Bella Birthday Hop

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Blog Hop celebrating her 3rd birthday! If you want to start at the beginning, visit Bella's blog today after 9am central. Now on with the party.

We got our first freeze in Austin last night and I can't wait for the winter to end. At least these Bellas are enjoying the sunshine on their birthday.

The Gardenbella is paired with spring colors, flowers and of course some glitter and pearls. What girl can go without them? The sketch is from SCS255 challenge.
Supplies:

• Stamps: Gardenbella
  
• Paper: BasicGrey Lilykate, My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie , gruvy guava & chocolate chip by SU
  
• Ink: Momento black, certainly celery by SU, Copics (E53)
• Accessories: Prima flowers, pink pearls, Stickles, clear button, twine, yellow SU ribbon, green Basic Grey ribbon

The Beachbella is doing even better on the sun and dressed up in the yellow paper pierced bikini and towel. The sketch is from SC254 challenge. I was singing the Yellow Polka Dot Bikini song as I was making this card, so I printed the lyrics on the inside.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Beachbella
  
• Paper: Bordering  from SU, DP from BasicGrey Offbeat collection and Plum Daisy from Chatterbox
  
• Ink: Momento black, Bordering blue, Copics (E53, Y21)
• Accessories: Metal Tag and clips, Prima flower, button, rhinestones
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug, punches

Thanks for stopping by my blog and your next stop on the hop is Margie's Blog or you can find the master thread of participants here.

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Monday

A quick CAS redo today. No layers, no ribbon  - just a simple white card. A good way to start a Monday.

The line creses were made with a score blade on regular cutter because I don't have a ScorePal. The flower is colored with Copics and glazed with Glossy Acrylics. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Oh So Lovely
  
• Paper: Whisper White
  
• Ink: Momento Black, Copics (BG10, B23)
• Accessories: Pretties Kit, Glossy Accents

~Olgy

Poppy Fields Hedgehog Card

Thanksgiving is over, winter is just around the corner and it's gloomy outside right now. To momentarily forget this weather and step back into summer I chose to CASE this card from MrsBoz for todays SCS Featured Stamper challenge. 

I already had this adorable hedgehog Wish RAK image colored begging to be used on the next card, so I had to oblige. Besides, I needed to take a break from Christmas cards. I added some brads, acrylic on the poppies and Stickles on the butterflies. I kept the overall layout and color scheme the same, but added splashes of yellow and ribbon tabs. Doesn't this card just scream summer?

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Poppy Fields by Penny Black
• Paper: Basic grey, real red, certainly celery, whisper white
  
• Ink: Real red, certainly celery, summer sun, Copics (C5, E00, blender)
• Accessories: Brads, RibbonFX, ribbon from Michaels, Prima flowers, Glossy Accents, Stickles
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug

~Olgy

Christmas Cards

In the past years I came up with Christmas card design and then made the same set for that year. It streamlined the process and I didn't have to think who gets which card. This year, however, I just couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted and continued to make cards until I had about a dozen different ones. I finally gave up on the idea of a single design. I just hope that everyone likes the card they end up with. Here's a sneak peak.

This first one is a cute penguin by Whipper Snapper. The layout was for a clean and simple SCS challenge, so it's pretty basic, but I flocked and added glitter to the little guy for some dimension. Both the tan (ok, I know penguins aren't tan, but he was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of color coordination) and white parts are covered in fun flock which I had to apply it in two steps. If you want to know more about using flocking see my earlier Fun Flock Tutorial post.

