New DRS Designs releases!!

Hi all!! Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and got all kinds of new goodies to play with!
I'm so glad to finally be able to showing sneaks of the new DRS Designs releases!!! Go here ~ http://www.drsdesigns.com/ ~ to check out ALL of the *NEW* designs!!!!
I finally got a couple of the kaleidacolor ink pads and thought this solid snowman would be perfect to try them out! This one uses the caribbean sea kaleidacolor spectrum pad. I was also happy that SU's green galore, taken w/ teal and turquoise match up perfectly!! So, I hope you don't mind another snowman card, but at least it's a bright one!
card info: stamps ~ drs designs. paper ~ ww, teal, turquoise, green galore. ink ~ caribbean sea kaleidacolor pad, black. access ~ cuttlebug, brads.

Now here's where I get emotional...

I hope that 2009 brings much joy and happiness for you all. After the year we've had, I am somewhat glad to be done with 2008. It's bittersweet because we lost my brother, but my mom now lives closer to us. I've yet to find a "good" way to deal with his passing. It is still so very hard and at times, I don't even like to think of it as a reality. Maybe that's dumb, but I think it's just my minds' way of processing it. I hate that he's not in our lives anymore. And I don't like to use the word 'hate', but that's how I feel. I hate that there are times when the fact of it all smacks me in the face and I can't control my tears. I hate that as I turn 38 tomorrow, he won't be able to give me a hard time for getting old and looking more and more like our mom. I hate that in 21 days, it'll be 1 whole year since he left us. Sorry to get so somber on you, but it's that time of year to reflect and not a day goes by that I don't miss him. Not a day goes by that my heart doesn't ache because he's gone and left our mom without her "baby boy". So I pray that this new year brings only joy, peace and healing for us. Thanks for letting me vent and have a HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!

I truly hope everyone has a BLESSED day and that you take some time to remember the true reason for the season!!!!





I also have a card for you ~ the latest Elzybell blog challenge which is a sketch by Frances! Here's mine:

This will go to my dear friend, Deb, who's bday is today! Sorry, hon, it's gonna be late but it's on its way!!!! Go to the Elzybell blog and follow the link on the right for Challenge 10 to see what the rest of the dt did w/ this sketch! Again, have a wonderful day, be SAFE and thanks for stopping by!!

Blingin' Christmas trees!

Can ya stand one more Christmas card?? I think I'm done sending them, unless we receive a late one, so at least I've already started my stash for next year! hehe! This is for our newest challenge over at the DRS Designs blog ~ *Bling*!! I stamped these trees using olive ink and also watercolored them w/ olive ink. The bling that you may not be able to see in the pic is the versamark dazzle ink I used to stamp the snowflakes onto the red and pretty in pink layers and also onto the sentiment layer. The ribbon is also a shimmery satin.
Thanks for stopping by during your busy schedule!!
card info: stamps ~ drs design. paper ~ regal rose, pretty in pink, olive, red, watercolor, ww. ink ~ olive, black, versamark dazzle in champagne. access. ~ ribbon, piercer, punches, nesties, bling.

Almost done w/ my Christmas cards!

First, let me apologize for the pic. I always think cards look better if the pic was taken using natural light. And since I don't own an Ott light or any other kind of fancy schmancy stuff like that, I had to use the regular lighting in my living room. {ok, sorry for the small rant about my lighting issues!}
This card was made for today's color challenge ~ baja, kiwi, basic grey and night of navy(optional). This is my first time inking up this set! Yikes! And it's such a simple set to work with, I think. The snowflakes were stamped in baja and night of navy ink. The tree is stamped in basic grey. I added a baja snowflake next to the sentiment and put a gemstone (Martha Stewart) in the center. And just a bit of info, the sentiment is there because of a boo-boo on the tree layer. Worked out just fine ~ love when that happens!
Ok, so I'm down to less than 10 cards to make and mail. I've already mailed over 30, maybe even over 40. I'm hoping once everyone gets our new addy (we moved here after last Christmas), we'll receive more Christmas cards!! And I'm down to a few presents left to buy and I'M DONE! Phew. What a good feeling. Thanks for stopping by!!
card info: stamps ~ SU season of friendship, holidays & wishes. paper ~ baja, basic grey, kiwi, dp. ink ~ basic grey, baja, night of navy. access. ~ bling, taffeta ribbon.

