Floral Frenzy Kit Card #2

I made another card tonight using the Floral Frenzy Kit for StampTV that I won from GinaK Designs. I used several elements that I haven't tried before on this card, what do you think?
I used my Spellbinder Oval nestabililty to cut out the main image and I left it in the die and used my copic airbrush to add the pink faux sponge color. This is a nice effect as it leave a perfect white edge which is a nice detail.
I used my largest scalloped oval for the brown layer and after it was cut out I embossed it with the tan embossing mat.
The pink background paper is the digital download paper Neapolitan that is a free download from GinaK Designs.
Next new thing I did was use shrinky dink for the sentiment. I cut it about 2 inches wide and 4 inches long, punched the holes in the end with a regular hole punch. I stamped Friend from the Botanical Dreams Stamp set sold at GinaK Designs as well. I then used my heat gun to shrink the shrinky dink and I got this cute small sentiment rectangle.
I ran the shimmery pink ribbon through the holes in the ends of the sentiment block and left enough ribbon on the ends to attach behind the card layer. Before I attached the ribbon I added the Thank you charm. I added the half pearls in the corners and in the lower right corner I added 2 EK punched leaves, 2 Martha Steward feathery leave punches and a Martha Steward punch butterfly.
Tomorrow I am going to work on a few challenges. Dog Gone Stamps has a neat sketch challenge to work on and StampTV has a Potluck Friday challenge by Melanie Muenchinger also.

I'll see you all tomorrow, I plan to stamp all week-end. I have a lot of DT stuff and challenges that I want to do. See you then.

Cathy

I got my Prize Package Today from GinaK What's in the Box?

I was so excited to get my What's in the Box prize package from GinaK Designs today. Man the kit is chocked full with two stamp sets, designer paper, matt paper, cardstock,and embellishments(ribbons, brads, flowers. I couldn't wait to get the stamps cut out and make this card:

I knew that this was probably going to be one of my favorite flowers in the set because it has so many possibilities for coloring with copics.

This card was for the Color Challenge that Cindy Lawrence is hosting this week. The colors you were to use were: Always Artichoke, Apricot Appeal, and Pumpkin Pie. These are Stampin Up colors in case you weren't familiar with the names. I had all three as they are some of my favorite colors to use.

I used the apricot Appeal for the main base cs and stamped in More Mustard with the crackle background stamp included with the kit as well. I know I am going to use the heck out of this stamp because I love the illusion of aged paper.

I mounted the colored image on Pumpkin Pie cs and mounted that on Always Artichoke and mounted that on white for that burst of contrast and to carry on the border effect on the card base.

I love everything abot this card except the ribbon presentation. I tried about 3 different things and finally left it at this. I know that I will change it but it will have to be tomorrow. Maybe it looks okay, but I don't want it to look just okay, because other than that I really like the way it turned out.

Well, I need to wrap this up. Big Thank you to GinaK Designs for this wonderful prize!

Cathy

I came I SAW I conquered!

I would let this handsome guy build me something anyday. I had to have Construction Pup from Dog Gone Stamps because my husband's grandfather was a carpenter all his life and my son is a framer. Besides how can you resist a man with a tool belt :O
I colored with copic markers and can you believe it I didn't sponge again, what's up with that. I used my new EK border punch for the saw blade teeth, I know they are a little big, that is why we have imaginations. I made the handle out of a scrap of textured brown cs. I colored the saw to look like well cared for metal (not like the saws in the garage mind you) I used some phillips head brads to look industrial.
I want to put a sentiment inside the card but I need your help with some ideas. I thought about :

1. Ta Da!
2. Look Ma I did it myself
3. I saw you again last night.....
4. Get hammered by the Best (don't laugh there is a local construction co. who has a billboard with that slogan)
5. You nailed it!
6. I saw you in.....


Any cute ideas anyone?

I need to get to bed. See you tomorrow.

Cathy

Serenity Simple Collage

I decided to create a peaceful and Serene simple collage card tonight. I wanted to use the birds, from the Bluebird plate, on the telephone wire which I airbrushed with my copic airbrush system. I also airbrushed the main Serenity image just so that it had some color but not much detail. I know that is different for me, but it is actually one of my favorite techniques.
I wanted to use the large Serenity sentiment that is included in the plate but I just couldn't fit it on the page with the other two images, so I cut each line into strips and mounted them at different angles.
I distressed the edges of the two colored images and the light kraft cs for texture and added 3 prima flowers with button centers.
I really like the basic simplicity of it, but yet it really doesn't look that simple.

I am off to clean up my stamp room and go to bed.
See you later, Thanks for stopping by.

Cathy

Party Animal Challenge Card

Jana always has great sketch challenges for us on Dog Gone Stamps. I didn't get the card finished until tonight. I have just been busy coloring. This stamp is Birthday Betsy and I love her, just look at that face.
I think this Bloodhound is so cute and has the same Party attitude I do. I like going and I have a great time, just a little laid back.
I colored with copic markers and actually drug out my sewing machine to outline the panels instead of sponging. I don't know why I don't use my sewing machine more, it is right at my feet and all I have to do is pick it up and put it on my table.
I bought the cute bone paper clips at WalMart when I was there the other night. Thought I needed them for all the dog cards I am doing. I thought about making a bone stamp from some scrap rubber that I have but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It would be fun to use for creating my own background paper.
The flower is from SU and I attached an orange button but other than that the layout creates the interest for this card. I used my Atyou spica glitter pen by Copic for the red dots and tuff on the top of the party hat. It really sparkles IRL
This dog just makes me smile.

