from my ink pad to yours

What will become of this?

Since I have just finished getting everything back in its place after my Stamp Buffet last weekend, I decided to minimize the clutter by sticking with Mixed Bouquet (see my previous post) for a while.  I had seen this box by SCS's CharmWarm over the weekend and wanted to try some of my craft inks on kraft cardstock.

Here's the first half sheet along with collected accessories :

I should have taken a picture before I did the stitches because I think they made quite a difference.  Once I moved on to my other soft subtle craft pads I decided to  get a picture before the stitches- mostly because I REALLY wasn't impressed with the piece in front of me and I wanted to remember just how unimpressed I was.  Just before snapping the picture I found a piece of plaid ribbon - another find from Jen70 - that just happened to bring out all the colors.  Maybe there is hope.

Here's before stitches:

Here's the after stitches shot:

What will become of these collections? I'm really not sure but stay tuned...I can hardly wait to get back to them.

In the meantime, if you are intrigued by the possibilities of kraft cardstock,  you might want to check out Heather Nichol's blog, Pine is Here and her SCS gallery.  Heather is an incredibly talented stamper who is kind of like the queen of kraft cardstock.  She creates magic with it on a regular basis!

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to chat again soon!

Caribbean Bouquet

I finally had time to play with some challenges today. This one was inspired by rohla, from the featured stamper challenge.  Her original card uses Pink Passion instead of Cool Caribbean, a color combination I already love so it was hard to even think about changing it. But, then when I saw Emily's SCS Color Challenge I was curious to see if I could pull off a blue flower. The challenge, in honor of Emily's birthday, recalls a challenge from from January, cc95, that was very popular but that I didn't participate.  You can see this week's color challenge here.

I've listed the supplies on my splitcoast gallery post.  The background stamp is Linograph, a retired stamp.

Hopefully I'll have more regular posts this week...thanks for visiting!

New Blogs

Check out some blogs that I've recently added to my Google Reader.  You can find 4 new links  under my Featured Blogs sidebar.  The bloggers are: 

Bethany Paul - It's Not All Black and White,
Yvette Ashe  - Yvette's Paper Garden,
Lauri - I lie, cheat and CASE,
Kelly - And Everything Nice.

I'm busy getting a swap in the mail and then doing prep for my Stamp Buffet, which starts tomorrow.  If all goes well I will try to post some hints about some Crab & Company cards that I'm dying to show you.  I did them for a Blogger's swap so we aren't supposed to show them yet...

Dots, Dashes and Doodles

Here's another of my Doodle cards with the curve.  It is fun pulling colors from the papers.  Who would have thought to put Pink Passion and Pixie Pink with Pumpkin Pie? I doodled the dots above the curve and added glitter along the curved strip.

Stamps: Doodle This
Paper: Whisper White, Dots and Dashes
Ink: Timber Brown, Markers in colors mentioned above
Accessories: Diamond Stickles, copy paper to make curve pattern

Allison's RAK

Isn't this beautiful! It's from Allison Fillo, one of my favorite bloggers.  If you haven't already followed my advice and checked out her blog you must do it now.  She's kind of like the queen of stamp bloggers keeping us all up to date on who is posting tutorials and who is giving away blog candy.  But it's not just the information and links that she shares; it's her unique style, frankness and sense of humor that keep me checking out what she has to say.

Dimension

Don't put away your Bunny Hugs set just yet! That lil' guy can make adorable baby cards. I received this cute little bunny image from Jen70 as part of a prize last winter and have finally used it.  You know how when you only have one image of something you hardly dare play with it out of fear of messing it up.  Well, it is only paper...

Anyway, I colored the bunny with Creamy Caramel and added a little shading with Pale Plum. Pretty in Pink was used in the ears. Then, I just cut a very little pink  bow out of cardstock  Actually, I started by tying some pink gingham ribbon round its neck but it was just a tad too big. 

The piece of Pretty in Pink "blanket" was put through the paper crimper twice (turn the cardstock 90 degrees before putting it through the second time) to make the waffle-like texture.  I then pinked the edges and drew in Close to Cocoa stitches.

"think pink" comes from Just So Sayings.  Dimensionals were used to attach the bunny to the blanket and the blanket to the Whisper White card so this card has a lot of great texture.

Debbie Seyer's RAK

Look what came in my mail.  It's a Blogger's RAK (random act of kindness) from Debbie Seyer! Thank you so much, Debbie! Aren't these rosebuds sweet?  It may be hard to see from my photo, but the cranberry layer is stamped with the Linen background stamp which really gives a nice finish.  Give Debbie's blog a little exploration.  You'll be glad you did!   

I checked out some of her other posts from past months so here are just a few that you might like to check:

Stamp Camp Projects  - another beautiful rose card

Stamp a ma jig in Action - tutorial

Print Pattern with the Gel Pen - This looks like the Print Pattern was dry embossed!

Doodle Joy

I'm ba-ack! Could you tell I was gone?  We took a little trip to Chicago last week.  A great get-away/college visiting trip, though I now know why they call it The Windy City.  I came back with a page of ideas for cards after checking out the gift shop at Shedd's Aquarium (Crab & Company) and doing some window shopping (texture and color combos - oh my!).

Even after our visit, our middle child still hasn't decided if Chicago (University of Chicago)  is far enough from her Minnesota home.  Today she was accepted at NYU (New York) so we are still undecided, I guess. 

I was hoping I could have had enough posts done ahead of time so that I continue to post a card everyday but we were in the middle of a major musical bedrooms game with our three teenagers before we left so, only one extra post was ready.  I posted that last Thursday. Here is it's sister card:

It's  another OLC, one layer card, with Doodle This, this time in combination with Doodle Alphabet.  This card is sized to fit the large envelopes that Stampin' Up! carries. I usually cut my cardstock 9 1/4" x 6 3/8", folding it to make a 4 5/8" x 6 3/8" card.  This time I used a  leftover 6 3/8" strip to cut a curve which I used to "line up" my letters and make a mask to cover the words while I sponged and stamped the doodley flowers.

Did you know that you can do a search of the Splitcoaststampers' gallery using  "OLC" as your keyword? This will bring up lots of one layer cards! Don't forget to use this keyword if you post to the gallery too.  It's so nice to be able to get ideas for quick cards - well I guess all this coloring isn't exactly quick but it sure is easy on the paper supply and preparation time.

Stamps: Doodle This, Doodle Alphabet
Inks: Timber Stazon, Old Olive,  markers: Certainly Celery, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Cameo Coral, Old Olive
Cardstock: Vanilla Ultrasmooth
Accessories: Sponge