Twinkling Tuesday Belated! Monsters!! Oh No!!

Let’s see, my excuse for being late this week… Monsters invaded my home...   Really?? you don’t believe me! Humph, I am offended!! Well, look below, I have PROOF! Three of the scariest monsters I’ve ever seen snuck into my home and have been wreaking havoc! They have eaten EVERYTHING, messed up my house (of course that is why it’s messy!) and kept me from crafting! Don’t you think they are scary??

 

The inspiration for this card was Madelynn’s sketch for the week. After this, the Twinkle Team is taking a break for the summer. It makes me sad but at the same time I am looking forward to not having to remember when we are out doing fun stuff! I’ll miss the team too! We tend to banter back and forth a fair bit through emails. A really great bunch of gals! I will be sure to post when we are coming back for anyone who follows the Team. Apparently, we are going to have a name change come the fall too! Even I don’t know what it is yet, Madelynn is keeping it a secret!

Quite the doozy of a sketch huh? I debated between wanting to split it down the middle, doing only half of the sketch and working with the whole thing. I considered doing a scrapbook layout but the pix I wanted to scrap aren’t printed yet! So decided to be brave and I went for the whole thing in the end. Obviously I didn’t manage every little detail this week, there were quite a few, well tons actually! Let’s just say I moderated them a little!

 

These little guys are cute huh? I coloured them with Copics and used blender solution on a piece of terry cloth to get the texture on the red and turquoise monsters. The yellow one I ‘dotted’ by hand with lots of touches using my blender pen. To get the feet to show up on the patterned paper, I first scratched the top layer of paper off with the tip of my scissors leaving white paper behind. Otherwise the turquoise feet would have looked brown and the orange feet simply wouldn’t have shown up at all!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: MFT
Ink: Adirondack black
Paper: Bazzil CS, Fancy Pants Summer Soiree DP, black CS-SU!
Accessories: red droplets (epoxy stickers)-Kaisercraft, red brad-Doodlebug Designs, Ribbon-Sweet Pea Scrapbooking Kits, foam dots-Jody Morrow

Whimsical Butterfly Card for Twinkling Tuesday

So sorry I’m late y’all! I was at a three-day convention all weekend so I was too tired to make this card yesterday for posting last night or this morning! I took Monday to just CHILL! But it is still technically Tuesday so I guess I am safe! Hee Hee!! :) This card was inspired by a doozy of a sketch by Jack, Madelynn’s little brother. But just wait ‘til the next 2 weeks, then the sketches get really intense! I enjoy a challenge, that’s for sure. I don’t even usually post the sketch in advance of showing you the card but this card requires the sketch to make sense! This sketch doesn’t look too hard at first but look again at all the details! Dots in each corner of the card and the stamped panel, tabs at the end of each ‘line’ and all of the stars at the bottom. Whew. Now in case anyone is wondering, I had a great time trying to think of what to do and loved using this sketch. It is just that my card is a wee bit busier than normal; I decided to use ALL of the details in this sketch, every last one! Well, OK, I didn’t use the crosshatching on the lower tabs…

I love how this sketch allowed me to show off this awesome DP! It really shows through the design. I was thinking about butterflies lately because of the Butterfly Project. Heard of it? The Holocaust Museum of Houston is creating an exhibit of 1.5 MILLION butterflies, one representing each child killed during the Holocaust. The exhibit opens 2012 and anyone is able to send in a butterfly (or more) to the exhibit. They can be of any medium, flat preferred, no glitter or food products, no larger than 8x10”. I hope I get to see this exhibit once it opens. Please consider making a butterfly or two (or more!) for this worthy project. Craft Critique is going to send a huge package of butterflies so if you wish, you can send yours to them by September 15th. You can also send them to the museum directly. If you wish to read more, click HERE. If you do make a butterfly, I’d love to see it so leave me the link here. No blog? Registration is free to upload to Splitcoast Stampers or Paper Craft Planet. This is a great project to do with your kids, I’m pretty sure construction paper would make awesome butterflies. Craft Critique has and I’m guessing will continue to have ideas for butterflies for both kids and adults. You could paint, sew, quilt, stencil, weave, punch, die cut, knit, sketch, crochet, scrap, stamp, cut, colour, photograph, collage, tole, pierce, paper piece, emboss, iris fold, embroider, cross-stitch, needlepoint, rug hook, dye, tat, batik or silk-screen your butterflies. ‘Nuf ideas??

The paper I used was from Basic Grey Phoebe, the flower cut out from another paper in the same pack. I punched the butterfly from a solid section of the flower paper and outlined it in marker to help it stand out. I used a larger pearl for the head and two smaller ones for the body. The ‘red’ dew drops aren’t really red but a deep, bright pink, matching much better IRL. Ditto for the butterfly within the sentiment; I stamped the image a second time on white cardstock and cut it out. I can’t remember where I got the eyelet brads but they used to be silver, I heated them with the heat gun and dipped them into my white embossing powder which makes it stick and heated again to melt the powder until smooth. I LOVE that technique! You don’t even need embossing ink. The more I worked on this card, the more it appeared whimsical, like I should have a faerie on it somewhere, thus the post’s title! The sentiment didn’t end up quite as dark as I would have preferred it and then I think the camera focused on the butterflies wings making the sentiment a wee bit blurry. In case you can’t read it, it says, “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly. –Richard Bach'”

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Verve
Ink: Stazon brown, rose red
Paper: banana CS-SU!, Phoebe paper pack-Basic Grey, vellum-stash
Accessories: MS butterfly punch; flowers, sheer white ribbon, white EP, ‘eyelet’ brads -stash, Kaisercraft pearls, Dew Drops, foam dots-Jody Morrow, regal rose marker-SU!
Technique: use embossing powder to change embellishment’s colour

Peaches Tag for Twinkling Tuesdays

THIS IS THE SECOND POST FOR TODAY, BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN.

