My Craft Room

Saturday I went in to my craft room to get going on some cards.... 10 hours later I was done cleaning and semi-organizing. I had so many piles of stuff and things stashed here and there, a cleaning day was loooong overdue. So I thought I would share my clean room -- I know it will not look clean to most of you -- but it is! I am not sharing any "before" pictures, for fear you would be blinded by the total mess and unsubscribe asap! Personally I love seeing peoples spaces -- neat ideas are invented out of need and function and it is just so interesting to see how people organize their craft room. My room is kinda small, I already moved out of the office and took this room.... I am thinking of moving to another larger room. But I fear I will just over grow that one too, might be better to try and contain myself.... and ohhhh, moving this room --YIKES!!! So here we go for your peek in to my happy space..... If you dare you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Here we have the ribbon wall... Apparently I like RED! I have had to replace the wooden dowels here and there with metal dowels... as I have a bit of a sagging issue... maybe I have too much? Nah!

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As you come in to the room you are greeted by the Punch Door, behind the door I have more punches and my SU sets that are sentiments. Then my paper rack, which is sort of organized by colors of NON-SU 12x12 papers. Above the paper rack is an old cassette tape rack - which is now ink storage, well some of my inks, lol!

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This wall is directly behind where I sit -- so it has a lot of things that I reach for and use more often. I keep my basic embossing powders in the little glad ware plastic boxes... clear, white, black, gold and silver. You can see I got right up to the ceiling, I am six feet tall -- so I can reach it!
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All of the colored pencils perch up here... I love all the colors. Since my discovery of Copics my poor little pencils have gotten no love. I must play with them soon.

This is a short wall housing some stamps -- some cases have stamps in them, some by theme and some by stamp company. Some case house a technique like quilling or tea bag folding. You can see all the cards on the wall, some are mine, but most are cards that have been given to me, I update them here and there, replacing them sometimes... I love to see them everyday! My ipod player is housed in the middle -- it is on all the time while I am in this room.
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The room has a little alcove in the back corner -- and YEP, I filled it up too. originally it was a desk to be used as my Die-Cut station. Now More SU is stacked tall... drawers hold all sorts of goodies. The rainbow drawers on the bottom hold more inks and a few stamp companies by vendor, that way I can go pull out a drawer and put it on the desk if I am working with a specific company's stamps. Also you can see my scrap buckets with colors organized in zip lock bags-- I always forget to use these, but can not bear to trash them.

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Here's a peek in to the closet. I took the doors to the closet down.... It's not about pretty in this room -- it's all function! On top of the white storage drawers I have filing bins that hold all the SU card stock, organized neatly -- I have no idea who left those colors sticking out of the files like that. My bad cat must have been in there playing around.

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Here is the desk where all the inky mess happens! I bought this table at Rooms to Go, and it is really heavy and sturdy. If it gets scratched or gets ink on it, I don't worry a bit, that just adds character. You can see the cat has a bed up here -- worst mistake I ever made. He kept coming up on the table messing in my stuff so I brought in a little bed for him, which he does sit in a lot... but every once in a while he has to get up and come plop himself in my work space for some attention, then after I adore him and rub his ears for a sufficient amount of time he will go back to his bed and the process starts all over again. Also you can see I have things on a lazy susan-- makes for easy access to things.

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A few other fun things I wanted to share.....

My Lady of Scissors.... I constantly lose my scissors, so I bought like five pairs of good little snippers, but I still lost them when I was crafting, under the piles of stuff I would have on my desk. So I saw this lady thingy at TJ Max one day -- I think it is meant for hanging your necklaces on, but not in my house. Now my scissors hang in front of me and I can grab them at any time, I have trained myself to put them back right away so they are always there. Ribbon Scissors, Kai Scissors, SU paper Snips, Cutterbees... all just hanging and waiting.