Supplies: (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted)

• Stamps: Whipper Snapper Ice Cream Penguin
  
• Paper: Very vanilla, My Minds Eye DP
  
• Ink: Momento Black, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, certainly celery, real red, rose royal, pumpkin pie
• Accessories:  RibbonFx, Fun Flock, Stickles

Next is a quick poinsettia card using Basic Grey paper. I just added some chunky glitter for a frosted effect and ribbon with sentiment. Each card is just a little different since it was cut from a 12x12 sheet.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Cute and Curly
  
• Paper: Whisper white, Basic Grey Dasher DP collection
  
• Ink: Cranberry crisp
• Accessories: Ribbon, chunky glitter

For these next few cards I was trying to use up my Vintage Violet paper stash, which was one of the first "in colors" offered by Stampin'Up!. The first few are the fun Christmas tree Fluffles images and the last is a more traditional design. It didn't show up on the picture at all, but in person the card looks a lot prettier because there's glitter mixed in with the white embossing powder, so the card sparkles.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Fluffles Tree by Stampendeous, Best Yet, Snowflake spot, Cute and Curly
• Paper: Vintage violet, whisper white
  
• Ink: Vintage violet, Versamark, sage shadow
• Accessories: Silver Stickles, Diamonds EP
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug, punches

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Embossed Cards

I'm having family in town this week for Thanksgiving, which is great, but there won't be much stamping and blogging for the next few days.

I did make a few quick CAS cards yesterday. I'm really happy with this Thank you card and it's fitting for the holidays this week. It was inspired by this Autumn Whimsey painting from art.com I embossed the image on Chocolate Chip cardstock, framed it by drawing a border around it and adding sentiment and finished it with a few pearls. I should have tried matting the pearls on darker circles, but I still like how it turned out.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Agapanthus cluster by Stampendous
  
• Paper: Whisper white, chocolate chip
  
• Ink:Versamark and white EP
• Accessories: Pearls from the Pretties Kit

The second card is for this week's sponging CAS challenge. I sponged a red circle by cutting out a template on a separate piece of card stock, embossed and cut out a butterfly to pop it up over the circle, framed it like I did with the previous card, but instead of pearls I added buttons.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Happy Harmony, God's Beauty
  
• Paper: Whisper white
  
• Ink: Really red, Versamark and black EP
• Accessories: Buttons
  
• Tools:

Thanks for stopping by and happy holidays.
~Olgy

Asian Inspired

I love cherry blossoms. I'm drawn to pictures, paper, stamps and anything else with their image. Even the header on my blog has cherry blossoms. Today's SCS featured stamper Birgit had so many gorgeous cards, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of this cherry blossoms one. My card plays off the branch and flower design, but I used a different frame, layered DP and vellum for subtle background design and used leaf branches with Prima flowers. The sentiment is stamped on Far East paper and the edges and flowers sponged for extra dimension.

I couldn't pass up CASing a cherry blossom card without adding some cherry blossoms of on my own, so I decorated the inside of the card with the Artfully Asian stamp and Far East DP.  

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Wonderful words, Artfully Asian
• Paper: Pretty in pink, chocolate chip, vellum, Far East DP by Die Cuts With a View
• Ink: Chocolate chip
• Accessories: Prima flowers, ribbon, silver chord, Pretties kit
  
• Tools: Little Leaves Sizzlits, Bigz Top Note die, Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy

Sweet Grey Fluffles and CAS Cards

The Thanksgiving week is almost here and there's still lots to do, so I'll keep this post short and sweet. First of all, Melissa, I pulled your name out of the hat for the 2nd card and a few other goodies, so email me your snail mail address. Robbie, send me your address too and I'll mail you one of the remaining cards.
 
Now, on to my latest favorite - sweet Fluffles with a bouquet of flowers. I can't resist adding rhinestones to the flower centers every time I use this stamp. 

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Grasshopper Fluffles by Stampendeous, So Very
  
• Paper: Basic grey, pretty in pink, whisper white, Around the Block DP
  
• Ink: Basic black, always apricot, certainly celery, pretty in pink, almost amethyst, Copics (C5, C7)
• Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones, metal frame by Spare Parts, basic grey taffeta ribbon
  
• Tools: Martha Stewart border punches

I made my CAS41 card a day late, but here it is anyway. I used the colors from this purse (except in Imperial Toile color) for the inspiration piece. The card is 5 1/2 x5 1/2 in with just a layer of DP over the base, ribbon and a flower. The hardest part was lining up the corners when I was using the border punch, but I was done in about 7 minutes flat.

