I WON some new TGF Stamps! WOO HOO!

Okay, I still need to post a new card! I know, I know.....I've really been slacking! But, in the meantime, I just found out I'm a WINNER of some fabulous new stamps from The Greeting Farm called Eric and DeeDee.

These new stamps will be released on April 1st. You can see the details and all the wonderful card samples using both these fantastic images at the Club Anya and Friends blog.

See you all soon (with a new card, I promise)!
Rosemary :)

AWESOME BLOG CANDY from Kellie Winnell!

Kellie Winnell is offering some AWESOME blog candy!! Check out these fantastic Swiss Pixies stamps from C.C. Designs!! I think they are just the cutest stamps and I sooooo hope I win this candy!! If you have a blog and want a chance to win, click here. This Candy will CLOSE on Friday, April 23rd at MIDNIGHT and the winner will be announced Saturday, April 24th.

(click on picture for full image of all stamps)

Copyright: All That Scraps

Wish me luck on winning!!
Rosemary :)

P.S. I know it's been a while since I've posted something, but I do have some projects in the works and will be posting some stuff soon! Stay Tuned!!

Magnolia Challenge: Pink/Brown

Magnolia Stamp Lovers was having a pink/brown challenge (you can see the details here), so I decided I would make a card. Of course, who would have thought my computer would start acting up when I'm trying to make the deadline for the contest. It took forever to load this card to my blog, but here it is:

Most of this paper came together in the same pack, but for the life of me I can't remember the name since I took the pack apart a long time ago. I made the box present for Tilda to sit on. Then I put pop-dots behind Tilda and the present. The cream cardstock is embossed with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots.

The flowers are just scallop circles, cut towards the center, and buttons glued on top. The sentiment is handwritten with a pink sharpie. I used two flower eyelets at the top of the card for the ribbon to slide through. The ribbon came from Michaels dollar bin. The border of the brown cardstock at the top was made with a Martha Stewart border punch.

Here's a close-up of Tilda:

This Tilda is called "Tilda with Heart Ornament." I used my copics and sharpie markers to color her in. I added pink dots to her dress with a Sharpie marker. Then I added glitter glue to the dots, ribbon around her dress, hair bows and ribbon holding the heart. The heart ornament has liquid glass on top to give it a shiny, glazed look.

I hope you enjoy it! I'm telling you, these Magnolia Stamps are very addicting! I started off with 7, but now my list has grown into....well...let's just say I want almost all of them! I was supposed to be budgeting this year on the crafting supplies, but then I ran across these stamps and now I'm on a collecting mission! I just placed a big order with Cindy at StampingScrapping.com and can't wait to get them all in. It's going to be Christmas all over again! :)

Hugs!
Rosemary

HOPPY Easter Easel Card

One of my goals for the month of March was to post something on my new blog everyday. Well, as we all know, life doesn't always allow that to happen. I figure though, if I challenge myself to creating everyday, then maybe I'll reach that goal 2 or 3 times during the week, instead of 2 or 3 time a month, LOL!

This week was a busy week getting ready for my Hostess Club Meeting this Friday, March 12th (yes, I do realize that March 12th is tomorrow, haha!). I have around 7 to 9 ladies that usually come to the club meetings so it definitely takes a while to prep everything ahead of time (especially when I'm kind of a last minute type of gal). I don't know why, but my creative juices don't start flowing until I'm on some kind of deadline!

Anyway, I wanted to share the project I prepared for the class....an Easter Easel Card. I was little intimidated when I first saw these Easel Cards popping up everywhere. However, once I made my first one and saw how easy it was, well....I was hooked! I love them!! They are so versatile and can be dressed up or down for any occasion.

I used one of CTMH's new paper packs called Caboodle. I think the colors (Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, and Sorbet) really represent SPRING to me. And, with Easter being right around the corner, I thought it would be nice to make an Easter Card. I also want to mention that my card below is 4x4, instead of 6x6. I only had a few sheets of Caboodle so I made the card smaller to make sure I had enough paper to go around. To make the Easel Card 4x4, you cut your first cardstock piece 4"x 8" and then score at 2" and 4". Fold card in half and then fold 2" piece in to form a flap. Then you cut a separate 4"x4" piece of cardstock and tape to the front flap.

