Pay it forward

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this post requesting to join this Pay it forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it next week, but you will receive it after the New Year.

The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment, you’re on. I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make for you. Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I got mine from Lesa here.

This is a terrific idea an it will certainly start off the New Year in a most positive way.

This will be my last posting until I return from vacation on December 9th. If the hotel has internet access, I may be able to show pics of the wedding, but I don't know until I get there. About 20 of my family are all heading to Cayo Coco, Cuba for DS's wedding on December 4th and I'm so excited to have 12 days with my kids and grandbabies, sister, friends, and I'm just plain excited.

While waiting for laundry to dry....

....I just had to play! My sister didn't like the invitation for her party that I made earlier. She said it was too "cutesy", so I made her another one. Only in a sister would I allow someone to get away with dissin' one of my cards, but she is very, very picky so..... Anyway, this is the new design and if this one doesn't fit, well, there's always Hallmark, ya know.



With that invitation done, I went on to the Black Friday Bonus Challenge at SCS. I had a little fun with this as we had to use a non-Christmas Bella stamp. As you can see, I chose PMSaBella. I like to think she's stringing popcorn for the tree on Christmas Eve. The sentiment is from a Special Collector's Edition from Hero Arts Clear Stamps. I received these when I attended one of their classes at Archiver's Scrapfest at the MOA last September.



Okay, that's it for now. The dryer has just buzzed me and I must answer so I can start packing. I need everything to be in its place before I can begin the chore of packing. Are you like that?

Way To Go -- my newest stamp set

I am in love with all my new Gina K. Designs stamp sets, but Way To Go is perfect for birthday cards for my family. This one is for my brother, Bob. I'll be seeing him next Wednesday evening, just before I leave for Cuba for DS' wedding, so I want to give it to Bob then.



The only image that is not Gina K. is the picture. That is from Pink Cat Studio and I think it just adds that little something to the card!

Things are starting to get busy around here. Because I'm going away and DH is staying home, there's lots of stuff to get done like making sure there's enough food in the fridge/freezer and all the laundry is done and put away. DH is staying home because he is a college professor and is unable to take vacation time right now. Starting tomorrow morning, I'll get the laundry done, then go grocery shopping, dry, fold and put away all the clothes. Then, I'll be hauling out the suitcase and packing for four days in Toronto (winter-wear) and seven days in Cuba (summer-wear). Monday is no less busy with chiropractor appointments for both of us and then I'm getting my hair cut so it's beautiful again. LOL! And, of course, any last minute gifts I want to complete to take with me. On Tuesday morning, 7:30 a.m. I'll be singing that old Peter, Paul and Mary tune, "I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane", but, I do know when I'll be back again. I'll be home December 8th. I'm hoping this is not my last post before leaving on Tuesday morning, but if it is, please remember to come back and see me in early December. I'm going to miss you all while I'm gone. No one I know is taking a laptop and if the hotel doesn't have a computer available, I'll be suffering major withdrawal. Of course, I'll be busy laying around by the pool, drinking Bahama Mama's or Yellow Birds or some such cocktail and hope my strong, able-bodied sons will look after their Mama! I can't wait.......

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I would like to wish all of my US readers a very happy and blessed day. Here's a pic I found on the web and it allowed me to download it. This is where I found it and I hope I'm not breaking any copywrite things. If it's yours, and I am, please let me know and it will be removed immediately.




ENJOY YOUR DAY AND "GOBBLE 'TIL YOU WOBBLE"

It's been a few days, but I'm here now!

Sorry to everyone who has visited lately and not seen anything new. I was waiting for my new Gina K. Designs stamps to arrive. Then, I had to cut four, count 'em, four sets of rubbah! By then, my hands were so sore I had to give them a rest, but I was up bright and early today and ready to play. Here's my first card using Gina K. I love the Gettin' Buggy with It set. It also is yesterday's colour challenge CC141 on SCS.




This is such a sweet set and I wanted it primarily for making cards for the grandsons. Of course, for them, I'd go more blues, but this works well too. The base is Wild Wasabi and the patterned paper is a scrap from the stash. The pink scalloped oval is also of unknown origin, but I can tell you that the white is a shimmery white and the image is stamped with Black StazOn ink. I coloured it using my SU markers and added a little Stickles to the image. Of course, no card is complete without some ribbon and the little dragonfly brad is keeping the knot from coming undone. A little paper piercing on the corners and it was complete.

