A Triple Crown Challenge

    I can't tell you how many years ago, I bought my little jars of Pearl Ex. Like many other stamping supplies purchased, they just sat unused.  When I saw Nichole using the Pearl Ex on her cards lately, I was hoping there would be a MIM tutorial. Wish granted.

   Had I remembered that all I really needed to do was stamp the image with Versamark, I think I would have used these babies a lot more. Here's an upclose shot of my image & sentiment.

     I also decided to use the Pearl Ex powders on the vertical border I stamped.

  

Since the theme of the card is birthday, I am also submitting it to the current challenge at CAS-ual Fridays which is having a birthday bash.

The sketch is from this week's challenge at Retrosketches. I pretty much stuck to it.

  I don't often combine challenges. So this is great for me.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM : Collage

                  When I first saw the title of this week's  MIM Challenge: Collage elements, I wasn't too excited because anything involving  the creation of a background is extremely challenging for me. After I watched the video, I decided to take a stab at it.
                  I decided I would stick with a theme. Since I need several birthday cards this month, I thought I would play around with the birthday stamp sets I purchased last month.  I began by just laying the stamps on my card stock.  This is what I ended up with.

Stamping the birthday border along the left side was inspired by this card from Dawn McVey. However the right side is not a panel but rather the front of the card itself. I just cut the top left portion off.  Here's a close up of the actual collage. Since this card is for a 4 year old who loves both pinks and purples, I chose Pixie Dust ((Versamagic) & Winter Wisteria.

This what the inside of the card looks like. I used a sponge with Pixie Dust ink to add color to the words on the left.

 The swirly banners  are on the inside because I messed up. After I stamped the words on the left, I forgot to switch to the front of the card. Luckily, I was able to salvage my mistake.  thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Silent Night! Holy Night!

Here's another Christmas card I sent this year using the Rustic White/Ocean Tides color combination. Soft Stone was the ink I used. (Hard to see the Nativity scene in this picture)

  An up close shot.

I love how this sentiment fit on the Perfect Patches die.

Thanks for stopping by.

Retroskteches # 38

  Two weeks in a row entering in a challenge by the same sponsor! That's a first for me! Once again I found the sketch in this week's Retrosketches very appealing.

 Here's my take.

 I used Rustic White and Ocean Tides card stock.  The trees were stamped in  Soft Stone.

I decided to add the sentiment in the top corner. I used Soft Stone on this too! 

Thanks for taking a peek!

MIM # 75 Roll The Dice

This week PTI has a neat challenge. One has to fill out a form created by Erin Lincoln, roll a dice and create a card based upon the # rolled and the corresponding element recorded on the form. Instead of rolling a dice, I used a number generator on my phone. Here's a shot of my completed form. In the image category, I  put stamp sets that needed more love. Coming up with color combinations was the hardest part for me.

  This is what the number generator decided:
            Orientation: #4 Vertical
             Layout #6 
             Stamp Set Image: Lock and Key (what I was hoping would not come up)
             Stamp set Sentiment : Delightful Dahlia (I think I am in trouble)
             Color Combo: Winter wisteria, Kraft, Spring Rain, Simply Charteuse (I love this!)
             Embellishment: Button

And the resulting card:     As my granddaughter would say:   Ta  Daaaaa

The only other dies I used were the Striped IP and the Limitless Layers and Tag Dies

 To solve my sentiment dilemma, I selectively stamped the single word "love" from "I just love you" in Delightful Dahlia and added "...is the key that opens the heart" from the Lock & Key Set. Since the sentiment is so small, I could not get a clear picture. This was a neat challenge. I really enjoyed it. I hope you get a chance to play along. Thanks for stopping by.

More Teacher Gifts

     I didn't think the Post-It Note Holders I made for the female teachers I  work with would go over with the male teachers. I decided to do something different.  Consumables are always good. I found these canisters at the dollar store.

   I just wrapped each canister with designer paper. Because the circumference was longer than 12 inches, I had to add an extra strip in the back.  Used some twine and tiny tags to add some interest to the front.

    An up-close photo of the tiny tag & twine.

    I also decorated the lid using my Wishblade to cut out a large circle. Other dies used were Limitless Layers and Holly Jolly.

     Inside each canister is a snack mix consisting of M & M's, raisins, peanuts and butterscotch morsels. I tried to have equal measures of each.  Beware! This mix is addicting.  You can't just eat one handful.

If you need a last minute gift. Try this!  Thanks for stopping by.

Faux Front & Center Gift Bag

     Now that I have all my Christmas gifts made for my co-workers, I need to package them.  I do love the packages made using the front & center die, but I didn't purchase one because I felt I could make something similiar using what I already own.

   Together with my edgers #4 die and the Oval Coluzzle; mission accomplished.

   It took some experimenting to get the right height. Since my gifts are 6" tall, I knew my paper bag had to be slightly taller. So I cut the bag at 71/2 ".  Determining the size of the panels was trial & error. I cut a piece of cardstock  5 1/2 by 11, used the edger die on one edge, cut the oval for the handle and preceded to cut 1/2 inch segments from the bottom until I had the right height. I ended up using a panel 10" by 5 1/2".
    I wanted to use white paper bags. After scouring the party section of several stores with no luck, I found that Walmart had white paper lunch bags.
  On my wishlist is the snowflake die. However, I wanted a snowflake as as a focal point to continue the theme with the pattern paper, so I went to the Dollar Store and bought a package of 10 plastic, glittery snowflakes for $1.

   I think I am going to redo the red circle. Instead of using it as a name tag, I am going to stamp a sentiment and attach a tiny tag with the recipient's name.

   A close up of the right side of the bag.

     For those of you who are eyeing the Front & Center die, but have an edger's die (# 2 & 4 would work best) don't be afraid to make your own faux one. You'll save your self a lot of money and get the same result. These bags are really fun & easy to make, especially after you make one. I have 3 completed. My intention is to complete 2 a night.

    One of my goals for 2012 is to become more creative with what I already have.

    Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you are done with your shopping and are beginning to wrap your "goodies".