smARTworks Tea Party announcement - Case Us!!

Hi Everyone!! I've been away for a few days due to work!! It is so nice to be home with my boys, where I belong! I love my home and my boys!! But, being away has made me fall behind on some things. First of all, the smARTworks Tea Party is coming up next week - Wednesday to be exact!! And I haven't even posted what the challenge is. Dina and her brilliant mind came up with an excellent idea. This time she would like to challenge you to find inspiration from the Design Team gallery. You can see our work by clicking on this link: Cookie Jar You don't need to use smARTwork stamps to play, you just need to play and have fun. The guidelines are as follows:

• pick a Design Team card that you would like to use as inspiration
• change at least 2 things on your card from your inspiration card (e.g., different color combo, different stamp, different sentiment, etc.)
• make sure you give credit by linking to the original card (and this is so much fun because then we can see how similar and yet how different the 2 cards are!!)

So come and play with us!! It will be a lot of fun :D

Now a second thing to note...have you seen that smARTworks has new rubber??!!! I just got a chance to take a peek and I am SO EXCITED!! Wow, there are some awesome new sets to choose from. And Susan has decided to go with some full sheets of stamps. You have to check them out. You can get to the full catelog HERE, but I am leaving some direct links to the new sets because they are so awesome:

Together (so touching!)

Almost There and Journey (more awesome stamps by our very own cookie Dina)

Petal Power (this is a full 81/2 x 11" sheet of rubber)

Frames (another full sheet of rubber with so many possibilities)

Swirly-gigs (wow, look at all the wonderful goodness on this full sheet)

Now, how am I ever going to decide which stamps I have to have first!! I think I might just have to have them all :D

Enjoy your day!

Donelda

House Mouse Inchie Party

Here are my Inchies for the latest House Mouse swap over on SCS. We could opt to enter the ATC, Nickleback (twinchies), or Inchie swap. I totally opted to go with inchies because I love them!! My friend, Jessica, sent me some awesome Studio g stamps which included this awesome birthday hat. I decided that this little mouse would be heading to a birthday celebration!!

I stamped just the head of this house mouse and colored him in with pencil crayons and punched him out. Then, I stamped the hat onto scrap paper and again on the pink polka dot paper. I cut out the hat and paper pieced the pink part of the hat. I added some blue stickles to the swirly section of the hat! Once that was dry, I added the hat to the mouse image. I finished the inchie with some blue ink painted around the mouse image and a sentiment. Papertrey Ink's set called Mixed Messages is the best set because they have a bunch of itty bitty sentiments in the set....perfect size for an inchie!!

Thanks for dropping in,

Donelda

Happy Birthday, Monkey!

I made this for a friend of my son. He is a little monkey so when I sat down to create his card, I knew I had to use this little Chagito monkey!!

I colored in Chagito using my new Copic markers.

The mat behind the image was created to match perfectly by using the Mustard Copic marker on a piece of white cardstock. The stripes were a bit of leftover from an old project. I made the strips using the "Plaid Maker" from Stampin' Up (no longer sold). But it was only the dark brown strip. I added the line of mustard by drawing it with the Mustard Copic marker. Same with the sentiment, the outline was simply drawn with the Copic marker. And talking about sentiment...don't you love that one! Heheeh, I will admit that I had made the e like that by accident...but upon looking at it, I loved it!! It was perfect... a happy accident!!

Supplies: Stamps-Changito (Stampabilities), Birthday Basics (Papertrey Ink), letter stamps (Dollar Store); Ink-Chocolate Chip, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Paper-Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Other - oval nestabilities (Spellbinders), Plaid Maker (Stampin' Up! - no longer sold).

Thanks for dropping in for a visit! Donelda

smARTworks- Birdhouse Long Note

I love these trio stamps from smARTworks. They are so easy to create beautiful images!! All you have to do is be able to use your stamp-a-ma-jig!! This card fits that Long note envelopes from Stampin' Up! and is 6 1/2" x 2 7/8". It is a nice size to work with. I stamped the 3 different birdhouses with 3 various shades of brown. Then I added the sentiment! Finished off the card with some sponging, brads, dimensionals, and Cosmo Cricket designer paper ... yum!! Supplies: Stamps-Birdhouse Trio (smARTworks); CArdstock-Kraft, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Gingerbread from Gretel collection (Cosmo Cricket); Ink-Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Antique Linen distress ink (Ranger); Other-brads (Making Memories), sponge, dimensionals. Thanks for dropping in! Donelda

Loonie Stamper Challenge #29 - Easter Wishes

Well, it was Dee's turn to pick the Loonie Stampers Challenge and she picked colors that are from the runways....orange, grey, and cream!