Next up is a card using the owl from the Caroly King Collection from Gina K. Designs.



This is the exact same sketch that was used in the Bella card shown here, which was a sketch challenge by The Stamp Shack creative team. I just used different colours and image. The base is Summer Sun, the DP is by Basic Grey and the brads are from Archiver's when I went to MOA in September. I think they're adorable and use them fairly frequently. The fibres add a very dramatic touch, as do the green baubles on the eyes of the owl, don't ya think?





And, last, but not least, is a card for the Stamping Bella forum at SCS. It is BSC04 which you can see here. I turned the sketch onto it's side as I think the wide orientation is much more suited to the Sweetybellas. This was a fun card to make! I purchased the little ice cream cones at Ms last week, knowing they would be perfect for Sweetybellas. They are really buttons and I thought it would be easy to remove the back bit, but alas, that's not the case. They sit very 'proud' on the card and if it had to go in an envelope, it would never survive Canada Post, I can tell you. The base is Certainly Celery, the first, yellow layer is Bazzill. Once again, the patterned paper is from the scrap stash and unknown to me. I coloured the image with Tombow markers and added a little Copper Stickles to the hair of the the left Sweetybella. Next came the ribbon and then the Pink Grapefruit baubles, also from Stamping Bella. Very 'sweet', but definitely needs to be hand-delivered!

I'm going to be really busy in the next couple of days. I'm leaving on Tuesday for Toronto and then, on Friday, heading out to Cuba. My DH is staying home because he's not able to travel just now, so I've got to make sure there's enough groceries and stuff for him for 12 days. OMG! I'm going to need a truck to bring home the groceries. However, I'll still want to play and when I do, I'll post here for you to see.

My first scrapbook page in aeons!

Well, SCS just never quits! Last night I was over there, lurking as usual, and what do I see? New challenges, at least to me. The Inaugural Diva Design Scrapbook Challenges were posted and they are amazing. I'm going to try each one, but I started with Taylor's challenge which is based on a card sketch (I can't get away from them, it seems). I used SC150 which you can see here. Here is my entry SBDD01TAYLOR:



These challenges will be a much needed catalyst for me to get back to scrapbooking. With two grandsons now, and another grandchild on the way (WOO HOO!), I need to get cracking. Just the other day I had some photos printed with the very idea of 'getting down to it' and, well, now I have.

As a former CM consultant, I have loads of empty albums so I started with a 12 x 12 CM page. I used River Rock onto which I stamped the pine tree branches, also in River Rock. SSHHH! don't tell anyone! There is a seam very carefully hidden under the photo because I only have 8-1/2 x 11 SU paper. Next, I selected Soft Sky for the photo mat and stamped that with the pine cones, then mounted the photo. Because the white areas looked a little bare now, I pulled out the TAC Snowy Swirls and stamped them in my new Dew Drop ink in Platinum. This colour really shows up well on a white background. I added the snowflake brads and used the letters from My Mind's Eye Christmas Bohemia collection and added a couple of bits of Soft Sky ribbon. I've long wondered what I would used these letters for since they are huge. A scrapbook page is just the ticket. Just to finish it off, I stamped Peaceful Wishes in Palette Hybrid Cognac.

Thanks to the Design Divas, Amy Rysavy, Taylor van Bruggen, Nichole Heady, and Lisa Johnson for such great challenges.

Sometimes it's all about the paper

This is the card I made for the Inspiration Challenge, IC102 - Tapestried Jacket, at SCS today. I saw the jacket and immediately knew the paper I wanted to use. Beleve it or not, but this bit of paper came out of my scrap drawer and perfectly fit the card front, with the butterfly almost smack-dab in the middle. I looked at it and just couldn't bring myself to cover it up with a stamped image. I opted for the little stamps in the Circle of Friendship set by SU and double-matted it onto some coordinating scraps which were punched out with my CM circle punches. I added the sheer, hot-pink ribbon, some flower brads and just a touch of Crystal Stickles on the butterfly. Inside I stamped something appropriate for birthday.

This is the first time I really focussed on the paper and not a stamped image and, I like it.

A Thank You card

It's no secret that me and sketch challenges are absolutely best friends and this is the card I made for Moralia's Sketchbook Monday. It's a really cool sketch and this is my entry.



