TSG Blossom by Blossom Challenge Blog Hop

It's the last day of TSG's blog hop challenges!  Are you ready for another Torico-illustrated character set? I hope so, because we are in love with her latest release that showcases sweet little ladies enjoying the pleasures of spring along with some of their favorite spring creatures and blooms.

Blossom By Blossom is a 4X8 stamp set that includes a total of 22 stamps and will sell for $18.

I had to use some of my favorite spring paper by My Minds Eye (Tickled Pink) .  I just love these colors, and this stamp set is so amazingly adorable...every image and sentiment is lovely.  I used this week's Mojo Monday 188 sketch. 

Would you like a chance to win the Blossom By Blossom stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their Blossom By Blossom Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own Blossom By Blossom stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (Apr. 30th) during the Release Party Chat.

Hopefully you arrived from Christine's fabulous blog.  If not, you can start the hop over at the TSG blog.  Now head on over to Pickles, errr....I mean, Danielle's dandi-licious blog to continue on the hop! And don't forget to join us release night Saturday.

TSG Lighten Up Blog Hop Challenge

Hey everyone! Welcome to day 2 of our sneak peek week.  Hopefully you arrived from Christine's blog.  If not, hop on over to the TSG blog to begin.

Know someone who takes everything too seriously? Or maybe you know someone who needs a little pick-me-up? 

This set illustrated by our fabulous Torico will “brighten” anyone’s day! There are not only a variety of lamp bases and shades, but there are also some heartfelt and humorous sentiments to coordinate perfectly with the images.

Lighten Up is a 4X6 stamp set that includes a total of 20 stamps and will sell for $15.

I LOVE these lamps!! wait till you see 'em all.  I thought I'd make a card for my Nanny who is getting a little grumpy lately. She's mad that she's getting old....good news is that it took her till age 89 to get there. hee hee  I love this 5 and Dime paper from October Afternoon, it reminds me of Nanny, so I thought this would be perfect for her. And Jeanie's trying to hit 50 participants for her 50th Krafty Thursday Challenge! Congrats Jeanie!! Let's help her get there! :D

 Dylan got into the groove with this stamp set and made this card for the blog hop.  He wants to be the next "Tim Holtz".  I told him to "Go for It!" 

Would you like a chance to win the Lighten Up stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their Lighten Up Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the TSG Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own Lighten Up stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (Apr. 30th) during the Release Party Chat.

Now head on over to Danielle's blog for some more eye-candy!!

TSG Confidential/ Garden of Life Blog Hop Challenge

Hey everyone!! Welcome to the first day of the TSG Blog Hop Challenge! If you've come from Christine's awesome blog, you're on the right track, if not head on over to the TSG blog to begin.

Have a bad day at the office? Or maybe you have a bad office every day? If either of these pertains to your situation, you will definitely enjoy this tongue-and-cheek set illustrated by Jessica…and anyone would be happy to receive a creation using this hilarious set!

Confidential by Jessica Knutsen is a 4X6 stamp set that includes a total of 12 stamps and will sell for $15.

Isn't she the coolest?!  I had a blast coloring her, and love all the desktop accessories that you can add.  Here's the inside with one of the many cheeky sentiments included.

And the Copics I used for this card:

Once again Chris Dark has amazed us with a whimsical and spring-inspired stamp set. Who wouldn’t want to be outside enjoying the scenes of spring as everything comes to life? This set is a celebration of exactly that!

Garden of Life is a 3X4 stamp set that includes a total of 7 stamps and will sell for $7.

The images in this little set are precious and wonderful to color.  As I'm channeling my inner Surat today, I thought I'd continue with the pointillism. The sketch is this week's TSG Challenge. I used lots of Spica pens to get the depth in the sunflower and elsewhere. So much fun!

Would you like a chance to win the Confidential and Garden of Life stamp sets? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their Confidential / Garden of Life Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own Confidential / Garden of Life stamp sets. The winner will be announced Saturday (Apr. 30th) during the Release Party Chat.

Now head on over to Danielle's blog to see her AMAZING creations using the new stamp sets!

Confidential Card Recipe:

Stamps: TSG Confidential
Paper:  PTI CS; Cosmo Cricut Upcycle
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Embellishments:  PTI Button, Ribbon;CTMH Bling; PTI and Spellbinder Dies

Garden of Life Card Recipe:

Stamps: TSG Garden of Life
Paper:  PTI CS; Cosmo Cricut Social Club
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Spicas
Embellishments:  May Arts Ribbon; Cosmo Cricut Social Club Bling Bling; MFT, PTI and Spellbinder Dies

FTR10 Happy Easter!

Hey everyone!! Today I'm posting the Easter card I'm giving to Dylan.  He likes to call me old. Dinosaur. Ancient. You know....one of those smart-alec kids. hee hee 

 Here's my card:

And the inside:

This image from Bugaboo Stamps is perfect!  And since Bugaboo is sponsoring FTR10 challenge, what could be better?  How about winning........ 

That's right!  Playing with us at the Catered Crop "Follow-the-Recipe" linking party is easy-peasy! Here's how it works:

1. Use any of the ingredients (themes, colors, techniques, shapes, etc.) to make your project. Just pick a few ingredients and then add your own spices to cook up something uniquely yours.
2. Be sure to list your recipe or tell us what ingredient you used from the sample recipe.

