Thank you...this much

I had to make some "Thank you" cards for all the presents that my little guy received for his 1st birthday and since he is such a little monkey himself, I thought the monkey from C.C. Designs Monkey Love would be perfect! I also needed to make these cards easy, so I would actually finish them and send them out in a reasonable amount of time...a month is reasonable, right?!?!? :o)

Pretty simple stuff here: he is stamped with Palette Noir on PTI Stamper's Select White, colored with Copics and matted on More Mustard and Really Rust. Such perfect circles can only be made with the wonderful Nestabilities - I got mine on line from a place called Cut at Home. Somewhere near the top right of your screen, you should see a 40% VIP coupon. Click on that, sign up and a coupon code will appear in your email. Once a month, these coupons are sent out and you can use them to get the entire set of a shape of Nesties for less than $60 including shipping! It's quite the deal! And if you're like me, you have to have all the latest and greatest all at once - there is no budgeting, waiting, holding yourself back ;o) (insert sheepish grin).
K - back to the card...base is Chocolate Chip 4.25 square, DP is SU! Autumn Vines (I thought it looked a bit like paw prints), the blue strip is retired SU! Buckaroo Blue. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, I just masked out the 'I love you' and hand scribbled Thanks. Cuz this is my little monkey saying Thanks this much with his arms spread wide! (you can chuckle, I am a nerd and I know it!) :o)
Hope you all are having a fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by!! lyss

A Flat Challenge and Prize Alert

Over at No Time to Stamp?, Sharon has posted a challenge to Make it Flat. That is a pretty big challenge these days. But in all reality, a flat card can make just as much impact. I have been drooling over all the the wonderful cards made with SU! Lovely as a Tree - a great stand by set for masculine cards. I was waiting to see if it would be retired, and, amazingly, it wasn't! Anywho, here is my take on making it flat...
I used my oval nestabilities to cut an oval out of the front of the PTI Vintage Cream base, then created a frame out of Handsome Hunter. I inked up the pine tree image with HH and Chocolate Chip stampin spots and stamped onto a piece of VC cut just a tid bit smaller than the card front. I used a glue pen to line the tops of a the branches and the ground, then sprinkled on some Doodlebug white glitter. So subtle and pretty IRL. Joy is from a hostess SU! set, sorry, I don't remember the name. :) A very quick, reproducable card and no extra postage needed!! We all love that!

Now for the prize alert: You must visit Taylor's blog for a chance to win a whole bunch of goodies. She has a wonderful new stamp line and a big thing for cupcakes! I'm not really sure if you're supposed to comment on her blog or on the Stamp a Sweet Impression blog. Both are super cute! Have fun! I hope you all get lots of stamping time in this weekend! :o) lyss

Basic Grey Christmas

Last year, while on maternity leave, I found myself very bored and started searching the internet for examples of Stampin' Up! cards. I found Lauren Meader's blog and from there, started to go to the links she had for all these other amazing blogs. I've been hooked ever since and have spent so much money on stamps and tools and embellishments and companies and products that I had no idea existed! Stamping/card making has gone from a hobby to a passion/obsession!! And I can't even begin to tell you how far my style has come in the last year - just amazing what you can learn and do by following challenges and CASEing and just stretching your abilities.

But anyhoo...back to the card! Last December, I fell in *love* with this card by the very talented Christina Fischer - so much so that I had to buy the papers that she had used and the stamp set! When I find a card that I love, love, love, I save it to a little file of card ideas, so I have something to reference when that mojo has gone missing. Well, I must have looked at Christina's card one too many times because even the placement of the ornaments is the same! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So true! :o) I stamped the deer image from BasicGrey Winterland set in Chocolate Chip classic ink on PTI white. (I really love PTI paper, it's heavier than SU! paper and they are starting to have a nice variety of colors that really complement the SU! color wheel IMO.) The sad thing about this was that I searched high and low for this set - by the time I wanted it, it was no where to be found! Once I finally got it, I was removing the deer too eagerly and tore one of his antlers off! Dummy! Let this be a lesson to you to slow down! :o) It's ok, you can thank me later. Ha!

