Sketch Girl 11 ~

Hiya there folks!  I'm back today with a doozy of a sketch from the Sketch Girl blog.  Perfect Presentation is the sponsor again for this sketch.  Make a project using this sketch, link it up on the blog and have a chance to win a Perfect Presentation template.  Click the link above to see the sketch.  

This one was hard for me!  I could not wrap my head around it - tons of ideas but nothing that really played out well on paper.  I'm still not totally happy with the outcome...maybe I'll have to take it apart and add some more to the background.  Yeah!  You tell me what would make the card better, I'll take your suggestions and remake the card and post it later next week!  

Be sure to stop by the other designers blogs and see how they've rocked this sketch.  Remember that along with the chance to win a prize, you could also become our Guest Designer for a month.  Here's the list for you to start your hopping:

Laurel -January Guest Designer  ~  Amber  ~  Annie  ~  Bonnie  ~  Eve (taking a little break)  ~  Harriet  ~  Jennie  ~  Jess  ~  Julie  ~  Katie  ~  Randee  ~  Sara  ~  Tiffany

Before you go, don't forget to sign up for my blog candy here.  I've been adding to the pot - there are some Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, ribbon, a Valentine card making kit and some other goodies in there!  K, have a great weekend!!  :o) lyss

Perfect Presentation Squared ~

It's time for another release of the Perfect Presentation line!  Leigh Ann has 4 new templates debuting today - Cute Carton, It's a Keeper, Hey Cupcake and Squared.  While emailing, Leigh Ann mentioned that Squared would make cute little baby shower favors.  I jumped up and down a few times and screamed, "Pick me!  Pick me!!  Pleeeeaaaassseeeee!!!!!"  She was nice and decided to let me show you her idea :o)

Aren't they cute?!?  Perfect Presentation templates are so easy to cut out and assemble.  I got lucky and was able to have my Cricut cut these little beauties out...a few scored lines later and I have a perfect little 2.5" cube to stuff some goodies in!  These little cubes are from the one sheet cut.  The Perfect Presentation Squared comes with 3 sizes!  The one sheet cube, a 3.25" cube and a 3.25 x 4" rectangle box all for one low price!  Amazing possibilities with these sizes and the ease of assembly! 

Perfect Presentation templates are available through the Wildflower Patch shop.  You'll want to see what the rest of the team has to show you...and please welcome a new member to the design team, Chris Olsen!  Here are links to everyone's blogs as well as the template they'll be peeking.  Have fun! 

Rebecca Jensen - Cute Carton
Kerri Michaud - Hey Cupcake
Chris Olsen - Cute Carton
Harriet Hensley - It's a Keeper
Leigh Ann Baird - All 4 of them!!
K gang, that's all I have for you today!  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a new Sketch Girl sketch and card!  Have a super Friday!!  :o) lyss

SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: PTI Bitty Baby Blessings & Baby Button Bits
INK: PTI Aqua Mist, Spring Moss & Sweet Blush; Ranger Distress Ink Walnut Stain
PAPER: PTI Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart & SS White
OTHER: Cricut & SCAL

Hey Hot Stuff ~

Hey there!  I'm popping in tonight with a quick post to share another little Valentine card I made for a fun challenge.  StampInsanity Stamps and the Stamp Happens store are hosting a challenge with a fun sketch to win the new StampInsanity characters Zeke and Maddie.  They're oh.so.cute!!  Here's a link to the challenge.  Unfortunately, you only have until tomorrow (Jan 29th) at midnight to enter your creation!!  You'd better get crackin'!!  Without further ado, here's my little gal ~

