Stamp'n Boomer

What If Wedneday Challenge

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for another What If? Wednesday sketch challeng at Repeat Impressions.

Here's the sketch Wendy has for us

I like to have some sympathy cards in my collection that are suitable for men or women and this image of the footbridge #2917 seemed to do that nicely. The sentiment is #4025 and I simply love that font.

To create the vintage look of the focal image, I used a technique I found in the June/July 2011 TJN (Technique Junkies Newsletter) called "Vintage Art" using Distress Inks. After die cutting the image in an oval shape, I distressed the edges with a darker. Once that was done, I "glazed" the image using Distress Crackle Paint "Rock Candy". You can't see it in the photo, but it gave it an almost satin look and feel. The die behind the focal image is a Tim Holtz alterations Movers and Shapers die "Mini Baroque". I love how it framed the footbridge image. I used a punch to create the corners. The dp is Core'dinations and Green Boutique from PTI.

Join us in this challenge, create a project using the What If? Wednesday Challeng Sketch, post it to your blog or online gallery, link it HERE and you might just win $25.00 worth of these fabulous stamps from Repeat Impressions.

Thanks so much for dropping by and for your nice comments - reading them always makes my day!

Cheri

Sittn' Pretty

2012-01-23T09:21:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

We are featuring this adorable stamp called "Sittn' Pretty" (#2607W) at Repeat Impressions this week. How CUTE is this guy? He's just waiting to be part of your collection and for this week only "Sittn' Pretty" is available at 50% off to Blog Readers at Repeat Impressions. Just head on over to The House that Stamps Built Blog, grab the code and he'll be on his way to your craft space and stamp collection.

This tabby reminded me of "Kitty Boy", a cat my husband had when I met him. (Kitty Boy was 22 years old when we had to put him to sleep 2 years ago. And what a character he was! We've got Kitty Boy stories you wouldn't believe! We still miss the old guy.)
I placed "Sittn' Pretty" in front of a fence I created using a CB EF and just free hand cut the pickets. I colored it with a technique called "Chalked Embossed" that I found in the Dec 2011/Jan 2012 issue of TJN (Technique Junkies Newsletter). I love how it turned out.

The clouds were stamped direct to paper with Colorbox "Frost White" pigment ink, let dry then stamped the sentiment. Both the cloud (#5105) and the sentiment stamp (#8114) are also Repeat Impression Stamps.

Be sure to check out the other Rock Stars blogs and get more inspiration.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Cheri

A Little Twine

2012-01-17T19:04:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I'm sharing a card I made for a great Sunday CAS challenge over at Outlawz this week....use baker's twine on your project.

Come on over and play with Outlawz, they've got lots of challenges and TONS of great give aways!!!!

Here's my card for the Sunday CAS Challenge. It's my mother's birthday card....she'll be 87 in June and she loves roses.

For this card I used Gina K Designs stamp sets, "Nana's Needlework" and Nana's Needlework Sentiments", by Nina Brackett, and my favorite CS Gina K Pure Luxury White. Memento inks, "Rose Bud" and "Angel Pink".

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Cheri

A Rogue Redhead Designs Challenge

2012-01-16T19:05:00.001-05:00

A very quick post - (if you're one of my blog subscribers (big hugs), you'll be getting two today....sorry to crowd your email.....I try not to).
I'm playing along with The Rebel Challenge over at Rogue Redhead Designs called Frosty. Use vellum on your project.
I have loved playing with this stamp set Milliner Misses so much that I never put it away....it's always sitting on my craft table. These ladies are always calling out to me, so in order to quiet them for awhile, I grabbed them for a really quick (10 minute card) CAS card.

The vellum piece is the window frame which I colored on the backside with a Copic marker. I liked the streaks in it, as it looked like an old, badly painted window frame and this lady was walking by looking in the window. Polka dots on a black background (dp is from BG "Little Black Dress" 6x6 pak) depicting snow falling on a late evening walk.

Here's my challenge card for The Rebel Challenge #7 - Frosty.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Cheri

Something in Blue

2012-01-16T13:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I've got a card for four challenges today:

JUGS - Technique Challenge - Collage Stamping
Crazy4Challenges - C4C119 - Monochromatic Card in Blue
Gingersnaps Creations - Chestnut Theme Challenge to use a Set of Stamps
and
Card Patterns - Sketch #148

Inks: DI "Weathered Wood", "Tumbled Glass", "Broken China" and "Faded Jeans".

CS: Gina K Pure Luxury White and PTI "Spring Rain".

Stamps: Rouge Redhead Designs - for the bg and for the Gingersnaps Challenge I used the set "Floriculture", focal image, "Milliner Misses"

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Don't forget to check out the Repeat Impressions Blog to enter the What If Wednesday Challenge for a chance to win free stamps and also check out their stamp of the week at 50% off.

Cheri

Stamp of the Week Challenge

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

Hi Stamp'n Friends!!!

I'm joining my first Stamp of the Week challenge as a member of the Design Team - Rock Stars at Repeat Impressions. I'm so thrilled to be a part of this team.

The STAMP OF THE WEEK is this Moose Snow Globe -depicting a common winter scene in many parts of Maine and other northern states.

I was inspired by the spectacular and phenominal "Northern Lights" (Aurora Borealis). If you've ever seen them you know the spectrum of deep blues, greens and purples they display as they dance their majestic dance across the winter sky. I've seen the Nothern Lights many times and I wish everyone could experience this majestic display of nature's light show. The moose in this globe is just basking in those lights.

The image was colored with Copic Markers, stamped on Gina K Pure Luxury white CS. The bg paper is a very sparkly paper by American Crafts POW Glitter Paper that I bought at AC Moore. The base is Gina K Pure Luxury Smokey Slate.

You can purchase this fabulous stamp at 50% off this week only by going to The House That Stamps Built Blog and getting the code. Put this code in the special instruction area at Repeat Impressions.

Enjoy the hop and the inspiration and thanks so much for stopping by.

Cheri

STAMPTV CSS ALUMNI JANUARY BLOG HOP

2012-01-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome!! to another StampTV Center Stage Spotlight Design Team Blog Hop.
It's a sketch hop, and the fantastic sketch was designed by our own Melissa Cash.

If you've come from my super talented friend Carla's blog youre in the right place. If you didn't, you may want to start HERE at the beginning so you don't miss any of the fabulous inspiration.

Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (January 17), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that person will receive a huge grab bag of fabulous Gina K. Designs Stamps!

Here's Melissa's sketch....

Here's my card using Melissa's sketch.

Using the cracked glass technique for my focal image I creatated layers of texture and details in order to give this little winter bird a "waiting for spring" effect.

I'm a BIG technique junkie - therefore, I subscribe to TJN....the bg is a technique combination of Texture Plate Smoosh (Dec/Jan 2010 TJN) and Antique Wallpaper (June/July 2010). This is one of my favorite sets from GKD.

Stamps: GKD "Winter Wings"

All CS is GKD Pure Luxury.

Copic Markers used for coloring both the image and the brads on the corners.

Flowers are Prima.

Dies: Spellbinders

Punch: MS.

Thank you for stopping by....don't forget...leave a message and be entered into the win for the grab bag....then head on over to the uber talented Geri's Blog for more fantastic inspiration.

Cheri

AMONG THE (ROCK) STARS AT RI

2012-01-11T02:30:00.000-05:00

Wooohooo!! If any of you saw my post yesterday, then you know I've been selected to join the amazing Rock Stars design team at Repeat Impressions Stamps. I'm so very, very excited and honored to be a part of this team and I'm really looking forward to the fun months ahead.

This is my first What If Wednesday sketch challenge and I hope you'll play along. You don't have to use Repeat Impressions stamps, yet, if you do, you'll be entered in the drawing twice for a double chance to win a gift certificate to some of these fabulous stamps. You can find the instructions on the Repeat Impressions blog site.

Here's the sketch you'll need to play along with.

Here's my inspiration from that sketch

It's no fun living in Maine in the winter without snow!!! Especially if you like to ski and snowshoe. But here we are - January and bare ground. Of course, a snowless world is more convenient for getting around in, still...where's the snow?

These little snow birds look so adorable as they sit on that limb waiting for some of the white stuff.

The image I used is # 309 and the sentiment stamp is #2006. The birds are colored with Copic Markers and the embossed background was creted with a sheet of Echo Park dp using an SU ef. The "snow" effect was created using "Diamond Dust". I also glitzed the branches and the hats with my Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star pen. (Not sure if the camera picked that up).

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you'll grab some play time and play along with us.

Cheri

I'M SO EXCITED!

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

The cat is finally out of the bag....I can now take the duct tape off my mouth and share my exciting news!

This year started out with an exciting invitation for me to become part of a FABULOUS design team with a FABULOUS Maine stamp company - REPEAT IMPRESSIONS AND THE HOUSE THAT STAMPS BUILT.

When I received the email from Wendy Wyman (owner/artist) on New Year's Eve, asking me if I "could keep a secret"....she had selected me to be the newest member of her "Rock Stars Design Team", I wanted to scream the news, but the closest I came was a muffled squeal through tight lips that my husband thought "sounded eerie".

Two of my friends and collegues from StampTV, Joy Hadden and Vicki Dutcher are already here as Rock Stars and I'm so thrilled to be here with them and with the other extremely talented Rock Stars.

I've been a fan of Repeat Impression rubber stamps for many years, the rubber is exquisit and leaves an exceptional image with any ink.

Tomorrow will be my first post with the Rock Stars, we'll be showcasing a great sketch for a new What If Wednesday Challenge. I hope you'll accept my personal invitation play along with us and maybe win some of Repeat Impressions' fantastic stamps.

See you tomorrow!!