Elzy's Traditional red, green and gold Christmas challenge

Time for another Elzybell Blog challenge! I love this one because well, I'm a "tradtional" Christmas sorta girl. We had to use red, green and gold for our colors. I went w/ this tree which I watercolored using kiwi, artichoke and hunter green. What can I say, I wanted a lot of dimension?! The 3 little ornaments have some MS glitter on them and the star was colored in w/ a gold gel pen. I also watercolored a little saffron ink around the whole thing for extra *pop*. The top part of the larger white layer, above the scalloped artichoke layer, was cuttlebugged w/ my swirl embossing folder. I added some gold eyelets to put some extra *goldness* (ok, I know that is NOT a word!) on the card. Finished off w/ one of Elzy's cute sentiments.

Ok, can I just share how excited I am about all the new stuff coming your way from Elzybell??!!! Sorry, I can't say anymore than that, but let's just say it's going to be a *FUN* new year! Thank for stopping by! Go check out all of the dt's creations at Elzybell's blog and remember, Elizabeth still has her advent contest going on, so after you've looked at all the *eye candy*, scroll down a bit and enter to win!!!

card info: stamps ~ elzybells UK. paper ~ ww, artichoke, red, SU dp. ink ~ kiwi, artichoke, hunter and saffron (for watercoloring), black. access. ~ eyelets, punch, gold gel pen, MS glitter.

DRS Designs blog challenge #10 and new camera!

First off ~ the ornament! This is an SU chipboard circle that I've had forever and thought it'd be great for this challenge! I covered it in some pretty BG Wassail dp first. One of my circle nesties was the perfect size, so no cutting by hand (yay!). I stamped the sentiment, then cut it w/ nesties, also. I sponged some mellow moss ink around it while the nestie was still covering it (make sense?) so i could get that non-sponged edge. I colored the holly and berries from DRS w/ my SU markers. There are crystal effects on the berries. I finished it all off w/ some Heidi Swapp bling I've also had forever! Love using up stuff that I already have! I think it would be cute to add this to a present as a tag, maybe write the "to and from" on the back of it, date it, then the recipient can use it as an ornament! Ok, now go check out what the rest of the dt did here ---> DRSDesigns.
Now, about the new camera ~ I got my Christmas/bday gift a little early. A Nikon D40!!!!!!! OH, I am just SO excited to learn how to use this bad boy! Without reading the book, I've already taken some great shots! It's so easy! If you have any tips or suggestions for me, please share! I'd love to, at some point, be able to have a little side job as a photographer.

And congrats to Stacy as my one and only blog candy contest participant!!! Have a great week and hope you're all getting your Christmas shopping done! I'm almost there!

Limited supply card and new banner?

Ok, so what do y'all think?? Like the new banner? It's a pic of a glitter ornament that I made and just played around w/ in Photoshop. Thought it'd be nice to get a little festive around here! Alright, now on to the card ~

Like I said, this is for the limited supply challenge that Wendy posted on SCS today ~ only snowflake stamps, monochromatic, bling and one word sentiments!! Yea, I know! But honestly, sometimes I really like these types of challenges where almost all the decision making is done for me. It keeps me from sitting at my desk and just staring trying to figure out what in the world I'm going to use!! *please tell me I'm not the only one that happens to??!!* The snowflake stamp is from DRS Designs. The "noel" is from SU. I punched out the corner of the moss layer and then put that layer on dimensionals so the punched out flake stands out more. I added a little bling to the center of it, as well as the upper flakes and on either side of the sentiment. This is the sketch that I made up for my BLOG CANDY POST BELOW!!! You only have until THIS SUNDAY to make a card using this sketch and then give me a link to it back here. Hope y'all have a great weekend! I know I plan on sleeping in!!!

card info: stamps ~ drs designs, SU. paper ~ moss, watercolor. ink ~ moss. access. ~ ribbon, punches, bling.

Elzy ornament and ELZYBELL BLOG CANDY!