Here's my creation:

I wanted to showcase a new technique with my customers so I decided I would show them a simple masking technique. The eggs are from a CTMH stamp set called Easter Eggs (D1340). I used the masking technique to stamp the Sorbet egg behind the Crystal Blue/Moonstruck egg. I cut them out and glued the bunny/grass border (Martha Stewart) to the top of the eggs. Then I put pop-dots behind the entire image and popped it on top of the blue cardstock (embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder). The cream cardstock at the top of the card is punched with a MS border punch, and the ribbon is CTMH (Hollyhock RicRac).

Here's a close-up of my bunny scene:

I punched the border from White cardstock and colored in the bunnies and grass with my Copics. The butterfly is an old punch I just recently found in my stash. The pearls are from Recollections (at Michaels).

The sentiment is from a retired CTMH set called March Word Puzzle (D1270). I wrote "hoppy" in my handwriting. The border around the sentiment is from CTMH's January Stamp of the Month called True Friends (D1406). The pearls are from Recollections. The bunny was also made from an old punch and colored with Copics.

Now that it's almost 1 a.m., I am off to bed. I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time tomorrow so I wanted to get this posted when I finished it. I hope you enjoyed my new creation!

Happy Scrapping!
Rosemary :)

Geisha Anya for my Mother-in-Law

February was a busy, busy month for some reason! It probably didn't help that there were several birthdays going on that month: my Mother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law and my boss all had birthdays in February. And, don't forget there was also Valentine's Day. I thought December was busy, but February turned out to be just as hectic!

My Mother-in-Law is Hawaiian, but she loves everything Japanese...culture, houses, trinkets, dolls, food, etc. You pretty much know if you buy or make her anything with an Oriental theme she's going to be happy. The other thing to know about my MIL is that her favorite color is...Purple! Here's the birthday card I made for her using The Greeting Farm's Geisha Anya:

The paper is DCWV Far East pack. The ribbon was from the $1 bin at Michaels. I used a Martha Stewart border punch to make the purple border underneath the ribbon. The sentiment is from CTMH Everyday Celebration stamp set.

I colored Anya using Copics E00 and E33 for her skin and RV21 for her blush. I used BV00 and V15 for her clothes and the flower. Then I added glitter glue to her sash. For her hair, I used a black sharpie and BV23.

The scallop circle was cut using my Spellbinders Nestibilities Classic Scalloped Circle Large Die. I added glitter glue to the edges and pop-dots behind the circle and behind Anya.

It's raining today in Oklahoma so it just might be a good day to create another card. Stay tuned, I may be adding another post sometime today (if my 3 year old lets me do something creative!).

Happy Scrapping!
Rosemary :)

Happy Birthday Kaylie!

Today is the birthday party for my friend's daughter. Now, I've known about this party for several weeks and actually whipped out an Easel Birthday Trinket Box for her around the time I found out about the party. I also knew I wanted to make her a Name Frame, but I kept putting it off, thinking "Oh, I have several weeks to go so I'll work on it later." Well, guess who was up til 2:00am this morning working on that dog-gone Name Frame....yes, ME!

I finally got it done (through some sweat and tears, LOL)! I decided to use my first-ever Magnolia image that I bought online at www.magnoliastamps.us. Some of you may be asking....what's a Magnolia image? Well, they are just the cutest stamps ever! I must admit, when I first saw them they kinda freaked me out because they don't have a nose or mouth. But the explanation for that is...Angels speak with their hearts so they don't need mouths.

After a while, I found them growing on me (or should I say growing in my heart) and I just had to start collecting them. Right now I don't have that many, but believe me I plan on buying a whole bunch of them, along with a lot more Copic markers! Here's a close up of my 60's Tilda (the pics are a little dark so I'm thinking a future purchase might include a photo light box):


I colored her with the following Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E31, RV21
Hair: E49, E37, E31
Clothes: V15, BV00

I also added glitter glue to the dots and trim of her dress and bows. I need to work on the whole light source thing and making areas lighter and darker to give it more dimension, but for my first Tilda, I didn't think it was too bad.

Here's the actual Name Frame:


I used various squares of paper and aligned them up on a 12x12 piece of solid lavender cardstock. Unfortunately, I cut most of this paper into squares a while back and now can't remember who manufactured the various sheets of paper. I used pop-dot to raise up the roses and Tilda to give it more dimension. The sticker letters are made by Paper Studio and called Bubble-A-Bilities.

Following are pictures of the Easel Birthday Trinket Box. I found the tutorial on splitcoaststampers.com when I did a search for Easel Cards. You can find the link here. Keep in mind that at the time I made this, I didn't have any Magnolia stamps, otherwise, I would have used one. The image is called Megan and is from The Greeting Farm.

