Happy Birthday

Today is my niece, Emily's birthday.  She's 24 years old today, but in my mind she's still 5.  So, where does the time go?


For Emily's birthday card I used a technique I found on Split Coast Stampers called "Faux Tile Background".  Try it for yourself, it makes a great bg and works well using this stamp set by Melanie Muenchinger, called "Wild At Heart".  Melanie's stamp sets can be found at StampTV.  Check them out.


Happy Birthday Emily!  Here's your card.

Stamps used:  "Wild at Heart" by Melanie Muenchinger of StampTV
CS:  GKD Pure Luxury, "White", "Lovely Lavendar" and "Vibrant Violet".
Inks and markers:  Memento "Grape Jelly" and "Lulu Lavendar", Copic.


Have a happy day and thanks for stopping by.

Cheri

CSS December Sketch Blog Hop

Welcome to this month's first StampTV CSS blog hop.  These hops are so much fun and who doesn't love all the inspiration we get from them?  Thank you for all your great comments on our hops....we all appreciate them so much.  


If you've hopped here from the fabulous Carolina's blog, you're in the right place.  If you jumped in the middle, we invite you to click here and begin this great blog hop from the beginning.  


This is a sketch hop and the sketch was provided by our own extremely talented, Melissa Cash.  Thanks so much Melissa, this is an awesome sketch and one, I'm sure, will be used over and over.  Here is Melissa's sketch:

Isn't this a great sketch???  I made two cards for our hop today and because I liked the color combo I kept it going throughout each project.  


This is my first card:

CS:  GKD White and Vibrant Violet.  The scene was sponged with Memento Sky Blue and Paris Dusk, stamped with trees in Memento, Vintage Green, then using a post-it note, I masked the "edge" to make it appear like it was a skating rink.  I cut the oval with Nestabilities.  The stamps are all from the new "Winter Wonderland" stamp kit.  (what a great bargain these sets are each month) The skates are colored with metallic pencils and highlighted using the Sukura Gelly Roll pen.  CB EF "Swiss Dots" made the background.  




My second card:  

I changed up the sketch a bit for this one but I really loved the way it turned out.  (Sorry that the photo isn't the best,  I didn't get home in time to take a daylight shot of it.)  
CS:  GKD PL Fresh Asparagus, Vibrant Violet and White.   
Stamps are from the Winter Wonderland Stamp Kit.  Colored with Copics.  Spellbinder dies are Labels 14.  Distressed with Tim Holt's Distress Ink "Milled Lavender".   


You're invited to play along with us.  Just post your card to the thread in the Forum at StampTV - we'd love to see your take on the sketch too.  


Thanks so much for stopping by.  Now, the very talented Deb Felts is waiting for you to see what she's created.  


Enjoy your weekend!

Cheri

Vintage Romance - Favorite Occasions Week

Who doesn't like a little romance???

This card was made for two challenges - the sketch challenge over at StampTV this week and for the Card Creations:  Favorite Occasions Week at Moxie Fab World The Love Challenge.  Come on over and play.

Card details:  CS is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury "Ivory", Red Lipstick" and "Chocolate Brown".  The DP is Basic Grey "Curio".  When I saw this dp made me think of chocolate covered cherries and when my hubby gives me those, he speaks right to my romantic heart.  The stamps used are GKD "Sung from the Heart" designed by Rupa Shevde and for the sentiment I used "Fanciful Tags" by Nina Brackett

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Stamp on!!!

Cheri

Card Patterns Sketch #93

Hi Blogger Friends,

Somehow, I've found time to make some cards today, and I made this one for two challenges.  The first is for Tina Gilliland's Release Party 12 Days of Christmas Challenge over at StampTV and the other is for Card Patterns Sketch Challenge #93.  I turned the sketch a bit for this challenge, but I really love the way it turned out.  There are so many challenges out there, I hope you get an opportunity to play along in some of them.

Here's my card.

The products used on this card are:
CS:  Gina K Designs "Red Lipstick" and "Ivory"
DP:  Webster's Pages "Waiting for Santa and Sweet Seasons".
Stamps:  GKD "Lovely Labels 2" by Nina Brackett and GKD "Festive Frame" by Melanie Munchinger for the sentiment.
The flower treatment is a tutorial I picked up on SCS "Stitched Ribbon Flower" by Beate.

