DCWV, Gina K. & SU Markers...(shhh! Don't tell my Copics! hehehe)

So this morning I was just messing around before work and thought I would break into my new Fun In The Sun Summer Stack from DCWV. The colors and patterns are so bright and cheerful and they coordinate beautifully with SU cardstock.

I started with SU Real Red CS cut to 4 1/2 x 4 1/2. (Yes, odd size... I messed up cutting on this CS for another project and did not want to waste it so I used it for this card.) I added a soft green lightweight CS from my stash and used the DP from the DCWV Summer Stack I mentioned.

I really had no idea ahead of time where I was going with this card, it just kind of "happened." I was thinking about what to put on it for an image and this little $1 stamp came to mind. I layered the DP with more SU CS and added some SU Real Red Gingham ribbon.

I used the "thumping" technique that you can find on Gina K.'s site "Stamp TV" with my SU Markers to color directly on the stamp, "huffed" on it to recharge the ink and stamped it on SU Whisper White. I used Real Red, Taken with Teal, Only Orange and Garden Green markers. I really like this Color Combo and it works well with the DCWV papers.

I followed the theme thru to the inside and added Basic Gray, Urban Prairie brads in multiple colors. (What will I do when I run out of these? hehehe) I found that I wanted to add another sentiment and yet still leave plenty of white space to write on, so I used the top half of the inside for the sentiment.

This comes from a set called "The Best Things In Life," by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K. Designs. It is full of words and phrases that can be used interchangably to make whatever you want to say. I used the same SU markers and "thumped" the stamps. I found that it is best to use an acrylic block that has lines on it when you use this set. It comes mounted on clingfoam and the lined block helps to keep things straight.

Blessings!

Drumroll Please........

TADA!!! Here it is....

There were a few of you that were right about it being a skunk and a few that correctly guessed a birthday card. This little guy is a digi from Sweet & Sassy Stamps that is actually a squirrel, but I thought he would make a super-cute skunk. I used Random.org to choose the winner and it is:

Staci said...
Your grabadoodledo link goes to google, just fyi. I would like to guess that your card is for mother's day? I hope I am right.

Congrats Staci! Send me your snail mail addy and I will send out your surprise right away!

Here are the rest of the Deets on the card:

I colored him with Copics, using C7, 110 Special Black, G21, G24, R27, R29, Y15, Y17 and B21, B24. I used a C5 to do some shadowing and Sakura Gelly Roll black and white gel pens for his eyes and the bee's eyes.

The sentiment was printed on my computer. The green CS is from a Paper Company ValuPak called Kaleidoscope and the DP (which is actually CS as well) is from the Green Stack by DCWV. The brads/buttons are Basic Grey Urban Prairie, the spacers I bought thru Ebay. They came all the way from China...350 for $1, can't beat that for value! In fact, if you would like some, send me a SASE and I will drop some in the mail to you. Just leave a comment requesting my snail mail. It would take me FOREVER to use 350! hehehe. The green grosgrain ribbon is from my stash.

I followed the theme on the inside as well, using my EK Success Photo Corner punch on the DP and a vellum sticker sentiment.

Ok that was fun! Think I will do that more often....did you enjoy it too? I hope so! Here is another card I made with the Scripture DP...

I really like the colors on this one. The CS is just cream-colored from my stash, the sentiment DP is from that Amazing Grace pack by Flair Designs and the other DP is from K&Co Classic K Bailey 12 x 12 stack. The flowers are Heidi Grace and silk from a floral stem with brown brads from my stash. The other brads are Basic Grey Urban Prairie and Blue Moon bead spacers from Joann. The ribbon is from Wally-World and the Cross charm is also Blue Moon. I used my paper piercing template from SU to do the piercing at the corner.

I forgot to take a pic of the inside, doh! **slaps forehead** but it looks just like this one, only the CS is cream instead of brown and the ribbon is olive instead of brown.

Blessings!

Happy Monday and Timmy Turtle says "Hi!"