The ornaments are stamped in Bravo Burgandy, Cool Caribbean and Old Olive. I used a Sakura Clear Star pen to line his antlers, his ears, a line of the face and as a tie for the ornaments. He is cut out with Nestabilities and matted on OO and BB. The DP is BasicGrey Figgy Pudding and is matted on Soft Sky. Ribbon is OO grosgrain that I won from Cyndi Bundy - I love that ribbon! I also took a stamp set that I won from her and inked the word 'joy' with a VersaMark marker, stamped onto a square vellum tag and embossed it with Dark Brown embossing powder (retired SU!).
The inside is matted with Soft Sky, stamped with the filligree image from Winterland around the edges and then lightly sponged. Lastly, I stamped 'Holiday Greetings' from SU! Sincere Salutations in the center.
I just love finishing the inside of the card - it adds so much in my opinion. Hope you like it!

Now for some Blog Candy alerts: Nikki is raising awareness for Breast Cancer and giving away a cute little Magnolia stamp and goodies for hitting 30,000 hits! Way to go Nikki!
Rach is giving away a wonderful Whiff of Joy stamp and lots of goodies! So much fun!
And Ashley is giving away a whole big loot too!
Even if you're not into blog candy, check these ladies out - their creations are phenominal! Hope you all have a great day! :o) lyss

I went to a birthday party yesterday for another 1 year old. Six women were pregnant at the same time in my department last year - we had a big blizzard 9 months prior ;o) 3 of the six were my two closest friends that I work with and I - all due within 3 weeks of each other. Kind of crazy times!


Here is the card that I made for little Logan. It uses the Billy set from Pink Cat Studio. Logan is a little red head, so he has some orange hair. I pulled the colors of his pants and shirt from the DP (My Mind's Eye). He is colored in with my ever expanding collection of Copics; however, I'm so annoyed with them! I used Palette Noir and even heat set the kid! The lines of his eyes, smile and nose bled. Why???? Grrrrrrrumble! I think I'll have to order some Memento ink and try that. I don't know what else to do and am very open to suggestions. The star image on the PTI Pure Poppy paper is stamped in VersaMark and is from the It's a Western Thing set from The Cat's Pajamas. His belt buckle is a brad that I heated up and stuck in gold embossing powder a couple of times. I hate the color of yellow gold, so I don't own any gold embellishments. I used some SU! hemp twine as *ribbon* and over Billy's lasso. I glued the twine lasso down with Ranger Glossy Accents. Finally, I finished the inside with a mat of PTI Vintage Cream, sponged around the edges with Close to Cocoa and TCP sentiment "Happy Birthday Partner". Someday, I'll get to the point where I take pics with the copics used and all that fun stuff. But come on, I just figured out how to put my name and stuff on the pics (watermark is more of a pita than just doing a text box, I can do both now though, I'll have you know!) :o) Thanks for stopping by!

Before I go though, I have to let you know about some super fun blog candy. Jen over at Jen's Stampin' Spot has some Whiff of Joy stamps up for grabs. She has a wonderful blog with just the absolute cutest cards. Check her out even if you don't care about the candy!
Kristin has a sweet Rachel Ann Miller stamp that she is giving away for hitting 15K hits. Check out her blog for a chance to win. :o) Ta ta for now!

Bath Monkey...that Funky Monkey

Are you singing the Beastie Boys song in your head??? I know I am! LOL :o) This little bath monkey won't be so funky after his bath!! Sorry, I couldn't help it. As I've mentioned numerous times before, I love Jen del Muro's sketches. This one I actually did on time!!