Supplies :

• Paper: Very vanilla by Stampin'Up!, Uptown Layered circles by Paper Studio
  
• Ink: Pixie pink
• Accessories: Heidi Swapp flower
  
• Tools: Martha Stewart border punch

Thanks for stopping by.

~Olgy

CAS Winter Design

I have a few more CAS cards for you that I made for the winter design challenge. Both take just 5 minutes and even though the lighting on my photos wasn't great, they look cute in hand. The first one is an engagement card based on the fantastic grid sketch from Susan, who has a very inspiring blog called Simplicity, dedicated to clean and simple cards. I had few ideas for this card, but finally settled on using Prima flowers instead of stamped images. To make the flowers stand out more against grey background, I set them on punched out 1" white circles. In the center of each flower is a small rhinestone. The sentiment is embossed with white diamonds EP. Corners are rounded for a softer look.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Wonderful words
  
• Paper: Basic grey, whisper white
  
• Ink: Versamark and white diamond EP
• Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones
  
• Tools: 1" circle punch

This one is my winter wonderland card. It's a no layers card unless you count a thin strip of wrapping paper on the inside of the card that shows through under the punched border. The snowflakes are glittery rub-ons I had from last year and my new favorite ribbon with shimmering white on one side and shimmering brown on the other.

Supplies:

• Stamps: None
  
• Paper: Light blue Bazzil, wrapping paper from SU!
  
• Accessories: Me & My Big Ideas snowflake glitter rub-ons, ribbonFX
  
• Tools: Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy

FS145 Challenge

Today is Sunday, which means a featured stamper challenge on SCS. My first card is based on this pretty card from TreasureOiler.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
• Paper: Very vanilla, chocolate chip, certainly celery, Saffron from SEI Dill Blossom collection
  
• Ink: Really rust, certainly celery
• Accessories: Buttons, Offray ribbon
  
• Tools: Oval punches, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

The second card is based on this one. I just lover her original so I played around with different colors and modifications to the sketch.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Cupcakeabella by Stampingbella
  
• Paper: Cameo coral, blush blossom, Tender Love and Care from EK Success wedding collection
  
• Ink: Basic black, so saffron, Copics (E00, E49, E57, R22, R20, R29)
• Accessories: Jumbo eyelets, Stickles, Glossy Accents, rhinestone, ribbon
  
• Tools: Punch, Crop-a-dile

~Olgy

Vampire Girl Color Challenge

As promised, here's a layout for Candy Shoppe Designs Team Edward vs Team Jacob Challenge. I chose to be the vampire girl so my layout had to be full red, black and BLING! Well, I can't pass up on an excuse to use glitter, rhinestones and anything else that sparkles...

The theme of my page is actually not related to Halloween, but is titled "Miss Personality" and is a page about me. This is a copy of an old photo of me as a baby and my mom. I really wanted to add some lace to soften the dramatic red and black background, but since I didn't have any I just used border punches to recreate the same effect. For the layered flower embellishment I colored one of the white flowers red and then stamped over it with black, once it dried I covered it with Stickles. I also added a decorative pin, sheer leaves that Laura sent me last month and swirl chipboard. The journaling is printed on vellum, distressed with red ink, stamped with silver swirl and topped with rhinestones. I also used a glittery letter for my title and shimmery ribbons. Maybe I went overboard with the bling, but I think the layout still has an elegant look and I had a lot of fun with this challenge.