Cheri

Something New

2012-01-08T18:08:00.003-05:00

The weekend is now over and another work week begins....blah! However, without work weeks I would have less play things....okay...Yay! Work Week - let'er rip!

Over at Crazy4Challenges they've got a great challenge to help you use your new toys!

I got these new stamps from Rogue Redhead just before Christmas and wanted to play with them for this challenge.

This stamp set reminded me of my three Gt. Aunts; my grandfather's sisters. They were lovely, lovely ladies and no matter where they went, they dressed up and never, ever went anywhere without a hat on. They were not only sisters, they were dear, dear friends and absolutely loved each other. The last one, Hazel, passed away 2 years ago at age 101. The other two, Lillian and Kathleen lived into their 90's. I always felt so fortunate to have known them.

So, for Gt. Aunts Lillian (Rosie), Kathleen (Kitty) and Hazel (Chubby [she wasn't]), here's a rememberance.

The stamps are from the "Milliner's Misses" set. I colored their hats and clothing with Koh-I-Noor Colour Pencils and OMS and colored their faces with Copic Markers. The dp is from MemoryBox "Enchanted" 6x6 pad.

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned because on Tuesday's blog I'll have an exciting annoucement!!!!

Cheri

Mix It Up Monday

2012-01-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

Over at StampTV, Tami Mayberry has a Mix It Up Monday inspiration challenge. Gina K Designs just exploded with a fabulous new collection of patterned papers as well as stamp sets for this month.

How gorgeous is this??? I don't have this paper pak yet...and I love the heart pattern Gina has created here. So, I created my own "patterned" paper using the tiny heart from this fabulous stamp set by Tami. Join the challenge and play along.
Here's my card:

CS: GKD PL White, Black Onyx, Hot Pink

Stamps: You Go Girl by Tami Mayberry

DP: Authentique "Uncommon"

Copic Markers

Count down....4 more days.....Big news to tell you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Cheri

Bold and Bright

2012-01-05T15:56:00.001-05:00

Like most of you, I don't have much time to play in as many of the challenges I'd like to....I've seen some awesome creations out there and am in awe of all you talented ink and paper artists...not having the time but still wanting to play along, I decided to do a quick and easy card for two challenges this week.

Outlawz Sunday CAS and the challenge that Diana has given us is Welcome in the New Year with a fresh clean start and a fresh clean card. Use a white base and no patterned paper. (You may use other colors of card stock and embellies.) If you're like me and you LOVE patterened papers this was a true challenge!!!

the other challenge I'm entering my card in is
CR84FN #45 color challenge and I LOVE the colors they've selected for this challenge...

CS: GKD PL White and Black Onyx.

Stamp Images are from SmARTworks

Ink: Memento Bahama Blue, Tangelo, Dandelion and Bamboo Leaves

MS edge punch

Thank you for stopping by and for leaving your wonderful comments. I love reading them and I love knowing that you were here.

Just a few more days and I'll be sharing some very exciting news with you. Until then, I have to keep wearing this duct tape across my mouth so I don't spill the beans! ;-/

Cheri

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2012-01-01T12:55:00.002-05:00

I hope the new year has started off with all good things for each of you!!! It sure has for me!! More about that later.....I'm pretty excited!!!

To celebrate, I created this card and I'm entering it in three challenges:

JUGS #117 Wild Card Using Felt

Card Patterens Sketch #146

Gingersnaps Creations Color Challenge Using Soft Yellows and Whites

The card base is 5x5 Gina K Pure Luxury White. The first layer is Core'dinations run through the CB PolkaDot EF, and lightly sanded. (The shade of aqua on those dots is from the sander....there was a little "Tumbled Glass" ink left and I hadn't cleaned it yet - good oops....I Iiked it!). The side was layered with soft yellow corrogated paper. I distressed both layers with Antique Linen DI. Behind the focal image is a circle cut with a Spellbinder Scalloped Circle on another piece of the same Core'dinations paper after being run through another CB folder (Musical Flouishes) and lightly sanded (cleaned the sander). The image is a WIN from DenamiDesign stamps (love it) and the sentiment was stamped with "Celebrate in Style" by GKD. I colored the dress with two Copic Markers E30 and YR30. I added some dyed seam binding and some felt flowers I cut with a die from PTI. The big button is from Webster's Pages. Also used was a MS edger punch "Foot Lights" and Stickles "Tiara" for the necklace. (thanks, Shirl)

Thank you for stopping by and best wishes for all good things in 2012!!!

Cheri

Repeat Impressions Sketch Challenge #D2811

2011-12-30T21:17:00.003-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The other day, I received a blog post from Vicki Dutcher - blog friend and StampTV DT member - inviting us to join in on What If Wednesday blog challenge at Repeat Impressions (The House that Stamps Built). (Vicki is also a DT member for Repeat Impressions). The holiday rush was over, I love challenges and totally loved the sketch. So I thought I'd take Vicki up on her invite and play along. (Thanks for the invite, Vicki!)

While I have a few Repeat Impression stamps and used one in my card, you don't need to use their stamps to play along in this challenge.

Here's the sketch -

Looks like a fun one, doesn't it?
Here's my card for the challenge -

I bought this stamp a few years ago and it's been one of my favorites since then. I love coloring this image. The sentiment stamp is from a GKD set by Melanie Muenchinger called "Wild At Heart".
Other products I used were GDK Pure Luxury CS, Core'dinations papers, Spellbinders, Copic Markers and CuttlteBug EF.

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving all your supportive comments during this past year. I really appreciate each one of you and treasure the new friends I've made through our blogging.
Have a great weekend and I wish you all a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2012!

Cheri

A Rogue Redhead Challenge

2011-12-28T20:29:00.001-05:00

I purchased some fantastic stamps awhile back from Sharon Briss at Rouge Redhead Designs and I loved them. I haven't had much time to play until this week, but here's a card I created with Floriculture for the new challenge at Rouge Redhead called "Get Griddy".

Thanks so much for stopping by and please forgive any and all typos and mistakes.....I'm not complaining.....I have a new laptop, after all.....but getting used to a PC after using a MAC for so long is BIG learning curve for me. ACKKKK!

I hope youre all having a great week!!!
See you again soon!

Cheri

Simply Thank You

2011-12-27T11:19:00.005-05:00

I hope your holidays were full of joy. As we move into the next year, I hope you each have only good times, great health and lots of fun crafting.

As often is the case after the holidays, there's a need to send a few thank you notes for gifts and/or special moments shared. Over at Gingersnaps Creations my friend Penny Bennington has a challenge for thank you notes and I wanted to play along. The problem is, it's the last day of the challenge and I am just getting in under the wire.

I have created two different thank you notes using the same products and techniques. I like having a variety of thank you notes but I don't often have a lot of time to create them. So, this idea worked out very well for me.

The products:
CS: Gina K Design, Pure Luxury Ivory layer weight and base weight.
Stamps: SU (image) and GKD (sentiment)
Inks: DI TH Christmas Collection and Antique Linen.
Embossing was done with the CB Folder

Thank you for stopping by and thank you for all your kind comments throughout the past year.

Cheri

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T15:52:00.000-05:00

Always ready for fun with paper and ribbon, Bobbi is stopping by to wish you all lots of joy this season!!!

Also, never forget

See you a bit later with some new postings!

Cheri

Count Down to Christmas Day

2011-12-20T22:10:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is a holiday lunch at my office and I've always made cards for each of the 14 people in office staff. I thought I'd post the cards I made for them this year.

There are 14 people in our office so I made seven of each of these cards. This was an easy card to reproduce which is what I was hoping for since there's so much to do this time of year.

The stamps are from the fabulous "Wishing You Joy" StampTV kit. CS is from GKD pure luxury "white" and "Red Hot". Colored with Copic Markers, dp is from PTI.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing you JOY this coming Christmas!

"God Bless Us, Everyone"

Cheri

The Light Has Come

2011-12-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

I'm posting like crazy today because there's a full week of "busy" ahead and I wanted to get my challenge cards in so I don't miss them.

This card is for Maureen's inspiration CAS Sunday challenge over at Outlawz. Here's the inspiration piece she came up with

My inspiration came from the lights and the traditional Christmas colors.

CS: GKD Pure Luxury "All Spruced Up", "Red Hot" and White

Stamp: Sweet n Sassy

Thanks for spending so much time with me today! Have a great week and I hope your holidays are full of joy and blessings.

Cheri

JUGS Color Challenge #115

2011-12-18T11:49:00.001-05:00

Christmas is almost here and I'm still making Christmas cards! I'm so far behind this year!! That being said, over at JUST US GIRLS they have a new challenge that fits my late world right now.

Here's the color challenge

One more card is ready to mail:

CS: GKD Pure Luxury Kraft, White, Fresh Asparagus, Red Lipstick.

Dies: Spellbinder Poinsettia, Cheery Lynn "Cathedral Lace Frame".

EF: SU and CB

Inks: Distress Inks, Lipstick Red.

Stamps: GKD "Holiday Greetings"

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheri

A Time for Peaceful

2011-12-18T10:48:00.002-05:00

I'm playing along with a new challenge this week. Over at One Layer Wednesday, Susan is challenging us to a one layer card expressing "peaceful".
A friend of my husband's passed away last week and he asked me to create a sympathy card for his wife and family. He didn't want any "frills" (what, Moi??? Frills????), so I created this card for him to send to his friend's family.
I'd also like to add that CAS cards, while seemingly look simple to do, are not simple for me to do. I am constantly trying to do better with them because I love their look. So, thanks to Susan's blog, I'm getting better and enjoying my play time creating them.

CS: Gina K Pure Luxury White
Stamps: GKD "Hope Grows", by Theresa Momber. (The sentiment is not from this set. Sorry, but I can't remember which set it came from but it was also a GKD stamp).
Inks: Vivid "Cobblestone" and Memento "Cantaloupe", "Tangelo" and "London Fog" (the butterfly).