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OK -- I know I have a lot of stuff. But one of my most vexing issues is how to store my nesties together and have them all in one convenient spot... here is what I have done. I got this 4x6 little album with little plastic sleeves - In the front of the sleeve is the card from the Spellbinder's Packaging and in the back of the pocket are the dies. This keeps all my Spellbinders Nesties and dies that I do not use every day.... My basic Shapes of Nesties stay out all the time hanging in jump rings attached to the edge of my desk for easy access (you can see this in Prince Peppercorn's picture).

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FYI, the rest of my house is not like this crazy room! Hope you liked the peek in to my crazy clutter filled room of crafting! I'm off to stamp!

OCC- "Time" for a Sketch Challenge

It's Saturday! Time for the OCC Challenge! For this week’s challenge we have a sketch to jump start our creativity. Check out the OCC Blog to see what goodies are up for grabs this week and all the details of how you can enter to win. So please join us and Go Get Inky! For a close up view on the OCC's projects for this week please visit the OCC Ladies on their blog -Silke Ledlow, Cindy Haffner, Jennifer Meyer, Frances Byrne, Loretta Lock , Viki Garrett and Joycelyn Turner.

I love this image. I do not garden, or even aspire to have a green thumb. In fact I have killed bamboo -- you know the bamboo you just put in water and leave alone -- it DIES in my house. Anyway, I do believe there is a plant like this in nature, with the red in the center of the leaves. Maybe it's not the right one as I have colored it, but I needed to bring some red in to match the paper. So if it's wrong, so be it, feel free to leave a comment or have a laugh at my expense! The card ended up rather large at 5x7, and for this size of a card I think I managed to keep it fairly simple and clean in design, for me anyway! I used copics to color and used just a little airbrushing around the edges. Just some tiny gold dots along the red border of my Nesties for accents. After I made my little triple loop bow using the Bow Easy I used the tails to secure it to the back of the panel instead of letting them hang down. I used some metal accents and topped them off with a little gold pearl.

• Stamps: All images from Serendipity Stamps
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: DP by Imaginisce, Dark Red, Olive Green, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Ivory
• Other: Bow Easy Tool, Silk Ribbon from Sharon, Gold Pearls, Metal Accents, Copics/ABS, Gold Gel Pen, Black Micron Pen, Gold Button, Corner Rounder

Purple and a Pussycat!

I wanted a quick and simple card tonight -- when I feel a little missing mojo coming on I always reach for my TCP stamps -- they make me smile and get me right back in the stamping groove. I pulled the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday post. And, lickety split this card came together. I have been struggling to use this "Eva" Collection of Papers from Basic Grey. Purple is not a fave of mine. Luckily there is that fun Olive green color you pull out from the papers. I paired up the Eva paper with my Paisley Cuttlebug folder, since there were tiny paisleys in the DP. I fussed it up with some dots and doodles. Completed card is an A2.

• Stamps: All stamps by The Cat's Pajamas
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: All Dp by Basic Grey Eva Collection, Bazzill Purple, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
• Other: Copics/ABS, Spellbinder's Classic Circles, Cuttlebug Folder, Purple Pen, Pink Souffle Pen, Dew Drops

Happy Memorial Day!

Wishing everyone a very Happy and Safe Memorial Day! I hope you all had a great relaxing and fun weekend! I had a nice and quiet weekend, but it was back to work for me today. Which was OK by me, as I think I only got two phone calls all day -- which is a nice break, and I could zip through work with out the constant interruption of the phone. This is a quickie little card for today. I wanted to do a patriotic card for today's post, and I thought about this Impression Obsession stamp since it had stars Incorporated in the image. Unfortunately when I coated the cake with Crystal Lacquer it made the red look way darker in the picture than it is in real life. So just imagine that my reds match up perfectly! And there are also silver dots on the cake-- you can't see those either! I think I have had this chain in my stash for at least five years, at least! I love it when I use something like that.... kind of justifies my hoarding of craft supplies! Doesn't it???