This week, Madelynn gave us an inspiration challenge. What a beautiful and tasty photo!

I only have one citrus stamp and I didn’t feel like using it. I need to use Bold Brights ink for most citrus fruits and I just wasn’t in a BB mood. So I opted for another fruit. PEACHES. My favourite fruit, well maybe along with raspberries. The two together mixed with frozen yogurt is AWESOME! This tag came together quite quickly! AND I used all scraps! WOOHOO! The tag was cut with a Coluzzle template, it was a bit too tall for my scrap so I shimmied it up part way through the cutting to make it shorter. I stamped the image with Stazon brown on confetti vanilla and then again with apricot ink and again with olive ink. I cut out the peach and leaves and layered them on the main image. I added a bit of shading with pumpkin and regal rose markers.

As always, be sure to play along with us! Make a card or other project using the photo to inspire you and upload to SCS or PCP using MTTSC29 or post to your blog. Be sure to link up to Madelynn’s Twinkling Tuesdays so we can all see your creations. Visit all the team members blogs to see their work and we all love reading your sweet comments so be sure to leave some love!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: peach label image and canvas-SU!
Ink: olive, apricot-SU!, Staz on brown
Paper: confetti vanilla, apricot, celery
Accessories: button-stash, hemp twine-Hemptique, twill tape-stash, Coluzzle template, foam dots-Jody Morrow, ribbon-Masterstroke, celery, pumpkin, regal rose markers-SU!

Purple Peony for Twinkling Tuesday

So sorry I missed last week’s sketch! Everything was so crazy around here between when Grandma died Sunday morning and the funeral Saturday. Now things have calmed down and I am back to some serious card making! YEAHHHHH!!! This card is also the first one I made for my Guest Designer time with Clear Dollar   Stamps (might end up being the second one published though). It was so frustrating to not be able to use them right away. So since I couldn’t make cards, I at least could watch the baby while I coloured. My shading isn’t as smooth as it could be and my lights aren’t as light as I would have preferred them because of terrible lighting in the family room. I got the frame idea from Becca Feeken of Amazing Paper Grace. She does this kind of thing all the time.

The grosgrain ribbon looks kinda brownish here but it is  really deep eggplant. Did you notice what I did with it? It didn’t look right over the stem so I cut along side carefully with my xacto knife and slid the ribbon underneath. Much better! I goofed a bit and stamped the sentiment right over a darkish spot in the pattern. It made the words hard to read so I used the tip of my sanding files to scrape the colour off the paper inside the letter ‘e’ and along side the ‘h’ beside the ‘e’. Now you can read it just fine!!

This great sketch is by Madelynn of Twinkling Tuesdays. She is only 9 but produces a sketch for us grown-ups nearly every week. Play along with all of the Twinkle Team (links on sidebar) by producing your own awesome version of the sketch. Be sure to upload to PCP or SCS using MTTSC27 or your blog. Leave a direct link at Madelynn’s blog so we can all see your creation.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Ink: Memento brown, almost amethyst and eggplant-SU!
Stamps: Peony by Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper: Almost amethyst and ?BB purple CS-SU!, DP-Basic Grey
Accessories: Copics as pictured, Kaisercraft pearls bliss, ribbon-Masterstroke, grosgrain ribbon-SU!, Nestabilities Mega rectangle, foam dots-Jody Morrow

Shabby Chic Moments Card for Twinkling Tuesday

I LOVE this card. It just makes me happy to look at it! No special purpose for this one; just more practice at shabby chic. Hope you like it. I LOVE the sentiment most of all, it really sums up the time I spent with my babies. My ‘baby’ is now just a few days from being TWO. While I still consider that a baby, I know a lot of people don’t. **SIGH**

Today I played with a few ink pads I’ve had for ages but have never or rarely used. Instead of acrylic paint for the white on my Kraft CS base, I  used VersaMagic, a white pigment-based ink instead. Almost the same look with less mess and clean up. I started by swiping the pad over the CS but it wasn’t as opaque as I had hoped for. So I pressed the pad straight down on the CS and after getting enough coverage, I swiped it to remove any lines caused by the edges of the foam pad. Then, knowing I would have to use a pigment ink to get any brown distressing, I got out a Colour Box Cat’s Eye brown chalk ink. For beginners info, virtually all pigment inks act as a resists to dye inks. While you might have gotten some decent coverage from dye ink, it would rub off on everything it touched including me and other papers and embellishments I was using because the pigment ink prevents the dye ink from soaking into the CS. The chalk ink worked well. On the pink layer, I used Distress inks – frayed burlap and tea rose – to distress and sponge it, same with the blue layer. The swirls and sentiment were stamped with the same Colour Box pad. The card opens to the right, I cut a slit in the spine to accommodate the twine.

This great layout is from Madelynn’s lil’ brother Jacky for Twinkling Tuesday! Fun sketch right?? We all hope you will play along! Create something fabulous using this sketch-doesn’t have to be a card!!-and upload to SCS or PCP using the keyword MTTSC23 or upload to your blog. To be sure we all get to see it, come on over to Madelynn’s blog, Twinkling Tuesdays and link us up so we don’t miss it!! Be sure to visit all the other Twinklettes and leave ‘em all some fabulous comments. (PS I love comments too!)