The dangling charm...is actually a shrinky dink (do you remember this stuff as kids??). Well, it's available at craft stores and I love it! I make all sorts of charms, necklaces, bracelets, etc. with this stuff. It's awesome!!

Well, I'm off to bed now! I hope you enjoyed my first ever Magnolia creation!

Much love to all of you!
Rosemary

Ian's Gone Surfin...

It's been a week of gorgeous weather here in Oklahoma. I can't believe it got into the 70s today...unbelievable! What's even more surprising, is that it's supposed to last through the weekend. WOO HOO! After all the dreary, cold, winter days, I'm ready for some sunshine!

To get me in an even sunnier mood, I decided to make a card using Surfer Ian, from The Greeting Farm. Although I've never surfed a wave, I've always thought it looked like fun. One of these days, I might make it to Hawaii and try it (if I can get over my fear of sharks!). In the meantime, I'll let Ian surf them for me!

I used Copics E00 & E33 for Ian's skin. For his hair, I used E33 and then went over some areas with a darker brown chalk from a SU chalk palette. All of the patterned paper is from a pack called DCWV Tahiti. His shorts and surfboard are paper-pieced from the same paper pack. I also added CTMH Liquid Glass to the surfboard to make it shiny. The flowers were cut out from one of the patterned papers and raised up on pop-dots. I also glued orange buttons to the centers. The scalloped circle was cut with my new Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Circle Large Die and Epic 6 Machine...Love them!

I hope you get some nice, sunny, warm weather wherever you may be! Don't be too jealous of us...I hear it's supposed to get cold again next week. One thing about Oklahoma is that the weather changes daily!

Happy Scrapping!
Rosemary

Monochromatic Challenge in White

Several weeks ago, The Greeting Farm had another monochromatic contest. I challenged myself to use white, which was a lot tougher than I thought. I went through my stamps and thought Ballerina Anya (from TGF) would fit perfectly with my white theme.

I colored Anya with my limited supply of Copics (E00, E33, & RV21 and for the gray on her tutu, BV23). I added silver glitter glue to her tiara and white glitter glue to her ballerina dress using a bamboo skewer! It's the only way I can apply the glitter glue neatly to such a small area (my husband says that I'm going above and beyond, haha!).

The shimmery cardstock for the base, heart border, and sentiment are from Bazzill (Glass Slipper Cardstock). I used a Martha Stewart border punch to make the heart border. Both of the embossed white cardstock pieces are from CTMH. I cut the scalloped circle behind Anya using my Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle Large Die. I used a Fiskars Embossing Plate for the dots on the circle behind Anya and the Scor-Pal for the vertical lines on the rectangle strip. Then I took a Tsukineko Billiance Platinum Planet Ink Pad and rubbed it over my embossed circles and scored lines to give them a little more contrast.

The crocheted flowers, white ribbon, and metal ribbon slides are CTMH. The white pearl brads are Paper Studio Spare Parts. The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch. The white hearts are buttons (from Walmart) with Recollection Pearls glued on top.

I hope my "all-white" card will inspire you to try something different. I'll bet, you will be pleasantly surprised and pleased with what you create!

Hugs and warm wishes,
Rosemary

Origami Paper Ornaments & Family Tree Display

Last year, a few months before Christmas, I was going through some old Martha Stewart magazines and saw several pictures of vases filled with branches with different things hanging from them. Some were made for Easter with decorated eggs, some were decorated for Christmas with origami paper ornaments, and some had a Family Tree theme. The magazines also had the origami folding instructions included, so I thought I would give it a try.

I decided I would make a door prize for my CTMH Hostess Group using tree branches and the paper ornaments. Fortunately for me, the ladies in my group love homemade things! So I got busy folding, and gluing, and embossing, and cutting.....which took a lot longer than I thought it would. Actually, the hardest part was interpreting the instructions!! I'm a hands-on kind of gal...if you show me how to do it in person, I can figure it out. But trying to translate the instructions of origami folding from reading a piece of paper was a little frustrating at first. Once I figured it out though, the process went a lot faster and smoother. Here are some pictures of last year's project (I didn't put pictures in the frames since I was giving it away):

To say the least, the door prize was a big hit!! I also got a lot of great feedback and compliments from my fellow CTMH consultants (which is always nice). Sometime you never know if you've created something other people will like.