See you all tomorrow with some more fun cards!
Have a good one.

Cathy

Day 5 Blog Candy Winner and new Dog Gone Stamp images

Happy Monday everyone. Lynn is our final winner for the Scavenger Hunt. Congratulations Lynn. I have received all of the mailing addresses so your prize bundles will be mailed tomorrow. Thank you so much for playing.

I got some new Dog Gone Stamps today and so tonight I have been coloring. I have not made any cards from them yet but I am going to post two pictures of the colored images anyway.




Isn't this just the cutest, saddest, loneliest looking little pup you have ever seen. When I make the card it will say Miss You because it sure looks like he does.
It is nearly impossible to color black and be able to shade and add any detail so this is done in about 10 shades of grey :) Really it is 3 shades of grey, 2 shades of dark blue and nighlights done with blender pen.

I used my copic airbrush for the grass and sky.

The next image is from the 1926 stamps, The Ball:


Isn't she just beautiful. It is hard for me to imagine that Miss Dorothy drew the original images with a feather quill pen. Such attention to detail.
I started out thinking that The Belle of the Ball was going to be dressed in a pastel dress. I love my copic markers but they don't always lend themselves well to pastel colors when you blend and shade as much as I do.
Tomorrow I am going to try my Koh-I-Nor pencils and OMS and see how I like that.
I don't usually just post images that i had colored but I wanted to show you these new images and didn't want to stop coloring to make a card yet.
I am going to wrap this up and go color some more.

Good Night

Cathy

Day 4 winner and Day 5 Question for Dog Gone Stamps Scavenger Hunt

Well, our Scavenger Hunt for the Dog Gone Stamps blog candy is nearly over. I hope that you have all learned about the wonderful new stamp company that I am honored to be a Design Team member for, Dog Gone Stamps.

Lisa808, was the Day 4 winner. Congratulations Lisa808!! Be sure to send me your mailing address so I can get the prize bundle out to you right away.

Are you ready for the final question? It's a pretty simple question.

How do you know if new stamps have been posted to the Dog Gone Stamp website?

The first person, who hasn't already won during this Scavenger Hunt, who posts a comment with the correct answer will be the winner.

I hope that you will all continue to stop by and visit my blog because I will continue to offer blog candy for special milestones and occassions.

I should have some new stamps in my mailbox either tomorrow or Tuesday so I will be a very happy stamper. I ordered some dogs, a 1926 image, the giraffe, and a butterfly. I'll be posting more cards or projects with these images this week.

I am off to bed, gotta work tomorrow. Hope you all had a great week-end.

Good Night,

Cathy

Digi Paper from GinaK Designs--Pretty Cool!

GinaK Designs has some new Digital Paper that you can download to your computer. Pretty awesome stuff. There are 4 different patterns that you can download for free right now. Free is definintely in my budget right now :)

StampTV by GinaK Designs has their own website where members can show their GinaK projects in their own gallery and there are challenges and lots of information discussions. Check it out and become a member today.

I created the card above using the digital designer paper Neopolitan. Melanie Muenchinger, Senior Design Team for GinaK Designs, showed how she layered the digital paper using Photo Shop. I don't have Photo Shop and I haven't quite figured out my Gimp software yet. My thought is that double sided paper is a lot more expensive than single sided designer paper so I printed one sheet of cardstock with the striped pattern on one side and the small pink and brown flowers on the other. I used the pink side for the front and folded the corners down to show the striped side. I sponged around the main image with Brushed Corduroy Distressed Ink.

I stamped 3 roses, from A Year of Flowers, created by Melanie Muenchinger and sold at GinaK Designs, into a bouquet by masking where they would overlap so that there wouldn't be any extra lines. I masked again and stamped the leaves. I colored the roses to match the pink stripe in the paper.

I think that it turned out pretty cool. I only added the buttons in the folded down corners and I really like the way it turned out.



I also created another card using the scraps of double-sided designer paper that I had left from my Rose card. Take a second look, it isn't the rose, there are other flowers in the set I just seem to always choose the rose.

My Michael's had these new EK punches today. I was going to buy the Martha Stewart one that is very similiar but the sawtooth points are larger. I liked that this design was smaller so I got it. I punched along one side of two different pieces of cs (card stock) and my original thought was to bump them together. When I was laying them out they separated slightly at one point and I liked the look so I attached them that way.
I thought the card main image with the sheer ribbon and sponged border was more elegant looking than the background, so I added the pearls to the zig zag pattern vertically. The main image is popped up on foam mounting tape.
You may be asking yourself, why in the world would she print designer paper when she can buy them at Michael's or Hobby Lobby or the Local Scrapbook Store for less. Mostly it is the convenience of being able to print when I need it, only print the ones that I want and in the size that I want, I don't have to buy a pack with 10 different patterns that I will probably never use to get the 4 or 5 that I will use, and they coordinate. I can print a piece of paper or cardstock using the two papers that I choose and want back to back instead of having one side that I love and the other I was glad was on the back anyway.


I will be back in a little while with the Day 5 Scavenger Hunt question. The Scavenger Hunt has been so much fun and I want to shout out a special thank you to Nancy Torfini, owner of Dog Gone Stamps, who offered the stamps that made this blog candy possible.