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: sentiment-Verve, Swirls-Autumn Leaves
Ink: Colour Box dark brown, Distress frayed burlap and tea rose, VersaMagic cloud white
Paper: Kraft CS-SU!, pink-Porcelain by Basic Grey, blue dots-UK
Accessories: foam dots-Jody Morrow, roses, lace and twine-UK, button-Basic Grey Eva, SU! bashful blue marker

No Small Miracle for Twinkling Tuesday

Yeah! I got the stamps I won from Verve for THIS card I entered for Mojo Monday! I love the sentiments in the stamp set I chose. I can’t wait to use some more of them. It wasn’t until I sat down to type this that I realized I probably had a subconscious reason for using this sentiment. Last night I watched the first few minutes of an Oprah show I had PVR’d. The topic was Madelyn McCann, the little British girl who was kidnapped in Portugal 2 years ago while on vacation. I went to bed after and hugged my
baby’s little body so tight and stroked  his soft skin. He is a difficult baby sleep wise (loves to stay up into the wee hours of the morning) but I have always said I will never regret the parenting style I have chosen. Sure my baby hates being alone and that can get very annoying at times. But I LOVE sleeping with him and if I died tomorrow (heaven forbid), I would never regret one minute I spent cuddling him, letting him nap on me (while getting nothing done of course) or allowing him to sleep in our bed! He truly is our small miracle or as the song from Charlotte's Web says, “Just another ordinary miracle today!”

This card features ribbon from Sharon Johnson’s Stamp Simply store. She is featuring cards made by others with her ribbon so I am happy to oblige. This ribbon is so wide it can be used as a layer! You have got to get some; she is also now selling a cheap little tool to help you tie perfect bows plus other fun stuff! Her store links are just above her blog header.

Another fun sketch from little Madelynn for Twinkling Tuesdays. She sure comes up with some interesting sketches. I really loved this one. Not much to tell, all pretty obvious. Oh, there was one fun thing. I didn’t cut into a single full-sized sheet of paper for this card! All scraps! WOOO HOOO! I hope you will play along! Upload using MTTSC21 to SCS or PCP or your blog an link to the Twinkling Tuesday blog. I hope you will visit all the other Twinklettes (links on sidebar) and be sure to leave them some LOVE! Oh, and don’t forget to give your own miracles a hug!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Sentiment-Verve, Stork and alphabet mini background-SU!
Ink: Memento rich brown, SU! bashful blue
Paper: bashful blue, white, celery, banana CS-SU!
Accessories: Cuttlebug swiss dots folder, Copic markers, foam dots-Jody Morrow, ribbon-Sharon Johnson, scallop punch-SU!

Froggie Card for Twinkling Tuesday-Penny Card Tutorial

I have a new e-friend who is a beginner card maker. She asked me for some beginner advice, I emailed her back and realizing how many things we ‘experts’ take for granted, I am starting a series of tutorials for things I might have previously considered too easy for most readers. Everyone has to start at the beginning right? So I did a tutorial for this fun penny card. I only used the most basic of supplies to prove you can do a lot even as a beginner with limited supplies. If you don’t want to follow the tutorial, feel free to scroll down to Step 9 showing the final card.

Supplies:
Cardstock for card base 4.25x5.5” folded
One white panel 5x3.75”
Cardstock scraps for paper piecing
Black ink
White glue
Sharp, fine tip scissors
2 pennies
Foam dots
1/4” and 1/2” hole punches
Ruler
Pencil
Coloured ink (optional)
Markers (optional)
Glitter (optional)

Step 1: Stamp your frogs on cardstock. I would have coloured them with Copic markers but I wanted to go with limited supplies. TIP: When cutting out thin areas like the frog’s arms and legs, cut out the body first. Then cut out the ‘fingers’, then the arms. If you cut the arms first and you aren’t careful, you can rip them off while cutting the fingers.  Notice I have two of the mushroom’s top and extra eyes!

Step 2: Notice the mushroom now looks 3-D because I layered  it with foam dots. Layering of stamped images cut from coloured or patterned paper, then glued on a background is called paper piecing. If these frogs were wearing clothes, I could cut them from patterned paper and glue them on top. Get the idea? Layering the mushroom top over the mushroom using foam dots is called paper tole but some refer to it as paper piecing. I also coloured in the spots on the mushroom, shadowed the mushroom’s gills and shadowed some areas on the lower part of the frogs. Fancy markers? Nope, Crayola IQ markers, grown up versions of the childhood classics!

Step 3: Cut and score a card base. Standard card maker size is 4.25x5.5” which is a half sheet of 8.5x11” cardstock folded in half. Cut your main layer 5x3.75” which gives you perfect 1/4” borders. I marked a dot at 1/2” in from the corner for my next step. I goofed! It should have been 1/2” in from the sides but 7/8” down from the top. You will understand better with later photos.  Punch a 1/2” hole with the dot as the center on both corners. Don’t have a 1/2” punch? Trace a dime, poke a hole through the center with a pin and leave the pin in. Poke the pin through your pencil dot to line it up. Trace and hand cut. You could just trace the dime but it would be hard to place them evenly in both corners exactly where you want them.

Step 4:  Draw lines from the top of one circle to the other. Repeat for the bottom. Cut along both lines with scissors, craft knife (AKA XActo knife) or your paper trimmer. I used a knife for the straightest edges.

Step 5: This shows the paper after cutting. Place a foam dot right in the center of your penny. If you only have square dots, trim corners to create an octagon. If your foam dot is larger than your slit, be sure to trim it down before applying.

Step 6: Place the penny under the slit. Place the other penny over top.

 

 

Step 7: Cut out a circle to glue over the penny. If the image you wish to place on top is larger than penny, no need to cover it. I didn’t have an appropriately sized punch. Nestabilities? Nope, I traced a nickel and cut it out! Now start planning where you want your paper piecing to go. If part of the image is not cut out, stamp it in your desired colour on the background like I did for the grass around the mushroom. Glue down or foam dot your paper piecing.

