Sweets with Sarah Kay -

Good Sunday - Oh my loving the sweet theme of this weeks challenge for Sarah Kay Challenge Blog Inspiration from "sweets, candies and treats" and how these things inspired your project is up to you, it could be chocolate so you could make a chocolate coloured card, a treat bag filled with chocolate a wallet with chocolate bars inside or something else! Of course you don't need to choose chocolate as your theme, you could be inspired by cakes, cookies, candies or some sugary themed patterned paper.




I normally would have gone right to the chocolate theme and done something with that. But I had no chocolate here at the house and if I went out and purchased some "just for the challenge" Well I would have ate it all, as hubby isn't a huge chocolate person. Well I decided I needed to work with what I had here and this is what I came up with.











This is a recipe from a Christmas Cookie Magazine from last year, and this recipe is one that everyone loved. It is simple and not to "much". If you know what I mean. And it is a cookie recipe that I usually have everything in the cabinet and is easy to make.



Amish Sugar Cookies.. mmm yummy. I pulled out one of my clear paint pails, and decorated the inside of it with a piece of My Minds Eye "Tres Jolie" pattern paper, the red is the back side of the pattern... love that! I cut a circle out of it with my Nestibilites and then a scallop from the solid side to go around the circle hole. Now not that I planned it - LOL - but the circle I cut out fit the top perfectly... so I attached it to the lid then stacked three Basic Grey flowers and a vintage button. Tied some matching gingham ribbon to the handles for fun. I typed out the recipe, and then matted with the solid, it took to 4x6 cards to fit everything so I matted the second as well then attached them together with adhesive. I inked the edges of everything and then white gel pen stitched the edges. I colored one of the sneak peak Sarah Kay images... (is it adorable or what!!!) anyway I colored it with my Copics and white gel pen, then cut it out and placed it on the front of my recipe card.






Isn't this a cute gift? Oh I did make up some of the cookies for the "photo shoot"... Hubby was standing by waiting for the ok to grab some...

OH and BTW.. if you want the recipe, just click on the photos they will enlarge for you to be able to read them.

So unless you are totally dieting and can't take the risk of more sweets... he he ... run on over to the Sarah Kay Challenge Blog and see the other DT creations... just yummy!



I had a blast at the Rubberstamp and Scrapbooking Expo... Tracey and I laughed all day, and got lots of fun goodies. Need to do it more Tracey! (well without dropping so much $)

Some of what I got:

12 sheets of EZMount foam (hey 3.25 a sheet is great!)

Glazes - can't wait to try these different from anything I have seen before.

Oil Pastels

2 more distressing inks (colors I haven't been able to find)

Felt Buttons and flowers

Some pretty Blings and ribbons

A few of the new Sizzix dies... boy they have really come a long way! CUTE!

a few Rubbernecker stamps and a couple of others brands


some 12x12 papers, and a paper pad as a gift for my sister

and a few other things that right now I can't remember.



Well busy busy busy today! I am running out the door now for breakfast with the gang, swing back by the house and pick up my "stuff" for a class I am teaching today, then hurry back home for family that is coming out. Whew! I am already tired! Hope you have a calm restful Sunday planned with lots of stamping fun!


HUGS and-

Donkey Saturday!

Ok... quick post today as I have to get out of here to meet my friend to go to the Rubber stamp Expo!

I took all of these photographs last night. I think I am going to start taking them in the evening instead of going out early Saturday Morning, the photos come out so much better. You will still enjoy them on Donkey Saturday, the photographs will just be 12 hours old rather than same day. Not that they go bad or anything ;0)

This is Black Jack, is he a stud or what? He is Lola, Angelina and Gloria's Daddy. And soon to be one more!

Yes Darlene is still pregnant, and will be for a few more weeks. Yes she is huge, and I do believe she is tired of being so large. Sigh I know how she feels.