See you in a little bit.

Cathy

Day3 Winner and Day 4 Question for Scavenger Hunt

This little Rabbit with flowers from Dog Gone Stamps is one of the stamps that is being given in the Scavenger Hunt prize bundles, isn't he just too cute.

The winner for Day 3 was Tonya, who was actually the second person to answer the question correctly. Heather had won on Day 1 and couldn't win another prize bundle during this contest. Tonya has already sent me her mailing address so on to Day 4 question.

Are you ready? This one is the hardest so far, but I promise tomorrow's will be super simple. (I have had so much fun with this Scavenger Hunt I will hate for it to end.)

Day 4 question: Which stamp category has the most stamp images and how many does it have? Make sure you forward through all the pages in some categories to get the correct answer.

Once again, the first one to answer the question correctly in a comment, who hasn't already won during this contest, will win the prize bundle for today.

Good Luck!

On to my day today.

My sister and I have been trying to get together since Christmas and our schedules just haven't worked out until today. We decided to meet at the Winnevegas Casino which is exactly half way between our houses. I am not a gambler but when we meet I do usually play the nickle slot machines. I gathered up all of my change and had probably 15 to 20 dollars worth of dimes and nickles. I cashed in my dimes at the cashier windows and we started to play. I had probably gone through half my nickles when I hit a 600 coin payout. That was over 40 dollars. I cashed those nickles out and put the 40 dollars in my wallet to take home. I still had half my nickles I came with so I put 9 more nickles in and hit a 900 coin payout and I already had accumulated 200 coins before it hit. Half way through the 1100 coins dropping out of the machine, it ran out of nickles. I had to wait for the attendent to come and fill the machine again before I could finish cashing out my machine. I took my happy butt with my nickles directly to the cashier to collect my 59.00 and put that in my wallet as well. I came home with almost 100.00 dollars, and, I got to spend the afternoon with my sister!

After winning the GinaK Designs, What's in the Box, prize package yesterday and winning at the casino today I considered buying a lottery ticket, but I didn't :)

Thanks for listening, I hope you are having a great week-end.

Cathy

Day # 2 Winner and Day # 3 Question for Scavenger Hunt

Sound the trumpets. My Day 2 winnerof the Dog Gone Stamps blog candy Scavenger Hunt is Shannon Bracken, congratulations and thanks for playing! Be sure to send me an email to cledgar1@gmail.com with your snail mail address so I can get your prize bundle out to you right away.

Are you ready for the next question? Remember all answers can be found on the Dog Gone Stamps website. Question #3: Where can you find great samples of the different stamps offered by Dog Gone Stamps?

Simple rules, you can only win once, first comment with the correct answer wins for that day.

Good Luck.

Thanks for playing,
Cathy

I Won!!!!! GinaK's What's in the Box Reveal prize!!!

If you know me and have followed my blog from it's beginning you know that I LOVE GinaK Designs. The DT is wonderful and so inspirational and Gina is one of the most generous Stamp Company owners that you could ever find.

You all know that my dream is to one day be a guest designer for GinaK designs. I have played all of the challenges that I can and love them. I have only won once but there are sooo many people who follow GinaK Designs that I feel privileged to have won that one.

Things have been really really tight financially around here for awhile so I haven't been able to buy any GinaK stamps for a few months but I continue to play with my dearly loved sets I have.

I watched the reveal with great interest all week and finally decided, what the heck I don't have a chance of winning but I certainly can't win if I don't leave a comment so I did. I thought that GinaK Designs had come up with her own line of Designer Paper and coordinating Stamps. I guess I was kind of right but it is soo much more.

Gina K Designs has created a StampTV video tutorial site where you get to use the kits and create projects along with Gina's audio/visual narration. If you click on the Stamp TV blinkie on my sidebar it will take you to the StampTV site. Please excuse my lack of knowlege about this site right this moment but I have only watched the video once at about 2am :).

I actually went to Gina's store online today to see how much the stamp kits were and although they are very reasonably priced I knew that I could buy a set or pay the light bill. If I don't pay the light bill I have to stamp by candle light and that is too hard so I knew I couldn't get any.

I can't believe that from over 1020 comments mine was randomly chosen but I am so very thankful.

After I entered my comment I didn't think that I had a chance of winning but I knew that the drawing was today. I had gone to the store and was checking my blog for my Scavenger Hunt currently going on for Dog Gone Stamps and saw in my visitor feed that someone had come from GinaK's site. I thought, how would anybody get from GinaK's site to my blog because there is no reference to my blog from there, unless............had to go check the winner. I went to the page on GinaK's blog and scrolled down to the winner of the What's in the Box reveal prize and saw my name saying I had won and showing the comment I had left. I didn't believe it, so I closed the blog and opened it up again to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

I had really won and I was so happy it actually made me cry. I am not an emotional person so this was kind of out of character for me, but you have no idea what it really means to me.

I love my DT work for Artistic Outpost and Dog Gone Stamps but for me there is just something special about GinaK Designs and the "girls".

I can't thank Gina enough for her never ending generosity.

Cathy

Dog Gone Stamps Scavenger Hunt Question #2

First of all, the winner of Day #1 question was Heather. The correct answer was DT Pup. I'm kinda partial to this little guy since I am on the DT. Heather please email me at cledgar1@gmail.com with your snail mail address, thanks.