Anyways, I was recently asked by a fellow CTMH consultant in another state if I could make her some of the ornaments for a craft fair she has coming up. To say the least, I am very honored! Here's what I made for her (I hope she likes them!):

To make the ornaments, I used both CTMH Grace and Veranda Paper Packs (I love that CTMH patterned paper is printed on both sides!). The frames are made with Brick Red and Twilight Cardstock. I used the frame stamps from the "Welcome Home" set (D1370) and stamped them on the solid cardstock with Versamark. Then I added clear embossing powder and heat-set it. I cut around the outside of the frame and used a craft knife to cut out the inside. The only things not CTMH are the Pearls which are made by Recollections (I found them at Michaels).

One of these days, I'm hoping to get my own tree display finished! It's amazing how I can knock out stuff for other people pretty quickly, but when it comes to working on my own personal projects, it takes forever!! I still haven't finished my son's baby album and he's now 3 1/2....yeah, I know, I need to get busy!!

Love and best wishes to you all!
Rosemary :)

Glitter, Glitter, I LOVE Glitter!

Yes, it's true, I love glitter! I used to think, "I'll never use glitter! It's just too messy!" Well, I guess I have to eat my words because lately I've been using it on everything! Sure, it gets a little messy and many times it ends up all over the place. But you just can't get that sparkle and shimmer without it. I did ease into the use of glitter by starting off with glitter glue (it's a lot less messier). However, once I saw the Martha Stewart glitter set with all the different colors, I had to confront my glitter fear and just dive in! Here's a card I made for a glitter challenge. It's definitely got a lot of sparkle!

The paper is from My Mind's Eye and already had glitter on it (love glitter paper!). I made the paper flower by layering several scalloped circles on top of each other and crumpling the edges up. You can find the tutorial here. Then I used gold, glitter glue around the flower edges. The digital image, Joyce, is from The Greeting Farm.

I found a youtube video called "Glitter 'n Tape Technique" from a fellow CTMH Consultant, Tresa Black, showing how you can add packing tape to the back of a punched-out image and then pour your glitter on top. I thought it would be a perfect way to add glitter to my Digital Joyce image.

After I printed the image, I used a craft knife to cut away parts of her hair, her clothes, and her shoes. Yes, it was very time consuming and you have to have a very sharp craft knife!! Next, I placed packing tape on the back side of the image with the sticky part showing through my cut-out area, and poured the glitter on top. The glitter sticks to the tape and you don't have to worry about using glue! It also helps to do each color section separately. Here's a close up of Joyce:

On my next glitter card, I used Princess Anya from The Greeting Farm. Again, I cut out parts of her dress and this time used Martha Stewart tinsel glitter. I used glitter glue on the crown and star. To get the glitter glue in the right areas, I actually put the glitter glue on the end of a wooden bamboo skewer and then spread it around. It just helps to ensure the glitter glue stays within the lines and doesn't go everywhere (yes, I've been told many times I'm a perfectionist, haha!)

I hope these cards will inspire you to pull out your glitter and finally use it! I can't tell you how long my glitter was just sitting on the shelf because I didn't want a glitter-mess everywhere. Once I got it out and started using it....well, you know, the rest is history!

Happy Scrapping (and glittering),

Rosemary :)

Winner of the Metal Mania Challenge at TGF!

Back at the end of January, I entered a Wild Card Wednesday Metal Mania challenge at The Greeting Farm's "Club Anya" blog. You can view the details of the challenge here. I decided to enter the challenge and use another free digital image called Prince Ian. When I saw him I thought he looked more like Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, instead of an actual fairy-tale prince. So my mind started working and I kept seeing a forest theme with Robin Hood and Maid Marianne. I had seen several stair-step cards and decided it was the perfect style of card to fit my theme.

For the blog challenge I had to add metal accents, so I searched through my stash of embellishments and found the metal word "Imagine" and some metal brads. Here's my winning card:I colored the skin and hair of Prince Ian with Copics E00 and E33. I drew the hat and feather, cut it out and glued it to the top of Ian's head. The rest of the image is colored with Sharpie markers. I used both Copics and Sharpies on Maid Marianne also. The trees and Prince Ian are raised up using pop-dots.

The paper came from My Mind's Eye Wonderful Winter paper pack. The round metal brads are from Close To My Heart.

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it! It was a lot of fun and something a little different for me.

Hugs and Happy Scrapping!

Rosemary