pirouette, Bravo Burgundy

Acc: Nestabilities, 5/8" Satin White Ribbon (SU!), Heart Charm, Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals, Sponge

Two More...

Tonight is Hanna Stamps' Release Party (9:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 pm Pacific) at the Forum! Be sure to join us for lots of chit chat with Kristi, the team and fellow stampers! Who knows, you may even win one of the prizes!

Here are two more sneak peeks before this evening's party. They are both from the Hospital set and, like all the other Hanna sets, are full of fun images. I have to say that I was quite FRANTIC yesterday. When I went to look for my colored images of the doc and nurse Hanna, I could not find them. I then searched for the stamp set -- nowhere -- I lost the set! Luckily I found my "rejected" stamped images of the doc and the nurse, so with that, I tried my best to make them presentable.

For the doctor image, I tried to fill in the lines that were missing using my Copic Multiliner. But there were the places where I smushed it too hard when I stamped it and the lines got too wide. Anyway, this is all I had to work with -- one doctor image and no other fun accessories that came with the set. With that said, I decided to make the "doctor" into a professor/teacher and instead of him pointing at an x-ray film, he's pointing at a black board. I tried to make the front of the card to look like a cover of a hard bound book, but this picture doesn't do it justice... it looks much better in real life.

Stamp: Hospital (Hanna Stamps), Party Hearty, It's Your Birthday (SU!)
Paper: Neenah Classic, Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Le Jardin DSP (SU!)
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers, VersaMark
Acc: White Embossing Powder, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Square Punches, Dimensionals



I actually found a pretty good stamped image of Nurse Hanna in my stack of rejects, but by the time I finished looking for my stamp set and trying to fix the doctor image, it was already 11:00 pm. I already knew what design to make and what colors, my only fear was "sleep coloring."

Sleep Coloring: a form of sleep walking, but in coloring mode.

I have done this many times and it's a disaster. I often end up with a big splotch on my image or a nice line across it. Twice... I slept colored twice! For those of you who haven't invested in Copics, here's a reason to do so now. If you sleep color, or if you like the thought of being able to "erase" some of your mistakes, get Copics! Their Colorless Blender saved me last night. There was a bit of residue, especially with turquoise, but the splotch was barely noticeable after a few swipes of the Blender Pen. The second time it happened, I couldn't use the blender pen because I dropped the gray inside the turquoise, but surprisingly again, Copics did wonders! I just blended the area with the turquoise and now you can barely notice the gray on her sleeve. By the way, the big splotch of turquoise that I "erased" was right above my signature next to her right leg. My only regret with this card now that I'm looking at it, is the size of the sentiment I used. I'm going to fix that after this post and make it smaller. I also forgot to put "Happy Birthday" on the card.

Stamp: Hospital (Hannah Stamps), JustRite
Paper: Neenah Classic, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Polka Dots and Paisleys DSP (SU!)
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers
Acc: Primas, Twill Ribbon, 1-1/2" Circle Punch, Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals


Make sure to stop by tonight for the Release Party! Chat with you then.

Adela

Sofie and Two Challenges

This card is for Hanna Stamps' Sneak Peek Day 3 and today I'd like to share a new Riley, well actually it's called Perfume Sophie. What a cutie she is and she reminds me so much of the little girls that I would sometimes see in a department store with their moms, trying to act all grown up ~ too adorable! Don't forget that tomorrow at 9:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 pm Pacific, is when the Hanna Stamps Release Party begins over at the Hanna Stamps forum in SCS.

Stamps: Perfume Sophie, Little Tees (Gina K)
Paper: Neenah White, So Saffron, Pixie Pink, Black, Making Memories PP
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers, At You Spica Marker, White Gel Pen (Ranger)
Acc: Small Tag and 1/8" Punches, Circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Folder, Twill Ribbon, Robin's Nest, Primas, Sponge

For the layout of this card, I used Taylor's sketch challenge for TECC62 Taylored Expressions Challenge (TECC62). In case you didn't know, Taylor is giving away a free Tiny Twinkle to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to Paper Craft Planet using the TECC62 keyword. How cool is that?!

Here's a challenge for you to try: head on over to Caardvarks, a Card Challenge Site, for a fantasy of a challenge!

CHALLENGE

Create a card with a fantasy theme. If you've done the Caardvarks thing before you know that we love to see your interpretation of the challenge theme - whatever that is! So, put together a card that speaks "fantasy" to you.

PRIZE

Our winner will receive a $30 Gift Certificate from Two Spotted Dogs! You'll get to take a look around at their online store and choose from their past and current kits! Happy Shopping!

Granny Hanny with an Attitudy

HANNA STAMPS SNEAK PEEK DAY 2 ~ When I was single and living alone in an apartment building near L.A., the apartment manager was this older lady (much like the one on this card) who was nosy, mean and just plain horrible -- her husband was her intern in training. I used to sneak into my apartment just to avoid being seen by them so I wouldn't have to worry about being confronted about what I did wrong "this time." My living room pull drapes wasn't allowing any light in for my poor plants, so one day I took two hooks off the rod on the side that wouldn't allow the light to come in. When I came home from work, I saw that they were back up. Well, the "intern" decided to "fix the problem" and told me that I should not unhook it again because it would ruin the drapes. Huh? And he thought he could just go in with his master key? That's why he was only an intern. I moved out that summer. I had confronted them and I could have made acomplaint but it would have been too much stress for me and I was moving out anyway.

The previous card I made with this Granny Hanny set from Hanna Stamps was a sweet "thinking of you" card. With this same set, I can portray my ex-apartment manager who was far from being sweet. I just have to point some things out to you that I found so hilarious. First, look at those whiskers on that chin! Eewww! Oh, and those tan pantyhose she's wearing -- look how they just gather at the ankles! Quite typical, don't you think? Take a look at those slippers... if you want to wear them outside, at least pick something nicer! The make up, always too much rouge, of course. But what got me was when my husband pointed out that she had already poked the eye of one of the stray cats before and why would it come me back?Hmmm, I was wondering why there was an eye patch over its eye! Oh, what a character!

Stamp: Granny Hanny (sentiment: computer typed)
Paper: Neenah Classic White, Sahara Sand, Bravo Burgundy, DSP (SU!)
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers, Silver At You Spica Pen (Copic), White Gel Pen (Ranger)
Acc: 1" Bravo Burgundy Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Rectangle Nestie, Top Notes Die and Button Die (Sizzix), Prima, Edge Punch (Martha Stewart), Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

I'm very excited to announce to you that I have been invited to join the design team of Caardvarks! If you love a challenge, you have to visit our site. Caardvarks challenges are posted on the 5th and 20th of each month with different sponsors each time, so you'll never be bored! It's a great way to win PRIZES, too! So be sure to stop by on the 5th to check out our new challenge. It's going to be fabulous, you'll see!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
Adela