Don't forget that you have until tomorrow to leave a comment on CAS card post, I'll choosing one comment at random to send a surprise.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Nightingale's Song Alphabet from Inkque Boutique, Heidi Grace swirl stamp
  
• Paper: Recognition from Basic Grey Scrlet's Letter collection, vellum, white
  
• Ink: Versamark and white diamonds EP, silver, real red from Stampin'Up! and black
• Accessories: Pretties Kit from Stampin'Up!, rhinestones, Primas, K&Company Twinkle Type Chipboard, Heidi Swapp Silhouette words, sheer leaves, ribbonFX, striped ribbon from Michael's, Stickles
  
• Tools:Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy

Pencillines Sketch Layout

I'm so happy the weekend is finally here. I had a couple of more projects that I finished up during the week (it's amazing how much more I can get done when I stop watching TV), but just didn't have time to photograph and post earlier.

The first layout is based on the Pencillines sketch 160 and Kathie Link's fun and colorful page. This is actually the first layout about our new home since I was so preoccupied with the move the first few months that I didn't have time to scrap. The page is titled "Joys of Owning a House," but I have to admit that there's some sarcasm in that title too. Before we can start enjoying the place, there was and still is a LOT of work to be done. To symbolize that, I journaled on the leaves of the tree - the hanging leaves are the things we were looking forward to and the leaves on the ground are the irritating things we have to put up with in the process. The tree is drawn freehand and the leaves are stamped and cut out from various scraps. On this picture my husband is cutting tile for our kitchen and let me tell you, I'm so glad that project is long behind us.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Leaves from God's Beauty set by Stampin'Up!
  
• Paper: Bluebird light blue DP by My Mind's Eye, Repose from Basic Grey's Scarlet's Letter collection and Mellow collection, brown, SU scraps for leaves
  
• Ink:Brown
• Accessories: twine, K&Company Amy Butler chipboard alphabet, Maya Road chipboard flowers, buttons, dreams pin, SEI tag, sandpaper

~Olgy

Changing Leaves

Most of the trees in our neighborhood are live oaks which are green year round, but our neighbors across the street have a red oak in their front yard and it tuned a pretty golden red. As I was looking for an inspirational piece for a CAS design challenge, I wanted to do something with leaves. Here's my card based on this olive branch decoration. I was going to have 3 die cuts on the card, but when I saw the negative space, I thought it would look better if I used it instead to frame the design.

I had fun with the overlapping die cut leaves and made another card with the same theme, but with more layers.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Wonderful Words, Sincere Salutations, Stems and Silhouettes wheel
  
• Paper: Whisper white, crisp cranberry, old olive, really rust
  
• Ink: Cranberry crisp
• Accessories: RibbonFX
  
• Tools: Little leaves sizzlits

~Olgy

Pupmpkin Patch

Halloween came and went, but it still doesn't feel like fall in Texas. Not that I terribly mind because I like warm weather, but November really sneaked up on me and is half way over. While I'm working on other projects, it feels like an appropriate time to post a fall page or in a blink of an eye it will be Christmas.

Supplies:

• Paper: Cranberry crisp by Stampin'Up!, Candy Corn and Orchard DP by American Crafts
• Accessories: Art Accentsz beads by Provo Craft, punch, ribbon from Hobby Lobby

I actually made this page last year for SCS VSBN, but there's nothing that says fall more than a pumpkin patch and falling leaves. The leaves on the layout are cut out from DP and have beads are sawn on top for extra dimension and interest. Smiling neice and nephews complete the page.


~Olgy

The Big Ego Challenge Layout

My creativity goes out of the window when I'm sick, so all my grand plans for Candy Shoppe Design's challenge didn't translate on paper in the same way I imagined. The requirement was to make a paper creation about myself using icons. You can find more info HERE. When i started cutting out pictures from magazines and printing icons, it took me back to my HS years when I kept all kinds of collage journals with random picture cutouts just because I liked how they looked. So for the old time's sake I tried to use as few "scrapbooking" supplies as possible. Instead of journaling, I made up a crossword puzzle about me and things I like to complement the random icons. The pen is part of the layout to create "in progress" feel.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps:Big Deal Alphabet
  
• Paper: Basic black and Frances Meyer DP
  
• Ink: Basic grey, Acrylic paint from Jo-ann's in Grasshopper color
• Accessories: printed icons and magazine cutouts, traced Sticky Cuts Letters, Heidi Swapp punctuation sign, acrylic bubble
  
• Tools: Punches

~Olgy

Blog Candy From Jacque

Check out this awesome blog candy on JACQUE'S JOIE DE VIVRE blog! Her creations are beautiful.