This next girl is Annabella, or Bella as I call her. She is next to deliver. In fact I am already on alert. So anytime from now to then next week or so... we think....

This is baby Irene, she is about 3 months old now and is hard to photo sometimes because she is ALWAYS under foot, nipping at you for attention. And because of that hubby has nick named her "Shark". He does the Jaws music every time she is coming at us.

Ok, this one is just too cute for words. This is Diego (my first baby who is now over 4 years old) Lacey and her baby Rosita. I was getting ready to take a photo of the three of them all with their heads in the bale of hay, when Diego turned to see what I was doing... he is my little lover, my little comedian. He will always be my baby boy.

Then my 3 stooges... Ted E. Bear, Cocoa and Valentine, my standard donkeys. I had just thrown them a flake of hay for dinner. They were at this moment sharing nicely... that doesn't always happen so sweetly.

Ok, I am off! I hope to post Sunday that it was full of stamps and goodies!

HUGS and-

Fall is in the Air

And that is a statement about our weather here, and is the title of my card today. This week's Cute Card Thursday also has a theme of Autumn. Must have been on every one's mind as many challenges have that theme this week. I think we are all happy that the weather is turning cooler around here especially the donkeys, they are LOVING the cool, crisp mornings.

Now to my card. Well me and the distressing inks are not getting along. I can't figure out how to keep things "in the lines" maybe my waterbrush is too wet? I'll keep practicing. I was so going for the lighter look, my last was just too dark, you couldn't tell it was even water colored. I so love this look and hope I can figure it out. Sigh.

My image is a brand new one from Alota Rubber Stamps. Helene has got some really cute Fall - Winter stamps she has just released on the website. Really adorable, can't wait to use the Christmas ones, school girls and the witch is adorable! But for the challenge today I used stamps from two of the new sets. "Autumn Wishes" and "Happy Fall" both are perfect for this time of year. I stamped out the Scarecrow and two of the pumpkins on my watercolor paper. Using distressing ink I colored them trying to keep it light and soft. I cut the pumpkins out and used pop glue dots to attached them in front of the Scarecrow. I then inked and doodled the edge of the image.

Brown Core'dinations cardstock is used for the base, and dark green for the mat. I sanded both of them. There are two pattern papers. One is from Paper Studio (the pumpkins) and American Crafts (the fall dots). They are totally different papers, but I think they worked together. I love the leaves. They are Cut with my Cuttlebug and are Quickutz dies, I used the Core'dinations card stock, so I could sand them to give different colors to them and show the embossing off, they are inked and then I gave them a layer of Twinkling H20's, I love how they came out! Sentiment is part of the set and it matted and inked. Oh and I used two photo turns on the mat for embellishments. Definitely fits the Autumn/Fall call I think.

Man it is FRIDAY! And guess what I am doing on Saturday Morning... going to a Rubberstamp Expo! Whoo Hoo! This is a new show for me so I really don't know how large or small it will be, but regardless there will be stamps there and should be fun! Hope you have something fun planned.... maybe you can meet me at the Stamp show?

HUGS and-

Whiff of Joy Time!

I got my new Whiff of Joy stamps!! But while getting them out to play with them last night, there was one Whiff of Joy I had not used yet from my last order. I felt sad for it, and decided that she needed inked before I got out the new girls and guys. I did get to use my new chair and pillow though. And made a plan for this weeks Whiff of Joy Challenge Blog, using my Autumn colors.





I stamped out the pillow and Willow with hot chocolate and colored them in with my Copics, Spica Glitter Pens and white gel pen. Then I stamped the chair twice, once on brown card stock and then once on a piece of Basic Grey Infuse pattern paper. I cut the full chair out of the brown card stock and then just the cushions out of the pattern paper. I then put it together and then sat Willow in the chair. I attached her "bottom" with a glue dot, then her head with a pop dot, to give her the appearance of sitting up in the chair.