Here's my funny little story about this stamp.  I've decided that I'm going to invest in a sewing machine to bump up my cards.  I packed up the kiddo and went to Joann's armed with my 50% off coupon and a gift card that my mom forgot to give me for my birthday.  After spending a good 45+ minutes in the cart, the boy was getting a bit antsy.  He is so spoiled he thinks that whenever we go to the store he is going to get a toy (a trend started by my DH, mind you!).  He was looking at some rather expensive little cheap plastic figurines of big cats (that sounds funny).  I told him that we weren't going to get them, but we were going to Target and could get a truck!!  Woo Hoo!  He threw a holy hell fit!  I was so embarrassed as I walked to the checkout line...that had about 15 ladies waiting in it.  Finally I just explained that I'm the mean mommy that didn't want to buy toys.  Everyone laughed and said they'd all been there.  Zane pushed his arms out to his sides and yelled, "Stop!"...which only made everyone laugh harder.  I proceeded to tell him that everyone was laughing at him...oops!  That only made him cry harder.  Oh well!  Like the ladies said, they'd all been there at some point or another. 

Anyhow, while waiting in line I spotted this cute little dinosaur in the ever-so-enticing dollar bin.  She is stamped on white and colored with Copics.  Because the heart is solid, I had to stamp it and cut it out; which then meant that I had to stamp the hands again and cut them out.  I thought the heart looked a bit like one of those frosted cookies, so I had to add some Liquid Applique and puff it up.  She is actually a *He*.  I drew some eyelashes to make it into a *her*. 

Ok, enough rambling!  I'll be back in a few short hours with a sweet new template from Perfect Presentation!!  Be sure to stop back by!  :o) lyss

SUPPLIES ~

STAMPS: Inkadinkado Valentine/Spring Assortment

INK: Memento Tuxedo Black; PTI Raspberry Fizz

PAPER: PTI Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, SS White & True Black

OTHER: Copics {BV00, BV04, C1, C3, C5, YG06, YG09, YG11 & Colorless Blender}; Liquid Applique; dimensionals; PTI True Black saddlestitch ribbon; Cuttlebug Divine Swirls embossing folder

January's Bombshell Blog Hop Challenge ~

Hello Bombshell Beauties!!  The ladies are back with another Bombshell stamps hop - the first one of 2010...yay!!!  Here is the challenge for January:
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE:
We all have our own home remedies...a pinch of this, with a dash of that and gargle. *giggle Well, it's time to put your thinkin' caps on, and ALTER an item you have laying around. That's right...don't be content with that over the counter crafting stuff...take something you have and give it a little bit of TLC; a pinch of this glitter and a splash of that alcohol ink. (Hopefully you won't have to gargle....*wink) Let your imaginations run wild as you use your Bombshells to breathe new life into an otherwise boring item.

I admire the work of the other Bombshell hotties...I am challenged in the area of creating art with picture frames and shadow boxes and mirrors and re-purposed bottles that they can by combining stamps and buttons and lace and paper and baubles, etc.  I come to you with a simple, but fun, project.  I looked through my stamps and decided that I could do a little glass etching!  Fun, eh?!  Have a gander:

 I used two of the flame images from Hearts on Fire and stamped them on a square glass candle holder in VersaMark.  I embossed the images, gooped on some glass etching cream and set it aside for a bit, washed the etching cream away, scraped off the embossing and voila!  The little orange candle just lends to the *fire* feel ;o)  Here's a little look at it in the light:

Ok, off you bop to the rest of the Bombshell hotties!!  The fun thing about 2010 you ask???  Anyone who wants to create a project and join in on the fun/hop, can!  So today we have lots of customers as well as some of the guest designer team and the original Bombshells...in other words, tons of inspiration from lots of amazing ladies!!  Woo Hoo!  So what's keeping you here?  Get to hoppin'! 
Angela
Sy
Alyssa - you're already here!!
Katie
Kas
Kathi
Keely
Gabby
Steph
Terra
Kelli
Sarah - I think she had to sit this one out :o(
Miss Magoo
Have a super day!