Ok, before you go off and check out Elizabeth's blog candy over on the Elzybell blog, I wanted to show you the ornament I made. Cute, huh? Know what it is? It's a little paper mache gift box! It was unfinished, so I just covered it with some Basic Grey dp. I had to punch holes for the organdy and silver cord to go through and on the inside, I added a little jingle bell! Thought it'd be a nice touch! The dp on the top was run through my Cuttlebug, then I attached the scalloped Angel. Her dress is paper pieced w/ some BG Wassail dp. There are stickles on her wings and the star.
Ok, now I'm guessing you're ready for the Elzybell blog candy??!!! Elizabeth came up with the coolest one yet ~ it's Advent Calendar blog candy! So, yes, that means she's giving something away every day this month until Christmas!!! Some of the prizes are yet to be released Valentine sets!!! Wahoooo!! Oh, here's the link ~ ELZYBELL blog candy! Good luck!

My ladybug sketch card

Here's the card I made using the sketch for my blog candy ***see post below***!!! All stamps are from DRS Designs. I used the easy ladybug backgrounder to make some of my own dp. I watercolored them w/ real red and tangerine inks, the leaves are colored w/ my celery marker. The ladybug ribbon slide and sentiment are *new* from DRS Designs. Added some piercing and brads to finish it all off. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to play along for some ***blog candy***!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day enjoying time with family and friends and, of course, good food!!!

***fyi: I'm extending the blog candy until NEXT SUNDAY, DEC. 7th since I know everyone's busy with the holidays and such***

My sketch card ~

is posted over on the DRS Designs blog!!!! Go check it out!!!!!

DRS Designs blog challenge #9

This challenge is to find different ways to use the postage frame/envelope art stamps. At first, I was totally stumped, but after thinking for a bit, it hit me ~ GIFT TAGS!!!!!!! These stamps are the perfect size and I just *love* this one w/ the holly leaves, berries and bells. DRS Designs has LOTS of great sentiments that are the perfect size for these stamps, so it was supah easy to find one for the center of this stamp. I colored everything w/ SU markers, used a silver gel pen on the bells and added some holly stickles down the center of all of the leaves. I cut out the image, then adhered it to the green layer. I used my rectangle nesties to cut out the red, then just slapped it all together and added some silver cord. DONE! Now I just need to add the "To" and "From" to the back. Go check out the DRS blog (link over on the right!) and see what the rest of the team came up with! Thanks for stopping by!
***see blog candy post below***

Blog candy and a sketch!

Ok, first here's the candy you're playing for:

The popular Martha Stewart branch punch and 2 Studio G clear stamp sets.

Forgive my rather "unprofessional" attempt at doing a sketch. It just waasn't cooperating, but hopefully you get the idea!! I'll post my sample tomorrow since I won't be able to get a good pic of it tonight. Ok, so if you want a chance at the blog candy, just make a card using my sketch here (if you upload to an online gallery, please use the keyword "arsketch02") and then leave me a comment w/ a link to your card. I'll close the contest next Sunday, Nov. 39th at 9pm CT, then I'll have one of my rugrats draw a number for the winner (I promise it'll be legit!).

Have fun with it and GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, look!!

Go check out the blog candy West Coast Stamper is giving away ~~~ HERE

And come back later because I'll be posting my blog candy today!!!!

A gingerbread Christmas

Here's a card I put together using this week's CC colors ~ red, black and kraft. I hadn't used this image from DRS Designs yet, so thought it deserved to be inked up! This was so easy to color in ~ I used a caramel marker for the houses, a red marker for parts of the candy canes and a white gel pen for everything else! I used one of the plaid stamps, also from DRS, on the red layer for that extra *cozy* feel. And the sentiment, again from DRS ;}, is the perfect font and just says it all! A couple of brads, ribbon and some faux stitching finish it off!
Hey, quick question for y'all, where can I find some polyshrink?? Michael's or Hobby Lobby? I'd love to get my hands on some!
And I haven't forgotten about the blog candy ~ still gathering it all up and thinking of a sketch to go along w/ it! ;}
Thanks for stopping by!!

Blogger award!