This little monkey makes me think of my little monkey! How he loves his bath time! He squeals and claps his hands when the water starts to fill the tub and he just can't wait to get in. The only problem I'm having now is keeping him sitting down. He thinks he can just walk around the tub too! How do you keep the little boogers on their bums???
The monkey is from C.C. Designs, My Rubber Ducky - such a cute set! He is stamped with Palette Noir and colored with my limited, but growing, supply of Copics. The bath is all foamy with Liquid Applique, the bubbles in the air are covered in Stickles, and the tub is covered with Glossy Accents (this works as a fabulous glue too!). I wish I would've spent a bit more time on this card. I love the layout, but besides the image, I think it's really lacking the pop that it needs. The Kraft background is stamped with the rubber ducky in VersaMark. The Ballet Blue has been run through the Cuttlebug in the Tiny Bubbles folder of which I inked the negative side first - this little technique makes a huge difference. I tried to make a glitter border around the blue with red tape and Doodlebug sugar coating glitter, but it looked exactly like the glitter paper that I cut out with my nestibilities and then it was just too much white glitter everywhere! This is why the blue doesn't go to the edges of the card. Who knows, maybe I'll take it apart tonight and add some more blue and what not... The inside is finished with a piece of white cardstock cut just a 1/2" shorter to make an inset. The rubber ducky is stamped in the bottom, right corner, colored with a Copic and Yo Yo Yellow. I also added some bath foam that I filled with Liquid Pearls. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you like my little guy! :o) lyss

Yet another blog candy alert!!

Go check out Zoe's blog for a super cute High Hopes stamp!

See, I confessed that I am an addict of stamps and supplies; this translates to blurfing for candy as well! I have got to try to get it for free whenever I can!!! Hope these little alerts don't drive you all too crazy... :o) lyss

You're Invited...

Whoops! The party was a couple of weeks ago, so unfortunately, you can't *come join the fun*! Bummer! We had a good time! My little Zane turned 1 on Saturday, Sept 27th. He's such a little booger...I kinda like him! He's really a fun, happy little guy - I feel really lucky to have him.

Anyhoo, here is the invite that I sent out. The base is PTI Lemon Tart - I am so not a yellow person, but I love this color! Next up is a matt of white (PTI also), then Aqua Mist (yeppers! PTI again) that I ran through the Cuttlebug with the Number Collage embossing folder. I used a Sakura Stardust pen to accent the number *1* up in the right corner. The adorable little bear is from the C.C. Designs set Bear Hugs. At first, I stamped him in Palette Noir then flocked him, but he turned out too splotchy, so back to the drawing board. At the time, I didn't have any brown Copics, so I had to watercolor him with a Close to Cocoa classic ink pad and watercolor brush. His cheeks and the inside of his ears are colored with an RV11 Pink Copic marker. He is flocked with Doodlebug Crushed Velvet flock - btw, there is a huge difference between this and other brands. Just a much nicer cover and softness to it, IMO. He is outlined in a BG10 Cool Shadow Copic. Such a subtle difference, but it really makes the image *pop* IRL. His birthday hat is from the It's My Birthday set by C.C. Designs. It's colored with sparkly Fiskars pens, cut out and adhered with a mini glue dot. All the party info I printed out and matted with more Lemon Tart.

The back (or front, however you want to look at it) is stamped with the little atom - like pieces in Inque Boutique's Out of This World (I think that's it's name) in VersaMark. I tried to link it up, but the on-line store I got it at is "updating the site" and has been for the last couple of months??? That's my little guy on my motorcycle (I have a Superman obsession). I blurred out the background (trashcan and garage, yuk!) in Photoshop so he could be the main focus.

The 100% all Boy comes from the same Inque Boutique set. The last little panel was run through my Cuttlebug with the number 1 from the Olivia alphabet set and is popped up on dimensionals. Happy Birthday to the Zaniac!

Hope you all have a fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by (sorry it's been so long since I posted!) :o) lyss

I forgot to add that I do not work for any stamp companies or on-line stores. I link things where I have bought them or where I know that you can buy them. I have a serious addiction to buying stamps and stamping related items!!! Maybe even more so than using everything that I buy! Eek!

Another blog candy alert...

A new fantastic blogger/artist that I have found is offering up some yummy Whiff of Joy candy. You can find her here at Camillas blog. Good luck! :o) lyss