Then I went to the card. I found three more pieces of the Basic Grey Infuse papers and cut and made my background, the brown as the mat, the green as my carpet and the the pattern as the wall paper. I used a small band of the brown as a break or baseboard for the room. I sewed it around the edge and the band. Willow in her chair are then pop dotted on the room with the pillow leaning against the chair. Now I needed some wall decoration. And I could not believe how perfect this worked, I purchased some old watch faces a while back, thought one might make a great wall clock, but didn't know what to use as the frame. I found this Maya Road mini frame and it fit perfectly, too funny. The sentiment is from House Mouse.




I realized after I finished that this is my second "room scene" this past week. But I had to make the scene for my first use of the chair. Oh I love the chair! Wish I could wiggle my nose and have one for my living room! Ok, maybe a tad lighter colors for the cushions, but I do love it.




Hope the weather is nice where you are, a front came through last night and it is breezy here this morning and man is my sinuses giving me a headache, but it is so pretty and seeing how the donkeys are loving the little bit cooler weather is worth it.

Have a great Thursday, and have some time to get inky -
HUGS and-

Fishing for Papertake Weekly

Oh my I am loving this Hanglar Image, I apologize for using Hanglars a lot this week, but with new images and with the stamped images that friends have sent me, they are just too irresistible! This is one I have always admired, Nikki was nice enough to stamp me a few. You see Hubby lives to fish, so this one was a must.

I followed the fabulous sketch of Katharina's from this weeks Papertake Weekly Challenge. I love her sketches don't you? Now if only you could see the mess I made looking for this pattern paper, I knew I had some left and I wanted to use it with the image. I tore up all of my pattern paper, went through all of my scraps. Nothing couldn't find it anywhere. So while at the LSS this week I purchased a new sheet. Luckly she had a couple left. Brought it home and set it on my desk and then went to put something else away and out fell the scrap of this paper! Figures huh? Oh well now I have an extra sheet for next time.

He is colored with my Copics and high lighted with white gel pen. And cut with my Nestibilities. I used a green card stock for the base and for the center square, inked the edges of everything with a dark brown.

The band in the middle is a dark blue satin ribbon and do you love those buttons or what? I purchased a large card board box a couple of years ago from a fabric store of old cards of buttons. Yes a LARGE card board box of them. For $20.00. Hundreds and Hundreds of cards of buttons that they wanted to get rid of. I gave buttons away to everyone for awhile. My nieces and nephews even went through it to get buttons to play with. I still have two hat boxes full of them and pulled them out the other day and decided that they were too neat to just let sit there so old buttons will be on many of my future cards.

The sentiment is from Rubberstamp Tapestry and is cut with my Fiskars Squeeze Punch, matted with the larger punch of pattern paper. I doodled the edges. And thought I was done. Nope... hubby really thought it some kind of bling.... but man type of bling. He said "Can't you make the fish look shiney? Wet?" Wow what a great idea... so I put some Diamond Glaze over the fish and let the "water" run out over the bucket. I knew there was a reason I keep him... :0)

Today is suppose to be a rainy day, I so hope so as we need it, but it is dark and gloomy here. Not a great day for house cleaning. Why is it I hate to clean when it is like this. I like it to be sunny and open the house up. Oh well with how my house looks I don't have a choice today... so off to the vacuum and dishes - then some blog surfing of course ;0)

Have a great Wednesday - get inky!

HUGS and -

Spoon Full of Sugar - Lim's Sketch!

I am so proud of myself. I have really been trying at least a couple of times a week to climb out of my box and try something new. Today's card is new for me. No flowers, no frilly, no pinks purples girly colors.

Today is Spoon full of Sugar Challenge time, and as soon as I saw Lim's fabulous sketch I knew I wanted to do something different.

I colored one of the new Hanglar images with my Copics and high lighted with white gel pen, I cut her out with my Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife. I got a lot of questions about this yesterday, if you cut out very much at all, you will love this thing. The details you can cut are amazing, remember that soap box from yesterday? Plus it takes all the strain off of your hand. It doesn't cost a lot either. I have found them from 3.99-4.99, even Target has had them in the past.