Aloha ~

Hello...hello...anybody there??  {crickets}
Yes, it's been a bit quiet around here lately!  Sorry about that!  I can't believe it's almost the end of January and I've only posted to my blog 5 times.  Ridiculous.  Unfortunately, it seems that everything I make lately ends up in the circular file...hence the lack of posts.  But fear not!  It seems my mojo smacked me right upside the head this morning!  {ouch!}  :o)  I decided to combine some challenges yet again:  Copic Creations 20 {ethnic skin tones}, JUGS #17 {template challenge}, the Bombshell January Sketch challenge and the Moxie Fab Start to Finish challenge.
I'll start with my template.  So, the JUGS divas asked that we use a My Time Made Easy template if we had one.  I don't...but also, Annie's Perfect Presentation Dress It Up is spot on for what I had in mind!  Dress It Up comes in two versions and two sizes - a plain top and a heart shaped top as well as both large and small sizes of both!  Talk about a lot of bang for your buck!  I chose to use the large heart shaped version.

LOL  She's a little hula girl complete with a grass skirt and coconut shell bikini top!  Too funny!  I used SU! Creamy Caramel cardstock and made this babe in about 10 minutes.  Her skirt is Wild Wasabi swiped with the same color ink.  I glued down a few little paper flowers to cover the seam of her skirt that I didn't like so much.  Her coconut shells were made by crinkling up the paper and then ripping the top layer off.  I think it's called the faux suede technique??  I then swiped it with some creamy brown and dark brown chalk inks for a little extra depth.  I even used some large glue dots so she doesn't have a totally flat chest!  Here's  a pic of her backside:

This also gives you an idea of how large the box portion is.  The twine of her top is what holds it all together.  I thought this might be fun with some coconut candies or cookies inside.  Now here's the card I paired her with:

The sketch that Kathi posted is actually for a 6" square card, but I don't own a ton of 12 x 12 paper.  This card is 5.5" square and still utilizes 1" squares around the focal point.  This little beauty is from the Hawaiian Girl set.  I colored her with Copics and then added some additional shading with color pencils.  My hubby says my shading still needs some work.  Oh well!  The sky and sand were done while the image was still in the die with Pebbles pearlescent chalks.  I love to do things this way b/c if you end up not loving the color you used, all you have to do is erase and start over!  Easy peasy!  The sentiment leads you to the inside of the card:

 Hee Hee!  Course with her little ta ta's, there probably isn't any chance of that happening! 

I must admit that while blurfing I found the inner sentiment from a new-to-me stamp company.  I'm so sorry I don't remember the name.  I wrote down the sentiment b/c I thought it would be too funny to use with the hula girl and finally got around to making this card. 

Hope you like this little duo!  I have a friend in mind to give this to.  She is turning 30 this year and has given me tons of trouble for the last couple of years about how old I am.  Ha Ha!  Revenge is about to kick her butt!!  Oh and she may have to worry about her coconuts!  LOL 

Have a great weekend!  There's tons of fun planned next week.  Bombshells will be hopping around with the monthly hop on Wednesday.  Check out all the details here.  Perfect Presentation will have 4 new templates debuting on the 29th.  Sketch Girls will be back with another great sketch drawn by our own Julie on the 30th!  Catch ya on the flip side! ~ alyssa

SUPPLIES ~

TEMPLATE:  Perfect Presenation Dress It Up

STAMPS: none

INK: SU Wild Wasabi & Creamy Caramel; Colorbox Creamy & Dark Brown chalk inks

PAPER: SU Creamy Caramel & Wild Wasabi; PTI Dark Chocolate

OTHER: random paper flowers; Liquid Pearls lemon; twine; glue dots

CARD SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: Bombshell Hawaiian Girl; SU! Brushstroke alphabet
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Wild Wasabi; PTI Raspberry Fizz; HP printer ink
PAPER: SU Wild Wasabi; PTI True Black & SS White
OTHER: Copics {110, BG10, BG13, E04, E13, E15, E55, E57, E59, G07, R30, R32, R35, Y11, YG06, YG09, W7}; dimensionals;  computer generated sentiment

