Whirlpool of Imagination

Blue Bugzzzzzz

Back to my regular style for today. I haven't made a lot of kids cards yet to send to the soldiers. It must be so tough for young kids to have a parent away from them and away at war so I thought I'd concentrate on some of those this week.

I've had these bugs from TAC for a while and haven't done much with them. I think they're cute so I pulled them out.

The bug is colored with markers, the background stamp is SU and I've forgotten who the sentiment is from, need to check that. Usually I write on the EZ mount what company each stamp is but I forgot with this one.

Tomorrow, look for a pink bug. The rain has finally stopped and the temps are rising - I'm still hoping for a bit of spring to enjoy!

Grunge, you say?

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know that grunge/shabby chic/the collage look is something I am not successful at (you may deduce this from the fact that I NEVER show you anything that would fall under those categories - I am hopeless at it!). My look is simple, sometimes cutesie, a very clean sort of look.

This card is me dipping my big toe into the shabby look pool. Not really, but its probably as close as you'll see me get.

This design is similar to yesterday's hello card. I thought this background paper from Basic Grey had enough character to act as "white space" but also was not too busy so I could stamp over it. The stamps are all from CTMH and the ink is from SU. It's still pretty simple but I like it and I was able to make some for my inventory as well as some to send in my cards for soldiers pile in no time at all.

The kids are going to a birthday party tomorrow which is actually at the movie theater to see Shrek 3, so to get them in the mood, we watched the first Shrek tonight. I have to admit, I'd never seen the movie before but it was cute. Of course there is a scrapbook store down the road from the theater - I think Mo should take the kids and I'll take a little road trip while the movie is on......

A Lime Hello

This card sketch design came completely about after reading this post by Erin. As soon as I saw the aloha card, I wanted to make a card with the same basic design. So Erin, if you are reading this, you may have lost your "mojo" but you posted something that inspired me!

I've also been working hard making cards to send to the troops and a huge plus was this looks cute but didn't take me too long to make. I did up different sentiments with the same design - quick and easy!

This little hello is from Spunky Stamps. I love this little hello -  use it all the time.

Wooohoo - I was scheduled for jury duty tomorrow but just called in - I don't have to report! Last time I had to go I was there for a VERY long day. I thought about bringing crafting stuff but with court security and all, I wasn't sure what I could and couldn't bring. Although I did get the new Paper Crafts mag in the mail today - I was saving it for tomorrow if I needed to report - now I can peruse it tonight - yeah!

Six Layer Cake

Okay, this is one of those times when the scan completely changes the look of the card but alas, its pouring here so a scan it is.

I made this using some new stamps that I ordered from Rubber Stamping Fun. These are already sold on the site, not part of the review program. The cake and the sentiment are from clear stamp sets - the polymer was strong and didn't feel flimsy. The stamps also stamped up well. The large purple block actually has a script background from Purple Onion stamped on it although it scanned way too dark to tell. The cake is watercolored and the candles have a bit of stickles on them to add some sparkle.

I debated on adding ribbon but I've added ribbon to EVERY card I make lately so I practiced some restraint and challenged myself to step away from the ribbon!

Alrighty, we're in the middle of a thunderstorm so I'm going to sign off for now - talk to ya later!

No Stamps Here

Meg was home sick today so my day was a little different than planned. Poor thing woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose so we stayed in for the day. I did up a quickie design that amazingly, had no stamping in it.

I've seen this basic design idea before, probably at Splitcoast. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder for the background and chalked it for some color.

I chose my review set from Rubber Stamping Fun today - I'm really excited to have some fun with it!

I'm fighting with my allergies (and losing at the moment) - sleep was pretty bad last night so I'm off to bed early tonight. I've already had my green tea and working on some white tea with antioxidants at the moment - if nothing else, I'll be well hydrated!! Night.

A Bella For You

It's been a while since I've inked up some bellas. I have a few on order but I got out an oldie today. Usually the kids make cards for grandparent birthdays and things like Mother's Day, etc. But since they slept over my mom's last night, we didn't get a chance for them to make any so this morning I had to whip up a couple of mother's day cards.