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a peaceful day!

Cheri

A Fun Afternoon with a Friend

2011-12-17T13:04:00.002-05:00

I had such a fun afternoon with a dear craft friend (and sometimes instructor), Cheryl, last Tuesday. We poked around a local craft store and purchased some great new toys (we REALLY NEEDED - *wink*). One of the new toys we both got was this great new Small Madison Window die from Memory Box.

This card was made for my beautiful niece, Emily's birthday on Tuesday. I wanted it to look vintage and CAS and I think I achieved what I was going for. Do you see the covered button I used for the flower center? That's from Emily's grandmother's old button collection for an additional little treasure on the card.

The products I used, in addition to the Memory Box die, for this card were Gina K Designs Pure Luxury 120 weight white for a base layer. Core'dinations paper which I ran through my die machine with a CB folder and then lightly sanded to get that distressed look. I then tore the edge and layered it against another torn paper from Basic Grey's "Little Black Dress" 6x6 pad. The stamped images are from the GKD, StampTV Set "Vintage Chic", loved the silhouette image for this card. The sentiment was stamped on Spellbinder Labels 22 and then cut and placed behind the window frame.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're all ready for the holidays! I'm way behind.....so I'm off to get some catching up done.

Cheri

TJ Combo Fun

2011-12-12T22:42:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited! A technique I contributed to Technique Junkies Newsletter was published in the recent December/January issue. You may recall this card I posted a few posts back in August

...some of you asked me how I made the background, but I couldn't tell you because I'd emailed Pat Huntoon, Editor of Technique Junkies describing how I created the background and asking if she would be interested in testing the technique for publishing in the TJ newsletter.

Low and behold, I got my December/January newsletter the other day and there was my technique entitled "Texture Transfer Tutorial". I was over the moon excited. Thank you, Pat!!!

If you don't subscribe to Technique Junkies and you like techniques in card making, you might want to check it out. It's well worth the cost of the subscription and Pat also offers additional CD's to purchase of past published techniques as well as CD's for 3D projects, motion cards and fancy fold cards. Great Christmas gifts BTW.

I thought I would create this card using the Texture Transfer Technique and also use another fabulous technique in the Dec/Jan Newsletter called "Picture Perfect" - you can see it illustrated in the sentiment area of this card. I absolutely LOVED how this came out. What a fabulous technique!!!

For this card I used CS by GKD Pure Luxury "All Spruced Up", "Kraft" and White. The bg flourish tree stamp is from Hero Arts and is stamped with DI "Forest Moss" Ink. For the "Textured Transfer" layer I used the new holiday collection of TH DI. Edging is MS punch, and embossed with SU ef. The sentiment stamp is from GKD "Very Merry Christmas", illustrated by Theresa Momber.

This has been a lengthy post, and I thank you spending your time here.

Hugs,

Cheri

Santa Center Step Card

2011-12-11T17:32:00.001-05:00

The weekends seem to fly by, don't they? I always wish there was one more day included in a weekend....'sigh'.

I'd like to post this card for 3 (yes, that's right....three) challenges

MoJo Monday 218, which is a sketch challenge

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C117 - It's Santa (Use a Santa on your project)

and the third challenge is for

Just Us Girls #114 - Technique Challenge - Center Step Card

Thanks so much for stopping by - Have a GREAT week!

Cheri

Days of Love and Roses

2011-12-10T15:46:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
We've been asked to join a card shower this week for my husband's uncle and aunt who are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary. Can you imagine? They winter in Florida but call Maine "home".
For their card, I CASE'd a card I saw by Jennie Harper, in the most recent issue of CardMaker magazine and I used the color challenge over at The Color Throwdown #171 for my colors. I'm also entering this is Cat's Mix It Up Monday Challenge over at StampTV "Let's Get Down and Dirty"

I used Gina K Design cs for the base and the cs layers in colors, Ivory and "Cranberry Tart". EF from CuttleBug and SU. The paper is an actual piece of sheet music from the song, L-O-V-E written by Bert Kaempfert and Milt Gabler. Some of you may remember Nat King Cole made this a hit song back in the day! Punches used were MS. Dies of Hearts, Regular Squares and Curved Rectangles are Spellbinders. Stamp "Hopeful Hearts" by Tami Mayberry is from GKD using Adirondack "Cranberry" ink. The rose and ribbon are from my stash. The word "Love" was cut from the song title using the heart die. After gluing it, I then used some 3 D Crystal Lacquer to give it some dimension.

Thank you for stopping by.

Cheri

Merry Christmas Puppy

2011-12-08T21:48:00.001-05:00

Absolutely no challenge or purpose for this post....I just loved this stamp and wanted to play with my Copic Markers....I CASE'd the image right from the stamp package.

Stamp is from Joanna Sheen Giordano Studio Stamps. Love this image...from Oozak.com
The CS is GKD Pure Luxury White 80 #, Sand and Lipstick Red. DP is from MyMindsEye "Holly Jolly" 6X6 Pad.
Thanks so much for stopping by.

Cheri

Snowman Holiday Greetings

2011-12-05T21:57:00.001-05:00

Today's post is one for JUGS 113 Challenge! This is a fantastic sketch challenge and one that worked well for my new snowman die from Cherry Lynn.

I love this paper pak from echo park "Dots & Stripes" and I thought it made a great back drop for this cute as can be snowman from Cheery Lynn. He was cut in various papers; black glossy, white, red, orange and green - all pieces of scraps (Yay!). Behind him is a scalloped oval from Spellbinders and I used VersaMark and a snowflake stamp to create some texture. I ran the polka dot layer through a snowflake ef from CuttleBug. I also used Stickles on his scarf and the band around his hat. To give his fragile stick arms some pop, I highlighted with my Sakura gelly roll pen (hard to see).

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheri

Penny's ATC Swap

2011-12-04T20:05:00.001-05:00

Hi there blog friends - not sure if you recall one of my older posts where I told you about an ATC swap I was taking part in with my friend and fellow paper crafter, Penny Bennington. Penny invited several of her blog friends to make and submit 5 ATC's of any theme and she would create a book with an assortment of all the ATC's for each participant. Who wouldn't want one of Penny's great books and a piece of fabulous art work from a great group of artists? It was so much fun and I can finally share my book with you. (We were waiting for everyone to get their books before publishing to our blogs). I was so honored to be asked to take part in this project and absolutely treasure my book. Check out Penny's blog for all the details and even a tutorial on how to create the book.

So happy you stopped by.
Have a great week.

Cheri

Angels We Have Heard on High

2011-12-02T20:21:00.001-05:00

It was a fun class last Saturday at our LSS Stamp-N-Scrap in Gardiner. I showed the ladies how I made these "Chunky" ATC's or aka "ATB" (Altered Trading Blocks). They're made of blocks of wood and using the same rules for ATC's. They can be traded, given as gifts or used for home decor.

The angels all were cut from Graphic45 "Ode to Joy". The backgrounds are varied, I used TH DI, Perfect Pearls Mist as well as Claudia Hellmuth Studio acrylic paints for the backgrounds. Some recycled gold Christmas ribbon, MS punches and assorted embellishments from my stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

Cheri

O Christmas Tree

2011-11-29T21:09:00.001-05:00

Hi there blogger friends,

I recently took Holiday Card Boot Camp and learned some great techniques and projects. A fun little addition was how to make these cute little Christmas trees.
I'm entering this card in the "Our Creative Corner - O Christmas Tree Challenge"

and Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World

This was a fun challenge at both sites. I was first inspired by the Christmas tree challenge and when I saw the Tuesday Trigger challenge, it all seemed to work for that too. After embossing the dp I wanted to add some depth by adding Distress Crackle Paint. After it dried, I layered on the trees and the greeting.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Cheri

Home for Christmas

2011-11-28T21:04:00.001-05:00

It's a double post for me today - and another challenge card.
I made this card for the CR84FN 43 challenge -the earthy color tones of brown, tan and green.

Still in the groove for making Christmas cards...

Using Gina K Pure Luxury CS, "Chocolate Kiss" and "Sand", I stamped the beautiful pine bough/cone bg with a Northwoods bg stamp in Vivid "Cottage Ivy" ink. The cottage stamp and the script stamp are both SU and I inked them with TH DI "Walnut Stain". I used a clear Sukara pen to "snow" the roof and all the snow areas, which gave it a glistening look. Also used were Spellbinders scalloped circles, ribbon from stash, MS pine branch punch, twine, red pearls and a tiny cedar cone from a tree at our camp that I "frosted up" with Creative Inspirations "Winter Frost" acrylic paint.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

Snow, Snow, Snow

2011-11-28T17:15:00.001-05:00

I hope you all had a great weekend. Monday is sure hard to face after a long holiday weekend. I did get an opportunity to do some playing in the craft room this weekend and made some more Christmas cards and some cards for challenges.

Here's a card I'm entering in two challenges:
Crazy4Challenges - A project with snow on it.
FashionableStampingChallenges - I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I didn't need inspiration for these two challenges because we had a snowstorm the day before Thanksgiving and had nearly a foot of snow dumped on us.

The design is a Pocket Card from SCS. The card stock is Gina K Pure Luxury Ivory and Sand. I inked a snowflake ef with Color Box, "Cream White" before placing the Sand CS in it and running it through the Vagabond. I then sprayed it with Perfect Pearls Mist to give it a soft glitter. (The photo doesn't show it that well). I punched tree edge with a MS punch in glittery blue paper and adhered them to the front of the card. The snowman, snowflakes and sentiment are stamps from the new Gina K StampKit, "Wishing You Joy". I used Antique Linen DI to edge the whole project.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your comments. I appreciate it so very much.