Sketch Girl 10 ~

ETA: I completely forgot to mention in this post that for the month of January, Sketch Girl is sponsored by Perfect Presentations!  Sweet!  You have until January 28th to play along with the sketch and upload it to Mr Linky on the Sketch Girl blog for a chance to win a free template!  Bop over to the Sketch Girl blog for all the details and for the sketch!
Hey all!  I'm so happy to say that the Sketch Girls are back!  We took a much needed break {those holidays can be a doozy!} and have come back fresh and new.  We have one that has taken a step down {we'll miss you and all your sassiness Chris!!} and have added a fresh new face, Amber.  Amber was our first Guest Designer and has joined the team for good!  We are so glad to have her!  Ok, so onto the card...it's one that sadly took me much longer than it needed to.  I love all the elements separately, but I could not make them work together the way I wanted.  Without further ado, here is my card:

I used a shimmery white card stock for all of the white pieces.  It's so sparkly and pretty IRL.  I pulled out one of my favorites - Out on a Limb.  That is one thing that I love about sketches!  When I first saw this sketch, I wanted to flip it 90 degrees because that is how most of my images are oriented.  I was determined to stay with the sketch as it was, so I started searching through my sets for something to use.  Such a great way to revisit some of those old sets we just *had* to have!  One fun thing about this card for me - I didn't color anything with my Copics!! Yes, Annie, you should alert the media!!  lol  Ok, since I don't think there is too much else to say, I'll send you off to see the other amazing creations of the team.  Please take a moment to say hello to our Guest Designer for January, Laurel Seabrook.  Now please give some love to the rest of the ladies:

Amber  ~  Annie  ~  Bonnie  ~  Harriet  ~  Jennie  ~  Jessica  ~  Julie  ~  Katie  ~  Randee  ~  Sara  ~ Tiffany

I haven't forgotten Eve, she is taking a break this week.  You should bop by and give her a little love too!  Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to enter my blog candy - the link is in the sidebar!  I'm adding all kinds of goodies like flowers and ribbon, etc.  :o) lyss 

SUPPLIES ~

STAMPS: PTI Giga Guidelines, Mixed Messages, Out on a Limb & Turning a New Leaf

INK: PTI Spring Moss, Scarlet Jewel & Ripe Avocado; VersaMark; VersaMagic Gingerbread

PAPER: PTI Kraft, Scarlet Jewel, Shimmery White

OTHER: Spellbinders Fleur de Lis pendant die, large and small classic rectangle dies; 1" and 0.75" circle punches; Fruit Punch Stickles

Doin' It Up Birthday Style ~

I have a little fun combo to show you today.  Annie B, creator of the new template company Perfect Presentations, has two new templates debuting today - Bag It Up & Dress It Up.  She has honored me by allowing me to be on her new design team for Perfect Presentations, available exclusively from the Wildflower Patch store.  Thank you Annie!! 

See that cute little bag?  That is the new Bag It Up.  A sweet little size to add a few treats to.  For this combo, I thought I'd add a few tea bags or some hot cocoa...it all depends on the recipient's likes!  Here's a close up:

Bag It Up is super easy to cut out and assemble.  It comes in two versions - one that includes lines to cut out the handle and a window in the sides & one with no cut outs.  I chose the cut outs but omitted the window because I wanted to decorate it.  Remember to use some kind of strong tape like Scor-Tape or Red Line Tape to assemble templates.  Over time, these will hold your creations together better and help withstand the weight you put in the boxes, bags, etc.  Now here's the card that goes along with it:

I combined about 6 challenges on this one - Kraftin Kimmie Stamps {heavy metal}, Cute Card Thursday {use something new} I didn't make it in time for that one...oops!, The Pink Elephant {birthday card}, Crazy4Challenges {birthday card}, Quixotic Challenge {sketch} & JUGS {stitching - faux, hand or machine}.  Whew!  The little cutie on the card is Piper from the Moonlight Whispers line of Kraftin Kimmie Stamps.  I started her for last weeks challenge of paper piecing and just couldn't get my mojo going to finish in time - the story of my life lately!  Piper is colored with Copics and paper pieced with Basic Grey Blush papers.  The rest of the dp on the card is also from the Blush pack.  A little faux stitching on two panels and 3 brads in the upper left and 3 in the lower right corners to complete all the challenges!  Hope you like!  Now, please bop on over to the new Perfect Presentations Design Teams blogs to check out their fantastic creations!