Thanks for stopping by.
Have a Great week.

Cheri

Color Challenge at Stamp TV

There's a color challenge over at Stamp TV and it's a beauty!

Here's the card I made for this challenge.

Card Stock is GKD PL "Innocent Pink", "Ivory" and "Chocolate Brown".  DP is Basic Grey "Cappella" paper pad.
Stamp Set is GKD "Lovely Labels 2" by Nina Brackett.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your week!

Cheri

Moxie Fab Thank You Challenge

Check out the Card Creations: Favorite Occasions Week Thank You Challenge in the Moxie Fab World I've been lurking in the shadows of this site for quite some time - the challenges are such fun and I love seeing what everyone creates there - now I decided I'd like to play too.

I made this card for Thank You Challenge at Moxie Fab World!  Come on over and play some too!

I used the new Tim Holtz Alterations Rosette to make the rosette.  DP is by "Me and My Big Ideas".  CS is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury "White" and "Red Hot".  Really easy card to make but it packs some WOW punch with the colors and the dimension.

Thanks for looking.

Cheri

Speedy the Cat's Challenge #33

Hi Peeps!

I was very excited to win challenge #31 over at Speedy the Cat's Challenge Blog and I wanted to play (again) this week.  I bought a second stamp set from Mark's Finest Papers and, although I didn't need another holiday stamp set, I just could not resist Musical Holiday.  The challenge #33 is to make a red and green card.  With those colors pretty much dominating my crafting area lately, I made this card.

Stamp set is from Mark's Finest Paper Musical Holiday.

I love that music piece.  I stamped it on GKD Pure Luxury Kraft with Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  I embossed the sentiment with Ranger Gold super fine ep.

Thanks for looking.

Cheri

Center Stage Spotlight Alumni Inspiration Blog Hop

Welcome to another StampTV Center Stage Spotlight Blog Hop!!!!  It's been so much fun reading your comments on our past hops and I just want to say thanks so much for taking the time to leave them.  


If you've come here from our very talented blog hop organizer Carolina's blog then you're in the right place.  If you didn't, you're invited to start hopping  at the beginning and catch all of the fantastic inspiration from this talented group.  


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and Carolina gave us this FABULOUS photo for inspiration for this hop.  

I'm a true traditionalist when it comes to Christmas colors - I love red and green with white together, so when I saw Carolina's photo I knew my cards would be purely traditional.


Here's my first card:

For this card I used GKD PL "All Spruced Up" for the card base, then layered with "Red Hot" and White.  The stamps I used are GKD "Festive Frame" by Melanie Muenchinger.  This is a beautiful set and it's perfect for the most traditional of all Christmas cards.  I used Copic markers for coloring and Memento Ink for stamping the image.  Although this photo doesn't pick it up too well, the centers of the flowers are embellished with gold bling.  I also used the Sukura Gelly Pen to highlight the berries in the arrangement. 


For my second card I had some fun with the "snowman" in the photo

I created this card by masking the snowman then stamping the tree image several times.  I colored in the trees and areas on the snowman with Copic Markers.  I used MS glitter for the snow effect.


Again, I used GKD PL CS "All Spruced Up" for the card base and layered with "Red Hot" and White.  The stamp set is Gina K's newest winter set "Snow Much Fun", and it really is a fun stamp set to play with.  


Thanks for stopping by.  Now hop on over to the lovely and talented Giovana's blog and see her gorgeous creations.

Cheri

Home For the Holidays - I WON!!

This card was randomly selected as a winner over at Speedy the Cat Challenge - #31!!!!  Thank you!!! Wooohoo!

I've been wanting to play in some of the challenges over at Mark's Finest Papers for quite some time, but finding the time to create a card or project has been difficult.  This holiday weekend provided a perfect opportunity for me to grab some creative time for myself, so I'm posting this for Speedy the Cat's Challenge #31, - Geri's challenge of "have a circle in your card".