One of my PSFs, MissBoo, has nominated me for this award! She is one of the 1st people I met over on SCS and is one of the sweetest and most encouraging stampers you could ever know! Thanks, hon!
Here are the rules:
1. Winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Now the hard part ~ picking just 5 blogs to nominate!
1. Jackie Pedro's Blog
2. Cathy's Blog
3. Stacy's Blog
4. Judy's Blog
5. Bethany's Blog

You know I could pick 50 more blogs to nominate, so if you're reading this, consider yourself nominated!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Elzybell UK paper piecing blog challenge

That's right, time for another Elzy challenge! I decided to use this umbrella girl image since she had the largest open areas, I guess you could say, to do the paper piecing. For her umbrella, raincoat and boots, I used some dp from the Sweet DCWV paper pack ~ *love* it! The striped/flourish dp is also from that pack ~ and it matches baja! I added crystal effects to the umbrella, boots and little water puddles. I masked her and stamped the bee/flowers stamp around her. All of the coloring was done w/ SU markers. I sponged baja and bashful around her for a little sky and celery on the bottom. I punched a whole at the top of the main layer and pulled the ribbon thru. To finish it off, I added a bit of ww punched out w/ my word window punch and added 3 silver brads. Now go to the Elzybell blog and see what the rest of the belles did for this challenge!

*****To celebrate my belated blogiversary and hitting over 25k posts, I'll have a blog candy post soon, so stay tuned!!!*****

card info: stamps ~ elzybells UK. paper ~ baja, ww, dp. ink ~ black, baja, celery. access. ~ markers, sponge, ribbon, punch, brads, crystal effects, white gel pen.

DRS Designs scrapbook challenge

Hi all!! Sorry for not posting in a while ~ went out of town w/ the hubby for a few days (work related, but we still had fun!).
I haven't scrapbooked in so long, I was worried I'd forgotten how! I'm so glad this was our challenge this week over at the DRS Designs blog, so at least I can say I got Halloween 2006 done, right??! We wanted to show that DRS Designs stamps are so easy and versatile. For my little pirates, I used the candy corn easy backgrounder stamp on the white layer. I then used the Trick or Treat stamp as my title and layered it on black. Doesn't get any easier than that!! I added some buttons and ribbon to finish it off. Thanks for stopping by!
page info: stamps ~ drs designs. paper ~ black bazzill, text ww, pumpkin, ww, black. ink ~ pumpkin, black. access. ~ markers, ribbon, buttons.

What's black and white and baja all over?

My Elzybell blog challenge card! ha! This weeks' challenge is to make a card using black, white and one other color. I just got this yummy new ribbon, so I thought I'd go w/ baja. These angels are actually one vertical stamp, but I broke them up so that they fit with the SC200 SCS challenge. I paper pieced their dresses. Not sure if you can see it, but I added stickles to the outline of their wings and on the stars. I also went over their halos w/ my barely banana marker (but shhhh, don't tell anybody, remember, we're only supposed to use one color! ;}). The black dp is new from SEI. I just love the embossed circles on it! To finish it off, I added 2 silver and 1 rhinestone brad at the top left of the textured white layer. Go check out the Elzybell blog to see what the rest of the DT did! (and if it's not posted yet, don't worry, it'll be up shortly!)


card info: stamps ~ elzybells UK. paper ~ baja, ww, text. ww, black, dp. ink ~ black. access. ~ ribbon, brads, stickles, marker.

Challenge time again!

Hi!! Man, have I been super busy lately!! But I managed to squeeze in the DRS Designs blog challenge and this week it's a sketch challenge! Check out the sketch here: http://drsdesignsblog.blogspot.com/
I decided to flip mine. This poinsettia image is just so pretty. I watercolored it w/ riding hood red and artichoke inks. The centers have white gel pen dots and I later added stickles to the red parts of the poinsettia. I cuttlebugged about 3/4 of the vanilla card base w/ the swirl ~ love how it mimics the swirl stamp on the artichoke layer! The sentiment is from a multi Christmas sentiment stamp. It has several Christmas sentiments all on one stamp that you can keep together or cut apart to use separately. Thanks for stopping by! I sure hope to find more stamping time soon!

card info: stamps ~ drs designs. paper ~ vanilla, artichoke. ink ~ riding hood, artichoke, saffron, black. access. ~ ribbon, brads, gel pen, stickles, watercolor brush, cuttlebug folder.

Time for another Elzybell blog challenge!