Cheri

Christmas is Coming

2011-11-25T20:19:00.001-05:00

To all my US friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! There's so much to be grateful for and I personally don't have to look very far to find something.
Thanksgiving weekend seems to be the weekend that launches the Christmas shopping season into orbit. I hope everyone who participates in Black Friday managed to get everything they set out for and saved lots of money. I just caught some extra sleep.....it felt so good!!!
Christmas has been launched from my craft table too....I've been making Christmas cards and projects like crazy and I love it. I'll be posting and sharing many of them here throughout the month.

Here's a card I made and I'm entering it in 2 challenges:

MoJo Monday 216 Sketch Challenge

my second entry is for Outlawz Paper a la mode Challenge PAM111911

Here's my card for all of those great challenges.

CS base is GKD Pure Luxury White and "All Spruced Up", DP is "Dots & Stripes" by Echo Park, Sentiment is from GKD "Wishing You Joy" StampTV Kit, pine cone stamped image is a Northwoods stamp and is stamped on GKD PL with Vivid "Vintage Green". Ribbon, buttons from stash. MS punches.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

Traditional Colors - JUGS #111

2011-11-19T21:20:00.000-05:00

Hi Blog friends,

I hope you've had a chance to take the stamptv css alumni inspirational blog hop - if you need Christmas card inspiration....look no further. It's a fabulous collection of inspiration at your fingertips.

My friend and colleague, Vicki Dutcher has created a traditional Christmas color challenge over at JUGS and I was so inspired to play along.
Knowing how busy we all are at this time of year and finding time to make special gifts for friends and family can sometimes get crazy. If cards are your gifts - and for many of us they are - traditional colors are easy and almost everyone loves tradition.

Vicki's challenge

Like most of us, I don't have a lot of time to create cards during this time of year, but I always want to make something special for those on my card list and I think this one will be my 2011 Christmas card. It's easy, quick and traditional.

Supplies: GKD PL White CS, TH DI Forest Moss ink, stamps are Hero Arts and GKD, "Hip to be Square" by Melanie Muenchinger (sentiment). Bling is from stash.

Thanks for great challenge, Vicki.

Cheri

STAMPTV CSS ALUMNI INSPIRATION BLOG HOP

2011-11-18T22:00:00.006-05:00

Welcome to another StampTV CSS Alumni blog hop! We're so happy you've joined us and we invite you to play along.

While taking the hop, make sure to leave a comment on each blog because on Tuesday morning (November 22), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that very lucky person will win a Gina K Design stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

If you've arrived here from the fabulously talented Carolina's Blog you're in the right place. If not, you're invited to start the hop from the beginning and enjoy all the inspiration this fabulously talented group ladies has to offer.

This is an inspiration blog hop and here are the instructions - Create a card or project based on any of the boxes featured in photo from Better Homes and Gardens. Take inspiration from the colors, the shapes, the prints, etc. - they don't have to necessarily be Christmas cards or projects, feel free to let your creativity and imagination go wild!

You can really have some fun with this inspiration!

I was inspired to make a tag and a card and honestly, I could have gone on and on with this inspiration image. I got so many ideas from it.

Here's the tag I made - inspired from the box top with the word "Joy" stamped on it.

Using GKD Pure Luxury "All Spruced Up" card stock for a base, I layered my inked label image from the new fabulous "Wishing You Joy" StampTV Kit. I inked the label image with "Festive Berries" from the new TH Holiday stamp pak. To create the "wreath", I used Spellbinders Nestabilities "Inverted Scalloped Circles" dies and some MS punches. The "berries" are gold and colored "pearls".

My card -

The inspiration for my card came from the box top in the center with the big snow flake. The color of the ice blue and the snowflakes just begged me to create with it. (I find it happens a lot - LOL) It's another image from the new "Wishing You Joy" StampTV Kit. (Can you tell I'm having a LOT of fun with this set? I just got it yesterday!!!).

The embossed background was created using the snowflake CB embossing folder. I inked it by blending "Iced Spruce" from one of the new TH holiday inks and "Tumbled Glass" on the snowflakes. I then took the panel and sprayed it with (my new absolute favorite product) Perfect Pearls Mists "Biscotti". What a fabulous shimmer these glimmer sprays give. I framed the focal image with standard and scalloped circle Nestabilities. The card stock is GKD PL "White", "Little Boy Blue" and "Blue Raspberry". The image was colored with Copic Markers. The punched snowflake is by MS.

It's now time to hop over to the incredibly talented Giovana's blog and see her awesome creations. Thank you so much for stopping by. Don't forget, leave a message to get in the drawing and possibly WIN a stamp set from GKD, also, play along with us on the StampTV Forum, we love seeing what you create.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US friends! I hope you enjoy your day surrounded by people who are near and dear to your heart.

Cheri

CR84FN42

2011-11-12T23:20:00.001-05:00

Here's another posting - a card I made for two challenges - but I totally missed entering the one at Card Patterns CPS140 - Here's the sketch (I missed).

But, I'm on time for the color challenge at CR84FN42

Here's my card

I was inspired by the black stripes in the center photo as well as the flowers. I thought about embossing the base layer but then I thought it might be too much.

Details: GKD CS Innocent Pink, Ivory and Black Onyx. I used a TH Alterations Die for the cage and bird. First cutting the cage in the black onyx then rubbing it with Metallic Rub on "purple" which gave it a pink tone. I then painted it with "Peach" Creative Inspirations paints, glued on some flowers from my stash after wrapping the top porting with gold cord. The scalloped edge was also from my stash and I layered that against an ivory cs embossed with a CB snowflakes ef. The bird was cut from American Craft POW glitter paper Carmel, purchased at the local AC Moore store.

This is my last posting for today!!! No, really....I mean it! I've got more, but I'll do that tomorrow! Enough's enough, right?

Have a great weekend.

Cheri

Mix It Up Monday

2011-11-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a card I'm entering for Mix It Up Monday over at StampTV. It's Jennie Harper's challenge to use scraps to create a background. Well I've been working with Christmas papers for a couple of weeks now, and I have LOTS of scraps. So, Jennie's challenge gave me a perfect opportunity to use up some of the scraps from those projects.

The stamps I used are by Nina Bracket for Gina K Design "Heirloom Ornament" (sentiment) and Lovely Labels 2. CS is from the Pure Luxury line at GKD "Red Lipstick" and White. I also used tiny ribbons of gold to separate the pieces from Flower Soft. Ribbon is from GKD, button is from my collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-12T20:17:00.001-05:00

Hi Blog Friends!!!

This is going to be a quick post (probably not a bad thing - LOL)
I'm entering this card for the CAS challenge over at Outlawz (I haven't been there for awhile and I've missed all the activity and fun challenges).

I've been making a lot of Christmas cards lately, sort of skipping right by Thanksgiving, but I did make this card for some dear friends of my mother's.

Thanks for looking.

Cheri

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2011-11-11T12:25:00.001-05:00

Hello, blog friends,
My crafting area is loaded with Christmas projects I've been working on for classes I'm teaching this month. There are so many different projects they're beginning to run into each other. So, before things really get in a mess, I thought you might like to see some of them.

Here's a mini starbook with the theme of Snowflakes and Angels that I'll be teaching at my local stamp store. I decided to stray from the traditional Christmas colors for more subtle winter snowy tones.

These are such sweet little books and make really nice gifts for either treasures under the tree or on it, as you can hang them like an ornament.

I had a full and really fun class for making Christmas tags on Wednesday - I'll post those next time.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for leaving your comments. It makes my day when I know you've been by.

Cheri

A November Visual of Purgatory

2011-11-06T23:18:00.001-05:00

Hi!
If any of you have poked around in my blogs in the past 6 months you may have seen previous photos of our little camp/cabin on Little Purgatory Pond in Maine. Today my husband and a friend went out to do some clearing of the fire brush and chip up some piles of fallen limbs we've been collecting and piling up. It was a beautiful day....so much color and dimension to the shadows. While we're at the very late stages of foliage here in Maine...I was astounded to see so many trees still holding on to their leaves and the colors...turns out, they're all oak...they are the last of the hard woods to let go.

I found one baby oak accepting a long tall pine as his/her surrogate mom.....

Hope you enjoyed an afternoon in Purgatory!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheri

Black and Gray

2011-11-04T16:45:00.002-04:00

Hi there!
It's been awhile since I've posted anything, I've been so busy creating projects for classes that I'm teaching this month. I've missed playing along with some great challenges. However, when I saw the black and grey challenge (GC124) over at Gingersnaps Creations, I couldn't get it out of my mind....it was a challenge I had to take. It's colorless! Just blacks and grays. I've done color challenges before that truly challenged me, but they were color combos and often easily workable and forgiving. I suspected I had a dark side, but I didn't know how hard it was to get it to the surface. I'm glad you can't see my "rejected" bin! Blah!

I needed a male birthday card this month so I went with the black and gray! (darn challenge kept nagging at me)

The bg is crated using alcohol inks on black glossy cs. I then put it through my Vagabond using a Sizzix "brickwall" ef . I mounted it on black cs and distressed the edges with water and let it dry. My stamp is from Gina K Designs entitled "Life is Good" by Theresa Momber. I colored the train with Copic Markers W1, W3 and W5 and used a combination of DI "Black Soot" and Memento "London Fog" on the background Spellbinder labels 18 were used for the frame. It kind of reminded me of a cold gray November day.

Thanks for the challenge, GS....I'm glad I did it and now it can stop nagging at me! ;0)

Cheri

ATC's

2011-10-29T20:30:00.003-04:00

Hi there, blog friends! I hope you all enjoyed the StampTV CSS Alumni sketch blog hop this weekend. Melissa Cash created a really fun and not too difficult sketch for us all to create with. I loved seeing all the fabulous interpretations and gathered tons of inspiration (as I always do) from this phenomenal group of ladies.