Also this card is being entered in the Card Patterns Sketch Challenge #91

This is my first stamp set purchased from MFP and I love it.  So much so, that I just ordered a second set.  (One can never have enough stamps).

I used GKD PL CS - White, Red Hot and All Spruced Up for this card.  I'm very much into the holiday spirit now and love making Christmas cards.  I live in Maine and this stamp set evokes a wonderful sense of a coastal holiday homecoming.  The stamp is from MFP "Welcome Home" set.  I hope you like it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheri

Entered in:

http://www.cardpatterns.blogspot.com/
http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for visiting and leaving your wonderful comments on my cards. I so appreciate each and everyone of you.

Cheri

Stamp TV Color Challenge 2

Hi peeps!

Over at StampTV, Gina is having another color challenge.  Take a peek ...

Here's my card for this challenge -

There's some glare on my gold (hahahaha  hey that sounds like a good title to a cw tune), I tried to get the card in an area where I could take a good photo - this is the best one I could get. (with a little glare).

The stamps are the new GKD "Heirloom Ornament" set by Nina Brackett and I used the ornament dies from Spellbinders to get the perfect shape (don't cha just love Spellbinders?).  The sentiment is from "Festive Frames" by Melanie Munchinger.

Try the challenge.....then post your card to the gallery.  Don't forget to add the tag STVSCP2 so you'll be posted in the right gallery and entered to win a free GKD stamp set.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheri

WELCOME TO THE COLOR COMBO HOP

WELCOME to another CSS DT blog hop.  If you've come from our fantastic blog hop organizer Carolina Buchting's Blog then you're in the right place, if not, then you'll want to go to the beginning and take the complete hop to see all the inspiration this talented group of ladies has created.   This hop is a color combo hop and here are the instructions:  


Create a card or project using the following color combo:

• White or Ivory
• Brown
• Light Blue (Little Boy Blue, Ocean Mist, or Turquoise Sea)
• Yellow (Lemon Drop, Sweet Corn, or Wild Dandelion)

I made 2 cards for this hop and here is my first one:

For this card I cut narrow strips of Basic Grey "Jovial" dp and layered them on GKD PL Dandelion CS.  Although the colors don't appear to be very vibrant here, they set up nicely against the GKD PL Sand CS I used for the base of this card.  The stamped sentiment is from the GKD "Lovely Labels" by Nina Brackett.  The flames were hand cut and then "lit" with Stickles.  The "glow" around them came by sponging Distress Ink "Antique Linen" on them before putting on the Stickles.  

Here is my second  card:

For this card I chose GKD PL "Turquoise Sea", "Wild Dandelion" and "Chocolate Kiss".  I used the snowflakes Cuttlebug EF on the middle layer and then sanded it lightly before rubbing some "Arctic Blue"  Ice Stickles on it for an iridescent effect on the flakes.  For the wood effect I used a Tim Holtz EF.  The mittens are stamped from the GKD set, "Warm and Wonderful" by Rupa Shevde and colored with Copic markers. 

I didn't have a lot of time to create cards this week, but I hope you like these and I hope they give you some inspiration to join in and create your own cards with this color combo.  If you do, post them on the thread or in the gallery so we call can see them.  

Thanks for stopping by, now hop on over to the very talented Giovana Smith and see the fantastic creation she has for you there.  

Cheri

   

STAMP TV COLOR SPOTLIGHT CHALLENGE

Hi Blogger Buddies!

Come on over to StampTV and play along with Gina K's first Color Spotlight challenge.  Here are the colors you must use on your cards or projects.

Here's my card for the challenge!

Thanks for stopping  by and I hope you'll join the challenge!

Cheri

Sketch Challenge Over at Stamp TV

Hey blogger friends....check this out.....a video sketch challenge over at StampTV

Here's my entry for that challenge:

Go on over and jump in on this challenge - Gina's offering a GKD stamp set of your choosing (up to $24.95 value) to the winner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheri

Badge of Tude

My sweet blogging friend, Mary Anne (aka MA54K) gave me this blog award.  Thanks so much, If you follow all the directions that come with it, you can receive a $5.00 gift certificate from Digi's With Attitude. You can find all the specifics right here.