~Olgy

Playing Dressup - A Simple White Card Makeover and a Giveaway

I wasn't feeling well today and worked from home. Before getting some shut eye, I had to peek at today's SCS CAS challenge and couldn't resist playing. I love how quickly these cards come together! For today's challenge we could use white and only one other color (and yes, black counted as color).  I needed to brighten my mood so I reached for happy, sunny yo-yo yellow. After the first unsuccessful attempt with punches, I ended up with this clean and simple card.

I dont know if it was the yo yo yellow or being in my craft room, but it succeeded in lifting my spirits. I liked the look of the card as is, but I thought to myself that this may also look nice embossed... Fastforward half an hour and here are embossed, beaded, glittered and flocked cards. I know, I just couldn't resist...

The beads have an interesting look, but I think blue embossing and flocking are my favorite out of the bunch. Which one is yours? I'll mail the card of your choice to the first person to leave a comment (don't forget to email me your address) and by Nov 15 I'll choose another person at random to get another surprise.

If you're wondering which card is made with wich product and how to get that look - read on:

1. Classic Stampin'Up! ink pad in Yoyo yellow. To get this look: Just stamp!
2. Zing Embossing Powder in powder color. To get this look: Stamp image with Versamark, cover with EP, heat until it melts.
3. Martha Stewart brownstone glitter. To get this look:  apply heat & stick powder (I got mine from Stampin'Up! but other companies likely carry it too) and once it's melted quickly sprinkle with glitter. You can also buy EP with glitter in it (see #5) or trace the image with gluepen and then apply glitter.
4. Martha Stewart tourmaline glass microbeads. To get this look: apply adhesive to the image (I traced it with Glossy Accents) and apply beads. Let the adhesive dry.
   
5. CopperKate Rose Gold EP (it's already mixed with glitter). To get this look: See #2
6. Fun Flock by Stempendous in chili pepper red. To get this look: See Fun Flock Tutorial and Tips post.

I'm also working on a Big Ego layout for Candy Shoppe Designs challenge, so stay tuned for that in the next few days.

~Olgy

Featured Stamper and Sketch Challenges

Despite going to bed at 3am last night I woke up at 8:30 and couldn't fall asleep. I figured I might as well make use of the time and create a few cards for SCS challenges and get more inspiration for Christmas cards.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Snowbunnybella by Stamping Bella, The Snowflake Spot
• Paper: Cranberry crisp, Pointsetta by Basic Grey, white
• Ink: Ruby red, creamy caramel, Versamark
• Accessories: Pom-poms
• Tools: Scalloped and snowflake punches

I still had two Snowbunnybella images that I got from my first DSS sister. I've been trying to save them, but since winter is right around the corner, it felt it was an appropriate time to let go and use them. I did run into a little mishap when stitching the card; I accidentally started stitching through the back layer... that's what happens when I don't get enough sleep. At first I was thinking of staring from scratch, but I was able to re-stitch the first portion and put snowflake "tabs" around the inside and the back of the card (matching the front) to hide the holes. The cardstock is retired SU! in color Cranberry Crisp. Since there's no matching marker for this cardstock, I colored the coat with Ruby Red and went over it with creamy caramel, which produced a close match. It's a little hard to see from the photo, but the snowflakes and the fur on Bella's coat are embossed with white sparkling EP. I wasn't sure if glue alone would hold the pom-poms (snowballs), so I stitched them to the border of the card for a stronger hold.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Oh So Lovely, Little Shapes
• Paper:Whispre white, vintage violet, acetate
• Ink: Stazon Black
• Accessories: Liquid applique, Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon
• Tools: Cuttlebug embossing folder