Today, I'd like to show you some ATC cards I created for a project my crafty friend and neighbor (she only lives a few miles down the road) Penny Bennington is doing. She has invited some of her friends to create 5 ATC's, no theme or "collection" needed, just make what you like, send them to her and she will assemble them in a book for each person who plays along. I'm super excited to see what the final books Penny is making will look like. She's an uber talent (muti-published and a DT for Gingersnaps Creations, Oxford Impressions, and many others) and has created some awesome art pieces - do check out her blog. Penny and I became friends when we took an altered book class together - and what a treat to sit beside her in a class....inspiration at my elbow! BUT, enough about Penny.....LOL....I want to show you my ATC's.

I love, love, love, making ATC's, I've made many over the years, mostly for my own pleasure. I love working on their tiny canvas, they're a creative challenge for me. For these cards, I used various bg techniques I've either learned or developed using various mediums I had on hand. My inspiration in making my ATC's is usually to create a visual around a quote or sentiment I've heard or seen. I have an entire notebook of quotes/sentiments I've collected and at some point I will create an ATC around each one.

I don't know who will be receiving these ATC's - only my friend Penny does. I hope they like them. I can't wait to see those that I get, I understand several ladies from other countries are part of this swap - how exciting it will be to see/receive their creations.
Thanks for stopping by and please leave me a comment. I'd love to know what you think about ATC's.

Cheri

CSS Alumni Sketch Challenge Blog Hop

2011-10-28T22:00:00.004-04:00

Welcome to another StampTV CSS Alumni blog hop! This one is a sketch hop based on a sketch designed by our own Melissa Cash. If you've come here from the extremely talented Deb Felt's blog then you're in the right place. If not, you may want to go back at the beginning of the hop and catch each piece of inspiration from this very talented group.

Here is Melissa's sketch and my card

I've been trying to make a few Christmas cards lately and Melissa's sketch gave me some inspiration.

Details: CS - GKD Pure Luxury White and All Spruced up. Stamps: Showtime Stamp Kit "Holiday Cheer" (one of my very favorites) and "The Magic of Christmas" (sentiment) (another favorite) by Rupa Shevde.
Other: MS pine tree border punch, Nestabilities lables 18, CuttleBug folder "Musical Flouish", Metalic Rub-ons (you can get them at GKD) the Christmas color pack.
Thanks for stopping by, now please hop on over to the fabulously talented Carolina's blog but before you go, please leave a comment here and on each blog along the hop for a chance to win one of Gina's fantastic stamp sets - even one of those that I've used (up to a $24.95 value) because on Tuesday morning (November 1), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and your comment might be the one. How cool would that be????

And don't forget to create your own project using Melissa's sketch and post it to the forum link so we can all see it. We love it when you all play along with us.

Have a great weekend!

Cheri

http://stamptv.ning.com/forum/topics/center-stage-alumni-blog-hop-sketch-challenge-1

Favorite Ghoulfriend

2011-10-27T17:32:00.000-04:00

Hi Blog Friends!

It's getting close to trick or treat time! The weather here in Maine is getting colder and we've even had a touch of snow....(yikes!).

I made this card for my grandchildren and then when I saw this sketch over at Card Positioning Systems, I thought they'd read my mind...or maybe were looking over my shoulder (LOL) - my sketch and CPS #241 were a perfect match! Wow! Spooky!!!!

Stamps: "Boo" designed by Asela Hopkins for GKD. CS: GKD Pure Luxury. DP: Basic Grey "Eerie". Other: Versafine Black ink, Creative Inspirations paint, Nestabilities, gold beads, and ribbon from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by! Please stop by this weekend for a sketch CSS Alumni blog hop! We'll have lots of great inspiration for you.

Cheri

Beautiful Sunset

2011-10-23T00:22:00.000-04:00

Hi blog friends!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and for stopping by on the CSS Alumni blog hop card drive for kids with spina bifida. I hope you all had a chance to participate in the drive - and it's not too late - there are some great prizes being awarded and some extra special kids to send cards to.

Today I'm posting a card I made for a challenge over at Color Throw Down #164 using these colors

The background of my card is where these colors come together. For the background, I used Distress Inks, direct to paper. There is no way of knowing when you begin this technique what the results will be - to me, it's part of the fun. I liked the results of the background and I decided to use the cone flowers from Theresa Momber's "Heartfelt" stamp set as a focal image. (I was so honored to be asked to be Theresa's guest designer in the release of these stamps).

Here's my card:

Background was created using Distress Inks "Ripe Persimmon", "Peeled Paint" and "Dusty Concord". The stamps: "Heartfelt", "By the Sea" by Theresa Momberand and "Hugs and Prayers" by Nina Brackett, all for Gina K. Designs. Cone Flowers were colored with image with Copic Markers. I used a Gelly Roll Pen by Sakura for the centers of the flowers and it created the light flashes and what looks like white spots on them.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Have a wonderful day!

Cheri

Card Drive for Kids with Spina Bifida

2011-10-14T22:00:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the first blog hop for the StampTV CSS DT for October - and it's a very special hop because we're making it a card drive for kids with Spina Bifida. This card drive has been organized by our own Giovana Smith -There's a lot of info about this hop, so let's get right to it.

If you've come here from the super talented Carolina's blog then you're in the right place, if not, you'll want to start this hop from the beginning to catch all the inspiration from this amazing group of crafty ladies.
I decided to make a spinner card since they're such a fun inter-active card for kids. I had so much fun after making the first one, I decided to make one for each child. This also gave me a great way to use several of my fantastic Gina K stamp sets.
I'm featuring only one of my four spinner cards, but I'll include a photo of them in a group so you can see them all.

Rebekah will be getting this card.
Details: GKD Pure Luxury CS "Bubble Gum Pink", White. DP Basic Grey "Lemonade". Stamp set: "Funny Farm". Other: Copic Markers, bling, and rick-rack from stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by, now please hop over to the wonderfully talented Deb Felt's blog and see what she's created.

Cheri

Here are the details for the card drive:
~Create a fun, uplifting card or cards for one or all the kids listed below (you can click on their names to read more about each of them). The card can be anything cheery, encouraging, supportive, etc. Please DO NOT send sorry, get well or anything like that. Remember, we want to cheer them up.
The kids:

Madison: 2 years old
Logan: 2 years old. (turning 3 on October 17th!!)
Tanner: 2 years old (turning 3 on December 25)
Rebekah: 9 years old
~All cards need to have a message in it for the child/family. Please also sign your name and where you are from. On the card envelope, write the name of the child. Please, don't seal the envelope, as the parents might want to read the cards before the kids see them.
~Cards must be received by October 31st to be eligible for the drawing.
Mail your card(s) to Giovana along with a piece of paper with your name, address, e-mail address and blog (if you have one). This will help a lot to contact the winner a lot faster!:

Giovana Smith
Card Drive for Kids
181 Perry Way
Yakima, WA 98901

~Everyone who mails in a card for each of the children will be entered into the drawing to win a grand prize - deadline is October 31, 2011

Awesome companies have donated amazing prizes for you! More than $400.00 in prizes!!

Heartfelt Creations: 8 stamping sets + 1 Coordinated Die Set. Value: $150.00!
Gina K. Designs: 2 StampTV Kits: Value: $70.00 (Gina will send the prize direct to the winner!)
Unity Stamps: 10 Itty Bitty Stamps. Value: $70.00
SP & Company: 3 Stamp Set. Value: $40.00
Lawn Fawn Stamps: 2 Stamp Set: Value: $30.00
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: 1 Stamp Set. Value: $11.00
Spellbinders: 2 die sets!! (Not included in the picture)
Tombow: 6 packs of markers and several packs of adhesives (Not included in the picture)

We hope you will send a card or cards and join us in this worthwhile project.

A True Friend Warms Your Heart

2011-10-11T20:13:00.002-04:00

There's nothing like a true friend - and for all my follower friends, "you warm my heart" and I truly treasure your friendship. This card is for you.

I'm entering it in the Bloggers Challenge, ODBC (a new one for me) and Paper Play Challenge (another new one)

Details:
Stamps - GKD Showtime StampKit -Thanks a Millon/Signs of Autmn
BG - Basic Grey Indian Summer - dry embossed
Other - Copic Markers, Nestabilities, Momento Ink.

Thank you to all my followers and blog friends.....you warm my heart!

Cheri

Apples and Kraft

2011-10-08T20:15:00.000-04:00

Hi there blog friends!
I have a card with many Technique Junkie techniques and a color challenge from StampTV Free For All Friday to show you. I made my card with the techniques from TJ in mind, but then over at StampTV, the super (uber) talented Suzanne Dean, DT member, has challenged us to a Kraft + Red challenge. How perfect was that timing???

First the Techniques: The bg was done using the "Texture Plate Smoosh" Technique by Donna Duquette. I also used the "Stacked Nesties" technique.
Second, Products Used: Gina K CS Pure Luxury Kraft, Black Onyx, Sweet Mango, and Spiced Pumpkin. Stamps: GKD Showtime Stamp Kit "Signs of Autumn". Copic Markers and raffia . Spellbinders labels 18, 22 and Curved Rectangles. Inks used in the background were DI inks "Walnut", "Wild Honey" and "Scattered Straw".

Thanks for stopping by and I sure do treasure your comments.

Cheri

Bloom On

2011-10-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

Greetings Blog Friends!

I'm here with a new card and a really pretty color challenge for GingersnapCreations of turquoise, blue and purple.

I used a stamp set from smARTworks called "Bloom On".