I don't know about anyone else, but I really struggled with this one. Maybe because my stash of Summer Sunrise is so small that it gave me few options.

I decided to use my animal dies from Martha Stewart for inspiration. I traced the little cardboard chick onto a small piece of Summer Sunrise and cut him out. Then, I added some polka dots. You might remember this card last month from Nichole Heady during the countdown to the big Papertrey Ink anniversary release. I loved it and could hardly wait to incorporate the idea into a card of my own. So, I decided to use the idea on this card.

I cut a rectangle out using my nestabilitie die. It was too wide so I ran the cut out rectangle again but put the die closer in along one side to make the scallop rectangle skinnier. Then, I stamped the rectangle inside along with a sentiment from the Mixed Message set.

I finished off the little card with some hemp that turns out to be the exact same color as Summer Sunrise, a nice discovery today!!

This little card will be added to my parcel that I send to my parents for Easter.

Now, you have to go check the Loonie Girls to see what they created for this challenge:

Dee, Jewels, Char, Regan, Wendy, Maria

Supplies: Stamps-Borders & Corners {rectangle}, Mixed Messages, Polka Dot Basics (all Papertrey Ink); Cardstock - Summer Sunrise, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Going Grey (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Basic Black, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Other - rectangle nestabilities (Spellbinders), hemp.

Well, thanks for dropping in today. What kind of things do you make for Easter??

Donelda

smARTworks - Kaleidoscope flowers

A very sad week in my school division. An Educational Assistant was murdered by her husband. So sad, so sensless!! She was a wonderful woman - kind and caring.

So, a sympathy card tonight ... an appropriate thought.

This lovely image comes from one of smARTworks newest releases called Purpose Small. A lovely image with some nice sympathy sentiments and a few birthday sentiments as well, making it a very versatile set!

For this card, I stamped the image using a spectrum ink pad. Then, I mixed some acrylic paint to match the colors in the image and plattered some ink onto the main image panel. I cut the main panel with a rectangle nestability and then did some piercing. Finished the card off with some light green ribbon and added a sympathy sentiment on the inside. It reads "Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal ~ Thomas Moore".

Supplies: Stamps-Purpose Small (smARTworks), Cardstock-Olive Green (Bazzil), Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Ink-Mountain Lake Spectrum (Adirondack), Basic Black - inside sentiment (Stampin' Up!), Other-paper piercer, piercing template (Stampin' Up!), pale green ribbon (Michaels), large rectangle nestabilities die (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (Provocraft), blue, green, and yellow mixed watercolor paint (for splatter), toothbrush (old one from my medicine cabinet).

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

Quilted Birthday

I made this for my mother in law's birthday. She is a real sewer so I bought this Papertrey Ink set specifically to make her a birthday card.

See that little button on there, well, it is one of my 'Grandma Mary's' buttons....my mother in laws' mother. I have a jar of these various buttons that I only use when making family cards!! It makes them rather special.

I really like this color combination and I think I will use it more often!!

Supplies: Stamps - Quilter's Sample (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!), Paper - Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Buckaroo Blue, Very Vanilla (Stampin Up!); Other - Twill, hemp, button (from Grandma Mary's stash), dimensionals.

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

Thinking of You ~ Friend

My friend Dawn's husband had a car accident the other day! He is okay but we were very worried about him. And, of course, being worried takes a toll on everyone so I wanted to make sure my friend was taking care of herself too! So I made her this little Scrapling card.

It is made of scraps. I added a sentiment from the Papertrey Ink's Faux Ribbon set. The little flowers were punched out of some pink paper and then, using my embossing stylus and foam pad, I pushed the backs of the petals to be more like a Prima flower. I added a few blue rhinstones to the middle of the flowers for a little bling factor.

I hope this reminds my friend to take care of herself.