This card is made with the goodies I received from Heather of Ribbons and Ink on a challenge she had a while back. You can check out her blog here and you're sure to find something interesting and informative, I know I always do! The only things not from Heather's goodie package are the photo hangers, which I just received with my order from CTMH, and the ribbon, which came from my stash. So, thank you Heather, and you should look for this card in your mailbox in the very near future.

Sketch Challenges, again!

I can't seem to make a card without a sketch to follow. At any rate, this card is for the monthly sketch challenge at The Stamp Shack. I am loving this sketch and will use it again in non-Christmas card style. For now, I'm stuck on Christmas and Merrybella. You can see the challenge here.



This card is 5" x 5" square. The base is Night of Navy cardstock. The large DP panel is about 3-3/4" x 4-3/4" and the paper is by Reminisce. I carefully pasted little bits of opposing papers for the bars and did the same on the SU Scallop punched out bit. Then I stamped Merrybella onto some PTI Select White cardstock, and matted it with some DP and more Night of Navy. The brads and snowflake were added, but I thought it was still missing something. Out came the TAC snowflakes and I stamped them using my new Dew Drop Brilliance inks in Platinum. I even stamped them on the white cardstock and they actually show up in the pic. Of course, no Christmas card of mine is complete without the addition of Stickles and, in this case, I used Crystal Stickles.

All in all, I'm pleased with the way this turned out and I hope you are, too!

Bella is back!

I didn't get much accomplished today, except for one card. It's for the Bella colour challenge and the sketch challenge in the Stamping Bella Forum at SCS. I love my Bella stamps and this is the first time Cupcakeabella has been inked up. She's now, officially, a dirty girl. I even tried to get that feeling across with the sentiments I used, also Stamping Bella. Without further adieu, here she is:



You can just barely see the sentiment at the top, but it says, simply, (MWAH KISSES), which is a very favourite phrase of Em's. I put some Perfect Puff on the icing, sprinkled it with Martha Stewart Glitter and then heated it up to make it puffy so that it would look more like icing. The cherry on the top is actually a pink brad with a heart in the middle.

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Designer Paper: Karen Foster (in the "X" strips)
Stamps: Cupcakeabella
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: Perfect Puff, MS Glitter, $$ Store brads

Missed Mojo Monday last week, but not this week!

I love playing Julee's Mojo Monday sketches at Poetic Artistry, but I missed it last week. So, I'm making up for it by getting Mojo11 done early, for me, at least. Also, I'm trying to make up for so few posts the last couple of days. Here's my card for today.



This is a terrific sketch by Julee and I loved completing this card. I'm starting to learn that the best cards I see have huge attention to detail and I'm going to try to drill that into my head. As in all things, whether it be decorating a room, sewing a quilt or cooking a fancy meal, the appeal is in the details. I started off by choosing a stamp that hasn't been inked before and Lord knows I have plenty of them. I chose this chick from Gina K. Designs "Caroline King Collection". This stamp is so versatile and can be used for birthdays from 1 to 100 and beyond! After choosing the stamp, I carefully selected by DP and from that, can the choice of cardstock. I coloured in the image using Prismacolor Markers. On the yellow chickie, I used a glue pen and then covered it in White Fun Flock to give it that 'newly-hatched' chick feel. You'll just have to take my word for it, it does, indeed, feel soft and fluffy! After following the sketch, I added some embellishments in the form of brads in the corners, the sentiment which fits perfectly on the SU scalloped punch and added the velvet flowers and some awesom fibres I received in a prize package from The Stamp Shack. The velvet flowers are orange and yellow with a tiny blue brad in the centre because there is some blue in the DP and I wanted to pick that up. All of the edges of the green and white cardstock have been sponged with a dark brown chalk ink for added depth.