Step 8: The mushroom is glued on with ordinary white glue. Both frogs are attached with foam dots. The flower was done with a technique called ‘marker direct to stamp’. Colour each area with fine-tipped markers, plain old Crayola again. Now the next step is really important. Hold the coloured stamp in front of your mouth and slowly and heavily exhale over it. This is called huffing. Because the marker ink dries as you colour, you need to remoisten the marker. If you want a sharp image, huff; if you want a soft, watercolour-y image, use water from a misting bottle to remoisten. I just huffed. Stamp and cut out the image you want on the penny. I used a dragonfly, coloured in with Crayolas, covered it in clear drying glue with dollar store glitter. Glue onto the penny.

Step 9: Flip your cardstock over. You need to place foam dots in all 4 corners and two in the middle, roughly under each frog, TWO DOTS THICK. You need this depth to allow the penny to rotate freely. I goofed, my slit is too close to the top of of the white piece. I didn’t leave room for foam dots in the top corners. (I used some thin strip foam I had.) The space between the slit and the top needs to be wide enough for the foam dots and still allow the penny to slide past. 3/4-7/8” should be enough even if your dots are larger than mine. If you are going to send this by mail or if the card will spend time in an envelope, add THREE layers of foam dots. I found out the hard way that the foam compresses under pressure. When you try to get the penny to roll, it won’t budge because there is no room between the two cardstock layers.

Our Temporary Twinkie, Nicky didn’t want to do a colour, sketch or inspiration challenge. He went for a theme! FROGS! Easy Peasy, I have two frog sets and I even keep them mounted for Jameson to use. Please play along with Twinkling Tuesday by making a frog-themed card! Upload to SCS or PCP using MTTSC20 or your blog and be sure to leave a link at Madelynn’s Twinkling Tuesdays blog! Now don’t forget to visit all of the other Team members, they all need some love too! I love visiting all of their blogs, the variety is AWESOME!!!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Unfrogettable
Ink: Stazon black, eggplant, celery
Paper: purple and two greens from Bold Brights (forget the names), white
Accessories: 1/2” punch, Crop-a-dile, foam dots-Jody Morrow, foam strips-UK, Crayola markers, glitter-$ store
Techniques: Paper piecing
All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

Flower Soft Garden Scene for Twinkling Tuesday

Before I get to this week’s card, I want to mention that I posted my Twinkling Tuesday card late last week so if you missed it, click HERE. It was very special to me so I hope you will take a look.

I love buying new stuff and trying it out. I got Flower Soft from ScrapFest and I couldn’t wait to use it! I specifically went ‘stamp shopping’ in my collection for an image that would work. This stamp was the first one I found. I coloured it in with Copics including the flowers themselves, no detail or anything, just base colour. Flower Soft comes in a small, clear plastic container and it is really packed in!  You have to ‘fluff’ it up before using it and if you don’t like glitter because it is messy, you won’t like Flower Soft too much. It isn’t as bad as glitter but you do get little bits falling off even after you think you have shaken off all the loose particles. TIP: Work in small areas so your glue doesn’t get a skin over it before you add all your Flower Soft. After applying it, press it into the glue to get best results.

After colouring the image in, I remembered why I don’t use this stamp too much. There are too many things requiring neutral or brown colouring! It gets much brighter with the addition of the Flower Soft though. Perhaps next time I will try colouring the pitcher as if it is enamelled or whitewashed instead of made of galvanized metal. You could tell that was the look I was going for right? I used my colourless blender to add the textured appearance that galvanized metal has. Hope you see it but if not, try clicking on the photo to enlarge it. I am not thrilled with the way the ground looks, I tried a technique I learned from Marianne during my Copic Certification class but it wasn’t quite what I was going for so I added the ribbon to cover some of it up.

The sketch is from little Jack, age 6, for Twinkling Tuesday. I’m afraid I couldn’t find a way to mimic the small lines attached to the small circles and I felt I needed more than 4 ‘circles’. The little  rhinestones are Taylored Expressions Tiny Twinkles; first time I have used them! I didn’t have nearly as much trouble working with them as I had expected even though they are truly tiny. It is hard to tell that they are pale pink in the photo, sorry. I hope you will try this sketch, upload to SCS or PCP with MTTSC19 or your blog and link to Madelynn’s Twinkling Tuesdays blog. Be sure to check out the Twinklette’s blogs; two members are leaving after this week so be sure to leave Danni and Jami some love!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: pitcher of flowers-SU!
Ink: Memento cocoa, old olive-SU!
Paper: Neenah white, pink pirouette, celery CS-SU!
Accessories: foam dots-Jody Morrow, silk ribbon-UK, Tiny twinkles-Taylored Expressions,  Inkssentials white gel pen

Twinkling Tues… er Wednesday! Breast Cancer Awareness Card

First of all, I have to say Yeah! for today. It was absolutely glorious here, warm, sun shining, not a cloud in the whole sky! I was in a T-shirt without a coat for the first time today and my jeans were actually getting hot absorbing heat from the sun! I could feel my batteries being recharged, literally. I suffer from SAD, Season Affective Disorder (a real disorder!) which basically makes me want to hibernate all winter. I have little desire to go anywhere or do anything. Today, I even did errands, WITH SPENCER (in and out of the car seat…) and wanted to! WOOOO HOOOO! On Monday, I was wearing two sweaters, a wool coat, gloves, wishing I had ear muffs and needed soup to warm me up after being outside for less than 30 minutes. Today, seems spring is finally here, it had better stay or else… I guess you can’t threaten the weather with bodily harm should it disobey you. ***SIGH***