Other items used - SU, Spellbinders, MS, Distress Inks and Creative Impression shimmer paints (which I painted my petals with - not sure if you can see that).

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheri

Saturday is World Card Making Day

2011-09-28T20:43:00.008-04:00

Greetings blog friends!

Saturday, October 1 is World Card Making Day. Here in Gardiner, Maine, there's big doin's over at our local stamp store, Stamp-N-Scrap, and if you're in the area, or know of someone who is, (have them) head in our direction for all the fun at- 9 Old Brunswick Rd, Gardiner, ME 04345 It all begins at 10:00 a.m. Bring a bag lunch, stay the day and meet the folks....it's Maine - "the way life should be".

Karen Cheetham will be doing a demo of the Mummy Card" you see on her blog along with Make-n-Takes. Karen has much more planned for everyone attending WCMD.

Grace Lange Way will be demonstrating some very pretty, easy small boxes that can be made with the Accu-Cut machine ( for under a $1.00 ) and decorated with small Rubberstamp Tapestry stamps and ribbon for your fall, holiday or any all occasion gift giving.

I will be demo'ing these ATC CHUNKIES I made.

Details: Wood blocks 2.5 X 3.5 - paints Ranger Studio "Charcoal Black", Daubers Sunset Orange, Sunshine Yellow and Sliver. Images are cut from Graphic 45 papers "Hallowe'en in Wonderland"Collection.

There'll also be lots of door prizes, yummy refreshments and even a card exchange basket; bring a card, take a card.
So, come join the fun at Stamp-N-Scrap and celebrate WORLD CARD MAKING DAY - Saturday, October 1. We'll miss you if you don't come.

Cheri

Spooky Shadowbox

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings blog friends! Yesterday I told you I would show you a fabulous shadowbox wall hanging I made during a class taught by the talented Karen Cheetham. It was so much fun and the shadowbox is an amazing piece.

I'm entering this in the Crazy 4 Challenges Challenge C4C106 which is to make a Halloween card or decor project.

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great week.

Cheri

Colored Pencil Magic

2011-09-25T12:02:00.000-04:00

Hi blog friends! I'm here with a new challenge card, and a new technique (to me) called Colored Pencil Magic. This is a Mix It Up Monday Challenge over at StampTV.

This was a really fun technique to try and the results are fantastic! Click the link above to get more information about this technique.

I used GKD Pure Luxury "All Spruced Up" for my base card and I like the way it turned out. The stamps are from the set "Wild At Heart" by Melanie Muenchinger, for GKD. This is a fabulous negative stamp and worked really well with this technique.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be posting a fabulous Halloween Shadow Box project from a class I took yesterday with Karen Cheetham. What a great time that was!

Have a wonderful day!

Cheri

CSS Alumni Treasure Chest Blog Hop

2011-09-23T22:00:00.005-04:00

Welcome blog friends, it's time for another blog hop with the StampTV CSS DT Alumni. This time it's a Treasure Chest hop and the challenge this time is a Fall Theme Shaker Card!
If you've come here from the fabulously talented Deb Felt's blog then you're in the right place, if not, then you're invited to take the entire hop from the beginning because you don't want to miss any of the great inspiration from this talented group. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! As you hop along, make sure to leave a comment on each blog because on Tuesday morning (September 27), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and someone will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95! How cool is that?

Here is my fall shaker card

CS: Gina K Designs Pure Luxury "Sweet Mango" "White", "Spiced Pumpkin" and "Chocolate Kiss". DP: Basic Grey "Pyrus". I used a punch to make the leaves for the shaker using up some scraps I had. The scrolled corners were made using a Provo Craft die that came in a set of 4 - they're small dies. Stamps: For the leaves "Autumn Splendor" Showtime StampTV Kit and for the sentiment I used "Autumn Beauty" by Theresa Momber. Both of these sets are fabulous for fall projects and cards.

Shaker cards are fun to create and fun to receive. We'd love to have you play along with us and post your shaker card to the forum link so we can all enjoy your creation. If you need some help making a shaker card, Gina K has a 2 part video that will help you. SHAKER CARD PART 1 and SHAKER CARD PART 2

Thank you for stopping by. Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog as you hop - you just might win a GKD stamp set. Now please continue hopping over to the lovely Carolina Buchting's blog for even more outstanding inspiration!

Have a great weekend!

Cheri

Oldies But Goodies Blog Hopping Divas

2011-09-21T10:00:00.002-04:00

Greetings, blog friends! Here we go with another Facebook Design D.I.V.I.A.S Oldies But Goodies Blog Hop. The rules are simple - to use stamps that are at least 6 months old in the hopes you'll drag out those "old friends" you used to play with, the ones you loved so much but now are living in obscurity because you have "new friends" and rarely pay any attention to them now.

If you've come here from Heather Dennis' blog, then you're in the right place, if not, take a hop back to the beginning blog of Carolyn Bounds and check out the entire hop for some great inspiration.

This is my oldie but goodie creation

I've been in the mood to begin creating fall crds so I thought I'd dig out some of my autumn stamps for this hop.

I dry embossed and distressed a layer of Basic Grey "Out of Print" dp, then distressed and curled the corners. The layering cs was distressed with an edger then inked with distress ink "Walnut Stain". The stamps I used are from two Gina K StampTV Showtime Stamp Kits "Autumn Spendor" and "Signs of Autumn".

Thanks for hopping here, now please go on over to Cindy Johnson Pec's blog and see what fabulous inspiration she's got for us.

Cheri

Happy Colorful Hello

2011-09-18T18:47:00.000-04:00

Hi there blog friends!
I haven't been blogging much, I've been creating a new project, one I'll show you in a few weeks - it's not quite ready yet. I've also been putting together materials for some classes I'll be teaching in October, so my play time is getting big chunks taken out of it.
That being said, I grabbed some time this weekend to create a card for a couple of fun challenges! The first one is over at JUGS this week where Elise has delivered a color challenge

I thought I'd use Elise's colors together with a sketch challenge I found at Card Patterns

I had fun with this one. The colors gave me a struggle at first, but I really like the end result. The supplies I used were Pure Luxury CS by GKS, Basic Grey "Out of Print", Echo Park, "A Walk in the Park", Copic Markers, YR02, YR04 and YR20. Bling and seam binding from my stash. Stamps from GKD "Heartfelt", illustrated by Theresa Momber.

Thanks for stopping by and I Iove it when you leave comments.
Have a great week.

Cheri

A Little Mixed Media

2011-09-15T16:56:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!
There's another super fun challenge over at StampTV for Mix It Up Monday. Vicki Dutcher is challenging us to create a project using Art/Mixed media technique.

I've always liked playing with different techniques in my card making however, mixed media has been one of those "intimidating" techniques - I never know when there's too much or not enough on the canvas. So, when I saw Vicki's challenge I knew I had to give this technique another try.

For this card I used ink/media directly on the paper. The Gina K Pure Luxury Kraft card stock really stood up to this technique and all the layers of ink I put on it. My background was created using an assortment of Adirondack Acrylic Paint Daubers in Lights, Brights and Earthtones. I used a brush in some of the areas yet in others I used the dauber sponge top. Once the bg was created, I began stamping. The word paragraph was inked with ColorBox Pigment Frost White then dried. I stamped some branches and leaves in DI Walnut Stain and then used Creative Inspirations "Winter Frost" paint to give them the "frosty fog" look. I used the same paint to create the moon. I love the way it came out. I embossed a piece of leftover sheet of copper with my CB folder, then pounced some of my favorite Alcohol Inks on it then punched out a butterfly with a MS punch. I edged the whole canvas with DI Black Soot and added a strip of TH Tissue Tape to the folded edge.
Stamps used: "Hope Grows" (the branches and leaves), "The Giving Tree" (the tree and the sentiment) by Theresa Momber and "Vintage Backgrounds" (the word paragraph), by Nina Brackett.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

StampTV CSS Alumni Inspiration Blog Hop

2011-09-09T22:00:00.001-04:00

WELCOME to another StampTV CSS Alumni blog hop. If you've arrived from the very talented Carolina's blog, then you're in the right place. If not, you're invited to hop from the beginning of the hop so you don't miss a single inspiration project.

Our inspiration is this clip from Pier 1 Imports.

I fell so in love with this color palette and once I got started I had a difficult time moving on to other projects. Beside the colors, I was drawn to the textures and those fabulous patterns.

Here are my cards.

I wanted to keep this card CAS and focus on those diamond shapes in the bedspread, the headboard and on the seat at the end of the bed.
The stamps are from the "Whimsical Wishes" set by Theresa Momber.

And here's my second card -

My inspiration for this card, again was the diamond pattern, however, if you look closely on the left side (facing us) of the bed, you'll see a vase with peacock feathers in it. I love the stamp set by Asela Hopkins "Pretty as a Peacock", so I used a stamp from that set to create dp for the layered cs as well as on the darker blue embossed label. I used Distress Inks stain in "Faded Jeans" (love how that came out) on PL White to created the color of the label before I hand embossed it with my Score Buddy and cut it with Spellbinder Labels 14. The sentiment label is made using the Lovely Labels 2 set.

Thanks for stopping by, and you're invited to join us - create your own card from this inspiration and post it to the forum and your gallery so we too can enjoy your creations.
Now hop on over to the very talented Deb Felts' blog where she's waiting to show you her fabulous creation.

Cheri

Pink Birthday Wishes

2011-09-06T20:48:00.000-04:00

Hi Blog friends, big shout out to all my friends in Texas who are dealing with the wild fires. My prayers are with you.
My card today is being posted for two challenges. The first is over at StampTV for the Mix It Up Monday Challenge. DT AJ Otto will be celebrating her birthday next week and she's also fighting a battle with breast cancer. The challenge is to pink it up for AJ and the details are HERE

My second challenge is to enter my card in the exciting celebration over at JUGS. They are celebrating their 100th challenge and there are some exciting give-a-ways. Do check it out. The sketch is ("what's old is new again") their first sketch challenge - how fun is this?