Every other Thursday a new challenge is posted on the Elzybell UK BLOG. This week it's all about *inchies*. Incase you didn't know, an *inchie* is a 1"x1" square piece of *art*. I thought these cute little images would be perfect for this challenge! I colored them w/ markers, highlighting the berries w/ a white gel pen. I used this week's sketch challenge on SCS, but added an extra half circle for the sentiment. I pierced around the larger scallop nestie and used the threading water punch at the bottom. The *bling* is from Marta Stewart.
And don't forget ~ your last chance to enter the Elzy Christmas competition is TUESDAY. Check out all the details HERE. And get to working on those *inchies*!!
card info: stamps ~ elzybells UK. paper ~ celery, red, ww, dp. ink ~ black. access. ~ nesties, punch, markers, bling, piercer.

A non-traditional Christmas card

Here's another card for the DRS Designs blog challenge #6, to make your sentiment your focal point. This is another awesome soon to be released sentiment from DRS Designs. The middle pink layer is stamped w/ the easy snowflake backgrounder stamp in versamark, then embossed w/ Iridescent Ice ep. Much pretty IRL, as always, right! The sentiment was done w/ my nesties and the scallop behind it was punched out w/ my pink marvy scallop punch. The black strips were pierced, as well as the corners.
Thanks for stopping by!
card info: stamps ~ drs designs. paper ~ pink pir, black, ww. ink ~ versa, black. access. ~ gingham, piercer, punch, nesties, II ep, brads.

DRS Designs blog challenge #6

Yep, it's that time again! DRS Designs blog challenge #6 is to make your sentiment the focal point. DRS has a ton of great sentiments to choose from!! I had a hard time deciding, but went with a Thanksgiving one since it's not that far away! (yikes!) Now you may ask, "hey, where'd you get that great designer paper behind the sentiment??". Welllll, that's actually some *dp* I created using one of DRS Designs easy background stamps!!!! I colored them in w/ SU markers. I covered it with vellum, again, to keep my sentiment as my focal point. Ok, now go check out the rest of the DT's creations HERE. Join in on the fun and post a link to your creation so we can check it out!!
card info: stamps ~ DRS designs. paper ~ pumpkin, cocoa, ww, vellum. ink ~ choc. access. ~ markers, brads, hemp.

A very challenging card!

Well, not really. I say that because it combines this past weeks' Sketch challenge, Sharon J's blog challenge and kinda sorta the Limited Supplies challenge (we weren't supposed to use ribbon, but I just can NOT make a *Sharon* inspired card without it!!). I got to use some of my new goodies ~ the Haiku dp and the Upsy Daisy set. I inked it up w/ markers and just matched it up w/ the dp I wanted. The flower and sentiment layers are up on dimensionals.
I have some new DRS Designs stamps that I'm going to go play with now, so stay tuned for some sneak peeks!!!!
card info: stamps ~ SU. paper ~ saffron, olive, ww, dp. ink ~ all from markers. access. ~ ribbon, brads, markers, scissors.

Elzy kitty card

I had colored this image for a certain color challenge on SCS ~ going grey, riding hood red and green galore ~ but had never gotten around to making a card with it til now! I made this for the World Card Making Day sketch challenge. The image was colored w/ inks from ink pads and a watercolor brush. I outlined it w/ my bashful blue marker to make it *pop*. I pierced along the red strips and added a sentiment punched out w/ my word window punch. Thanks to Stacy for the ribbon!!
Thanks for stopping by!

card info: stamps ~ Elzybells UK. paper ~ ww, riding hood, going grey, green galore. ink ~ black, riding hood, gg, basic grey. access. ~ brads, ribbon, piercer.

Another Elzybell sketch challenge!

Time for the 3rd Elzybell sketch challenge on the Elzy blog, which you can check out HERE. Since I haven't been able to do a card for the color challenge on SCS this week, I decided to use them for this challenge. Not a traditional baby card, but hey, still cute, right? Used my nesties (*lovin'* those things!) to cut and layer my image. The image is watercolored with baja breeze, chocolate, banana and rust. I'm wishing now that I had cuttlebugged the rust layers, but it was late and my brain just wasn't thinking right! Used piercing and eyelets to finish it off. Thanks for stopping by!

card info: stamps ~ elzybells UK. paper ~ baja, rust, choc, ww. ink ~ baja, choc, banana, rust. access. ~ eyelets, ribbon, piercer, punch, nesties.