All of the answers to the questions can easily be found on the Dog Gone Stamps website, just click on the words Dog Gone Stamps and the hyperlink will take you to the homepage, I did half the work for you already, what are you waiting for, it doesn't get any better than free stamps.

Are you ready for Question #2? Here you go. What drawing instrument was used by the creator/artist of the 1926 stamps? Bonus question--What is the creator's name?

The first person to leave a comment with the correct answer will win the prize bundle for Day 2.

I am having so much fun, I hope that you are too, but you can't win if you don't answer the question.

Good Luck

Cathy

Copic Markers Challenge

I was looking at a comment left on the Artistic Outpost blog today and went to the commentor's blog. I saw that she mentioned a Copic Markers Challenge. That was all I needed to go take a look. I saw a post for Challenge#1 so had to check it out. They give you 3 copic colors that have to be used in your challenge project. Well, you don't have to use them all but you have to use at least 1 of the colors (or as close as you have to it) What fun, Here is the card that I did to submit.

I thought I should show the copic markers that I used since specific ones were required. The required were R08, V06, and B28. The only one that I didn't have was B28 but I had B34 which I used for the darkest shading on the Pony, which is a digital image from The Greeting Farm. This is such a fun image to color and I thought it worked well with the 3 copic colors to be used for the challenge.

Looking at all of the other challenge cards, I have lots to learn. They have a beginner category and a more advanced. I am sure I will start out in the preschool class.

Can't wait till next wednesday to see what colors the next challenge holds.

I will be posting my second question for my Dog Gone Stamps Scavenger Hunt in about an hour and at that time I will announce the winner for Day 1. Make sure you stop in and comment early as there is only one winner per day and the first to answer the question correctly is the winner. Only rule is you can't have already won during this Scavenger Hunt.

Scavenger Hunt Question 1 Ready Set Go!

Are you ready to win some great blog candy? You will find the answers to all of the Scavenger Hunt questions on the Dog Gone Stamps website. The first person to leave a comment with the correct answer will be the winner. The winner will be announced at midnight Thurs. night when the second question is posted.

Without further ado here is the first question:

What is the name of the dog image shown on the Design Team Page?

Have fun,

Cathy

Check out the Blog Candy-- Starts tonight!!!

Wow, look at all the stuff that I am throwing in with the Dog Gone Stamp for my Scavenger Hunt Blog candy. Are you ready to play? There are 5 bundles exactly like this( one for each day), except each stamp is different :).

The blog candy includes:

1. Dog Gone Stamp
2. 5 yards of satin ribbon
3. 10 Sateen flowers, these are perfect to color with copic markers to match any card
4. 12 assorted pastel brads
5. 1 sheet of rub ons
6. 1 sheet of acrylic decorative stick on circle tiles
7. 1 SU ribbon slide
8. 2 white Top Note Die cut panels

You get all of this just for answering a simple question. Don't you have 5 minutes to go to the Dog Gone website and find the answer. The first person to answer the question correctly will win.

So all of you wonderful ladies who come to visit my blog daily please take a minute to answer the question and leave a comment. I know that you will be tickled with the stamps that Dog Gone Stamps has to offer.

The first question will be posted a midnight tonight so be the first to answer. I will post the winner each night at midnight when I post the new question.

We know you all love free, free is good, in this economy free is in my budget :)

Tell your friends, after you win of course ha ha!

Be back in an hour.

Cathy

Are you ready for a Scavenger Hunt--Prizes!

I am so excited to announce that my Dog Gone stamps arrived for my Blog Candy /Scavenger Hunt that will begin right here on Thursday, February 19 and end on Monday February 23.

This is the contest: Each day I will ask one question about Dog Gone Stamps and the first person to respond correctly to the question by leaving a comment will win the prize package for that day. Sorry, you can only win once during the contest. I want to give 5 people an opportunity to win one of these darling stamps and assorted embellishments, ribbon, brads, sateen flowers, and whatever else I decide to add to the lot.

Please check back daily if you left a comment to see if you won and if you did, send me an email with your mailing address so I can get your prize package out to you right away.

Because you can only win once I will need the winner each day to contact me within 24 hours of my announcing the daily winner or the prize will go the person who was next to respond with the correct answer.

Here is a list of the stamps being given:

Elf
Marty
Rabbit with Flowers
Ghost with Pumpin
Duck with flower

While you are checking out these cute stamps you might want to study the Dog Gone Stamp pages and get a jump start on answering the questions :)

Have a great night.

Cathy

Thanks Tiger!

I decided that it had been way too long since I got out my Vintage Circus stamp plate from Artistic Outpost and I wanted to make a simpler card with just the tiger image from the collage stamp. I really like the way it turned out. I LOVE coloring this image.
I had stamped the image onto a Top Note Die from SU and sponged around the edges with Tim Holtz distress inks weathered wood and Vintage Photo.
I made the background dp by stamping the man and cub stamp, circus ticket and word greatest all over the white card base in Vintage Photo distress ink. I then sponged the corners with weathered wood and sponged over that to include the edges with vintage photo.
I used a cuttlebug die for the Thanks which I colored with a copic marker and because it was still too bright I over sponged it with weathered wood and vintage photo as well.
I added the brown checked ribbon and adhered the Thanks to the left side. I added 3 dew drops in blue on either side of Thanks. The final step was to add three small flowers with dew drop centers in the upper right hand corner.