This one is for you AJ! Happy (pink, pink, pink) Birthday!

Details: Stamps: "Whimsical Wishes" illustrated by Theresa Momber for Gina K Designs. Spellbingers, Cherry Lynn Designs, Graphic 45 DP, Creative Inspirations paint, also used.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

Black, White and Read All Over

2011-09-05T15:21:00.001-04:00

Greetings, blog friends!
Can you believe it....another Labor Day has passed as well as another summer. It amazes me how fast they go by. I hope your weekend was a safe and happy one.
Here I am with another card challenge. This time I'm playing along with the folks at CAS-ual Fridays
and here is their challenge for this week -

The answer is a book!

In honor of International Literacy Day on September 8th,

we have a special challenge involving papercrafting and books.

CFC18: Create a Clean And Simple project inspired by a book, and use the colors black, white and red.

You can choose your book from any genre, just please tell us which book. You may find your inspiration on the cover, from a character or from within the story itself.

Get creative and have fun with it.

For my card I used one of my all-time favorite stamps from B Line Designs. While I love silhouette stamps, they don't cooperate with me very well and this one was no exception. I had a really hard time getting a good image, but this one finally satisfied me.

One of my favorite all time novels was "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote and this stamp always made me think of the main character in the book, "Holly Golightly"; the character Audrey Hepburn immortalized in the film.

The sentiment stamp is from the set "Friends" by Gina K Designs. The dp is also from GKD and is from the Vintage Chic stamp kit and I altered it using a technique called "Glassy Embossing" which I got from the February 2010 Technique Junkies Newsletter.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

Soft, Sweet and Sentimental

2011-09-04T17:05:00.000-04:00

Hi Blog friends! To my U.S. friends, I hope you're having a fun-filled Labor Day Weekend and getting in those last summer excursions before the cooler weather gets here.

I have some very exciting news! (In case you didn't catch it), I was selected as "Chic of the Week" over at JUGS for their challenge #99! My mini star-book won the 3-D Back to School Challenge and you'll notice I have the coveted "Chic of the Week" badge on my blog. Clicking on it will take you to the post of the card if you'd like to see it. I'm very excited to have won this honor.

Now, on to more challenges. The challenge I'm entering with this card is for the CR84FN37 which is a fabulous color challenge.

And here's my card

The CS is GKD Pure Luxury White and Turquoise Sea. I inked up the EF with DI Tumbled Glass and ran it through the CB for the background effect. I inked a second EF to create the words on the heart. The hearts are dies from Spellbinders, wrapped with a ribbon and decorated with a mulberry flower/lace and pearls. The sentiment, which is stamped and die cut with a Fancy Tag Die from Spellbinders, is from Gina K Designs "You Warm My Heart" stamp set by Rupa Shevde.

So happy you stopped by and enjoy the weekend!
Cheri

It's a Maine Thing

2011-08-31T21:03:00.003-04:00

Hi there blogger friends!
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking things out with the Stamp'n Boomer.

Ever on the look out for challenges and fun things to create, I saw the latest challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges and immediately thought about this new stamp I just got from my LSS. The challenge #C4C102 is to create a masculine project/card. Nearly everyone knows about or has heard about 'Bean Boots", well, I couldn't resist this stamp....I've been wearing their boots for over 40 years....because when you wear them out (and it takes a long time), you just return them and they replace them (no charge)! Google them and read the story it's truly fascinating.

So, here's my card....bg is a technique called "Faux Barn Wood" I got from my Technique Junkies February/March 2011 Newsletter. I used Copic Markers to color the boots (sorry, I didn't write the #s down), I layered them against a piece of CS embossed with a Sizzix EF. The LLBean tag came from a product tag on a purchase I made. I cut out the boots and popped them up with pop dots. I put 3D Crystal Lacquer on the base of the boot to replicate the authentic look of the LLBean boot. The inside sentiment reads "Wherever you go, go with all your heart". The stamp is from Silver Fox Stamps and More.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri
Note: I sent my card to Silver Fox Stamps and More and Sheila (co-owner) pointed out that the boots were not actually Bean boots, as LLBean has a distinctive sole and this is not it. Silver Fox Stamps and More calls these boots "Outdoor Boots". My apologize to everyone for the mis-lead, I should have looked at my boots, I would have seen the difference. Never-the-less, I hope you will check out their website....they have some fabulous rubber.

Star School Book

2011-08-30T16:06:00.003-04:00

Hi there blogger friends,

Well, Hurricane Irene came to visit and she blew extremely high winds and brought lots of rain, but by the time she got here, she was downgraded to a tropical storm. We only had downed limbs and some trees around our home, but so many in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York and Vermont and other outlying areas had much worse; flooding, erosion and damaged property. So glad Irene is gone.

I haven't created a 3-D project in a long time, but over at JUGS this week there's a "Back to School 3-D Challenge" and I just had to play along.

Also, over at Gingersnapcreations their color challenge (which is ongoing until September 25) is featuring Primary Colors (Red, Yellow and Blue) in your projects. A perfect matchup for a "back to school" theme.

While I've never created a "Star Book" before I found a YouTube Tutorial on a mini star book and decided to give it a try. I will post several photos of it, as I wanted to be sure a few of the pages got in as well as a photo of the book closed and then opened into a star.

The images cut and pieced are all from the new Graphic 45 papers "An ABC Primer Collection. The stamps are from Gina K Designs "Perfect Pennants" illustrated by Tami Mayberry and "Whimsical Autumn" illustrated by Carolyn King. Also used DI, "Victorian Velvet" and "Walnut Stain". Stickers from Webster's Pages.

I had so much fun creating this book and I can't wait to make others.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I would love to hear your comments on my Star Book creation.

Happy creating and stamping!

Cheri

School Days and Super Mom

2011-08-27T11:15:00.003-04:00

Hi there blogger friends,
Hurricane Irene is on her way to visit us and we've been advised to batten down the hatches. She's due to arrive early Sunday morning but before she gets here, she's predicted to punch her way through a mass of eastern states....Maine is last on her "visiting" list. Praying that she's easy on us all.

There are two challenges I'd like to enter this card in. The first one is by DT Giovana Smith over at StampTV "Mix It Up Monday". School is starting or has started again for many of us in the US and therefore, Giovana challenges us to create a project that's "all about school". I didn't have any "school" stamps, however, in keeping with that theme my card is all about the Super Mom who, before, during and after school is always there; school shopping, packing lunches, helping with homework, attending school functions....the list goes on. You just can't think about school without the help of Super Mom....God bless the Super Moms (and Dads too).

The second challenge is a sketch for Mojo Monday 205

Here is my card for both of these great challenges.

Details: Stamps "Little Tees" illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K Designs. DP is from Paper Trey Ink. CS is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury "Red Hot", "Black Onyx" and "White". Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, ribbon, buttons (GKD "Button Jars"), also used.

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving such supportive and encouraging comments.

Cheri

CASE The DT - Free For All Friday

2011-08-24T16:05:00.001-04:00

Hi there blogger buddies!

There's a challenge over at StampTV this week called "CASE the DT" and it's the Free For All Friday Challenge. We've been challenged to CASE the fabulous Cat Tidwell, a StampTV Design Team member. Cat's gallery is stunning. Take a look....you'll see what I mean.

The card I chose of Cat's to CASE is this one -

Isn't that a beauty? I just love how she created the layering of this card and the traditional Christmas look she gave it. I wanted to get started on some special Christmas cards and thought this would be a good one to start with. So, here's my CASE of Cat's card

The stamp is from Gina K Designs and the fabulous set "Festive Frames" by illustrator Melanie Muenchinger. CS is GKD Pure Luxury "All Spruced Up" and "Ivory". DP is Basic Grey "Oliver". The Poinsettias were colored with Copic Markers R24, R27 and R29. For the other areas I used Copics E31, E33, E39, Y15, Y17, YG61, G94 and G99. I blinged the centers of the Poinsettias with some gold Stickles. My changes to Cat's card are: the bow (smaller and different placement), the DP, the gold beads and the CS.

Thanks so much for dropping by.

Cheri

A Vintage Birthday

2011-08-23T15:48:00.002-04:00

Hi blogger friends!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my post. I haven't been here for awhile because I've been pickling. I know, right? Why would I trade my crafting time for pickles? But, now that the cucumbers are all pickled and some relishes made and canned, and while we wait for the tomatoes to ripen, (they're next on the canning list) I can play with my paper toys.

The card I'm posting today is for two challenge this week - The first is the gorgeous color challenge over at CR84FN - don't ya just love these colors and the great inspiration images?

The second challenge I'm entering is over at Card Patterns with this sketch #129 challenge -

Here's my card for both challenges.

The CS colors I used are from Gina K Designs Pure Luxury line - White, Sweet Corn and Kraft. I started my card by creating the bg using dp scraps I had and the Bargello Technique found at SCS. The image is from the Springtime Silhouettes StampTV Kit. I used DI Walnut Stain to stamp the images and once dry, I painted the areas on the dress form with my new Creative Inspirations Paint - giving the form a soft, iridescent sparkle and highlight. (I love these paints). The lace layer was made using a Cherry Lynn Designs "Italian Flourish" die. I distressed around the edges of both the focal image and the sweet corn layer. I finished the card off with placing the sentiment sideways and adding some nail heads, then tying a soft yellow silk ribbon along the base and embellishing it with a mulberry rose and some MS punched leaves.

Thanks again, for stopping by! I hope you all have a fabulous week.