Back to the card. I wanted to go with the bolder colors and found this beautiful piece of pattern paper from Basic Grey's Boxer collection, then a sheet of Green card stock and blue that matched. I used a cream card stock for the base. Following the sketch I cut a large blue circle and band across the middle. I ran the band through my Cuttlebug Embossing it. Then lightly sanded it so the raised script would show a bit more. I then cut a smaller circle to sit in the larger one. I stamped it with Versa mark Water mark ink and a Heidi Grace Flourish stamp. I cut my corners from the green as well. I attached my Hanglar girl so she is sitting in the bottom of the circle, then pulled out one of my new favorite things, puffy paint! and filled in with the white paint to give the cloud more puff and then stickled her wings. The Dots are Cloud Nine Rain Dots, love those things too. The sentiment Forever Friends is from Hampton Art Stamps.

I hope you take time to go and look at all the other DT cards from Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge Blog, really different this week but all fantastic!

Wow running really late this morning.... I am having lunch with some old friends. Oops friends that I have known for a long time, not that they are old. LOL

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday and get inky! Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog! HUGS and-

My First Distressed Ink Coloring and a Card for Laughs!

I so love all the cards that I see on blogs that are colored with Ranger Distressed Inks. I finally decided this was something I needed to try myself. I slapped my hand twice when it reached for my Copics last night while starting this Hanglar image. I don't have all the Ranger Distressed Inks, but pulled out what I had dug for my water brush and took a deep breath. I see that this does take a lot of practice, but for my first try I am ok with how it turned out. I really see that I need to work on less ink. Mine turned out a little darker, I was really going for a lighter look. After I finished I remembered a bunch of bottles of distressing ink from Fiber Scraps that I purchased at a Scrap booking Conference, 18 colors I think. Different brand but I am sure it would work the same right? I may try that with the Rangers, as my 6 colors of Rangers were not enough choice for me. Then again I may just get some more Rangers too ;0)

For my layout I used this weeks Sketch Saturday Challenge. Loved the sketch, and thought it would work well with my image I had colored. I used a yellow and sage green Core'dinations card stock for my card, with a pattern paper from Fancy Pants. I sanded both of the card stocks to match the distressed pattern. My image is cut with my Nestibilities petite ovals. I love the wide ribbon as the band behind the oval. And then in my squares I used jewelry spacers with yellow mini brads. The sentiment is from Stampin Up and is punched out with a Fiskar's squeeze punch, love that it is the perfect size for these round stamps.

I do have a second card today. I made this one a few days ago. I found some stamps from Rubbernecker stamps that I had never used. I ordered them months ago... honestly I can't even remember when. Feeling guilty that they had never seen ink, I decided to have some fun with them. One thing you have to realize, all the pieces are separate stamps. So you can do a lot of different things with them. And I love the the sentiment! LOL! "Behind every successful woman is a basket of dirty laundry". So true... don't you think. And today I have more than one basket full! Everything is colored with my Copics and cut out. I wanted to create a room feel so I found a scrap of pattern paper that looked like wall paper, then I used a piece of light brown kraft paper stamped with a wood background stamp, then rubbed with a couple different colors of brown ink. I attached all the pieces.

Oh and let me tell you with out my Fiskars fingertip craft knife I would have never been able to cut out the iron, spray bottle, soap box and softener bottle! I wanted the washing machine window to look like glass so I cut a circle out of a transparency and attached over it. Shame you can't see that in the photographs.

I hope this card gives you a giggle as it did me!
Well it is cloudy and drizzling here today, we need some real rain not this yucky stuff. Oh well will cool things off a bit and we do have a chance of rain later in the week. Guess I had better go and sort my dirty laundry and get it done -

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit me, I really do appreciate each visit! Hope you have a great Monday-

HUGs and -