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

Delicate Spring

Unfortunately, the Papertrey Ink Forum is down for repairs. That means there is no convenient list of blog hoppers. However, being a regular, I am sure I can find a few blog hoppers. Time for another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! This time our challenge was to incorporate familiar sights and colors of spring into our cards. Awesome!! One of my favorite things about spring is watching the new leaves appear on the trees. I remember once as a young adult "missing" this event and promised myself I'd never miss it again!! My card started out with some swirls and leaves blowing around in the wind. Then, I added some twill and a leaf popped up on dimensionals! And true strength really is delicate, like a simple and delicate leaf!! Supplies: Stamps-First Fruits, Remember (Papertrey Ink), Flourishes v.2 (Rhonna Farrer); Ink - Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Select White, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink); Other-Spring Moss twill (Papertrey Ink); Leaves die and Cuttlebug (Provocraft), sponge, dimensionals. Now, off to see all the other great spring projects!! Thanks for dropping in!! Donelda

smARTworks Tea Party #12 - sketch plus metal

It was Trish's time to host the smARTworks tea party this time and she gave us a great challenge. She provided us with this awesome sketch to follow.... but that was not enough. She challenged us even more by insisting that we also use metal of some sort on our cards!! Wow, that is a challenge for me. But I like it!!

I started out making the main panel by using this awesome wheat shaft with some chalk inks and embossing with clear embossing powder. Then, I used my pastels and colored the top portion with a blue and the bottom with a mossy green. Once that was finished, I added the 'metal' dragonfly brad and a sentiment. Finally, I added the ribbon and some of my many scraps along the bottom and attached the focal panel using dimensionals.

I've had these dragonflies for about 2 years ... and haven't used one yet..until now!! Thanks for the encouragement Trish!!

Now, off to see what the other Cookies have created for the tea party.

Susan (and Peggy too), Dina, Trish, Giovana, Donna

Now it is your time to play. Make a card using any stamps that follows the sketch and uses something metal. Then, leave a comment on any of our blogs and we'll share!! Come and have a little tea :D

Supplies: Stamps-FL-17 Wheat Shaft (smARTworks), Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper-Kraft, White (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (from my scrap bin); Ink-Yellow Ochre (Color Box chalk inks), Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)' Other-chalk pastels (Stampin' Up!), metal dragonfly (unknown-I've had them way too long), corner rounder, clear embossing powder, ribbon (Michaels).

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

smARTworks- Tag Key

Well, this tag was totally inspired by guess who.....the one and only t!m holtz (he types his name that way on his blog and I think it is too cool...makes me wish I had an I in my name!!). I started out by making my own tag using Very Vanilla cardstock. Then, I sponged on some various Distress Inks. Then, my favorite part, I let some waterdrops drip onto the tag to make an awesome background. Once that was dry, it was stamping time. Using Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I stamped on these great keys and keyhole (which I just realized is upside down...drat, didn't even think of that or notice it earlier!!) as well as that great sentiment. They are a set from smARTworks seen HERE. I wanted to tie in the 'heart' so I created this

heart embellishment. I drew and cut out a heart shape from more vanilla cardstock. Then, sponged the same blue color onto it. Next, I took the hinge image from the same stamp set and stamped the swirly portion onto the heart. Finally, I outlined the heart using my gold pen. I finihsed off the tag by sponging more walnut stain around the edges, adding some raffia and attached the heart with dimensionals for pop! Don't forget about the smARTworks tea party on Wednesday!! If you'd like to join us for tea you are welcome!! Just follow the sketch layout shown on THIS post and add some metal too! You can use any stamps, just make sure you come and have some fun!! Post a comment to any of the Design Team's blogs so we can go and see it!! Supplies: Stamps - Lock and Key (smARTworks); Paper - Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Walnut Stain, Tea Stain, Broken China, Faded Jeans (Distress Ink from Ranger), Other - Jute (from a friend), sponge, gold marker (Pilot), 1/4" hole punch. See you on Wednesday! Donelda

Loonie Stamper Challenge 28 - Kraft and Pink

So Regan picked the challenge this week for the Loonie Stampers Challenge#28. She wanted us to use Kraft and at least one of the 3 Papertrey Ink pinks! But the twist is -- no ribbon!! What, no ribbon??!! Well, honestly, I'd totally forgotten about that part when I made my Scrapling. And added some twill....but twill isn't really ribbon...is it?? Hehehehe!! I just have to get better at reading these challenges :D

So, here is my card (well, actually a Scrapling - see THIS link for more details). I generally make smaller sized projects for these challenge because...gasp...I am almost totally out of PTI paper!!! Only a few scraps of each color left!! I really have to put in an order!!

I printed off the sample Raspberry Fizz paper that Nichole supplied and used a few pieces of that as well as a little strip of my "home-made" variety. Then, added the button, hemp, and counterband twill. Finally, I added the sentiment with Chocolate Chip ink. But I twisted it a bit when placing it on the acrylic block so it followed the flower's edge...one of my favorite reasons why I love acrylic stamps!!!