• Stamps: Impression Obsession Clear Set #CL203 Birthday Cakes
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red
• Paper: Blue Polka Dots by Bo Bunny, Red Polka Dots by SU, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Riding Hood Red
• Other: White Rainbow Tape, Red Silk Ribbon, Bow Easy Tool, White Adhesive Dots, Silver Adhesive Stars, Blue, Spellbinders Labels Four, Silver Chain by Magic Scraps, Red Brad, Eyelets, Red Crystals, Silver Metallic Pen, Crystal Lacquer

OCC Challenge - Spotlight on the Sentiment!

It's Saturday! Time for the OCC Challenge! For this week’s challenge, it’s all about sentiments. Use your favorite sentiment as a focal point on your card/project. Check out the OCC Blog to see what goodies are up for grabs this week and all the details of how you can enter to win. So please join us and Go Get Inky! For a close up view on the OCC's projects for this week please visit the OCC Ladies on their blog -Silke Ledlow, Cindy Haffner, Jennifer Meyer, Lori Boyd, Frances Byrne, Loretta Lock , Viki Garrett and Joycelyn Turner.

I love quotes and have a good collection of word and sentiment stamps, amongst those most of my favorites seem to be from Wordsworth/Rubber Soul. This is one of my faves. I pulled this card together by starting with the papers from Basic Grey's Offbeat Collection. I layered some papers and added some edging in the middle using scalloped scissors and also a strip of orange card stock with some added polka dots. For the sentiment, I cut it out with a Nestie and then outlined the inner frame adding some soft airbrushing with Copic YR14. I was going to leave the border white... but you know I have trouble doing that... and so I just had to add some tiny little scallop type doodles and colored them orange. I didn't want to add a lot of layers of paper and cover my background, so this seemed a good fix for my layer addiction. For the ribbon I added two pieces of the silk ribbon folded in half going down the background, tucking them in the top and securing them with two little brads on the bottom. Then a double loop bow to finish it off, made of course with the Bow Easy. Completed card size is an A2.

After I finished this card, I kept thinking it was kind of familiar looking.... and then it dawned on me that I used almost the same materials just a few weeks ago on this card!!!

Ummm... ooops! I guess I liked the combo!!!

• Stamps: Emily Dickinson Quote by Wordsworth/Rubber Soul
• Paper: All DP by Basic Grey "Offbeat" 6x6 Collection, Chocolate Chip, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Orange
• Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
• Other: 1/2" Orange Silk Ribbon, Bow Easy Tool, Pearls, Crystals, Scallop Scissors, Black Micron Pen, Copics/ABS, Brown Brads and Brown Rick Rack Sticker by Basic Grey, Spellbinder's Classic Rectangles

Father's Day Fishing Lure

Happy Friday!! Sorry I have been absent this week, it's been busy! I have still been playing with Basic Grey's "Granola" Collection. Loving these masculine papers and colors. Sandy -- No pink to be seen in this collection! So I thought it would be perfect to use for some Father's Day cards. My card is pretty straight forward.... a couple of quickie points that I'll share...

1. I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder to emboss the polka dots, then I used my paper piercer to poke a hole in each embossed dot -- kind of a different look for a background.
2. I used my Nestie as a template and traced the outside and inside edges of the die on my paper. Then, I just used Copics to create the layers of color, the final result was just hand trimmed with scissors. I roughed up the edges just a bit with a nail file just to hide my imperfect cutting.
3. Since it is a fishing card it definitely called for a little "wet" look. I added Crystal Lacquer to the center of the Lure in kind of a blob, then used a toothpick to fan it outward here and there over the stringy edges of the lure image. Also -- if you look closely over and under the sentiment on the kraft paper -- I used a clear glaze pen to add some little dots -- when they dry they look like little water drops. You may need to enlarge the pic to see this -- but I liked the way that turned out.

