Dustin Pike - WOW - I love his stuff...

I couldn't think of anything really witty to entitle this post, so I just went ahead with what I feel :).

Have you all seen Dustin Pike's digi-stamps?? My goodness, talk about AWESOME! I've bought a few of these, (some of which you'll see over the next few days) and some that are FREE...Yes, you heard me...F-R-E-E. Every Wednesday (hey- that's today!) Dustin gives a digi image out for free! YAHOOOOOO!

Ahem, ok, sorry. Anyway -- a friend of mine recently had foot surgery, and when I saw this image from Dustin, well, I knew it would be perfect for a card for her!!

If you haven't tried digital images, this is a good way to start. Go ahead and download a free image and play. The cool thing about digital images is that you can resize them to fit your project. Large or small - you make it fit your needs!
The image is colored with my Copics. I've heard numerous people complain that their digital images run when they color them. I *believe* the trick is to use a printer that has a pigment ink cartridge. If you only have regular ink you will likely have runny images. I use a Canon Pixma i4200. It takes PTI CS wonderfully, and again, no runny images!

The black border of the image was drawn in with a marker, and everything is on dimensionals. The buttons are from PTI, aren't they YUMMY??? I started out saying I didn't need them, and now I have almost every color they've released...it's a sickness, I swear.

The sentiment is from PTI's Faux Ribbon set, stamped in brilliance graphite black ink.

Does anyone watch LOST??? OMWord...just as I think I'm starting to figure things out, there come another whole SLEW of questions!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Stamps: digital stamp 'ouch dragon' (Dustin Pike), PTI Faux Ribbon
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black
Paper: SU! Gable Green, PTI Aqua Mist, Melon Berry, Select white
Accessories: Vintage buttons, dimensionals

An Exciting Announcement - and some blog candy...

EDITED TO ADD WINNERS!!

Random.org chose the following numbers:

#12 - Elise

and

#22 - Betty

please e-mail me at cuccicoo1002@yahoo.com so I can arrange for your GC!! Congratulations Ladies!!!


Hi all ~
Hope you're off to the start of a great day! I know I am. I'm honored to have been chosen to participate on Lauren Meader's My Time To Create Design Team. I'm looking forward to getting to know the other ladies on the team some more, as well as working with Lauren on her wonderful challenges! Thank you Lauren for thinking I'm worthy ;)

I figured I'd share a Timeless Template project with you. This is the Desktop Organizer template. It's slightly tweaked, as I made the overhang a little shorter, so you could see more of what is in the box. I stamped the sides before the box was assembled. I just am loving the Beyond Basic Borders and New Leaf CS, ink and ribbon right now...can you tell? *wink*
I'm making these for my 3 nieces that are all making their First Holy Communion this Spring. Each one is a little different looks-wise, but this is the packaging. I had originally made a similar project for a friend, but figured I'd post this one, now that I have the right ribbon ;)

I love Lauren's templates, they make everything so EASY! I've got a category on my sidebar just for projects with her templates, take a peek, you'll see what I mean!

Congratulations to my fellow team members, I'm looking forward to working with you!

Now...onto the blog candy...leave me a comment with your favorite template of Lauren's, or one that you'd like to try, and I will pick 2 random people to send a $5 PTI gift certificate to, to go and get another template to try! Comments will close at 11:59 pm EST Wednesday, April 29th, and the winner announced Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders
Ink: New Leaf, Fresh Snow
Paper: Shimmery White (SU!), New Leaf (PTI)
Accessories: New Leaf satin ribbon, glue dots

Sweet Sixteen...

My friend's daughter is turning 16 this summer. Since she usually doesn't have a big bash for her day, as most of her friends are off on vacations and such, her mom is going all out to give her a great party for her sweet sixteen.

They asked me to make the invitations...her specifications were, turquoise, silver and white for colors, and she wanted circles.... They had also shown me an invitation that they had gotten from a friend, similar to what style they were looking for.

Nice and easy, yet cool enough for a 16 year old, don't you think??
I used PTI's Borders and Corners Circles...these sets are great for making cool backgrounds, in particular the circles and squares (In my opinion, of course ;) )

Leslie loved the invitations, and is looking forward to her party!

Me? My sweet sixteen was a barbecue in the backyard, and my friends and I played volleyball and badminton all afternoon -- of course being 16, there was a little bit of drama, but a friend took me for a ride on his motorcycle, and I felt MUCH better...until I burnt my leg on the tailpipe *OUCH!* but all in all, it was an awesome day!!

What was your most memorable birthday?? Did you have a sweet sixteen party?

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Borders and Corners Circles
Ink: Tempting Turquoise (SU!), Encore Silver
Paper: SU! Whisper White, SU! Tempting Turquoise

Music...