Here's the FTR10 recipe: (items I've use from the recipe are in PINK)

• Pattern Paper – stripes, miniprints (We R Memory Keepers Peep)
• Colors – pastels
• Stamps – go digital (Stella from Bugaboo Stamps), bunnies (well, Stella is dressed like a bunny, does that count?), butterflies, and flowers
• Color Mediums – Copic markers, paint, white pens
• Embellishments – burlap, pinwheels, twine,  buttons (PTI), eyelets, brads
• Tools – sewing machine, Cropadile, die cuts (PTI banner die)
• Techniques – sewing, distressing
• Theme – Spring

And lucky me, I actually made something that works as a color challenge.  I am so bad at them, but when I saw this week's ColourQ, I thought I'd give it a shot. :D

Well, that's all for today!  Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend, and Happy Easter to everyone! :D

HELLOOOOO......

Hellooooo out there!! I have to apologize for my absence.  But I am not sitting idly by eating bon bons and watching daytime tv.  NOPE.  I've got a secret....I'll tell you if you can keep it hush hush for a couple of weeks.  Come closer.  Come closer, I don't want anyone else to hear me.....

We're starting a challenge blog for the RibbonCarousel.com company!! 

And let me tell ya, some of your favorite people are gonna be Designers and Guest Designers for this lil' 'ol challenge blog!! :D  I have been working around the clock: painting the 8 post carousels; lining up, organizing and setting up the DT; doing homework with Dylan; getting ready for Riley to come home from deployment... (next Thursday, but shhhhh....)  OY VAY it's been busy around here.  

I have another secret, but I can't tell yet.  BUT, I can tell you that I am working on some artwork and will have a post TO-MO-RROW, FO SHORE!  I haven't been in the Studio in over a week and I think I am forgetting how to craft!! YIKES!! 

Thanks so much for being patient!! I'll see ya tomorrow. :D

Birthday Blast and TSG102

Hey everyone!!  Like I promised yesterday, here is the card that is inside the box! ( I couldn't post it yesterday, cuz the TSG challenge starts today. :D )

Marisa has challenged us to use VELLUM somewhere on our creations this week.  WELL, I decided to make EVERYTHING I added out of Velum (background DP excluded of course). 

I must say this card was a bit of a challenge, in that I didn't use a sketch.  I wanted the astronaut to be floating over Earth, so I just kinda winged it. Both images are from the TSG Out of This World stamp set. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from the TSG "My Little Friend" set. 

 The inside sentiment is stamped on vellum as well, and comes from the Out of This World stamp set.   

I stamped everything in StazOn Black.  Then I colored the vellum pieces with my Copics. The trick here is to color quickly and in one swoop.  No dilly dallying and no second passes, or it makes a horrible mess.  

  I then set the vellum with Creative Imagination's Super Seal.   This is the BEST Sealant Spray I have found and I just LOVE it. 

I used more of the Bo Bunny Blast Off! Paper that I fell in love with.  This pattern is my FAVORITE!  I have looked at the stars almost nightly for many, many years, and how cool would it be to have that little alien in our galaxy. :D  That's it for me today.  I'll see you tomorrow for another pretty card. (The butterflies are drying as we speak. :D )

A Trinket Box for the Birthday Boy and FTR9

 Guess what time it is? Yup its time to.......

I am telling you this is the easiest Challenge in Blog-land.  Just pick one lil' 'ol part of the recipe and use it on your creation.  That's it!  I used several of Nana's ingredients for Catered Crop Follow the Recipe (FTR) #9.  I always start with a sketch, this time using Mojo Monday 185.

I am still stuck on FTR8's boxes theme, so I decided to make a gift box for a boy. 

 Boys have trinkets too, and never have much to put their stuff in, so voila, boy box!  If you want to see what's in the box, stop by tomorrow! ;)

I used the new release stamp set from TSG, Out of This World.  Here's the little boy up close..

I just love this stamp set that was designed by Melyssa Connolly for TSG.  I used Collage Pauge by Aleene's to cover all the DP.  I love this stuff!! (Way better for me than Mod Podge for some reason.)

And here's how I followed the recipe:

Here's the FTR9 recipe. Recipe items are in parenthesis,  the items I used are in blue.

• Pattern Paper – (stripes, plaids and polka dots)Bo Bunny Blast Off!
• Colors – (kraft, red, green, blue, and yellow) PTI cardstock
• Stamps – (alphabets and stars) There She Goes Out of This World
• Color Mediums – (stamping ink) Copics
• Embellishments – (bling, buttons, ribbon) Karen Foster Crazy Coil Brads
• Tools – (sewing machine, distressing tools) MFT star dies, Spellbinders Star Dies
• Techniques –(sewing, distressing, try threading your buttons with ribbons, ruffled paper/ribbon) Decoupage using Collage Pauge by Allene's
• Theme – (Boys! and Alligators?!)
• Shapes – (stars, circles, scallops, and swirls)

Have a great Sunday and I'll see you tomorrow!! :D

Friday Night Chat!

Hey everyone. 

Don't forget to join TSG right HERE on the

TSG forum for our weekly Friday Night Chat!

I am not very cheerful today, and have zero mojo, so nothing to share.  Gonna grab a margarita and  do some soul searching.  Blessings to you all and I'll be back tomorrow.

FYI Make A Wish!

Hey everyone!!!!  I have so missed y'all!!  Today was my first day back in the crafting chair and I must say that I missed it sooooo very much.  I forgot how therapeutic a little bit of DP and ink can be.  Enough blubbering, today begins For Your Inspiration Challenge #3. Stephanie has given us a gorgeous inspiration photo.

And here's my intepretation...

I love this photo and was kinda wondering if there are any houses for sale in that beautiful town?! lol  Hope you like it and look for my crafting to return to normal pace now that we're starting to settle into a routine here.  :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: PTI Think Big Favorites #1
Paper:  PTI CS; MME Stella and Rose Mabel Papers
Ink: CTMH Chocolate
Embellishments:  CTMH Mocha Opaques; PTI Terracotta Tile Ribbon, Button; MFT Dies