• Stamps: Lure image by Serendipity Stamps from Set# 073HCl "Angler", "Happy Father's Day" #503C by Savvy Stamps
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: Basic Grey "Granola" 6x6 Collection, Blue, Kraft, Cream, Grey
• Other: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder, Paper Piercer, Copics/ABS, Hemp Twine, Crystal Lacquer, Buttons by Basic Grey, Clear Glaze Pen, White Gel Pen

Monday! Monday! - A stare down!

hApPy mOndAY!

I love this kitty image from AAA Rubber Stamps with the sentiment from Rubber Soul. I made this card for the Summer Take Ten Challenge --- it did not make the cut! Rejected! Sniff, Sniff! We had "drop in" Dinner Guests and I did not have time to get a new Funny Monday card ready for posting. So I pulled this reject out of the photo file. I don't remember the details of the papers I used here... the card itself is pretty straight forward... so I'll spare you a rambling post today!

Awww. Cute Changito!

Just a cute quickie featuring little Changito for today. Not much to to talk about here... Copics to color, a little soft air brushing, my usual doodles. I cut a slit in the nestie panel to slide the band of paper through, then used the buttons to cover up my cut mark. Instead of stitching each button to the paper, (I am not one to pull out the needle unless I have to.) I threaded all three buttons on to a little jute string, then glued the "string of buttons" down to the paper. I totally cheat where I can! Finished card is an A2.

• Stamps: All stamps by Stampendous
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, All DP by Basic Grey "Granola" Collection, Brown
• Other: Basic Grey Buttons, Copics /ABS, Cuttlebug Embossing Strip (on the band), Jute String, Blue Fine tip pen, White Gel Pen, Spellbinder's Curved Rectangles

OCC - A "Calm" COLOR Challenge

It's Saturday! Time for the OCC Challenge! This week, it's a Color Challenge: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue! Check out the OCC Blog for lots of goodies up for grabs this week and all the details of how you can enter to win. So please join us and Go Get Inky! For a close up view on the OCC's projects for this week please visit the OCC Ladies on their blog -Silke Ledlow, Cindy Haffner, Jennifer Meyer, Lori Boyd, Frances Byrne, Loretta Lock , Viki Garrett and Joycelyn Turner.

I was so tickled with my mini-brayer technique (read my last post if you have no idea what I am talking about) that I had to to do it again! Look how neat my brayering is on ONLY the raised portions. I love my "itty bitty ohhh soooo easy to control" brayer! So I'll give you the quickie points on this card ... I cut a piece of white copy paper to 3 3/4" x5" for my base, then I adhered the three colors of paper strips. So the colors were all combined together before I ran it through the cuttlebug, as I wanted the embossed designs to match up with each color. I used copy paper so it would not add too much weight and would still emboss nicely. It worked. Then I used my new friend the baby brayer to roll on White Craft ink.... gently rolling back and forth, coating the raised portions with white ink. There are are few tiny smudge marks of white, mainly around the edges... but all in all, a pretty smooth job, if I say so myself. I outlined the Nestie Frame while my image was still snug inside for my black inner frame, then added some little pink polka dots for detail. I added one thin hand trimmed layer of black to my nestie edge, it needed a little more of an edge to help pop it off the colored background. I glazed my tub with some Crystal Lacquer for shine. Added some Spica Sparkle to the flowers and grey portions of the tub, finished with two little triple loop bows in the complimenting colors. Completed card is an A2.

• Stamps: Image by My Favorite Things - Annie LaPoint - Be Calm
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, White Craft Ink
• Paper: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, White, Black
• Other: Spellbinder's Label Four, Silk Ribbon from Sharon, Bow Easy, Pink Fine Tip Pen, Black Micron Pen, Cuttlebug Folder, Crystal Lacquer

Three Scoops, Please!