I am anxiously awaiting my stamps from Dog Gone Stamps so that I know what my blog candy will be for my Scavenger Hunt that will begin on Thursday evening, right here. As soon as I get the stamps I will package up my 5 prize bundles and you will be able to see them here.

Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.

Cathy

I did two challenges today, Yeah for me!!

Well, we made it through the snow storm yesterday with no ill effects. The snow started as I was going to work and ended before I left work at 5:30 so I had about 7 inches of snow to drive home in. I hear more on the way this week so I will get quality stamping time.

I did two challenges today. the first is for the weekly GinaK Designs challenge hosted by Joanne Basille. Her challenges are always great and this was no exception. Use Kraft paper, that was it.

I didn't have kraft cardstock so I looked in my old SU catalog and matched it as closely as I could. Here is the card I made:

I wanted the sentiment to be the focal point of the card so I kept it kind of simple. I used my Top Note Die for the larger beige panel and used my Quikutz label die for the Kraft label that I sponged with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink. I sponged all of the edges but you can't really tell the sponging on the bottom layer for some reason.

I added a piece of ivory sheer ribbon to the Top Note panel bottom and tied another piece of white sheer ribbon and light brown loop edge satin ribbon to the first knot bow. I punched two leaves with my Martha Steward leafy punch. I also punched 2 butterflies out of vellum with my Martha Steward Butterfly punch. I don't care what you say about Martha Stewart you gotta love her punches.

My card is done for the GinaK Challenge for this week.

My second challenge card is for week3 at Dog Gone Stamps. Jana created another really fun sketch challenge and here is my card I made:

I don't know what is wrong with me but once again I followed the sketch without changing it.

This card is larger than most that I make, it measures 5 1/2 inches square.

I colored the main image, elephant with balloons, from Dog Gone Stamps with copic markers. I added Atyou green glitter pen to the green balloon and Star Dust clear glitter to the yellow and blue. I put a few dots of the clear pen inside the pink ear of the elephant and smeared it with my finger to spread it around in the ear. You can't see that in the picture here but it is sparkly.

I used my red Atyou glitter pen to paint her toe nails, Hey, if you are an elephant it's the little things that dress you for the party.
I cut the main image out using the out of the box technique, so that the balloons are hanging over the edge of the other two matt panels. I thought it would add a little interest to the square center panels.
The cute felt flowers are from the dollar bin at Target and because I wanted to tie in the colors to the SU Polka Dot and Paisley designer paper that I used I added the ribbon elements.
I like the way that it turned out and Jana had another fun sketch challenge.
Feel free to join the challenges at Paper Craft Planet, Dog Gone Stamps Group, it's a really fun group and they let me play.
I'm going to stop for now and go color some more.

Have a good night and see you tomorrow with more news about the Dog Gone Stamp blog candy scheduled to begin on Thursday.

Nite,

Cathy

Hoop it Up!

I'll bet you thought I was talking about basketball. Nope, I am talking about the cutest little hula hoop girl you have ever seen. She is from Dog Gone Stamps and she would be perfect for any little girl's Birthday or just because card.

I colored the main image with copic markers and them I stamped in some grass and flowers to help ground her and because I wasn't going to add much else to the card with the background paper I wanted to use. I used the flowers and grass from Our Craft Lounge Dr. Pea_Nut stamp set. I used the same larger flower to add flowers to the shirt.

I used my copic airbrush to color in the grassy area and the sky. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the GinaK Designs set Owl Always Love You.

I thought that the background paper, which I got in the dollar bins at Target, was so perfect for a little girl Birthday Card with Giggle, Fun and all the cute sayings on it. I tied a piece of looped satin ribbon in coral around the brown and coral panel which sits horizontal under the main image.

I have another cute birthday card that I am finishing for the Dog Gone Stamps weekly sketch challenge, you should come and join us, Jana creates some really fun sketch challenges each Friday.

OH, oh,oh, I about forgot to mention that Nancy, the wonderful owner of Dog Gone Stamps, has given each design team member 5 stamps for us to give away on our blog. I know that a lot of people visit my blog every day(because I have a counter :) ) so you need to start leaving comments so that I can choose one lucky winner. I am going to have a lot of things in my prize package but I am going to wait until I see which fabulous stamps Nancy sends me. My other thought is to have a scavenger hunt of sorts and I will ask a question that you will have to find on Dog Gone Stamps and the first person to leave a comment with the correct answer will win. If I do the scavenger hunt I will have five different questions and divide the stamps up into 5 different prize packages and there will be 5 different winners. So do ya wanna play? I am shooting for next Thursday or Friday February 19th or 20th to start.

Okay, enough babbling for tonight, gotta go finish my other card. I want to work on some Artistic Outpost projects this week-end too.

Nite,

Cathy

I Toad You!

This is an awesome King Toad image from Dog Gone Stamps, I had a lot of fun coloring it.

This was a sketch challenge that I printed off and I like the way that it turned out.

I colored the toad with copic markers and sponged around the edge with Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distressed ink. There are three layers of coordinating patterned paper in tones of green and brown. I sponged around the lightest green layer to tone it down a little.

