New Neighbors!

Aw, man there are some perfect stamp sets in the new CTMH Fall catalog that would be perfect for having a new neighbor...I guess I will have to put them on my wish list because I needed to make something this week to welcome the new guy in the neighborhood. Here is what I made!

A card: "Welcome to the Hood" I used mostly stickers for this and my own handwriting.





Salsa: The label is on the other side, but I wanted to make everything match. I didn't make the salsa, I got it at our local farmer's market!



Gift Bag: A little bit of random owl stamping....Hehe!




And here is everything together!

Guest Designer! CSCC # 33 EVER AFTER

YAY!! This is my first time to be a guest designer for anything, so I am pretty excited. The movie this week is Ever After with Drew Barrymore. I had never seen the movie, so I rented it on Monday and watched it right away. I could hardly wait to make something with this Cinderella story as my inspiration!! The very first movie I saw in a movie theatre was Disney's Cinderella. I remember hating the wicked stepmother and sisters, and I truly wanted to believe in the magic that took Cinderella away from the horrible home she knew, and turned her into a princess. I think there are many little girls who can relate to this story. Ever After is beautiful. i was so inspired after watching it to create something wonderful!!

This week, I was asked to be a guest designer for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge.
Tuesday evening, I was working away in my craft room, making some beautiful transparency bling flourishes (the challenge this week is to use a flourish in your design....i learned this really cool new technique from this tutorial!!) and I was thinking about the handsome prince that swept Cinderella off her feet and the beautiful glittery makeup that Drew Barrymore was wearing when she walked into the masque with her shimmery wings.

"In the world of stamping, cartoon princess are acceptable....Besides, there is a story behind it....and other stampers will appreciate it.....And I am making a card and gift bag for a niece's birthday on Saturday...and the cartoon princess is completely appropriate for this challenge."
You know, I have never considered myself a perfectionist....If something isn't good enough, then I will do better next time, but I am not going to KILL myself over something that is perfectly acceptable and appropriate for a situation. I am driven to create something using the means available, limitations on time, inspiration and flow of ideas. If something better just isn't there because of time constraints (like the American Idol Finale!!), means available (I lost my Silver Pearl embossing powder, it would've been perfect for this card!), inspiration (the movie IS about a princess), and flow of ideas (I tried to combine a new technique, a sweet memory, and the experience of watching the movie into the creative process of this card)

I hope you like this card and gift bag. I am sticking by the cartoon princess.


I used some beautiful shimmery watercolor paint for her dress and hair....The card features lots of bling with glitter, rhinestones. I also used rubons and some sticker bling from the Paper Studio. All the stamps, ink, and patterned papers are CTMH.

I did end up making an extra card, I like it.

Owl card gift set

I made a couple of cute cards last night, but my camera batteries died this morning before I could upload them!!! Ugh!

All well. Here is a card I made at a crop a couple of weeks ago.

I decided to make a card with an oval, something I rarely do. I didn't use a cutting system, just sort of sketched it around my owl and then cut it out. I used tulip cardstock with scallop-edge scissors. The argyle stamp is from Close to My Heart. I actually used it to make argyle instead of a diamond background. I used tulip, blush and desert sand on colonial white textured cardstock.


I actually made 2 of these and 2 flower cards and put them together as a little gift set in this cloth bag from Hobby Lobby.


I stamped the cloth bag with StazOn. Enjoy!

My First Owl Stamp....

But I am sure it will not be my last. I love owls!! I know that some people think they are kinda creepy, but I was loving owls before they ever came on the design scene....it was sort of a coincidence when they became popular and my friends were shocked that there could be so many owl accessories, purses, and stamps that were all tailored to me! Now, they are just as freaked about owl stuff as I am when they hit antique malls! Anyway, I attended a birthday party this weekend for my cousin's daughter. She is also one of my students and she really loves art. I decided that she needed her own set of chalk pastels and oil pastels and fancy art paper like we use at school. Here is the card and gift bag that I made for her. She knows that I love owls too!! When I arrived at the birthday party, (late) she was so excited to make me jealous with her new OWL t-shirt....and I was so excited to finally show off my owl stamp!