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Wild Asparagus Olive
Designer Paper: Mellow by Basic Grey
Stamps: Caroline King Collection
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black and Cognac
Accessories: SU Earth Elements Brads, White Fun Flock, Maya Road Velvet Flowers, EK Success Fun Fibres

WSC27 and House Mouse

Actually, it was a visit from my brother that I am going to blame my lack of posts on since last Wednesday or Thursday. George was on his way from Calgary to Ottawa (where he lives) and stopped by for an over night visit last Thursday. That meant I had to clean up my scrap room and remove the myriad boxes that piled up on the bed, along with a ton of other cardmaking/scrapbooking items too numerous to mention. After all, he needed the bed to sleep in, right? When I was finished cleaning, I was so impressed with it I actually took pictures to remind me what a tidy craft room looks like. Then George arrived and we had a wonderful evening (read too much wine and beer) and Friday was a day of suffering just a lil' bit. It took me a couple of days to want to go in there and start messing it up again, but finally, last night around 10 p.m. the urge to make a card overcame me. This little House Mouse, Muzzie, I think, is the result. I would like to thank Christie from The Stamp Shack for sending so many HM images to me.



I started with Real Red c/s and then layered some textured light blue c/s of unknown origin. It feels very much like Prism paper, but I can't be sure. Then I used my SU scalloped punch which was exactly the right size for this particular image. Out came the Marvy Giga scalloped punch for the DP (also unknown origin). After colouring Muzzie with Prismacolor Pencils and putting it on the larger scalloped circle, I then placed it on some red Mulberry paper, and went around it with a wet paintbursh which makes tearing it apart easy and leaves a beautiful fuzzy edge. It looked a little plain so out came the embellishments and I went a little crazy with them. First I added some gold brads to the photo corners, then the bright idea of "Merry Christmas" hit me so I added the little beaded letters. Then, as I looked at the card I felt the upper right corner looked a little bare and added the beautiful velvet flower from my Maya Road stash. A little bit of Ice Stickles in Artic Blue for sparkle and it was done.

I have a little task for you all if you're interested. I'm going to post the same card below, but it is a "staged" photo. Tell me which you like best, staged or plain. I'm starting a file for staged photos, then if I ever get up enough nerve to submit my cards for DT calls, I'll have some ready to go.

AND THE BLOG CANDY GOES TO.......

This is the Blog Candy giveaway for 20,000 hits. Cindi, look for this in your mailbox soon. It will be in the mail today or tomorrow morning.


As of this writing, there were 31 posts to the Blog Candy. I asked DH (he doesn't read my blog unless I force him to look at something) to pick a number between 1 - 31. He said 28. By my count, the winner is

cindi

Please send an e-mail to stampingramma@tbaytel.net with your address. Because I cannot track you from your comment, I must have this within 24 hours, please. If not, I will have to draw another winner. You will love the goody package I have put together and I will post a pic tomorrow, I promise.

Thanks to everyone for playing and BTW, I surpassed the 20,000K mark at 9:50 p.m. on Nov. 5th. Onwards to 50,000K now!

No card today, but you're gonna love this!

I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off today. I'm leaving for Cuba in a couple of weeks and the errands have begun. So, no crafting today, but this story was waiting for me when I got home and I just had to share. After all, art comes in all forms, right? It's only seems long because of all the double spacing, but please, read to the end. You'll be glad you did!


"Lizard Birth"

If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through
the pet syndrome, including toilet flush burials for dead
goldfish, the story below will have you laughing out
LOUD!

Overview: I had to take my son's lizard to the vet.

Here's what happened:

Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me
there was "something wrong" with one of the two
lizards he holds prisoner in his room.

"He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm
serious, Dad. Can you help?"

I put my best lizard-healer expression on my face and
followed him into his bedroom. One of the little lizards
was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I
immediately knew what to do.

"Honey," I called, "come look at the lizard!"

"Oh, my gosh!" my wife exclaimed. "She's having
babies."

"What?" my son demanded. "But their names are
Bert and Ernie, Mom!"

I was equally outraged.

"Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't
want them to reproduce," I said accusingly to my wife.

"Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their
cage?" she inquired (I think she actually said this
sarcastically!)

"No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I
reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet
voice, while gritting my teeth).

"Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed.

"Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you
know," she informed me (Again with the sarcasm!).

By now the rest of the family had gathered to see
what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make
the best of it.

"Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience,"
I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle
of birth."

"Oh, gross!" they shrieked

"Well, isn't THAT just great? What are we going to do
with a litter of tiny little lizard babies?" my wife wanted
to know.

We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what
looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing
a scant second later.

"We don't appear to be making much progress," I
noted.

"It's breech," my wife whispered, horrified.

"Do something, Dad!" my son urged.

"Okay, okay." Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed
the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug.
It disappeared. I tried several more times with the
same results.