Annie  ~  Kerri  ~  Rebecca

Have a super duper day!!  I'll be back tomorrow with the new Sketch from Sketch Girl! 

Oh, and one more thing!  Do you know of Dustin Pike?  He has the most adorable images - especially for boys.  He is going to be the new illustrator for High Hopes Stamps!  How exciting!  The High Hopes Blog will be having a blog hop on January 20th with the new images.  So fun!  Bop over here for more info.  :o) lyss

CARD SUPPLIES ~

STAMPS: Kraftin Kimmie Stamps Piper; PTI Mother

INK: Memento Tuxedo Black

PAPER: PTI Dark Chocolate & SS White; dp Basic Grey Blush

OTHER: Copics; brads; dimensionals; Spellbinders small & large classic circle nestabilities

BAG SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: Kraftin Kimmie Stamps Piper
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black; Colorbox chalk in Chestnut Roan & Creamy Brown
PAPER: PTI Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Scarlet Jewel & SS White
OTHER: 2" Scallop circle punch; 1.5" circle punch; 1" circle punch; PTI Ocean Tides Grosgrain ribbon; Red line tape

Sorry for the delay...

I have a brand new Perfect Presentations template to show you today!  I'm just not quite ready to post it yet!  I will have it up by 10am MST...sorry for the delay!  You'll love it!!

Ms. January Bombshell Challenge & Blog Candy ~

ETA: Blog candy is now closed.  Thanks for all your support and love while I was Ms. January!

WARNING: Lots of information in this post!!  It's good stuff, so make sure you read all the way through!!

I'm the guest designer of the month for Bombshell Stamps, Ms. January! Here is the challenge I created for January: It is the month of resolutions, so let's begin 2010 with the resolution of QUIT PROCRASTINATING! Let's be ready for next month:
Your challenge is to create a Valentine project. Make it sassy and sexy, or even maybe an Anti-Valentine type of thing ! Whatever the case may be, I can't wait to see what you come up with!

"VALENTINE" CONTEST GUIDELINES: (CONTEST ENDS JAN. 31, 2010)
The creation can be a card, layout or altered item, but must:
1. use a Bombshell Stamp somewhere
2. project must exemplify either a Valentine or Anti-Valentine theme
3. post a photo of your creation in this thread!

If you visit the Bombshell forum, you'll find lots of other Bombshell lovers, a great network of tutorials, challenges and ideas & make lots of new friends!  Bombshell also has a Paper Craft Planet group to find all of this information.  Each month, Bombshell hosts a guest designer challenge, a sketch challenge and a Hop challenge.  The challenges are issued at the beginning of the month and you have the entire month to complete them!  The more entries you have, the more chances you have to win the above prize package!  Fun, eh?  So let's get crafting with those Bombshell stamps!  Oh, and if you don't have any yet, Bombshell offers a 15% coupon for joining the PCP group.  What a great way to get some truly unique stamps and spend that Christmas money that's burning a hole in your pocket!

Ok, so onto my card for the Valentine challenge.  When I first found Bombshell, I was so excited.  Stamp companies often post questions asking what types of new sets we would like to see.  I always answered "Tattoo type images - old gypsy heads, skull & cross bones, classic '50's style images"  Then I found Bombshell on PCP!  I can't tell you how excited I was!!  I'm pretty tattooed up, as is my husband, and we've found some inspiration in some of the Bombshell sets.  I have had the idea for this card in mind for over a year now {I'm a procrastinator; hence the resolution!}  Many years ago, I saw a girl in Tattoo magazine with a gorgeous set of swallows on her chest.  The swallows were not traditional colors - more of a seafoam/aqua green combo.  This chickadee's tat was the inspiration for this card:

I used the template from StampOwl's site to make this bra/panty card.  Cute, huh?!  I think the Rockabilly paper from Stampin' Up (retired) fits these images perfectly!  I pulled the stitching in the ribbon to give it a bit of ruffles.  Here's her backside...complete with her tramp stamp!