Is this guy just the cutest thing or what? Timmy Turtle is a digi-stamp you can get over at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (along with a bunch of other great stuff!) My friend Wen asked me if I had any cute turtle images I could color for her, and I immediately thought of Timmy. I colored him with Copics, popped up his eyes and hat, highlighted with Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen and used Glossy Accents on his eyes, nails and some of his spots. I have been keeping him under wraps because he was a surprise for Wen and I could not post him until she recieved him in the mail. This morning I received word that Timmy arrived safe and sound and is now hanging out on her computer. I think maybe he needs a girlfriend, what do you think?

This adorable little Easter Anya is a birthday card for my neice Morgan. Her birthday is really close to Easter and I thought she would like this image. Morgan has the prettiest red hair and this Anya is the spitting image (maybe a little short, though! hehehe) See the faux-turquoise half-beads in the top-left corner? I have had these forever! I kept wanting to use them but never found quite the right card. I think they were just the thing for this one.

I colored her with Copics, paper pieced her dress and the eggs in the basket, which I popped up on foam dots for some added dimension. I also embellished with Glossy Accents, and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. I .used my EK Success Photo Corner punch and Basic Grey Urban Prairie brads to embellish the image

The flowers are Spare Parts, paper and silk, with Spare Parts Gemstone brads in the center. I used my MS Lace Doily BP on the accent CS. All the CS and DP is from my stash. I am pretty sure it is all DCWV from Joann. The sentiment is a vellum sticker and the eyelet is K&Co.

I followed my theme on the inside, with another fun vellum sticker. I also made an envelope with matching yellow CS.

I will post more tomorrow, including the card I made for Morgan's sister, Melanie (Mel-Mel to me) I used a digi-stamp from Grab-A-Doodle-Do for it. If you have not seen her digis, RUN, don't walk over there and get some for yourself!

Blessings!

Scripture DP and Some Ideas

Remember that wedding shower that I went to last weekend? Well, I made a card to go with the gift (didn't get a pic because I was running late, of course...hehehe). I used the colors that I saw reflected in her gift registry choices, thinking that she might want to use the card front somehow in her new home. She loved it and I offered to make another so that she would have two to frame and display. Here is the second one I made. It is just a single sheet design, not a card. And, NO COLORED IMAGE!!! {{{gasp}}}!! LOL

I used cream colored CS from my stash, the light teal and scripture DP is from a Flair Designs Paper Collection called Amazing Grace. The brown and dark teal DP is from the DCWV The Green Stack. I used my MS Lace Doily Border Punch on the dark teal to add some visual interest.

The paper sheet this sentiment came on is a full 12 x 12 with multiple scripture verses individually blocked with lines. It makes it really easy to use as your sentiment or focal point like I did with these. I chose John 3:16 to pair with the original, which was I Corinthians 13 (the "love" chapter). What more can be said about these verses? God's love for us is un-ending and His grace truly is amazing! I used a simple silk flower double layer, the polka dot is Heidi Grace and the cream is from a stem I bought at Joann on sale. The brad is Basic Grey Urban Prairie.

The ribbon is a cream satin that I bought at Michael's. It comes in a 15 yd roll for $1. Can't beat that! and the skinny brown I bought at Wally-world. The Cross charm is from Blue Moon.

I liked these so well, that I made a couple more cards like them. I will post those soon. This one is already getting to be a bit long-winded...hehehe!

Blessings!

WoJ #41 GD Call and getting a headstart on St. Paddy's day...Hey, I'm Irish!

At least PART Irish, anyway...you CAN'T be named Shannon Cay Neal and not be somewhat Irish! hehehe So, I had two more of these cute little guys left *sigh* and thought I would use them for the WoJ #14. It also just happens to be a Guest Designer Call! At first, I was going to color the cupcake green, but I thought to myself, "Self, why not make the mousie green?" I mean, they don't call it the Wearing 'O the Green for nothing!

When I finished coloring him, my DD told me..."He looks like he is gonna puke!" Thanks a lot! So much for asking a preteen's opinion! I wanted him to be kind of 3-D, so I colored a second one and cut it out to make the top of the cupcake and side of his body pop out. Then came the problem of DP...what to use...I did not have any Shamrock DP or Celtic knots or anything vaguely Irish, so I had to put on the old thinking cap and come up with my own.