I am so sorry I didn’t get my Twinkling Tuesday card up yesterday, heck, I usually try to get it up Monday night but two nights without sleep was taking it’s toll on me Sunday and Monday nights. But I finally got it done (another sleepless night produced this card at 4am today) and I am quite happy with it. I have had quite a few wonderful ladies in my life affected by breast cancer, I mean, who hasn’t? One in 8 or 9 women get it depending on the stat you read. There is one lady in particular I would like to remember here. Her name was Jitsumi Asa but better known as Mimi. She was a gentle soul, quiet and loving. Anyone in the congregation who was ill or having a hard time could expect a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, and expensive ones at that, along with a full-sized, gorgeous card full of warm, loving sentiments carefully written in precisely perfect handwriting on ruler-straight pencil lines (though erased, slightly visible occasionally!) Her hospitality was legendary, with the best foods including expensive seafood and Japanese fare before sushi was popular. When Caucasian folk unfamiliar with sushi would ask what was in it, her husband would say, “rice, carrot, fish and sea weed!” Horrified that no one would eat her delicious treats she quietly chided him, “oh, don’t say seaweed, say sea vegetable or they will not eat!” This loveliest of ladies found she had breast cancer and bravely fought it. She would quietly tell us stories of growing up in Japan near Nagasaki, at age 5 she was whisked up into the mountains one day during WWII because an attack was imminent. No one there knew the devastation that was to follow when an atomic bomb levelled the city. I always wondered if the radiation could have caused her cancer; funny that they use radiation to cure cancer. She beat the cancer, at least it seemed so initially. Years later, it metastasized (spread) to her brain and bones too I think. What a sad end to a lovely life full of joy and caring for others. So I was thinking of her as I made this card. Sorry the story was so long, yet this is just a little of her sweet life.

The sketch is courtesy little Madelynn for Twinkling Tuesday. Since I am so late getting mine done, I had the privilege to see everyone else’s blog posts. Funny, many found this sketch daunting but I had several ideas; I just love sketches especially ones by Madelynn. Nothing too fancy that you can’t tell how I did it from the photo. Aren’t the beads cute? I was in the bead store yesterday and these caught my eye. And three colours? That reminded me of sketch I had yet to do so here we are. TIP: You need a beading needle to pull the silk ribbon through most beads meant for jewellery. They are really cheap for several in a package so no big deal to get yet another tool! Be sure to play along, tag your card in SCS or PCP with MTTSC18 or upload to your blog. Either way, link your creation to Twinkling Tuesdays blog! And visit the Twinkle Team to see their cards and leave ‘em some lovin’! (links on sidebar) 

Enjoy and stay healthy! Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: UK
Paper: Basic Grey Bittersweet, pink pirouette, white CS-SU!
Ink: Pink pirouette, pretty in pink
Accessories: awareness beads-That Bead Lady, silk ribbon-UK, Nestabilities

Manly Thank You for Twinkling Tuesday

We had a great party last night for our congregation. So many people helped out and since I really didn't (I made food but nothing else), I wanted to say thanks to all who did. I mean, honestly, I have a box of cards and don't send many; isn't that silly? So I got a list from the organizer, a lovely lady who is a friend of mine, and one of the thankees is a single guy-EEEEK! No flowers or ribbon or pink-I'm  lost! So I got out my standard 'man paper', used 9 y.o. Brittany's wonderful sketch and killed two birds with one stone so to speak! I really like this sketch! So simple and easy with lots of design possibilities. I couldn't use scallops for the chocolate layer so I cut a plain circle and used my postage stamp scissors on it. I have no idea how long it has been since I used those but the effect is interesting and totally manly; reminds me of a gear! I just wish the blades were switched. Most right-handed people cut with the scissors to the right of a shape. I had to cut to the left to get the pattern this way. Otherwise it would have been scallops with a straight area between each KWIM? One other small thing, I used a dark brown Copic to dull the extremely shiny copper brads, they were practically mirrors!

As I mentioned, this week's sketch was designed by 9 year old Brittany Cunningham.  Her mom Cathy is a follower of the TT blog.  Cathy's blog is http://cathy-cunningham.blogspot.com. I hope you will visit her blog and say hi! If you want to play along, we'd be happy to have you. Link your creations from your blog, PCP or SCS (keyword MTTSC15) to Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesdays blog.

My son, Jameson's turn is next week-YEAH! I'm not sure what kind of challenge he wants to do. Every time I mention a sketch he gets frustrated because his sketches are more appropriate for scrapbook pages. I don't want to see him frustrated but at the same time, I don't want to help him too much because I want it to really be his work. Somehow we will make it happen. Maybe an inspiration or colour challenge.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: swirly leaves wheel-SU!, sentiment-H & M stamps
Paper: bordering blue, artichoke, burgundy, confetti ivory, patterned paper-all SU!
Ink: chocolate chip, old olive-SU!, Adirondack black
Accessories: brads-Oriental Trading Co., Fiskars scissors, Nestabilities, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Crop-a-dile, dark brown Copic

Porcelain Card and Scrapling-Twinkling Tuesday

I super **LOVE** this paper! I didn't want to waste ANY so I cut the center out of the panel used on this card and used it to punch the flowers on the scrapling! I can't remember the last time I bothered to do that! The whole paper pack is just gorgeous! I haven't made a scrapling before. For those who are not familiar  with scraplings, they are made from the excess paper leftover when you cut a 4.25" square card from a half sheet of cardstock. I  think a lot of people precut their cardstock into 8.5x5.5" sheets in preparation for making cards. Cut that down to 4.25" square (when folded), and you have a 4.25x1.25" bit left. Someone decided to use that as a mini card or tag! Clever! I personally do not precut my cardstock but I happened to have a pre cut and scored card in my cardstock file. Guess it was a leftover from a class or I changed my mind at some point. I cut off the strip to make  a square card and got the idea for the scrapling. I think it makes for a cute set. The buttons are a pale celery colour, they washed out a bit in the photograph. If you look carefully, you can see a yellow wash floated in around the flower.