I used Martha Steward beige twill ribbon for the verticle stripe in the sketch and tied a knot bow in it. I printed my sentiment on my computer because I didn't have any Toad sayings. I cut the sentiment strip and used my tag punch to create the ends. I then cut a piece of black to mount the sentiment on and punched the ends the same way with my tag punch. The tag punch that I have has three different size tags on one punch so I can use the correct one for the size paper strip I have cut.

I added tiny colored gems from K & Company to the crown and sentiment tag. Just a little bit of bling fit for royalty.

A pretty straight forward card. Hope you like it. The inside of the card will say "that I love you" Happy Anniversary!

Thanks for looking. Oh, I forgot to mention that Dog Gone Stamps has New Stamps on their site tonight. They are really cool created from drawings done by Nancy Torfin's Mother(correct me if I am wrong). The originals were drawn with a quill pen.

They also have new Dog Stamps that are so cute and perfect for the dog lover and a left and right corner border butterfly stamp that will be on my next order :)

Thanks for looking, have a great night. I'm off to bed.

Cathy

A Ton of Love

I have one more Dog Gone Stamp card for the night

Aren't these elephants just so content looking. I think this is a cute Valentine's Day Card which by the way is only a few days away.

This is actually two different stamps from Dog Gone Stamps, the heart border is one stamp and the two elephants is another. I colored the images with copic markers. There are 5 different colors of pinks and reds to get the shading that I wanted on the heart border.

I used my Hearts cuttle bug embossing folder for the red heart panel in the upper right corner which I mounted on white cardstock. I used cuttle bug letters for the Love U Tons. I mounted the main panel on pink cardstock and then the pink on red.

The ribbon knot in the upper left edge of the main image is being held in place by a circular paper clip. I also tied a ribbon knot in the lower right hand corner to balance out the right corner.

Can you believe that I didn't do any sponging on this card :0

Okay, I am going to go to bed now. Have a great day, see you tomorrow night.

Cathy

Hooked on this little fish!

Dog Gone Stamps has the cutest animal images and the facial expressions are so cute and fun. I had so much fun coloring this darling fish. It was perfect for the Copic Gradiant technique which if you follow my blog you know I love. He doesn't look like too much of a threat does he?

I colored with copic markers using the gradiant technique of blending the colors seamlessly. I used my copic airbrush to add color to the background of the main image. I drew in air bubbles and then added dew drops to add dimension to the bubbles.

I made the sentiment tag and highlighted with my 1.0 Multiliner pen by copic. I had some cute turquoise ribbon that I bought from the dollar tins at Target.

This was such a fun card to make and it might even work for a Valentine's card, in my world it would :)

Thanks for looking. I will be back later with a real cute Valentine's Card

Cathy

I got my Dog Gone Stamps today!

It was quite an ordeal and Nancy Torfin, owner extraordinare, of Dog Gone Stamps sent me a second set of stamps as the first set are the USPS dark hole somewhere. My first set got lost in the mail and Nancy was kind enough to resend them and I got them today.




Here is my first card using the Dog Gone Stamps and I absolutely love this little creature, lizard, gecco, just cute creature that I had to color him first.

The Dog Gone Stamp Group on Paper Craft Planet are having a weekly sketch challenge. I missed week one because I didnt have my stamps yet, but here is the challenge card I did for week 2. I followed the sketch almost to the measurement, I know it doesn't happen often :), and I like the way it turned out.

The little lizard is hanging on to the leaf because I wanted the sentiment to say"Hang in There". I think the image kind of works for that.

I colored the lizard with copic markers and used my copic airbrush to add a faint background color behind the image. I then sponged the outside edges with Tim Holtz Distress Brushed Corduroy ink. I used a piece of one inch brown grosgrain ribbon as the verticle band on the left side. The main piece of designer paper is a mat stack in 5X7 from JoAnn's.

I didn't have anything I liked for the circle feature that was supposed to be to the left of the flag so I found a button the size I wanted, and sprayed it with my copic airbrush to brown. The original color was a light olive green. I let the button dry and added a piece of olive green satin ribbon from Target, which I tied in a knot bow.

I didn't have a stamp that said Hang in There so I wrote it, I did use my best handwriting!?!

This was a fun challenge to do. I need to go back and do challenge 1 now that I have my stamps.

I am going to end this now and go color some more, because I can. I may actually post another card tonight, depending on how much coloring I decide to do. You just never know about me!

Have a good night.

Cathy

Cute gift card photo tin

Hi everybody:

Above is a project that was always a favorite in my classes. I love to create these little altered gift card tins into photo brag tins. Here is a project I did last night:

The picture above shows the completed elements of the photo tin. The picture (of my handsome grandson Austin, now and at 2 and his baby sister Bailey at 1wk) show the approximate size of the tin insert.

The picture below shows how the photo pages fold accordian style into the tin with the pull tab of ribbon so you can pull them out easily to show off your photos.

To complete this project you need a gift card tin. I purchased this gift card tin at Michaels for 99 cents at their check-out. I cut a piece of designer paper to cover the top, use your corner rounder punch on the corners, and adhered it with my double sided tape runner. I then added the ribbon all the way around the lid so you didn't see the green checked tin. I adhered the ribbon with ribbon tape from SU.

I added my main image was stamped on a Quikutz label die cut from beige cardstock and stamped with one of my favorite sentiments from Botanical Dreams which you can buy at GinaK Designs. The flowers were some primas I had bought at a LSS. I layered two flowers and added a button. I finished the front with a piece of the same brown grosgrain ribbon with white stitching, I had purchased at Michaels a long time ago, tied on a knot bow and the Tin front was complete.