Prepare to be amazed.....

I made my OWN DP!!!! The paper with the shamrocks on it? the really cute one? yep, I made that, just me, all by myself. (and a little help from Inkscape! hehehe) The diamond pattern DP is from a DCWV stack. The whole thing looked to me like it NEEDED something, so I took out my Bronze Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pen and did some doodling on the edges. Then I had the issue of sentiments, so again, I rummaged around in my brain and came up with this sentiment. The brown and green cardstock is DCWV, the ribbon is Martha Stewart, the buttons came from a pack of coordinating buttons I got at Joann's and the brads are Basic Grey, Urban Prairie. The inside looked kind of plain, so I followed along with the same theme inside. I printed the sentiment on my computer, doodled on the edges, used more of my OWN DP (I'm not PROUD or anything, I am just sayin'...) This card will likely go to my brother and sis-in-law who married on St. Paddy's Day when I was a teenager...which is a WHOLE nother story! (check in later, I might feel compelled to tell the whole TRAUMATIC story).

Love is in the Air...la-la-la-la-la!

That is the Sketch Challenge theme over at "A Spoon Full of Sugar." And, it just so happened that I was in a "Romantical" (is that even a word? hehe) mood today and knocked out...not one...but 4! Count 'em, 1, 2, 3, 4 St. Vali's Day cards! What was my inspiration? Hmm...maybe just the fact that I feel human again, or maybe just that it was a good excuse to make some cards! LOL The first one is the card I made for the sketch, followed in rapid succession by #' 2, 3 and 4. The base is a white, textured cardstock pre-made card blank. I added some pretty, swirly DP and just about every embellishment known to man

(or woman, in this case!) I also punched the corners with my Fiskars "Heritage" Three-Corner Punch. The sentiment is from a pack of romantical (there I go again!) vellum sweet-nothings...why do you suppose they call them that? Nothings...usually when my Honey whispers these, they mean A LOT! At least to me they do...(Love you Honey!) Have you noticed that I have been on a real vellum kick lately? I really like how it looks... Anywhoooo... so I also finished the inside of this card and I was really pleased with how it turned out!

base: DCWV White, textured, premade card blank
cs: light pink from Joann multipack
dp: unsure, no name...pink and red toile I got in a DCWV Stack ON SALE!!!
embellies: red & white heart-shaped paper doilies, MS Valentine ribbon, red foil heart-shaped confetti that I punched and attached with round, silver brad, pink & red felt flowers attached with silver brads from Target, and silver double-heart favor charm from the wedding section at Wallyworld.

I won't bore you with all the deet's for the others, I will just post them as "Eye Candy..." Enjoy!

Oh When The Saints....(everybody sing!)

I was on the phone the other night with my sis and she asked me if I could make some kind of wall hanging for her with a Fleur de Lis. (She is from Nawlins', dawlin!)
Well, here is what I came up with. I had to find a FDL .bmp image, copy the bitmap to .jpg in Inkscape and then size it and cut it out BY HAND!!!!***RAMBLE ALERT***I REALLY need to get the Sure Cuts A Lot software, which is similar to way better than Cricut Design Studio, but you don't need a bunch of cartridges to use it. You can use any .svg image, (which is what you use Inkscape for) and do whatever you want with it. There is a guy, Dan, whose blog
My Crafty Life has all kinds of tutorials and freebie .svg files. Also, Inkscape is a FREE (you heard me, I said FREE!) download from http://www.sourceforge.net Now you all know me, and I LUURRVVEE free stuff! It is an AWESOME image editing software that lets you do practically anything! There is a bit of a learning curve, but Dan-the-Man can help you out. Ok, now...***END OF RAMBLE*** I printed out 2 copies of the FDL in consecutive sizes on 110lb white CS, one I traced onto some silver, textured DCWV cardstock, cut out, colored the edges in black Sharpie and then wiped off the excess Sharpie. On the second I colored in the white cardstock with black Sharpie and colored the edges with a silver paint marker. (To tell the truth, I initially did it because I was too lazy too tired to trace and cut another out of black cardstock, but I quite like the way it looks! hehehe) I chose 3 DP's from a DCWV stack that I got on...can you guess?... CLEARANCE! I added a brown paper that I embossed with the Vines plate from Fiskars and swiped with silver ink. I swiped all the edges with black ink and layered black CS, silver CS, the DP's, then attached the two FDL's with pop-up foam. The sentiment is from the "Everyday Blessings" Vellum pack by Colorbok, which I layered with black CS and added round, silver brads to coordinate with the silver diamond brads I used on the corners. I popped that up with foam too. I put it in a black frame I picked up at Wallyworld.