The challenge last week was a sketch by Jack! (I goofed and did this week's challenge last week so I am catching up. Click HERE to see the colour challenge project I did that was scheduled for today.) His sister is the one who usually does the sketch but little brother Jack decided to try his hand at inspiring the Twinkle Team. Great sketch Jack. The very specific paper piecing element apparently comes from Jack's love of the piercing tool. I guess boys love pokey things :) I started out by using my Ornare piercing template but it looked stupid because the panel is too small for the design and I could only pierce part of it-looked goofy. So I redid it with my SU! piercing template and liked it much better.

If you'd like to play, please upload to your blog, or PCP or SCS using MTTSC13. Visit Madelynn's blog and leave a link to your creation. Don't forget to visit the TT's blogs to see their take on this week's challenge!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: SU!
Ink: pink pirouette, pretty in pink, regal rose, old olive, celery, saffron (all used for watercolouring), celery, close to cocoa for distressing, Stazon brown
Paper: Basic Grey Porcelain pack, vanilla, cocoa and celery CS
Accessories: buttons- , ribbon-white taffeta, Copics RV10, R21 blended to dye ribbon, Spica clear pen, Mettler thread, watercolour brush, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, flower punch-EK Success, 1/16" hole punch, cocoa marker, tool kit, ivory ribbon, slot punch (hidden under vanilla layer), Crop-a-dile
Techniques:  Copic ribbon dying, scrapling, watercolouring, sewing. Products not otherwise listed by SU!

Twinkling Tuesday-Corset ATC

I am an idiot! All the Twinklettes were emailing endlessly about the colour challenge intended for next week (we got two challenges at a time this week), laughing about one member's aversion to one of the colours-brown, and my aversion to one of other colours-garden green. The discussion got hilarious and well, it was on my brain when I went to make my challenge 'card' today. I completely forgot that it was for NEXT WEEK'S challenge! I am not feeling very motivated today because of a headache I've had for the last 24 hours so I am not going to do the sketch challenge intended for this week. I'll do it next week instead. If this was a list and I got them in the wrong order, I'd just draw a curved line with arrows on each end pointing to both items showing that the order should be switched! AHHH!

So the colour challenge that I was inspired by was from Temporary Twinkie Ava Grace, Taylor's DD! If you aren't familiar with TT, it was started by Jessica whose DD brought her a sketch and The Twinkle Team was born. Now, every so often, other member's kids take turns being the Temporary Twinkie, coming up with the week's challenge! We'd love it if you'd play along and take a look at all the other Twinklette's work! They will have the (correct!) sketch challenge for this week posted on their blogs! If you play along, visit the official TT blog (link on sidebar) and leave a link. Upload your work to SCS, PCP or your blog with keyword MTTSC13 for the sketch challenge and MTTSC14 for the colour challenge. The official colours are close to cocoa, garden green and white but I obviously took some liberties with the colours.

I didn't even end up stamping on it! But in a way this is good because I never get around to using all the gorgeous vintage stickers I *HAVE* to buy! I did an ATC because they seem to be getting popular again and it was fast and easy on my brain, headache and all. Maybe later I'll mount it on a card so I can actually use it instead of storing it somewhere. Although they are called Artist TRADING Cards, not too many people actually trade them from what I know. I think the name comes from the fact that they are the same size as sports trading cards. The lovely crocheted flower is by my BFF Rebecca. She actually has fun making these! What a great friend! I should ask her if she wants to make enough to sell! I'm sure she'd have tons of takers.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps and Ink: *GASP* NONE!
Paper: SU! sage and chocolate
Accessories: stickers-Crafty Secrets, rhinestones-Zva, crocheted flower-fabulous girlfriend!, ribbon-SU!, embossing folder-Cuttlebug

Evidence of Ideas-Twinkling Tuesdays

I finally felt like stamping today! Yeah! My best girlfriend's son has been having a terrible time with his correspondence courses lately. He is in high school but takes courses online as well as a few credits in brick and mortar school. His mom is one of those 'hero' moms who decided to home school her kids-good for her. I wish I had that much discipline! Anyhow, he has been swamped by one particular teacher so I thought I'd make him a card to tell him I am thinking of him. I don't make a ton of manly cards but I found a sheet of SU! striped patterned paper and since I have too much groovy guava and wild wasabi paper leftover from an In Colour mixed pack, it worked out perfectly.

I hope the gears give the impression of the 'gears' in poor Bryden's brain trying to churn out ideas. That was the intention anyway. Besides the fact that gears are manly and I don't have many manly stamp sets! I wish I had the other set of oval Nestabilities so the mat wouldn't have been quite so wide but embossing it helped. Then I inked the edge and the embossed edge inked too-cool! I hadn't meant for it to but it looks really good. The gear panel was sponged to grunge it up around the edges. The little clip with the star matches so perfectly I couldn't believe it. My other idea was to use three brads placed vertically in the same corner which would have looked better I think but I have to use these clips sometime! It is hard to see but the guava layer is also stamped with blush blossom gears. Doesn't that sentence sound funny??!! I didn't buy groovy guava ink because I'm not big on orange.

The card sketch is from Madelynn for Twinkling Tuesdays.  Madelynn is the clever daughter of Jessica from The Whimsical Butterfly. She has her own blog each week featuring one of the Twinkle Team's work, link on the sidebar <-----. We encourage you to play along with us; upload to PCP or SCS using MTTSC12 or your blog and link to Madelynn's blog so we can all see your work. Be sure to visit the Twinkle Team's individual blogs for inspiration too!