This was one of those cards that was a struggle from start to finish. It has been in the works for three days on my desk... Not that I have worked on it for three days.... I have a real job too! It started out as a sweet, simple little ice cream cone card -- I knew I was going to pair it up with the perfect background paper from Basic Grey, so I thought the paper issue was taken care of and I would zip right through and have a card ready to post lickity split! Not so. I should have thrown it away at the first sign of trouble and hit the road for some real ice cream! I went round and round and round trying to make a card that I liked enough to post. Still not sure how I feel about how it turned out, but here it is anyway. I could not invest one more minute or I would have gone nuts. I don't think they allow scissors and xacto knives for crafting in the nut house, so I am keen to stay out for as long as I can. So here is the SCOOP....

Scoop #1

There are so many color choices you could use -- pulling out any of the primary colors from the DP. So I picked several papers and got to it... Every color I chose looked weird, just didn't go. It took me until Day 3 to remove all the other colors that were clashing and junking it up and just have the DP and red, with the two neutrals as ivory and brown, sounds so simple now, but trust me I went the whole rainbow of color choices before it dawned on me -- take the colors away!

Scoop #2
The Ivory and Red Cuttlebug Panel - I know there are several techniques out there of how to do this and get the same result. But I wanted to share my tip with you. I have a very heavy hand when I stamp, so doing something with a light touch is not always easy for me... Which brings me to why the Brayer and I are not friends. We just don't mix well, the brayer and I. So when at a past stamp show I saw this little cute baby sized brayer and felt like I must have it... I honestly had no idea why, cause again -- I don't like the brayer. And my friends (you know who you are!) made fun of me for buying this -- seeing no value in a small brayer for me or for any purpose, saying a regular brayer does the job just fine. WELL.... let me tell you -- I love this little baby brayer, and we are great friends... baby steps to the big brayer, maybe??? I had my cuttlebugged paper and I used the cute baby brayer to apply Very Vanilla craft ink to the cuttlebugged paper. It is so small and light that it only inks the raised portions, and for some reason works a million times better for me. I used a little pressure to roll it, but it is so tiny - it seems hard to apply too much to it. AND unlike the big brayer it did not leave ink where I did not want it. AND it cleaned up with a baby wipe in about two seconds. So maybe others have made this little baby brayer discovery and I am late to the party, but I had to share this with you as I was so happy with the absolute ease and results of using the smaller size.

Scoop #3
OK -- here's the last tip I'll share. If anyone is still reading my rambling post. Hellllooooo? You still with me out there? The bow.. it's a funny looking little bow, perfect but imperfect. Of course, I used the bow easy to make it. But I had this 1" sheer Ivory ribbon that I had picked out. It was too wide for my card and image. So I twisted it up like a rope before using it in the bow easy. After the twisty bow was tied I untwisted the tails and un-raveled the bow loops a bit-- so they are puffy and awkward but kind of fun looking compared to a normal little looped bow. I also folded the ribbon in half to wrap around the card base too.

• Stamps: All Stamps by My Favorite Things: Here's the Scoop
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vanilla Craft Ink
• Paper: Brown, Ivory, Red and Pattern Paper by Basic Grey
• Other: Sheer 1" Ivory Ribbon, Red Pen, Blue Pen, Cuttlebug Folder, Copics, Brown Cat's Eye for Edging, Paper Piercer, Corner Punches, Crystal Lacquer, Clear Spica Pen, Cute Little Baby Brayer, Spellbinder's Polka Dot Frame (I used the inner frame's punch out for my image shape),Spellbinder's Ribbon Tags, Bow Easy

Triple Tuesday!

Today I am doing something a bit different on my blog. I made three cards using the same stamps and I'm going to share them with you. In the magazines this is always one of my favorite sections -- I think they call it a " Different Point of View". By changing a few things on your card but still using the same images, cards can look completely different. All of the stamps I have used are from Coronado Island. And Coronado is offering a special discount for Krafty Kat readers for the month of May! I'll share my cards then give you the scoop on the Special Deals available for you!