To create the photo inserts I cut 6 pieces of GP white card stock just a tiny bit smaller than the gift card tin bottom. I rounded the corners again with my corner rounder. Tape the ribbon tab on by folding over the ribbon length to make the tab, add a one and a half inch piece of tape to the bottom center vertically. Leave about 3/8 inch between the pages so that when you add the photos it has room to fold properly. Add a piece of ribbon joining the bottom of page two and the top of page three. You don't need a ribbon on the bottom of page 3 since it is the bottom. I then adhered my 3 remaining pages on top of my pages I had adhered the ribbon to. Now you have a the 3 pages with ribbon that look like this:

You can sponge around the edges or add designer paper under the pictures. I like to make inspirational gift tins and use some of my favorite inspirational stamps on the inside.

I am sure that a picture tutorial would be better but I was a little short on time and wanted to let you see this cute project. If anyone has any questions be sure to ask. I didn't not give specific sizes as all of the gift tins you can buy are a little bit different size and depth but the basic method is the same.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment if you would like to see more projects like this.

Bye for now.

Cathy

You thought I was done ha ha!

Okay, I wasn't really happy with the Birthday card that I made for GinaK originally. I liked the card but maybe not for Gina right now, maybe not a happy enough card. You know how you like something but it just doesn't feel quite right, that was the way I felt about the original card. So I decided to make another.
I of course had to use the A Year of Flowers because that is my favorite GinaK set. I popped the main image up on foam squares. I used my Marvy scalloped oval punch for the brown oval and cut two additional out of rose floral dp and sponged the edges and off set them on either side of the brown oval.
I cut my sentiment strips and punched the ends with my tag punch. Thanks for that idea Theresa! I then tied a pink dotted swiss sheer ribbon at an angle between the main image and sentiment. I tied the bow on with another piece of the same ribbon and I had one bow and two ribbon ends. I kind of like the way my ribbon turned out. I have issues with bows, but that is another post :).
I am going to get this card in the mail to Gina tomorrow so it will be there on Saturday since her Birthday is Sunday.
Let me know if you think this is a better choice. Opinions always welcome!

Now I am done for the night and I am going to bed.

Cathy

Sending My Love-Valentine Challenge

Boy, you would think that I would learn that you can't photograph glittery images late at night. I must have taken 10 pictures before I got one that the poor dog didn't look like a zombie dog. Oh, well, I have to keep my day job so I do the best I can.

This card is for the Valentine Challenge on The Greeting Farm. The challenge is to make a Valentine Card. The challenge ends Saturday and the winner, chosen by Marie who is the company owner, will receive 30.00 dollars to use in TGF store. We can enter a maximum of 3 times. We were to write a poem to accompany the photo and mine was:

Sending this letter from so far away

To the one I think of every day

I miss you the most when the day is done

I'm sending this post so you know you're the ONE!

I will try to complete at least one more card but Saturday is coming very quickly.


About this card, I had bought this cute tiny heart flower paper specifically to do valentine cards this year. I bought it at Michaels, on sale of course. I colored the Dorothy Any digi stamp in red to be more valentine colors. I drew a letter with a heart stamp and cut it out and mounted it on a dimensional in Anya's hands. I added two red heart brads to her braids. I just can't seem to leave her braids un accessorized :)

I added heart brads to the corners, added a red polka dot piece of designer paper under the main image that I had mounted on SU Red Riding Hood cardstock. I tied the white grosgrain ribbon with red hearts on and my card was complete. The final step that caused my camera problems was the stickles on the brads and glitter glue pen for a twinkle in the eyes of Anya and Toto.

My stamps for the DogGoneStamps DT have gone MIA. Poor Nancy is sending me another set but I have been so bummed that they haven't arrived. It's a good thing for the mail person that I work days because I would be stalking them daily. I know that I probably won't see them until next Monday, she says with a big pouty face.

Sorry I didn't post last night but I decided that it was high time that I organized my stamp room again. I had stacks and stacks of stuff. I knew where everything was but I was afraid that it might topple in the middle of the night and I would be buried and it would take me all might to dig out. It wasn't really quite that bad but I did need to put everything back where it belongs so that my stamping goes smoother and faster.

Be sure to stop back on Saturday when I will have my first sneak peak for a new stamp for InStyle Stamps. I will post a card sneak peak on Saturday and on Monday another sneak Peak will be on the InStyle Stamps blog.

Okay, that is enough news and stuff for tonight. Thanks for stopping by and staying through the whole ramblings.

Good Night,

Cathy

You're a Keeper

I have had a great time coloring these images from the Keeper stamp plate from Artistic Outpost. Here is one I finished tonight:

I colored two images from this same lady stamp one in blue/red and this one in green/brown. I decided to finish this one first. The grass is an accessory stamp and I love it.

I sponged around all of the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo and Pine Needles. I tore the main image at an angle and tore the Always Artichoke SU cardstock in the same angle. I sponged around the brown and green designer paper and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo as well.

I used a Quikutz label for the sentiment that I had stamped with the grass stamp, the sentiment from the beach house and overstamped with the You're a Keeper sentiment. I sponged around all of the edges with Vintage Photo and then distressed all of the edges with my handy dandy distressing tool.