I have to take this opportunity to tell a little story about my baby. He is 21 months old and really doesn't say much yet. Yes, I know I have to watch him carefully because I don't want him to get behind. Anyway, when I have a long, hot bath, I bring him in and plays on the floor so today I brought in some Caramilk eggs and and we shared them. The joy on my baby's face when he sees something he really wants to eat is just priceless! He just learned to say 'wow' and kept saying it over and over again until the chocolate was right near his lips when it changed to 'mmmm mama'. So sweet! Then he wanted to play with bubbles after he saw my hair full of shampoo. My hair is quite long so there are a lot of bubbles in there! He stroked my hair and flicked the bubbles all over the bathroom, then I squeezed the bubbles out of my hair onto the edge of the bathtub. The bubbles were quite soupy and he happily splatted them all over, giggling all the while. Each time some hit his face he goes, "Ooooh!" and laughs louder. I so love him! I am growing my hair to donate to Locks of Love, a charity that makes wigs for children with various diseases causing hair loss. They need 12" though and I don't want to have too short hair when I am done so I have about 5 more inches to go. I hope it doesn't start breaking or I'll have to give up.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: It's About Time-SU!, sentiment-Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers (I think)
Paper: Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, confetti white CS, patterned paper-SU!
Ink: Chocolate chip, close to cocoa, blush blossom
Accessories: frame and metal clip-Dollarama, foam dots-Jody Morrow, brads-SU!, oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug

Yes, I am alive!...

...though not all together whole in body yet. Seems like a lot of people have been hit very hard by a variety of nasty bugs lately. I am mostly better but have no energy yet. I struggled to make even this most basic of cards :( Oh well, I am trying at least. I am having trouble  with a design team project I have to do so I started with something a bit easier-last week's Twinkle Team challenge I was too sick to do. This time it was an inspiration challenge rather than a sketch challenge. I had lots of ideas since I have quite a few coffee stamps I just wasn't having much fun doing it. I guess I am still  just low on energy. Hope you like it.

Very obvious construction on this card, I used foam dots between all the layers. I would have omitted one of them if I had remembered that I always use foam dots between layers when I use this thick ribbon. I will have to deliver it by hand! The button is from SU! latte pack threaded with dusty rose silk ribbon. The tea cups are watercoloured using my new Koi water brush. I am not a big fan of water brushes because they do not have enough control but I heard this one was da bomb. Still not a big fan but it is way better than any other I have tried.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Stampington
Paper: CTMH CS and Amore patterned paper
Ink: creamy caramel, close to cocoa SU!, Stazon brown
Accessories: gold and rose gel pens, rose and cameo button-Jesse James, silk ribbon-UK, chocolate button and ribbon, watercolours-SU!, Kaiser pearls, foam dots-Jody Morrow

Elegant Thank You for Twinkling Tuesday

We had a guest sketch designer today AKA Temporary Twinkie! The daughter of Twinkling Team member Heather, Piper-6 years old, came up with today's sketch. Thanks for the challenge and the pretty colours Piper. I did a bit of tweaking as always, I bumped the opposing rounded corners down one level and didn't add any hearts (sorry), oh and my ribbon was under one more layer. Still, pretty close. In a way this was my own Limited Supply Challenge. One piece of patterned paper with border, one piece of 12x12" textured CS, one piece of vanilla CS, one stamp set and one colour of ink!

The paper is double-sided, the border works as the crisscross detail; granted it is a bit hard to see on the black patterned paper. I used chalks to lightly colour the flowers and butterflies. I am not so into cutesy as seems to be the current trend. So I was really happy to see this vintage set by Inkadinkadoo. I remember getting stamps from them back in the 80's when I was a teenager. they were one of only a few stamp companies around. I still have most of them! All three images are stamped with black craft ink and embossed with clear powder-I *HATE* black craft ink! It is so messy but the result is worth it. I know, I could use Versamark and use black EP but I *HATE* the flecks of black EP more! Only other interesting notes; the button is MOP (mother of Pearl) from my sewing stash and this card is big to accommodate all the layers-6x6".

We'd love it if you would play along! Upload your version of the sketch to your blog or PCP or SCS with keyword MTTSC9. Be sure to link to Madelynn's blog, see the sidebar. Need inspiration? Check out the rest of the team's work. They're all on the sidebar too! <----------------------

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Inkadinkadoo
Ink: black craft ink-SU!, Adirondack black ink
Paper: black CS-Bazzill, vanilla-SU!, patterned paper-Clear Impressions
Accessories: buttons-UK, clear EP and chalk-SU!, embroidery floss-DMC, ribbon UK, black foam dots-Jody Morrow, corner rounder-EK Success

Ribbon and Roses - Twinkling Tuesday

I think this stamp has seen ink maybe once. I seem to be doing well with my goal to use older stamps instead of buying quite so many new ones. (I just switched my addiction to embellishments and tools!! HEHE LOL) I have always loved this stamp but it is bold and doesn't like to 'share' with other stamps. It is so big it takes up almost the whole card. I had to go with a larger size than I normally use to get the ribbon on there, it is 6x6". It's a beauty though, right? I wish I could draw like this. It is hard to see how shiny it is from the main photo; be sure to click on the enlargement so see the embossing shine!