One of the rules of the award is that you must tell 3 unknown facts about yourself:

1) I played on a women's ice hockey team for 5 years.

2) I once worked for the FBI.

3) I love being snowed in.

Now I must hook up 5 deserving Bloggers:

Tina Gilliland

Brenda Turner

Joy Hadden

Karen K

Melissa S

Be sure to hook up your post to the Digi's With Attitude Challenge Blog!

Chickadee in Muted Colors

Hi there,
I've been so preoccupied with "stuff" these days that I haven't had much time to play or post.  Being behind is becoming a "norm" for me lately....I'm out to fix that.

Over at StampTV this week, Janice Whiting challenge us to create with muted colors.  Why did I struggle so much with that????  I think my brain was in overload and I couldn't make my color pallets work no matter what I pulled together.  Finally, at the eleventh hour (literally) I created this card.  I just love, love, love this stamp set by Asela Hopkins called Winter Wings.

 I loved the results of this combination.  The photo really doesn't show it well, but it's a gorgeous combination.  BTW...see that little tiny bit of ribbon that didn't get tucked at the top of the card?  I took care of that.  *wink*

I colored the image with Copics by just lightly touching the Chickadee with W-3.  I softly sponged Distress Inks, Victorian Velvet, Pumic Stone and Bundled Sage around the bird and those colors really blended so well with that Cappella DP by Basic Grey.  I colored the lacy ribbon with Copics too, in order to get the right blend.

Thanks for stopping by.  Don't forget to log on to Stamp TV on Thursday night for the new release.  By the looks of the snippets, it's going to be a fantastic party.


Thanks for stopping by.

Cheri

Spina Bifida Awareness Month

I'm participating in Giovana's efforts to help two adorable kids with Spina Bifida.  Here is Giovana's blog explaining the card drive.  These cards are going out in the mail to these to very courageous kids, Becka and Logan.

It's a pleasure for me to play along with this card drive.

All stamps are Gina K stamps:  Tea Time by Rupa Shevde and The Journey by Asela Hopkins.

Thanks so much Giovana for sharing this project with you.

Cheri

CSSDT Alumni CAS Blog Hop

Welcome!!   Here we are for another fun blog hop by the StampTV Center Stage Spotlight Design Team Alumni.  This hop is all about Clean And Simple (CAS) cards.  You know the ones....they have a lot of white space and usually only have one layer.  It's not as easy as it sounds, but it really makes for great cards. Give it a try yourself, and then post your cards to the CAS thread in the StampTV Forum.  

Here at the details for this hop:

• Your design must be CAS - Clean And Simple: lots of white or open space with one main focal point
• One image
• One sentiment
• One layer card - your card base plus only one more layer
• Embellishments - you can use any number of embellishments you want, but they all must be the same color

If you've come from Carolina's blog you're in the right place.  If not, you'll want to go back to the beginning and see all the gorgeous projects the design team has created.


For my first card I really wanted to keep very simple.  I thought about all the backgrounds I could have created, yet, nevertheless, I decided to let the stamp stand alone.  I think I'd like to enhance on this if I do it again.  

 CS:  GKD PL White.  Stamps:  "Seeds of Kindness" by Gina K.  I used copics to color the image and my one layer is the Fancy Tags where I stamped my sentiment.  The bling is from my stash.  


For my second card, I did a little more, yet it was sooooo easy to create.

I inked one of the new Tim Holtz EF with Distress Ink "Pine Needles" and then embossed it on a portion of the card.  Next I stamped the buck in Memento Rich Cocoa and for fun stuck a red sparkle on what might be his nose.  I then stamped the sentiment in Distress Ink, "Victorian Velvet".  


CS:  GKD PL White.  Stamps:  GKD "Life is Good" by Theresa Momber and "Festive Frame" by Melanie Muenchinger. 


Now hop on over to the very talented Deb Felt's blog and see her fabulous creations.  
Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT weekend.  