A piece of artichoke satin ribbon from Target, some keys and key holes, and bronze brads complete the card. Oops I almost forgot about the olive green/gold large button brad from Michaels.

I really like the way it turned out and can't wait to finish the blue/red image as well.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other designers and guest designers projects on the Artistic Outpost blog.

Have a good day! I'm going to go clean up my creative mess and go to bed.

Cathy

Birthday Card for GinaK

All of us who love GinaK if only through her stamp company and blog were saddened to learn of the passing of her beloved father on Sunday. Joanne has put out a challenge to Make and Mail a Birthday card to Gina who will celebrate a birthday this coming week-end. Here is my card for the challenge and one that I will actually mail:

I knew that I wanted to use one of my GinaK flower sets and no surprise to you or me I chose the roses from A Year of Flowers created by Melanie Muenchinger. I didn't have a vase stamp so I used my Quikutz label die and turned it on its end for the vase, I think it works. I sponged the edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo and Weathered Wood. I stamped the leafy branches from the Botanical Dream set on the vase.

I cut out the roses and the leafy branches and 3 sets of leaves. I laid my pieces on about a hundred times before I decided on the proper placement or at least what suited me :).

I sponged around the edge of the designer paper from the Sea Glass paper stack I got at Michaels a couple of months ago. I really am on kind of a blue green kick right now and this paper goes with that perfectly.

The background cardstock on the left side is kraft sponged with weathered wood and vintage photo distress ink and on the right is river rock sponged with weathered wood.

I tied a small brown and white checked ribbon around the vase and then started glueing everything in place. I glued the leafy branches at the top directly to the background cardstock overlapping the edges. I popped the light brown rose on top up with a foam mounting square. I added the leaves at this point, glued directly to the background. I popped the teal rose up on one foam square and the dark brown is popped up on two squares.

My final addition was the Happy Birthday tag cut out of the same blue green dp and sponged with Vintage Photo distress ink.

I added some white gel pen dots in a 3 dot pattern on the top to lighten the tone just a bit.

What do you think? Too dark for a Birthday card that is supposed to also cheer someone up?

If you have an opinion be sure to leave a comment otherwise it will go in the mail on Wednesday.

Have a good night and say a prayer or at least think about GinaK and her family in this trying time.

Goodnight,

Cathy

You're a Keeper-I finally got one done!

Hi everybody,

Hope you had a good week-end. I finally broke down and cleaned my house (not the usual day to day stuff, ceiling fans and cleaning carpets) and still had time to have my SIL and her husband over for dinner last night and had 2 grandson's 8 and 4 over for a long overdue sleep-over and still had time to create. Doesn't get much better than that!


I have been working on these images, from the Keeper stamp plate from Artistic Outpost, for a couple of days, you know I prefer to color over actually creating the cards ha ha

Here is the Keeper card that I have been working on:

This is a very long narrow card measuring 5 inches wide and 11 inches long. I colored all of the images with copic markers. I bought a new frame Quikutz die and have been playing with it. I used it for the fish trophy plaque I used as the center image.

I sponged Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distressed ink on all of the edges. I cut each fish out and mounted them on pop dots to make them look mounted. The You're a keeper stamp was the perfect size for the plaque. I also cut out one of the fishing lures after I colored it. I also mounted that with a pop dot. I am debating on whether to raid my husband's fishing tackle box for some "real" fishing hardware but will decide tomorrow.

I one off stamped the fish and fish hook onto the striped background designer paper for another bit of detail but I really didn't want it noticeable. I used Tim Holtz Antique Photo which I thought was still too dark so I inked the stamp and stamped it once on a piece of scrap card stock and then onto my designer paper so you can see it but it doesn't jump out at you. I think you can see what I mean in the close up pictures below.

I have taken photos of each image so that you can get a closer view of what each details are.

The first image was basically just colored with copic markers and finished with the fishing fly. The center image is the fish plaque that i popped the fish up on pop dots but you can't tell from the picture. The beach cottage looks so peaceful that it makes me wish I was back saililng on the inner coastal waterways of North Carolina.

I think this would make a great start for a fishing vacation scrapbook page, a birthday card for my son who lives on a lake in Oklahoma or a Father's Day card, so many possibilities. Another reason that I love the Artistic Outpost stamp plates, I can always think of so many different ways to use all of the stamps that come in each plate.

I have another great image from this stamp plate that I will show you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a good week.

Cathy

Wonderful Surprise from Lynn-Lovely Blog Award

I was so surprised, more like shocked, today when I was looking at the latest comments on my blog and Lynn sent me a Lovely Blog Award. Lynn is also a guest designer for Artistic Outpost and an amazing talent, who never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Here is the award:

I am now supposed to send this award to 7 blogs that I love to stalk and that truly inspire me. Here is my list of my blogs, many of them don't even know that I view their blogs nearly every day but I do.

Theresa: http://craftingtheweb.blogspot.com/

Melanie Muenchinger: http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/

Sandra McLean: http://paperfuntastics.blogspot.com/

Jessica Fick: http://www.iembellish.blogspot.com/

Cammie:http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/

Cathy Tilman:http://catdidit.blogspot.com/

Lee Murphy: http://luvleestamper.blogspot.com/

Be sure to check out these sites they are truly Lovely and deserve this award.

I will be back later, I am working on some Artistic Outpost cards and they are really turning out better than I expected.

Thanks so much for the award Lynn.

Have a good one.

Cathy