My oh my. Miss Maddie has her own blog now! So, if you would like to play along with her sketch, be sure to link your creation to Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesdays whether you upload to your blog, SCS or PCP with MTTSC8. Every week will feature a different team member. Any team member particularly fond of their creation can also upload their card even if it isn't their week. I will still be uploading my cards here as well even when it is my week to be featured. Be sure to check out the Twinkle Team's work-links on my sidebar! <--------
 
I was going to use my Copics to colour this. I didn't know that Copics and embossing do NOT get along! It seemed to dissolve the embossing and took the shine right off of it and icky grunge ended up on my marker tip. **ARRGGHH** Thank goodness I had only done a tiny bit and the marker tip cleaned itself while I scribbled on a scrap! Next time, I'll use vellum and colour on the back. I think it needs something in the upper corners. It is too blank up there. What do you think??? Maybe a subtle swirly rubon? I don't think I have any in vanilla. Maybe a white one and lightly sponge it with Copic scribbled on a sponge soaked in blender solution to make it more vanilla? I don't think I can apply it directly though I could try it. I actually coloured the pearls on the pretty pin with E00 so they wouldn't be quite so bright.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: UK
Paper: barely banana, vanilla CS-SU!, Basic Grey Two Scoops
Ink: Versamark, regal rose-SU!
Accessories: Pretty Pins-CTMH; ribbon, gold EP and foam dots-SU!, Nestabilities, SU! markers, Copic E00,

Naughty Underwear for Twinkling Tuesday

What was I thinking doing a black and red card with silver bra and undies using a sketch by an 8 year old????? OOOOPS! Oh well, it's done now! I had my girlfriend Janet over to crop; after I choose the undies stamps I asked her, "good girl undies or naughty ones?" Guess which she picked! So you see it is her fault... they could have been white with a flower print or cutie pie little pastel stripes! {{{GIGGLE!!!}}} And the undies really aren't that naughty, are they? Silver with black isn't too racy, I mean it isn't a thong or... I should stop there,  8 year old Maddie reads this! Then again, they make thongs and 'adult' underwear for little girls these days! My kid wouldn't be caught dead in a thong {{Yes, I know I have boys, I mean if I had a girl...I'll shut up now!}}.

In case you haven't been following Twinkling Tuesdays, Maddie, DD of Jessica of The Whimsical Butterfly, designs a sketch for the Twinkle Team each week. Clever monkey! Want to try out this sketch? Go for it and upload to PCP or SCS with keyword MTTSC7 so we can find your card or put it on your blog and link to The Whimsical Butterfly so Maddie and Jessica can see your creation. While you are on the computer, check out the cards by the other team members. Links on sidebar <------ This is also for LSC204, Paint it Black on SCS. The challenge was to use black as a card base so you have a very bold, black expanse. A lot of the cards did not follow the latter part of the challenge; kinda loses the point if all you have left is basically a black mat. I am not a huge rule follower though (more like a rule stretcher) and I have no problem with others entering their cards anyway, just an observation. I can understand why they did that though; it was quite a challenge for me too because I do not naturally gravitate toward black, especially so much of it. (If Janet had chosen 'good girl' undies, the black wouldn't have worked so I guess I am glad she chose how she did!)

This was a fun card to make. I saw all those layers and decided to cut windows instead of adding more mat layers. I would have added the photo corners but there was no room. The windows are cut with Nesties and my Cuttlebug, super easy. In case you didn't notice, I silver edged the right and left sides of the card; it is hard to see. The red layer is adhered flat to the black card base, the 'windowed' black layer is popped up and so are the bra and undies! I actually made myself a bra like this once, silver with black trim. Yes, I am Sew Fine Bras listed in my GO-TO sites list. Yes, they are 'real' bras with hooks and eyes, strap adjusters, cups, wire, the whole nine yards. I sell patterns and kits so if you know how to sew, drop me a line. (PS The bras do not have to be wired!)

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Underwear and sentiment-UK (recognize them? let me know!)
Paper: black, red and brushed silver CS-SU!
Ink: Stazon black
Accessories: Nestabilities, foam dots-Jody Morrow, silver paint pen (have to check!)

Jameson's Teddy Bear Box - Twinkling Tuesday Challenge

When I get time to actually do some paper crafting lately, I try to get in more than one challenge at once! I started with Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday Sketch. Then I decided on the SCS Colour Combination challenge CC201 - Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Kraft. Good boyish/manly colours. Lastly, I decided to go with the mini pizza box TLC 189 from a few weeks back, they are TOOO cute!! My little guy is always asking me to make something for him. ALWAYS after I have started another project so I have to say no. I figured it is his turn and since he is at a sleep over tonight, he wasn't here to peek while I was making it. He is going to love it. He will be 8 in a couple of weeks but he isn't too old for stuffed animals quite yet. He really is a great kid, he is happy to 'play' with anyone, ages 0- 99; even if they don't realize they are playing with him. I remember we were in a store one day and he couldn't understand why the clerk wasn't trying to 'seek' him while he hid in a clothing rack!

Try Madelynn's sketch! Be sure to play along with the Twinkle Team by uploading your card to SCS or PCP with the keyword MTTSC6. If you add a card to your blog, leave a comment with the link at The Whimsical Butterfly. Check out the Twinkle Team's work, links on the sidebar. <-----

I stamped the bear in Stazon brown on cocoa CS. I cut him out without his jointed arm and leg and cut them out separately so I could 'joint' them with brads so they move. The bear is popped up with foam dots, the balloon with two layers of foam dots. The balloon string is made from a hand cut strip of CS. It was nice to have black ones so they are less obvious. The bear is shaded with a caramel marker, his nose and inner ears have a touch of ruby red on them. I also enhanced the edges by going over the 'fur' lines with chocolate chip marker. My son's name, Jameson, is stamped on the front and sides with a retro alphabet. The bears eyes and the balloon each have a tiny highlight of white gel pen.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Favourite Teddy Bear
Paper: kraft, baja breeze and not quite navy CS
Ink: Stazon brown, not quite navy
Accessories: Jumbo eyelets - We Are Memory Keepers, retro alphabet-MSE, white gel pen, brads - CTMH, foam dots-Jody Morrow, 1/16" hole punch. All products by SU! unless otherwise noted.