Had to be a girl...

This card is pulling double duty, as I am using it for the Whimsy DT Call and the Spoonfull of Sugar Challenge. I know, I know...the Whimsy DT Call asked for a Whimsy image (if you have one, which I don't!) or an animal image. Around my house we call babies, "expensive pets!" so I figured that would count as an animal, right? LOL

As soon as I saw this stamp by Inkadinkado, I just KNEW it HAD be mine! DP is DCWV, as is cardstock. Flowers are from the $1 aisle at Target (pronounced...tahr-jey, hehehe) and the star trim from Wallyworld (better known at our house as "STUFFMART") I stamped the image onto WC paper and used my MS Art Markers to color her in. I added the "blushing cheeks" because it just seemed like the thing to do. Hope you like her as much as I do!

Blessings,

Shannon

Whiff of Joy Challenge #14

I have been wanting to do a WoJ challenge, but did not have any WoJ stamps! *sigh* Then, the Blog Fairy *aka Cindy @ Heart's Delight Cards* chose my name for her rockin' Blog Candy! I went to the post office this morning to get it and I was so excited I pee'd myself almost pee'd myself! Inside that wonderful box was a WoJ stamp...just for me. *sniff* I ran home, well I DROVE home (@ the speed limit of course...hi honey!) and pulled out my stuff to see what I could come up with. This challenge was to use the colors purple and green. I used the Willow with Hot Chocolate stamp and colored it with my MS Art Markers. Had to fudge on the skin color because I don't have anything "skin" colored! LOL Card stock is SU, DP and mat is from DCWV stacks: Wedding, Text Prints and Mat Stack, respectively. Ribbon is MS that I got on super-clearance at Michael's (which, as you may already know, just makes my day!) The faux-Primas came from the floral section at Wally-world (also clearance *smile*) I don't have that handy-dandy ticket corner punch, so I just trimmed with scissors *gasp!* Kinda scary! I also used my new SU piercing template & mats for the edges. I just love this sticker and so I used it with some more DP and mat, along with a couple of dewdrops, just for good measure.

*Is it even possible to OVER embellish?... I don't think so!) Now, I need to get my hiney in gear and link it to WoJ before I miss it!

*p.s. I did not realize until just now that if you look at the bottom of the card, the only text in that lovely "friend" DP that is readable says, "No good!" LOL... NOT my intention, I assure you.*

Blessings,
Shannon

Merry Christmas to Me!!!!

My sweet, sweet mom and dad got me a Cricut for Christmas! YAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I am really excited about it? LOL I have already been having alot of fun with it. Here is a Birthday Card I made for one of my friends whose birthday is on Saturday... I think it turned out really well. The cardstock is what came with the Cricut, the floral is DCWV, and the Prima isn't really a Prima at all! It is just silk flowers I got on sale at Walmart and removed from the stems. You have to choose the ones that are pretty much flat, so that they will lay nicely on the cards, but it works well and is much cheaper than Primas. Iused a flower shaped brad to attach it to the card and embellished with glitter gel. I added Hot Pink Grosgrain ribbon with one of Courtney's bows (createdbycourtney@blogspot.com) and finished it off with sky blue skittles and multi-color glitter gel. I am very pleased with how my first Cricut creation turned out, and I cannot wait to do some more. Unfortunately for me, I have to do other things today *sigh* my DH actually expects me to do some work around the house today, since I am off...the nerve! LOL

I pray that you all have a blessed Christmas and that the Heavenly Father reveals to you the depth of His love, which enabled Him to send His Son Jesus to earth as a baby...a baby that would grow up to save us all from our sins.

Blessings,

Shannon