I just love how realistic this image is! The art is by Sandra Jordan and you should check out her Collection of Images at Coronado, they are magnificent! She has such a way of getting the animals just right and having them look so real. Her collection of Big Cats is probably my favorite... but then you know I am a little partial to cats -- big and small! These Panda's are so easy to use... very easy to color! lol! I added some color to the grass and airbrushed a little blue in the background. The bamboo pieces I used on the card are from a Bamboo place mat.... I friend picked it up when she was shopping one day, it was a mat of bamboo strips bound together. She had the great idea to break the strips apart and use them as embellishments... Thanks Miriam!!! I used a Cuttlebug Leaf Folder on the solid blue panel, but then ended up covering it all up! I added some little doodle dots here and there. The hanging panel is popped up and raised off the card base. The Asian Symbol stands for Prosperity.

• Stamps: All Stamps by Coronado Island: Prosperity Symbol #1294-B, Panda Little Miracle #SJ056-L, Bamboo Word #0789-AA
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Baja Blue, DP by SU, Misc. Green DP, Black, White
• Other: Cuttlebug Folder, Spellbinder's Label Four, Spellbinder's Ribbon Tags, Metal Adhesive Accents, Copics/ABS, Ribbon by SU, Bamboo Pieces, Mircon Black Pen

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This one is a little more dramatic in color. I used Copper card stock and embossed with the Textiles Cuttlebug Folder. I paired it up with some yummy Black and Copper DP. Again I used the Bamboo pieces for accents. The Black Jute is a five loop bow I made using the Bow Easy. The green paper layer was a little bright and "lime" colored so I sponged a bit of black around the edges to tone it down a bit. I had these fabulous copper corner pieces to finish it off! Finished card size is an A2.

• Stamps: All Stamps by Coronado Island: Prosperity Symbol #1294-B, Panda Little Miracle #SJ056-L
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Black, White, Copper, Misc. Copper and Black DP, Green
• Other: Spellbinder's Label Four, Copics/ABS, Bamboo Pieces, Black Jute from Sharon's Ribbon Store, Copper Corners

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And this is my final sample to share today.... Lots of little elements going on here.... Doodles along all of the edges of the card and nesties. I used the Martha Basket Weave Punch for the detailed edging. I use some Olive Green Jute string on this for a little four loop bow, created with the Bow Easy. Again some soft airbrushing in the background, I did mask the pandas (using Eclipse Tape) to keep them white while I airbrushed on all my samples. I had this Basket weave looking paper in my stash and I thought it had a "natural" look to it to pair up with my Nature image.

• Stamps: All Stamps by Coronado Island: Prosperity Symbol #1294-B, Panda Little Miracle #SJ056-L
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: White, Black, Misc DP, Yellow
• Other: Corner Embellishments, Spellbinder's Label Four, Copics/ABS, Olive Green Jute String , White Gen Pen, Martha Punch, Pearls

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Check out other cards I have made with Coronado Island Stamps. Click here.

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CORONADO ISLAND STAMPS

Special Discount - for Krafty Kat Readers!

• 10% OFF all Regular priced items for the Month of May 2009
• Purchase the Panda Little Miracle stamp used on my cards above, and receive either the Bamboo word stamp or the Chinese Prosperity Character for Free! (Wood Mounted or Unmounted, respectfully)
• Free Shipping on orders over $75 (regularly free shipping is on orders of $100)
• This discount is only good for On-Line orders. In the Comment line of your order, please note "Krafty Kat Discount" to receive to special offers.

Monday! Monday! -- Jeepers Creepers!

Jeepers Creepers! -It's Monday Again!

I love this cat stamp! Halloween cards are so much fun to make, wild colors, fun images! I airbrushed around kitty while it was still in the Spellbinder's Abstract Nestie Die, leaving my border free for me to finish it off with some hand drawn polka dots, colored in with Copics. I trimmed the additional layers around the image by hand. I cuttlebugged the green panel with the "Circles" folder to mimic the circles in the background paper. The "Jeepers Creepers" was cut out of Pattern Paper made by Pinecone Press. Added some little tabs, made by using the SU window punch and cutting it in half. Some brads and bling to finish, Final card size is an A2.