"Should I call 911?" my eldest daughter wanted to know.

"Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You
see a pattern here with the females in my house?)

"Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to
the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap.

"Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged.

"I don't think lizards do Lamaze," his mother noted to
him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I
mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy
is of her womb, for G~d's sake.).

The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and
peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass.

"What do you think, Doc, a C-section?" I suggested
scientifically.

"Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs.
Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?"

I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside.

"Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked.

"Oh, perfectly," the vet assured us. "This lizard is not
in labor. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen. .
Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And
occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most
male species, they um . . um . . . masturbate. Just
the way he did, lying on his back." He blushed,
glancing at my wife.

We were silent, absorbing this.

"So, Ernie's just just . . . excited," my wife offered.

"Exactly," the vet replied , relieved that we understood.

More silence. Then my vicious, cruel wife started to
giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not
believing that the woman I married would commit
the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness.

Tears were now running down her face. "It's just .that . .
I'm picturing you pulling on its . . . its. . . teeny little . . "
She gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once
more.

"That's enough," I warned. We thanked the vet and
hurriedly bundled the lizard and our son back into
the car.. He was glad everything was going to be okay.

"I know Ernie's really thankful for what you did, Dad,"
he told me.

"Oh, you have NO idea," my wife agreed, collapsing
with laughter.

Two lizards: $140.

One cage: $50.

Trip to the vet: $30.

Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie:

Priceless!

Moral of the story: Pay attention in biology class.

Lizards lay eggs!

Chillin' & Chicken

Here are my works of art for today. Firstly, Snowbunnybella arrived home yesterday just covered in snow, of course. This card is actually for BSC01 sketch challenge at SCS, on the Stamping Bella forum.



The card base is Tempting Turquoise to which has been added some designer paper from the Pocketful of Posies Mat Stack. I stamped Snowbunnybella onto some white c/s and coloured her with Prismacolour Markers. Her coat and boots are Tuscan Red and the furry bits are Brick White. I went over the coat and boots with my glue pen and dusted on some White Fun Flock and brushed it off for a Faux Suede look. You can see this technique at Papermonkey, where I first saw it yesterday. Great technique! Perfect Puff was added to the furry bits and heated up with the embossing heat gun to make it, well, puffy! I finished it off with some Maya Road velvet flowers and silver brads. Oh, you may also notice some stippling around the edges of the white c/s and the designer paper. It was done with Night of Navy ink and a stipple brush.

Next up for your viewing pleasure is a card for my friend, Lesa. She is fighting a huge battle with breast cancer just now and I want her to know I'm 'chicken in' with her to see how she's doing. What a fabulous lady and, if you like, you can read about her progress on her blog.



As you can see, the card front was made to look like a barn, at least that was the intention. To do this, take a light colour c/s (I used River Rock) and swipe the white craft ink all across the card front. When that dries, swipe the same colour ink all across the card front. Again, I used River Rock. Then, with a ruler and black marker, draw in the horizontal lines. Make sure you offset the vertical lines to look like boards. Then free hand the nails and blotches on the "wood". Very simple and effective. Okay, then I cut out a circle, stamped the image on white c/s, coloured it it and placed the net stuff over it, again cutting out a circle so as the entire image was not covered up. That's all there is to that card and I hope it brings a smile to Lesa's face.

The time change is affecting my sleep....

.....but it appears to be great for my creativity. I was awake at 4:30 a.m. this morning and went straight to my craft room, no coffee, no OJ, no nuttin' honey! Besides being cold because we keep the door shut so our cat, Hank, doesn't eat scraps and ribbon, but not even that affected me adversely. I made two cards that I think are pretty good. Here's the first one.



The idea for this card came from a newly published Canadian magazine called Simply Cards Today. What a beautiful magazine and it is published by Scrapbook and Cards Today in response to a magazine just showcasing cards. It is beautiful quality and can proudly be displayed on anyone's coffee table, it's that good.

This card used a full 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock. I used my Scor-Pal and scored it at 3" and 9", then turned it 1/4 turn to the right and scored again at 3" and 9". This should give you four score marks. Then, cut each corner out. On the remaining four flaps, I used my largest CM circle and the red blade and cut the flap into a half-circle. I did this on each of the flaps. Now it's ready to decorate. Because this is my first attempt, I kept it relatively simple and used my Technique Tuesday Paisley stamps.