Cheri

Thank You, Challenge Ladies

Hello blogging friends, 
Tonight we are having a special blog hop to thank our recently retired StampTV Challenge Hostess Team members:

Carla Suto

Melissa Shultz

Linda Payne

Brenda Turner

Giovana Smith

These 5 designers have provided StampTV with a challenge each week during the months of June, July and August.

We have a special StampTV Challenge Magazine Volume 3* located on the Freebie Tab, where all of their challenges are shared in a download PDF that you can save to your computer and print out at your leisure!

Please join in our Thank You Discussion on Stamp TV and feel free to play along and say thank you with your own take on one of their challenges!!!

Color Challenge - Carla Suto


My first card was made for my dear friend, Carla Suto.  Carla's color challenges and card examples left us breathless with the gorgeous way she coordinates color, patterns and layers.  When the stamp set "Fun Furnishings" was released, I noticed early on that Carla had a love relationship with that set.  So, it was easy for me to pick the stamp set I would use for Carla's card.  I picked her Color Challenge One  (Chocolate, Green and Ivory) Here's my card for you, Carla.  

CS:  GKD PL "Chocolate Kiss", "Cream De Menthe" and Ivory.  DP:  Basic Grey "Cappella", PTI "Green Tea Leaves".  Stamps:  "Fine Furnishings Additions", by Nina Brackett.


Sketch Challenge - Melissa Shultz


My next card was made for Melissa Shultz.  Melissa was an outstanding sketch challenge hostess.  Melissa, Peggy Wainman and myself were all chosen to be Center Stage Spotlight Design Team Members in December 2009.  When we were assigned our new stamp sets for the upcoming release that month, it seemed incredible how we seemed to have been matched to the sets we were to showcase.  For instance, Melissa's set was "Tech Talk" and guess what????  She works in IT (technology).  So, for Melissa, I selected "Tech Talk" and incorporated it in her Sketch #7.   Here's my card for you, Melissa and thanks for those great sketches.

CS GKD PL "Chocolate Kiss", "Turquoise Sea" and White.  Stamp Sets:  "Tech Talk" by Melanie Munchinger.  


Blast From the Past Challenge - Linda Payne


My next card is for Linda Payne.  How I loved her Blast from the Past challenges.  She often added "with a twist" on her challenges and came up with some great "twists" which became the REAL challenge.  For Linda's card I selected Blast From the Past #3, Patterned Embossing.  I wasn't able to play along with this challenge when Linda posted it, so I wanted to catch up and make one just for this fabulous lady.  (I took the easy way out....there was no "twist" with this challenge).   Linda, this is my card for you.

CS:  GKD PL, "Lovely Lavendar", "Vibrant Violet" and White.  DP:  Basic Grey "Kioshi".  The Sateen Flowers are colored with Copic Markers and can be purchased from GKD.  


Inspiration Challenge - Brenda Turner


Here's my card for the lady with all the inspiration, Brenda Turner.  Brenda rocked the inspiration challenges and I had a very difficult time deciding what one I would thank her with.  I decided to do her seasonal challenge  the Halloween/Fall Window and again, it's a catch up - I wasn't able to play it during the challenge.  Here's my card for you Brenda.

CS: GKD PL "Vibrant Violet", "Sweet Mango", "Black Onyx", "Sweet Corn"and "Sand".  Stamps:  "Autumn Splendor" StampTV Kit, and "Botanicals".  EB folders and sponging.  


Christmas Challenge - Giovana Smith


My final thank you card is for Giovana Smith.  Giovana's Christmas Challenges took Christmas cards to another level.  What a talented lady she is.  Anyway, while most of us were sweltering in the summer heat, Giovana gave us something "cool" to work on.  I decided to thank Giovana with a card from her Christmas Challenge #5 , glitter, sparkle and bright items.  Thanks Giovana for helping us get a jump on our Christmas cards while we "cooled" in the summer heat.  This is my card for you.  

CS:  GKD PL, "In the Navy", "Wine with Everything" and "Lovely Lavendar".  Stamps:  "Tree Silhouettes" and "Winter Wings" (sentiment) by Asela Hopkins.  


Thanks so much, ladies.  It was a great summer of challenges and I had a real blast playing in each of them.  My cards are in the mail to each of you.  