Cheri

FB Oldies But Goodies Blog Hop

2011-08-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

Hi blog hop friends,

This is my first OBG FB blog hop and I hope I'm doing this right. If I've done this right, you should have hopped here from Maria Matter's blog JoyfulStamper. You can see the whole hop from the beginning at Heather Dennis' blog.
The rules of this hop are Create a project with at least 1 item that you have had in your supplies but have not used in 6 months.

My card is made using a stamp from Gina K Design called "Gleefully Yours" illustrated by Nina Brackett and I think it makes a great birthday card for a guy or a girl.

Details: CS GKD Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss and Creme de Menthe. The image was stamped with Versamark and embossed with white ep. Die cut with Nestabilities Labels and Fancy Tags. I used Prismacolor Pencils and OMS to color the image.

Thanks for hopping by, now hop on over to Linda Reed Anderson's blog and see her fabulous creations.

Cheri

Be The Change

2011-08-14T17:53:00.000-04:00

In this post, I'm playing along with three challenges, although two of the three are combined. Clean & Simple FTL 153 and CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #15 have joined hands and are combining their challenges. How fun is this?

The other challenge I'm entering this card in is Less is More Week 28 Challenge. This challenge requires a one layer card using ink!

For my card I actually came up with this technique - using a dryer sheet. It actually has a texture to it - not sure if the camera picked that up. I'm going to keep playing with this technique. I really liked the results.

I used a stamp set from Gina K Design, "Follow Your Dreams" illustrated by Theresa Momber. I stamped the threes using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and stamped the sentiment using DI "Walnut Stain".

Have a great week!

Cheri

Card Patterns Sketch 128

2011-08-14T17:18:00.000-04:00

Hi blogger friend!
Today I'm playing along with Card Patterns sketch challenge #128. Love the sketch and love the work by the DT so I had to play along.

Here's my card:

Details: CS - Gina K Designs "Sand" and "Bubble Gum Pink". DP is from Basic Grey "White Paper Pad" and Prima "Madeline". Some lace and seam binding ribbon, MS punch and pearl flourish give the vintage background look to the handmade lace flower, layered with a crocheted flower and topped with a mulberry rose.

Thanks so much for stopping by and thank you for the comments. I love reading them.

Cheri

StampTV CSSDT Alumni Sketch Blog Hop

2011-08-12T22:00:00.004-04:00

Welcome to another fabulous and very special (Surprise! Melissa C!) StampTV CSS DT blog hop.
If you've come here from Carolina's blog you're in the right place. If not, we invite you to go back to THE BEGINNING and see each awesome project this talented group has created.
As you already know from hopping along from the beginning, we're celebrating our dear friend and CSS DT member Melissa Cash's birthday. And you also already know, Melissa designed the sketch we're using tonight. She's a very talented lady and we're so fortunate to have her on our team.
You're invited to celebrate with us. Create your own project using Melissa's sketch and post it to this forum thread at StampTV and join us as we celebrate Melissa's birthday.
This is Melissa's AWESOME sketch:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

CARD DETAILS: GKD Pure Luxury CS, Ivory, In the Navy and Ocean Mist
Stamps GKD "Labeled With Love"
DP: Prima "Madeline" 6X6 paper stack
Misc: Spellbinder labels fourteen, Liquid Pearls Pastel Raspberry. Ribbon, roses and pearls from my stash.

We are also giving away a set! Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (August 16th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

To continue to the fun, head on over to the very talented Deb Felt's blog to see her amazing project!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Have fun and join us!

Cheri

Stepping out of my Box

2011-08-11T21:05:00.000-04:00

Hi there Blog friends....I'm stretching my techniques and card design for today's post and I should tell you I really struggled with this card.
First of all I wanted to use a great technique by Holly Brown for Technique Junkies called "Collaged Circles". It was a fun technique/background to create and my issues came with my design. I think it was due to the fact that I used these bold and gorgeous papers from PTI and they almost speak for themselves, so perhaps a softer, subtler paper would have been better and more comfortable for me. Gotta try though....right? My assumption of my card is that it's far too bold and far too....well....gaudy!
That being said, I'm also posting this card even though I'm not that fond of it (have you ever done that?) - and offering it for this week's challenge for CPS-Card Sketch and letting it go - good, bad or ugly (in a guady way)....I'm stretching my creativity and will most assuredly continue to hang'n lefts when I could be playing it safe. LOL. The story of my life!

Here's CPS-Card Sketch 230

And my {gaudy} card - it actually looks better in person than it does here.

Details:
Stamp: Flouishes "Life Lines"
CS: GKD Pure Luxury "White", "In the Navy" and "Red Hot".
DP: PTI, "Beautiful Blooms".
Embellishments: Seam binding "rose" hand made using Glubers. MS lattice punch and Sizzix corner die. Button from my antique button stash.

Off to do some more "stretching"....thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.

Cheri

A Happy Hello to You

2011-08-10T19:03:00.000-04:00

The title of this post says it all! I hope you're all having a wonderful day and enjoying your summer.

I'm posting a card for two challenges this week. The first one is a fantastic Mix it Up Monday inspiration challenge by Tami over at StampTV - here's the inspiration photo she selected:

Isn't this just an awesome inspiration photo? I mean, look at all the color, texture and design you can draw from this photo. I may have to do another one.....

The next challenge my card is being entered in is for MoJo Monday 203 and here is the sketch:

Here's the card I came up with using the inspiration and the sketch!

Stamps: "Heartfelt" by Theresa Momber for Gina K Design.
CS: GKD Pure Luxury "white" and "turquoise sea" and "wine with everything"
dp: Basic Grey "Olivia"
Other: CB EF, Copic Markers, MS punch, seambinding self colored with DI, button GKD Button Jars.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Come back for a sketch StampTV blog hop this weekend. It's going to be another spectacular show by a very talented group of ladies.

Cheri

For the Birds

2011-08-07T13:18:00.000-04:00

Greetings Crafty Friends!

Today I'm posting a card for three challenges!

The first challenge is Free For All Friday over at StampTV and Jennie has challenged us to a bird theme card.

The second challenge I'm entering with this card is JUGS96, a sketch challenge

And the third challenge I'm entering my card in is the fabulous color challenge over at CR84FN using Lavender, Celery and Gray

Here's my card for each of these challenges

It's raining here today, so the photo isn't as clear as I would like it to be, but I think if you click on the photo you'll get a better look at the card and image.

Card Details: CS: Gina K Pure Luxury, Moonlit Fog, Creme de Menthe and Lovely Lavender. DP: Memory Box "Enchanted". Stamps: Image is from "Warm With Love" illustrated by Theresa Momber for GKD and the sentiment is from "Garden Silhouettes" another set from GKD. I used a mask to create the background for the swan sponging and blending Distress Inks, Shabby Shutters, Bundled Moss, Milled Lavender with a touch of Mustard Seed. The swan was colored using Copic markers C0, C3 and BV04. I then added some white pen to the water and highlighted with a Sakura gelly roll for a shimmer. I colored white pearls with Copic BV04 in order to coordinate the colors. The silk ribbon and button are from my stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for leaving your comments. I appreciate each one.

Cheri

A Card for Challenges

2011-08-07T11:45:00.002-04:00

Greetings Blogger Friends! It's been quite some time since I've been here blogging - hubby and I took a few days to go visit the grandchildren. I miss them so, and it's been such a long time since we've seen them - they've grown so much. Where does the time go? Anyway, we had a great visit and now we're back home and now I'm going to catch up with some of the challenges I've wanted to play along with this week.

Two very exciting events happened to me in my crafting life this month and I'm over the moon excited about each one of them.
First-I was asked by Theresa Momber to be her Guest Designer for her newest stamp set "Heartfelt" that was released over at StampTV last Tuesday night. I blogged about it HERE.
Second - I also have to tell you how excited and thrilled I was to be chosen as one of the Super Six over at Card Patterns for Sketch 125. How cool is that?

My card in this post is for three challenges.
The first one is over at StampTV where they have regular Monday and Friday challenges. Each one is different and will give your creativity some healthy stretching. For this week's Mix It Up Monday challenge Cat is asking for this:

Hey ya'll!! Welcome to another Mix It Up Monday, hosted by yours truly...ME! And this time, we are Breaking All the Rules!! That is my challenge to you today, to break the rules...what rules? Well, as you know, in art, there ARE rules that some follow such as Rule of Odds, Rule of Thirds, Rule of Space...etc...While I wont go into an art lesson, which Im far from being able to teach, lol! I will give you some examples that you can do to 'Break the Rules' in our little hobby here! Examples include, but not limited to:

1. TWO brads/flowers/pearls (no odd #s!).

2. Put the image at an angle or not centered.

3. Use colors that clash.

4. No standard size card...ex. 41/4 x 51/2 is a standard size card, make a card anything BUT that size.

The second challenge I'm submitting this card for is SKETCH 127 over at Card Patterns and here is the sketch:

And the third challenge is over at Wee Memories Challenge 63 Dare to Color

and the challenge is to use no less than 4 colors on your creations! You can create cards, scrapbook layouts, altered projects and more.

To comply with the "Breaking all the Rules" challenge by Cat over at StampTV, you'll notice that I did not use any odd numbers, I used colors that clashed and I used two (not three) little water beads to accent the focal image. Also, the size of my card is not an A2. Breaking the rules is harder than it looks! I hope I managed to keep the integrity of the Card Patterns Sketch and Wee Memories challenge intact.

Card details: CS: Gina K Pure Luxury white, DP: Prima "Madeline Collection". Die: Cherry Lynn "English Doily", cut out on Gina K "Key Lime" Accent Weight CS. The flowers are from Michaels and the seam binding is from Prairie Bird Boutique. The sentiment stamp is from the new set by Theresa Momber, Heartfelt.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Cheri