Sooo here I sit, with some friends in the recording studio - in the sound booth, putting some final touches on our upcoming CD release (see Fife and Drum). I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. I figured I'd get a head start on my post, so all I have to do is photograph and insert pics when I get home.



Anyway - on the theme of music, my niece Sohpia just turned 7 and got her first CD walkman for her birthday, and her mom mentioned that she could use some more music. I wanted to participate in the PTI blog hop, as well as Lauren's challenge for her challenge DT call...so here we go.



I had gotten the Music Makeover template way back when, and haven't used in a while, so I got working. I made Sophia 4 CD's with all sorts of mixed music. Obviously 4 CD's aren't going to fit into one template (you can fit 2 slim cases in each box). So I decided to make a double version. I made two of the templates using new leaf CS from PTI, and then I cut a piece of vintage cream cs to hold them all together - scored in the middle, so it would fold open like a book. I then went on the computer and created lists for each of the CD's. I made a little booklet inside so she can refer to it to see what she's listening to.

I have a VERY varied taste in music, so I tried to pass that along to her, but I of course left out some of the things that I like that may not be appropriate due to her age ;).

Sophia to me, is a very earthy kind of kid, and part of Lauren's challenge was to base your project on the packaging of a Bath and Body Works product. I chose to base mine off of the Green Tea and Cucumber, and it paired perfectly with Pine's Beyond Basic Borders set.

So here's my project - hope you like it :)

















see how it opens...













Volumes one and two, don't you love it? Like a real boxed set ;)

all closures are done with velcro :)

So tell me - what's YOUR favorite type of music?? I love to hear what everyone is into!

Supplies:
Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders, Fresh Alphabet, Simple Alphabet
Ink: New Leaf, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream
Paper: New Leaf, Vintage Cream
Accessories: Music Makeover Template, velcro

Baby K...

So Baby K has arrived :)

I'm so happy for Nicole and her family. Now I just can't wait to see photos of little "K" :)

Thought I'd show some more detail of the card I made. Have you gotten YOUR sweet pea sets yet???

hmmmmmm?

Did you see the adorable little blinkie on my sidebar with Lily swimming??? Melissa over at Pink Cat Studio is having a contest for the new release - so don't miss your chance to win!! Hope you enjoy the weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet Pea Plate #2 (Pink Cat Studio)
Ink: Memento Black, Memento Brown
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, Select White (PTI)
Accessories: Large Prima daisy, Copics, crystal effects, stardust stickles

Cupcakes and Cake Pops...

Hey all~

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! I enjoyed Easter with my family, it was a really great day. But man - am I worn out!! I didn't even cook either!

Anyway - I had a few photos on reserve to post, since I'm in the middle of putting together my friend's wedding invitations...you saw a peek here.

The card I'm sharing tonight was made for my niece's birthday, which is actually today, though her party was a few weeks ago.
mmmmm....don't those look yummy?!?! My favorite cupcakes are yellow cake with chocolate frosting. mmmmm. I used PTI's anniversary set, Everyday Classics for this. The 'frosting' is stamped in Brilliance Chocolate Ink, and the bottoms are in Lemon Tart, then the edges rolled in Summer Sunrise.

This takes me to the next part... see over there, in my sidebar?? The link to The Pioneer Woman??? Man, she is dangerous. Really. I love her website, between the photography, the FOOD, the humor...it's all awesome.

However, she posted these little things one day...cake pops. What? Yes, Cake pops. And they are just a little piece of heaven I think. PW found them at Bakerella...and MY WORD you should see the ones SHE makes!

But here's my first try...I made these for all of the nieces and nephews for Easter. Good stuff. And really not all that hard to make, so I think I'll be making them again. I used yellow cake and chocolate frosting...just like my favorite cupcakes. Delish.

What's YOUR favorite cake? Cheesecake, pound cake, german chocolate?? I wanna know :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Everyday Classics
Ink: Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy (all PTI), Brilliance Chocolate
Paper: Select White, Pure Poppy (all PTI)

A Virtual Baby Shower...

So, I'm part of this group of friends on Splitcoaststampers...the PSFs. This stands for "Pretend Stamping Friends". This phrase was coined by Alexa, Lauren Meader's daughter a few years back...you can read that story here.

Anyway - we've been through a LOT together. Birthdays, weddings, pregnancies, funerals, surgeries, happy days, and sad days. This group of women is AMAZING, and I'm proud to be part of them. Whenever something is going on, we get together to help out, or to celebrate. I've been a recipient of their INCREDIBLE generosity in September 2007, just prior to the birth of my second daughter. They all made cards, and sent them off to one person. They made some for my older daughter too. Along with it were CRAZY generous gift cards, and the like. It was all bundled up and mailed to me...Brought me to tears.