Now, off to see what the other Loonies have created with this awesome combo:

Jewels, Regan, Dee, Char, Wendy, Maria

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

smARTworks - Tea Party #12 announcement and HOME decor

Ooops, I forgot to post the next tea party challenge. This time, Trish has been the one to provide us with the challenge. She has asked us to use this layout but with an added challenge -- to use something metal on our cards. That will be a lot of fun. I am hoping to work on mine this weekend!! And now... a piece of wall art. These beautiful letter stamps are from smARTworks! Look at the beautiful artwork they can create! The letters were colored with lovely warm colors to match our home. This will look great hanging on the wall of our entry way!! Supplies: Stamps- Garden Delight Alphabet (smARTworks); Paper - Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), brown (Bazzill); Ink - Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip (Stampin Up!); Other - Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip markers (Stampin' Up!). Get thinking about your tea party card!! Thanks for dropping in. Donelda

Blog Candy from Jessica and Blog Comments Award

First up, Jessica G is giving out some great blog candy over at Jess' Obsession!! Seems she hit a milestone on her counter...no surprise, she has great projects and inspiration over there. You should go check it out...or maybe not...then, maybe I'll win {** insert evil grin here**}. My blogging buddy Juanita gave me thsi best blog comments award. It is a very kind gesture. Let me tell you how I feel about comments. Now, like most of us bloggers, I appreciate all comments because it validates my work, helps me to recognize what others like, and lets me know I am inspiring others in this wonderful craft! Now this is the part that I want to share...but I don't want anyone to be angry with me!! I realize many of us are busy and strapped for time in the busy lives we lead...so I am totally great with a short and sweet comment!! In fact, just the fact that someone was willing to take the time to leave any little comment on my lowly blog makes me very excited. However, I have to say that there are a few specific gals out there who have really inspired me not only in their artistic abilities, but in their kindness and honest interest in my work. It shows through their comments!! They go above what most of us do, write an "I love this card" or "great color combo" and take the time to expain what they like about it, or what aspects of the project excite them! I like that and because of them, I have tried to be a good, kind, and truely interested commenter too!! So, Juanita, your award really means a lot to me LOL! So, who are these awesome commenters?? They would be Kelly, Jessica, Chris, and Susan!! and Juanita would go in here herself...but again, a bit redundant!! :D Now you are probably tired of my rambling about comments...back to blog surfing!! :D Donelda

Boy Birthday 3x3

I just love this little 3x3 card!! So easy and simple! Stamped the image. Colored it in with my prismacolor pencil crayons. Added some shading behind the glove (my fav part). Added a small sentiment (Mixed Messages set from Papertrey Ink is the best set for small sized cards and inchies). Finally, I added some drawn lines around the focal image. This card went to one of my sons' friends for his birthday. Great for the ball player!! Supplies: Stamps-Toy Box (Stampin' Up! - I think it is retired), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Ink- Basic Black, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Night of Navy, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Other-pencil crayons (Prismacolor), black pen (Sakura). Thanks for dropping in for a visit! Have a great weekend. Donelda

Wish

My friend, Dawn, and I had made valentines with our sons classess at school. It was a lot of fun...but it meant that there was a ton of scrap from all the cutting. So, you know me, I need to use it up! I maid a little dent in the scrap by using these five 1" squares of the pink! I took a 1" strip of this pink color (almost exactly the same color as Berry Sorbet) and made them into 1" squares. Rounded the corners and added a black leaf on each one. Added the sentiment, some other Papertrey Ink papers, and some ribbon and it became a great scrap card!!

What scraps have you used lately??

Supplies: Stamps-Texted Box (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), Paper-berry sorbet-like color (unknown), Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Other - corner rounder, ribbon (Michaels).

Thanks for dropping in. Donelda

smARTworks - sympathy blue

Sympathy cards are always so hard to create. I always want a clean and simple look but with some warmth. Every once in a while I set to making a few to have on hand just in case. This one was much easier to make using the smARTworks newly released set called Purpose Small. It has this wonderful silhouette of flowers and some nice verses. There are also a few

birthday related verses so it is really versatile!!

The stitching around the main blue card from brings a little warmth and dimension to this card. I added a bit of stickles on the flowers.

So, have you heard about the new 'smART bucks' over at smARTworks??? You earn smARTbucks and then get to redeem them for more rubber!! You can't go wrong with that!!! Head over there and check it out for yourself!!