Now, shake a leg....go one hop further and see what exciting cards my friend, and the very talented lady, Betty Neville has made. 


Come on and join us, post a card for all or any one of these fabulous challenge hostesses - we'd love your company and they would love your card!


Thanks so much for stopping by - all comments are welcome!!!

Cheri

The Funny Farm

Hi blog friends,
I hope you enjoyed the last sketch challenge blog hop from the Stamp TV Center Stage Spotlight Design Team Alumni.  It was a fantastic hop loaded with great inspiration.

What a fun new set of stamps Gina K came out with recently called "The Funny Farm".  If you want to make a fun card, get this set.  It's loaded with fun, both for you while you create it, and for the recipient when they receive it.

I made this one last night and can't wait to ink up the rest of that set.

I used GKD PL CS "Fresh Asparagus", "Black Onyx" and White.  Once stamping the farm scene, I used copics to color the farm, fields, Ewe and trees then using distress inks I sponged the scene bg.
I cut the little lamb out, but didn't like my cut lines so I punched a 1" circle and used it as a bg against the lamb.  Hey, it worked to cover up the mess and saved the stamped image.  I glued googely eyes for even more fun on this card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheri

Center Stage Spotlight DT Alumni Sketch Blog Hop

Welcome to another fantastic Sketch Blog Hop of the Stamp TV Center Stage Spotlight Design Team Alumni!!! (that's a mouthful) We've been having a blast with these blog hops and we sure hope you're having as much fun hopping with us.  It's been great reading your comments and hearing what you like about our cards.  Thanks to all of you who have left comments and sent emails.  It's appreciated.

If you've come from the very talented Carolina Buchting's blog, you're in the right place.  If not, you're invited to take the hop from the beginning and enjoy each and every fabulous creation.


For this challenge we are using a sketch first showcased by our own Deb Felts in a past hop.  Deb really created a gorgeous card using this sketch and you can see it here.  I hope you'll try this sketch for yourself and post it on your blog or over at Stamp TV (where the memberships are free).


Here is Deb's fabulous sketch

Now, this may look like a simple sketch - and it isn't difficult, but my creative mind decided to take a vacation the day I was working on this sketch and I made several stabs at it and wasn't pleased with any of them.  (I didn't toss them out - who knows what they'll turn into), but time was getting short and I finally decided to work with some bright colors and make a birthday card.

CS:  GKD PL Red Hot, Wild Dandelion and White.
Stamps:  "Lean on Me" and Showtime Stamp Kit "Picture It" (sentiment)

I decided to try a second time and this is my second card using Deb's great sketch:

CS, GKD PL Cranberry Tart, Ivory and Fresh Asparagus.
Stamps:  "Pretty as a Peacock" by Asela Hopkins and "The Magic of Christmas" by Rupa Shevde.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Now head on over to the very talented Deb Felts (creator of the sketch) and check out her gorgeous card from her own inspiration!

Have a great weekend!

Cheri

World Card Making Day Day After

Hi blog readers,

What a great day yesterday was for World Card Making Day.  Our LSS, Stamp'n Scrap, here in Gardiner hosted a whole day of demos that ranged from stamping with Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamps and embellishing with Flower Soft, demonstrated by Cheryl Stauffer, to great techniques using Spellbinders and another demo using Ranger products by Karen Cheetham.  My head is spinning trying to remember it all and wouldn't you know....I forgot to bring along a note pad!!!  Anyway, it was all fantastic and Ruth Ann McAuslin, the owner of Stamp'n Scrap, was an exceptional host, along with Carolyn, her right-hand gal for the day, providing us with all sorts of yummie treats and assistance.  Susan Trask of SmARTworks Rubber contributed to some fabulous drawings (and I even won one).  I was so excited!!!  It was a wonderful day.  Thank you, Ruth Ann, Susan, Cheryl, Karen and Carolyn.  I had a great time!!!!


I was busy making cards today.   Amazingly, I managed to get 5 challenges done.  I'm going to showcase the color challenge I did for Janice Whiting on StampTV this week.  The color challenge was to use black and yellow with a cool color.  For my cool color I chose turquoise.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by.

Cheri