• Stamps: Halloween Cat by Dog Gone Stamps
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: All DP by Pinecone Press, Kiwi Kiss, Black, Orange, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
• Other: Circles pattern CB Folder, Copics/ABS, SU Slot Punch, Jewels, Brads, Micron Black Pen, Spellbinder's Abstract Dies

THE WINNERS!!!!

Well, I have never had so many comments! WOW! The bow easy is the hot ticket of the week for sure! Head to Sharon's for the latest details of orders and wait lists, she also has created a Picture Tutorial and posted it on her blog showing how to use the Bow Easy. And Jerri has done a Video Tutorial -- showing off how EASY the Bow Easy really is! Also you still have a chance to win a Bow-Easy tool on Joan's blog until Monday at 12PM! I used random.org to select the winners - two winners from comments and one from my subscription list. -- and I won't make you wait any longer.... the Bow-Easy Winners are.....

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imastampin said...
Oh my goodness! I want one of those so badly. I'll wait to order until it is confirmed that I didn't win. I'm not usually on the lucky list! lol I love love love ribbon added to cards whether it is just a line, tied, or bows and bows and bows. Thanks for the chance!

May 5, 2009 9:42 PM

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dpkennedy said...
Wowzers look at all the comments for the coveted Bow Easy! I confess, I want one too! I am drooling over all the gorgeous bows! And I have to say I also have the frog in the underpants stamp but have never used it! It's so cute and funny...what am I waiting for?! The card you made with it is so cute!! Thanks for the candy offer and have a great weekend!

May 8, 2009 10:27 AM

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Sabrina aka okimom2girlz said...
Jenny, I am so glad you are revealing your secret to us. I love ribbon and I use it just about on every card I make, but only my bows on wide ribbon look all right. I have been admiring your perfectly arranged tiny bows and every time I give narrow ribbon a try I just miserably fail, cause my fingers get in the way. Thanks for sharing your little secret.

May 5, 2009 7:53 PM

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If you are one of the lucky winners, please email me with your address so I can get your Bow-Easy tool out to you in the mail! Thanks for all the wonderful comments!! So very appreciated! My email: jennygropp@comcast.net

OCC Sketch Challenge

It's Saturday! Happy Weekend! Time for the OCC Challenge! This week, our host, Robin Willis has provided us with a Sketch Challenge! Check out the OCC Blog for lots of goodies up for grabs this week and all the details of how you can enter to win. So please join us and Go Get Inky! For a close up view on the OCC's projects for this week please visit the OCC Ladies on their blog -Silke Ledlow, Cindy Haffner, Jennifer Meyer, Lori Boyd, Robin Willis, Frances Byrne, Loretta Lock , Viki Garrett and Joycelyn Turner.

I had the sketch from Robin to start with, and I have been wanting to use Basic Grey's new Wisteria Paper Collection.... so this is what came together. I really like this new collection of papers -- Purple is always a hard color for me to use, but in this paper collection it is paired up with blues and browns. Interesting colors put together and fabulous patterns, as usual! My card is pretty basic -- I did flip the sketch, but stayed true to the layout. I colored the image with Copics and I airbrushed just a hint of pale yellow behind the flowers, just to take away the whiteness. Added a corner of Pearls and a Silk Bow. This is the first bow I have tied with the 1.5" Silk Ribbon from Sharon, now that I have it in all colors... you will be seeing it again. I used the Bow-Easy for my bow, making a double loop bow. It's such a different look with the wider silk ribbon -- all puffy and silky soft!! The silk is so thin it cinches down to a wonderfully tight and neat small knot. Final card size is an A2

• Stamps: Image by Penny Black
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Deep Purple by Bazzill, All other is DP from Basic Grey's Wisteria Collection
• Other: Spellbinder's Classic Ovals, Copics/ABS, Pearls, 1.5" Light Blue Silk Ribbon, White 1/16" Rainbow Tape, Bow Easy, Micron Pen

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BOW-EASY VIDEO TUTORIAL NOW AVAILABLE
Jerri now has the promised Bow Easy Video Tutorial up on her wonderful blog: A Touch of Grace. I know many of you were waiting to see this bow making gadget in action. Check it out and see how easy it really is to tie a perfectly neat bow! Thank you, Jerri for all your efforts in putting the video together, VERY APPRECIATED!
Blog Candy Reminder: You can still enter to win the Bow Easy tool --See how and where on the below post (scroll down) "Bow Info! Bow Blog Candy!" .