Supplies: Stamps- Purpose Small (smARTworks), Ink-Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), Cardstock- Whisper White card base (Stampin' Up!), blueberry (Candi); Other-sewing maching, black thread, Stickles (Ranger).

Thanks for dropping in! Donelda

In Flight Inchies card

I really love the whole idea of "inchies". You might remember THIS card and THIS card that I made a while ago based on a great Hero Arts video. Well, I got to playing with some Stampbord and created a similar scene using some Memory Box stamps. I liked it so much that I decided to make it into an Inchie card as well. I re-created the scene but put it on white cardstock this time instead of on a piece of Stampbord, then cut the scene into 4 inchies and mounted them. This is the end result. It was a lot of fun to create!! Supplies: Of a Feather (Memory Box), Birds of a Feather (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!), Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink), Olive (Color Box), Jet Black StazOn; Paper- Whisper White, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), grey-blue (Bazzill); Other- various sponges and paint brushes, Berry Sorbet twill (Papertrey Ink), dimensionals.

I hope you like. Let's hear a shout out if you do!! Thanks!

Donelda

smARTworks - Butterfly Tag

I made this tag using the set called BLISS from smARTworks. It is an amazingly large butterfly that is magnificant. And there are so many things you can do with it!! You can see various projects made by all the Design Team members HERE for the cookie challenge. That is where Susan sends us all the same stamp set to see what we all come up with. This was one other project I did with it. (I forgot to take a picture of the actually card I submitted before I mailed it to Susan...oops!)

I was clearly inspired by t!m Holtz!! I used a tag but I also used his distress inks and added some drops of water to create that increadible background! I stamped the butterfly onto some Creative Imaginations paper that had various tones of yellow and orange. Believe it or not, there was only one butterfly stamped to create this tag. I simply adheared part of the image onto the tag, cut it, then adheared the rest of the image on the other end of the tag and trimmed any extra off. The sentiment was stamped and a little doodling was added with a black marker. Finally, I sponged around the edge of the tag and added some hemp.

Supplies: Stamps-Bliss (smARTworks); Paper-Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Creative Imaginations); Ink-Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), China Doll, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain (Ranger); Other-orange hemp, water misting bottle, black marker.

Thanks for dropping in for a visit.

Donelda

Loonie Stamper Challenge #27

So Charlene set the Loonie Stamper Challenge #27 and I was instantly interested! She picked Black, Cream, and Book Print. Are you kidding...these look awesome together so I knew I had to give it a whirl!! Interestingly, I've been playing around with some "book print" designer papers lately, punching out various shapes. But I didn't use any of them on my card....I started from scratch!

I started out by making the tag. I was just going to photograph it and upload but I decided that it was a bit of a lame "entry" so I decided to put it on a card.

To make the tag, I started out with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock that had been punched with the Stampin' Up! tag punch. Then, I used a punched circle scrap to draw the curved top I wanted on the tag punch. Then I cut it out and rounded the bottom corners. Next, I used this vanilla tag shape I had created as a template on the "book print" patterned paper. I had to cut it down so that some of the vanilla tag matted this new pattern paper tag. I added faux stitching around the edges. I didn't like how the words were so bright (figured that anything I stamped onto it would get lost) so I swiped a bit of very vanilla craft ink over top of the patterned paper and let it dry. Next, I took that flower stamp and stamped on some black as well as the word "wishes". I attached the two tags and then mounted this all onto a piece of black cardstock and cut around the tag leaving a bit of black matting. Finally, I added a black eyelet and some hemp. I really like the end results of this and might just spend the day making a few more for little gift bags.

The card itself is pretty staight forward. re-stamped "birthday" over and over for a strip of interst. Added the 2 thin lines of vanilla cardstock just about the scallops.

Now you have to go see what all the Loonie ladies created with this challenge:

Char, Jewels, Dee, Regan, Maria, Wendy

Thanks for visiting. Are you as sad as I am that you didn't win anything at the PTI release party!! I'm feeling pretty degected...but I guess now I have to go ahead and put in a huge order :D

Have a great long weekend!!

Donelda

Valentines and Last Chance to Win PTI!

This post is everything valentines. But first up, the last chance to win something from PTI!! Man, I've entered every contest but no luck so far. However, with the numbers of folks entering there is no wonder. Nichole and the team has really whirrled us up into a frenzie for tonight's release party. Can't wait!!

So, today Nichole wanted us to use one of Dawn McVey's great color combinations on a card. I decided to go with Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, and Dark Chocolate. I did end up adding a bit of white in there too because this is the only bit of Raspberry Fizz I own...yet!!