WELL -- our very own Freshie pants Nicole is preggers now, and we wanted to shower her with cards and goodies as well. So here it is...her Virtual Baby shower...
I tried to take a photo with the pile of cards, but some were in envelopes, some were not, I just couldn't get it to work...

In that box that says 'For Baby K' is a onesie...here it is:

My friend Staci came up with the idea of the onesie...and I agreed to make it. I used the dark t-shirt iron on transfers...came out pretty good. The butterfly on the butt?? Well, that was from when a few of us met up for a stamping expo. Nicole had these cool jeans on with butterflies on the butt, and Lauren said the jeans (not her butt ;) ) inspired her to make a card...which you will see here. Then of course, the rest of the PSFs wanted to see the jeans, so Nicole had her hubby take a photo of them, and made it her avatar...well, we all made our avatar's Nicole's butterfly butt, but we each had our own color. This group certainly has a GREAT sense of humor. Nothing beats a good Happy Hour celebration, or sometimes even a middle of the day get out the sillies with them!

We also made sure we honored the big sisters, Kirsten and Kayla, they each got their own Purse-onality Clutch, and gift card too :)

Congratulations again Nicole!! Looking forward to meeting 'Baby K'!!! :)

Hello - a Double Challenge!

Good evening...well, if you're on the east coast, it's just become morning :) Hoping your Monday was great.




I got to play again today...there are so MANY great challenges out there, it's hard to keep up...so I doubled up!

This is a Kristina Werner Color Challenge (48), as well as a Lauren Meader (mytime) sketch(29).


I needed a card to send to a friend, so I just wanted to say 'hi'. I just LOVE this set from Heather Nichols' line at Papertrey Ink. This one is called Beyond Basic Borders. That little branch image is just TOO perfect. The font for the sentiments is great too, would work well for those tough to do (for me, anyway) masculine cards...
I added a little bling, and some buttons, and there you have it. I had this done in about 15 minutes or so. SUPER easy! I didn't have the exact colors...but did my best to play along!

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a GREAT day!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders (PTI)
Ink: Ripe Avocado (PTI)
Paper: Dark Chocolate, Select White, Ripe Avocado (PTI) - patterned paper, SEI (Black Orchid)
Accessories: Aurora borealis crystals, PTI Vintage Buttons, hemp twine, Dark Chocolate Twill, Dimensionals

Week #3...Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

So Dawn has done it again!! Gave this great challenge out to play along again this week.







Took me a little bit to figure out what I was going to do, but I knew I needed a birthday card for my friend Sally (though I'm a wee bit late!) so off I went.

I decided to use the photo as a sort of inspiration piece as well:












I liked the stripes, but made them less uniform. I basically found some scrap pieces of the colors and cut them into strips of varying widths. I cut a piece of vintage cream to 4 x 5.25, and used a sheet of terrifically tacky tape and covered the whole piece. Then I laid different strips of CS, leaving some space open. Once I got all of the cs strips on, I covered the whole thing with micro beads...gives a little texture and subtle sparkle.














with such a 'busy' background, I didn't want to overdo the whole card, so just simply added the sentiment from Damask Designs, and a flower, and we're done!

Hope you all had a great weekend...why is it they always go so fast????

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Damask Designs
Ink: Pure Poppy (PTI)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Vintage Cream (all PTI) - Pretty in Pink, Kraft (from SU!)
Accessories: Pure Poppy Ribbon, Spellbinders ribbon slides dies, prima flowers, PTI Vintage Buttons

Hoppy Birthday Jason!!

A little more Pink Cat to share today. Have you SEEN Sweet Pea?? TOO cute. I don't have them yet, but at least I can share this one for now. Did you know you can pick up these great stamps at 7 kids college fund??? AND she's just recently been able to reduce the price on the Pink Cat stamps because of the Canadian exchange rate...woo hoo!!

My nephew (and Godson) Jason turned 5 on St. Patrick's Day. We just had his birthday party this past weekend, and it was a GREAT day...beautiful weather - and just nice to be together with family.

Onto his card...

I kept it fairly simple. The patterned paper is from Piggy Tales, I'm not sure which collection...I think it may be Little Boy Blue. The image is colored with my Copics. The buttons are from Foofala (not sure I spelled that right).

Hoping you are having a good week! Be sure to stop by the MFT forum on SCS tonight - they're releasing some GREAT new sets, including one to benefit EuroPeds... a GREAT organization...and cute stamps too - how can you beat it?? Go SHOP!