SAS Blog Hop - Candy Winner!

BLOG CANDY WINNER

from the Stamps and Smiles Blog Hop!

Be sure and check the Stamps and Smiles blog after 3 PM on Saturday to see if your lucky number came up for any of the Goodies that were up for grabs!

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winning number generated by random.org

Here are your random numbers:42
Timestamp: 2009-05-09 06:24:55 UTC

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Betty aka ZacksNana said...
Oh Jenny I love your lollies!!!
May 8, 2009 11:03 PM

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Thanks to all who played in the Stamps and Smiles Blog Hop! Your wonderful comments are so appreciated! Congrats to Betty! Please email me with your address at jennygropp@comcast.net, so I can get your Stamps and Smiles set out to you!

Blog Hop -Lollipop!

This is the final set for the Stamps and Smiles release that I have been sharing with you this week.

Welcome to Stop #3 on the Stamps and Smiles Blog Hop!!

Please stop by each of the designers to find a letter in their post.

Here is your third letter clue "E".

Next, hop on over to see Crystal at her Blog "One Happy Stamper", who will be your hostess on your next stop. If you need to go to the beginning of the Blog Hop to start fresh and play along - head on over to see Cindy, at Cindy Haffner's Corner. Cindy has all the details to get you started on your adventure of possible prizes and goodies up for grabs! All of the new release sets will be available for purchase at 10pm Central tonight at the Stamps and Smiles Store.

BLOG CANDY Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of the new 3x4 sets from Stamps and Smiles. You can leave a comment tonight only. Winner will be posted on the Stamps and Smiles Blog on Saturday morning!

Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh....Lolli, Lollipop! I had that in my head the entire time I was making this card. I had fun creating this one, with lots of color and embellishments. I used the three lollipops from "Cuppyland". I colored them with Copics and added lots of embellishments; teeny crystals and the white is Liquid Applique. I added Spica to all of them for Sparkle effects! Then I coated each with Crystal Lacquer for Shine! I made three little triple loop bows from this great thin Jute from Sharon's Ribbon Store to accent each lollipop. I made the mini bows using the Bow-Easy, if you haven't heard about this little tool, you can read all the details a few posts down on the Bow Info! -Bow Blog Candy! post, and yes the Bow-Easy Blog Candy is still open until Sunday evening... so head to that post for details on how to get your hands on the Bow Tool! The little frame the lollipops are mounted on was created by cutting out the largest of Spellbinder's Deckled Rectangles, and tracing the outline of a smaller one inside that with a Black Micron Pen.... then I went to town with my Copics coloring and adding doodles. I pulled the colors I used from the DP in the background, Basic Grey's new Lime Rickey Collection. I added some Cuttlebug action on the Kraft paper, and a little Martha Teeny Hearts Border Punch. There is a lot going on here!

• All Stamps by Stamps and Smiles
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: DP by Basic Grey: Lime Rickey Collection 6x6, Kraft, Aqua, White, Red
• Other: Gems, Copics/ABS, Tiny Jute from Sharon's Ribbon Store, Crystal Lacquer, Spica Pens, Black Micron Pen, Spellbinder's Double Ended Tags, Spellbinder's Deckled Rectangles, Martha Stewart Tiny Hearts Border Punch, White Rainbow Tape, Bow-Easy, Cuttlebug Folder, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon by SU, White Liquid Applique, Bow Easy Tool