This is my new favorite size of cardlet to make. It is 1 1/4" by 4 1/4". Saw it on the Hero Arts site by Shari Carroll - and I just love it! I added some scallops and a button tied with some linen thread a la Dawn!!

Supplies: Stamps-Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Chocolate Chip; Paper-sample of Raspberry Fizz designer paper, Dark Chocolate, Kraft (all Papertrey Ink); Other-thin twill (maybe PTI will think about carrying this stuff for nice size variety..it would look great layered!!), scallop scissors (Provo Craft), linen thread (SU!), button (from great grandma Mary's stash).

Now, on to Valentines day. It is true, I have THE most awesomest and best husband in the world. He could have bought me pretty flowers that would have died in a few weeks. He could have bought me chocolates that would add pounds to my waist line (because they would have been eaten in a few hours). But instead, he decided to suprise us with a wonderful Valentine breakfast!!! Look at this:

Strawberry crepes with strawberry coulis, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. As well some orange juice and champagne!!

And even very nicely decorated plates...note the chocolate shaped heart in there :D He is a trained chef so I am alway lucky to have a guy who can whip up such wonderful surprises!! It was delicious and very appreciated!! He told me that making cards is my way of showing how much I love and care about someone and he makes fancy food as his crafty was of showing how much he loves and cares for someone!! It was so sweet!! I love him so much !!

Here is what I got for him. A pretty box decorated with some pretty paper and ribbon!!

And inside, some chocolate covered espresso beans. He works night shifts and I thought he might like a jolt in the middle of the night!!

The frame and card were made for my parents! Granny and Grampy live very far away and don't get to see their grandson very often so I made a frame and included a current photo for them. I hope they like it!

Supplies: Basic Grey and Heidi Swapp papers, Heart and butterfly punch by Marths stewart, Wedding Day stamp set and Favor it Weddings stamp set by Papertrey Ink.

Okay, I'm off to enjoy more orange juice and champagne in the hot tub with my sweeties!! Have a wonderful Valentine's day. See you tonight at the release party.

Bookmark of my Boy

I have been thinking of making a bookmark like this for a while. It all started with the colors. I saw this awesome combo of orange and turquoise on a Nickelodeon commercial. Then, the background began by using some circles as masks and adding some stamping over that. The compass is embossed with copper, the colors are sponged on top of it, and finally it is cut out and adhered on top of the bookmark and picture. Supplies: Stamps-Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink), Finest Flourishes (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!), Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger); Other - bookmark, tassel, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, copper embossing powder, sponges. I love using my new bookmark - it just makes me smile. Thanks for dropping in for a visit. Donelda

smARTworks Tea Party #11 - Monochromatic Blues

Welcome to the smARTworks Tea Party!! This time Susan

was the one to set the challenge and something had inspired her to go with a monochromatic scheme!! I can't wait to drop into her blog to see what she's been up to!

For me, I decided to go with blues! You see, I have so much scrap in my craft room that I am really challenging myself to use up as much of it as I can. And since I have about 3 times more blue than anything else, I am trying to make blue cards!! :D

Every once in a while I like to make really Clean and Simple cards!! No frill, no splashy stuff, just good old stamps and paper!!

This is one of those cards. But I did use the faux watercolor technique. It is one of my favs!! You simple color the rubber image and then mist it with water and stamp onto cardstock. I like to use watercolor paper because the image is very intereting as it dries!! I used one of the many silhouettes in Susan's Cookie Plate and colored it using a blue marker. Once it was dried, I added a bit of blue stickles which you can kind of see in the second picture (if you click on it you should get a larger view). Added a sentiment and a few layers of various shades of blue....and voila, a clean and simple card!

Now, off to see what the other cookies are having for tea:

Susan, Dina, Trish, Giovana, and our newest return cookie, Donna.

Make sure you leave a comment and a link to your monochromatic card here or on any of the design team blogs!! We'd love to have you visit for tea :D

Donelda

Appreciation Friend!

Today, Nichole has asked us to make a card for our best friend. Well, my best friend happens to be a guy. Sheesh, a masculine card to make. But I think I succeeded! Love the First Fruits set, love Dark Chocolate twill!, and love my nestabilities!!! So, put them all together and you get this!! Supplies: Stamps- First Fruits, Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink); Paper-Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Stampin' Up!); Other - Dark Chocolate twill (Papertrey Ink), oval nestibilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug. Thanks for visiting! Enjoy your day! Donelda