This is an extra one I made tonight since I'd already given away the others. I like this design because it can be used for many reasons, not just a specific holiday. The stamp is from Stamping Bella and the sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink. I used these pretty little primas and I had just gotten pink crystals which matched the color scheme perfectly. I love those little swarovski crystals - I need a better source than the local craft store though - too expensive there!

Bella is colored with a prismacolor marker, the flower pot is colored pencil and baby oil and the flowers and bow are the sparkle gelly roll pens.

Today was a fun Mother's Day (I just ignored my stuffy allergy nose) but after this weekend, I am wiped out. I think I may hit the hay very early and get a fresh start tomorrow morning. Night!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day today!! I hope you have a glorious day!

Yesterday, Mo and I had such a fun day! Very early in the morning we dropped the kids off at my moms and we headed off with friends to New York. A friend of ours is turning forty and he rented out a sky box at Shea Stadium for the Mets game. What fun!! I've been to baseball games before but this is the way to watch game! A chance to mingle among friends, catch some baseball and eat some wonderful food...all at the same time was a great experience. It's not too often we get to just do the adult thing - it was a good way to recharge those parent batteries (especially since my two have been fighting like cars and dogs lately). I was too exhausted last night to stamp but I'm hoping for some time today.

Enjoy the day!

Reverse Masking

Last night I was thinking of making a design for sympathy cards. I find that these designs are the hardest to come up with. There are some really cool reverse masking samples at Splitcoast and I wanted to recreate one I saw using the SU Lovely as a Tree set. But I was pretty beat last night so i figured there would be no way I could translate what was in my brain onto paper.

So I decided to stay with the idea of reverse masking but do something a little easier. This weeks sketch challenge at SCS had to do with making four squares into a box so I thought I'd try that with this technique.

I stippled 4 different colors of chalk ink in the four squares and then stamped the dragonfly. I was using cardstock for both masks. That's fine for the stippling but I think I'd make one out of a post it note for the dragonfly next time to get crisper edging.

I had no clue what to do with the bottom so in the end I attached two separate pieces of ribbon and added a sentiment over it. I know the scan doesn't pick up the ribbon color well but it actually does match the Prussian Blue really well.

The dragonfly stamp is from Spunky Stamps and the sentiment is from a new set from River City Rubber Works. They had have a program where they release monthly plates of stamps at a reduced price (for that first month). I really like the sentiment set - it has a little of everything and all you need to do is be on their email list to see each new monthly offering.

The weather is nasty here - hot and humid and my allergies are raging. I think I'm banishing myself to the basement tonight - its cool and no pollen in sight!

Rubber Stamping Fun

I haven't even gotten ten feet near my stamps yet table so no pics in this post. I found out yesterday that I was picked by the company Rubber Stamping Fun to be on their panel of stamp reviewers!! Wooohooo! I love trying out new stamp companies and the cool part is that I get to try out stamps that have not been released yet! So my new stamps come next month - keep an eye out for more info on this company when I get a chance to try out their stamps.

It's Your Day

This card originated from the need of a quick birthday tag. Conor was invited to a birthday party this past weekend and of course, I waited til the day of to pretty up the presents. I put them in a gift bag so I needed a quick, cute tag. When I think cute, Doodlebug is always near the top of the list. I pulled out my great new Doodlebug clear stamps and made a quick tag with their cake and candles.

To jazz up the image, I doodled a frame along the outside of the cardstock block. I thought the result was cute so today I decided to try to recreate it in a card. The cake and frame are colored with prismacolor pencils and smoothed out with baby oil. The candles are colored with the glitter pens along with the doodle on the cake although that is kind of hard to see. The sentiment is from Doodlebug too although that is in the wedding set, not the birthday set. I originally had the sentiment plain but thought it needed something so I pulled out these cute tiny little flowers which were perfect for the space I wanted to fill. The paper is from EK Success and while I think it is cute, it's very thin and if I'm not careful with my adhesive on the back, some of that shows through on the front.

The weather is getting nicer each day so it seems the studio time is decreasing a bit but I plan to get ruthless with my schedule so I can open up some time to create. Since I get up at 5am every day to go to the gym, I find that I just can't stamp at night like I used to. My energy levels definitely flag at that point so I just need to tighten up my daytime schedule so I don't lose too much creative time. With summer coming, how do you fit in studio time? Any suggestions would certainly be welcome!