Then, it was ready to do the inside of the card. I cut some DSP from a Stampin' Up collection to 5" square and adhered it to the centre of the card. Then I used a 4" square PTI Select White c/s and stamped Getwellabella image there, along witht he sentiment. I coloured her with Prismacolour Markers and that was it. Well, except for the ribbon. To fold it closed, start at the botton and fold one flap up. Next go to the left and fold that up, tucking in a portion of the bottom of the half-circle, then go to the next two flaps and do the same, always tucking a portion of the bottom of the hal-circle in. This makes it stay somewhat closed, but you still need some ribbon. That's it. If you want to see step-by-step directions, leave a comment. If there's enough interest, I will do a tutorial.



My next card was already half done, as I had the stitched PP left over from my cards for the swap (see post below). I used Chocolate Chip for the card base. Oh, the idea for this pumpkin also came from the same book as the previous card, Simply Cards Today. As I said, great book. For the pumpkin, I used Only Orange cardstock and randomly stamped the Technique Tuesday Paisley, again. Then, using the middle CM Oval with the red blade, on the inside of the oval, I cut three ovals. I switched to the blue blade and cut two more ovals. After inking the edges of all the ovals in dark brown chalk ink, I placed the three large ovals together, slightly tucking in the ovals on either side. Then I added one each of the small ovals to each side, setting it higher up to give the bottom a rounded look. For the stem, I used a piece of green c/s, the smallest oval and started with the red blade, again on the inside, then without lifting the oval, switched to the blue blade. This created an oval-shaped ring which I cut in half, inked in brown and attached to the underside of the pumpkin. So, these instructions are clear as mud, right? If not, let me know and I'll see if I can clean them up for you, should you be interested.

Now I'm tired and need a nap. I'll be back later.

Blog Candy for 20,000 hits!

I can't believe it! Almost 20K hits since January of this year. I will be offering Blog Candy for this occasion. Leave a comment with the date and time you think surpassing 20K will occur. I'll enter all comments in a draw and use random.org to pick the winner. I'm not sure what the 'candy' will be, but it will include a stamp, some new Bella images, some ribbon and some paper. I'll make up a package in the next day or so and post a pic.

I will keep it open until 6:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Nov. 7th before selecting the winner. Oh, and I'll post the winner later that evening. Okay, everybody, happy guessing.

Invitations and Coasters

I see I've been lax about writing here for a few days. I'm sorry and will try to do better. I'm having a slow week in terms of feeling creative, but today, I got kick-started. The Stamping Bella forum at SCS had a colour challenge I just couldn't resist. It's for black and turquoise and I think that combination is gorgeous. I took the opportunity to bundle it up with a design for a birthday invitation which my sister wants me to make for her birthday party. I've now got several samples to show her in a couple of weeks, but this one is probably my favourite. Presenting Winobella. Isn't she adorable? And, to top it off, Winobella is a personal favourite of my sister, so this should be a winner. I added a little burgundy ribbon to represent the wine in the bottle, also a favourite of my sister. The image was coloured with Prismacolour Markers.

Cardstock: SU Black, Tempting Turquoise
Designer Paper: unknown
Stamp: Winobella, SU's Sincere Salutations
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: Brads, burgundy and turquoise ribbons

Ceramic Tile Coasters

I finally took the plunge and made a coaster. It's been on my To Do list since last Christmas and I just now got up the courage to give it a go. Let me tell you, it is so easy! I picked up the tile from Home Depot for $.59, a real bargain. Then, after giving it a dusting off with a damp paper towel, I spritzed it to make it wet and dropped on four or five drops of Antique Linen Distress Ink and worked it all over the tile with my damp paper towel. Then, I added two or 3 drops of Walnut Stain (start with light and end with a little bit of dark), again working it all over the tile and into the little crevices. Then I popped it into the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once cooled, I used ColorBox Chalk ink in the darkest brown to stamp the martini glass and Cosmobella. Again, into the oven for another 15 minutes. While it was cooking and cooling, I spritzed up my Twinkling H20 paints in the colours I selected to get them ready for painting. After painting the images, it was back into the oven for the last 15 minutes of baking. All that's left to do now is spray it with sealer. It will take about three coats of sealer, making sure that it dries between each coat. Simple and they make great Christmas gifts.