The images are colored with Copics.  Whoops!  I forgot those things bleed through the paper!  I had to create a layer on the inside to cover that...but it gave me the perfect place to stamp the sentiment.  I didn't take a picture, but it says: Happy Valentine's Day!  Wanna lei?  The Wanna lei? part is from the Hawaiian Girl stamp set. 

So here's the blog candy part: I have an unmounted Love & Luck set to give away today.  I will throw in some other goodies as well.  I need to purge a bit in the craft space, so you'll just have to see if it's something you can use.  If not, pass it along in your own candy or to a crafty friend!  It's all about sharing the love - pun intended!  Since this Valentine Challenge goes for the entire month, I'll leave this candy open for the month.  I'll draw a winner on February 1st!  All you have to do is leave a little sugar on this post!  Easy peasy! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today friends!  I really appreciate all of you - even the silent lookers! :o) lyss

SUPPLIES ~

STAMPS: Bombshell Love and Luck & Hawaiian Girl; random HVD sentiment

INK: Versamagic Onyx black 

PAPER: SU Blush Blossom & dp Rockabilly

OTHER: Pearlescent chalks; Copics; PTI true black saddle stitch ribbon; random pearl; twine

Happy New Year

Happy 2010!!  Here's to a new decade, {hopefully} a new job and a new perspective!  No, I have not even been called for any of the jobs that I've applied for, but since I wasn't all that excited about them, I'm really not too bummed about it.  Now that the holidays are over and my job finding program is half over, I'll need to really start looking harder...I just didn't want to before now - know what I mean?  I'm a procrastinator by nature.  I've tried numerous times to change, but it just seems that I do my best work under the pressure of a deadline {usually}.
I do have a couple of exciting things happening this month!  I'm Ms. January for Bombshell stamps.  You can view my challenge here.  The prize picture should be updated in the next day or two - you know how things go!  Also, the Sketch Girl blog has taken a long break but we'll be up and going with the tenth sketch on January 15th.  Annie and Julie have some fun changes for the new year.  We should have prizes and guest designers and all that good stuff, so please play along!
Here's a card I made for my niece that turned {gasp!} 16 this past month.  I used Mojo Monday sketch 117 as my inspiration.  Because of the way the fairy is pointed, my mind needed to switch the sketch around a bit. 

This sassy little fairy is from The Greeting Farm.  She's a digi image that I colored with my Lyra's & OMS.  Her wings were so challenging for me!  Initially, I went with a soft yellow...that didn't turn out so well!  I erased the yellow, but it didn't totally go away.  Argh.  So I ended up coloring her wings with a couple of purple Copics.  I didn't try to shade or blend b/c of the background yellow color.  I added some *veining* with a darker purple and a Sakura Clearstar gel pen. 

The sentiment is stamped in my new favorite ink - Versamagic Onyx Black - and embossed with Filigree Clear embossing powder to give it an extra punch on the busy background.  Thank you for that tip, Donna! A little white satin bow tied off with a sumptuous Plum Pudding button finishes this card off.  I did finish the inside too.  It's not very exciting to get a card without some cash!  I actually taught my nieces to look for the cash/check first when opening the card many years ago...I can't say my SIL was very happy with me at the time!  LOL  A simple scrap band holds the cash in, so she couldn't shake it loose {insert evil laugh!!}.   

I'll leave you today with another little close up of the coloring - I love the way her dress turned out! - and a supplies list.  Hope you are all well and feeling crafty!!  Toodles ~ lyss

SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: The Greeting Farm Autumn Fairy digi; PTI Giga Guidelines & Guidelines II
INK: HP Printer Ink; Versamagic Onyx Black; SU Elegant Eggplant, Lavendar Lace & Taken with Teal
PAPER: PTI SS White; SU Elegant Eggplant & Taken with Teal
OTHER: Lyra color pencils, OMS & blending stumps; Copics, Sakura Clearstar gel pen; PTI white satin ribbon & Plum Pudding vintage button; Spellbinders Classic Circle and Peony Nestabilities