I managed to stay on track with the holiday theme on the first card, but it didn't last long. For the featured stamper challenge I picked these cards from Chrisations.ink! (first and second) as base for the design. I bought the Little Shapes set a long time ago specifically for background effects, but haven't used the in ages until today. I love rediscovering supplies I forgot I had. The card is pretty simple except the flower image is stamped on acetate and held in place with the metal embelishments. The frost on the flowers is done with liquid applique.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Spring Solitude, Lots of Thoughts
  
• Paper: Kraft, Basic Grey Lilykate collection, certainly celery, cool carribian
  
• Ink:Close to cocoa, certainly celery
  
• Tools: Punches, sewing machine

The last card is really quick and simple. The liked the earthy/green feel of the original but changed around some elements.
~Olgy

Lots and Lots of Cards

I'm supposed to be making Christmas cards right now, but I went through many 'prototypes' and can't find a perfect design. Some seem to be missing something, others would take too much time to mass produce. After card #12 I gave up and decided to take a break from Christmas cards and try something else. I got a few cards I was happy with, but I'm still searching for my Christmas card design.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Lady Bug Fluffles
• Paper: Basic black, certainly celary, read red DP
• Ink: Basic black, certainly celery, real red, creamy caramel (crayon)
• Accessories: Glossy accents, Stickles, metal tag by American Crafts, ribbonFX
• Tools: circle punch (to cut out corners)

This little Lady Bug Fluffles is for a SCS Featured Stamper challenge a few weeks ago. This card was inspired by Rachelhope13's card. I love polka dot paper! To me it's like the little black dress of designer papers - it coordinates well with any stamp. To make the lady bugs pop, I added Glossy Accents on the top and love how it tuned out! Ranger makes a few different kinds of this stuff. I used glossy, but they also have matte. It looks frosted coming out of the bottle, but it dries clear like acrylic and is great on stamped images as well as for making your own embalishments.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: A Gift For You Hedgehog by Penny Black
• Paper: True thyme, yoyo yellow, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Basic black, summer sun, really rust, Copics (C-5, C-7, R20, R22)
• Accessories: RibbonFX, Making Memories eyelets, Glossy accents, glitter
• Tools: Crop-a-Dile, scallped edge punch

This card as well as Riley were both made with some WRAK images. I had scraps of patterned paper I wanted to use up and these came together pretty quickly. On the hedgehog card I once again used Glossy Accents and sprinkled it with glitter before it dried. For the pleated ribbon effect I sewed though the middle of the ribbon and pulled the string to create the ruffles and then adhered it to paper them with the snail adhesive.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Sick Riley by Hannah Stamps
• Paper: Marigold morning, sage shadow, K&Company DP (Brown, Pink and Green Polk Dots Flat Paper)
• Ink:Chocolate chip, close to cocoa, creamy caramel, sage shadow, almost apricot
• Accessories: Chocolate chip and sage ribbons, almost apricot button, twine
• Tools: Nestabilities

Riley was a quick card all around except that I didn't have the right color Copics and shaded the image with Stampin'Up! markers. It turned out alright, but the outline on Riley is more prominent than I would have wanted.

Finally, here's another birthday card I got in the mail few days ago. This one is from my 9 year old niece, Hanka. I love that someone else in our family has the paper crafting bug too. And Hanka, if you're reading this, thank you so much for the card, it looks great!

~Olgy

Birthday Mail and More Cards

I love birthdays and my own in particular :) It's my favorite 'holiday' and it's right before Halloween so there's almost always something to do and an excuse to dress up and look goofy. This year I dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and even convinced my DH to go along with the theme so I'll have to scrap the pictures soon. Another fun part about birthdays is happy mail - I got 3 handmade birthday cards last week and two more today, which I still need to take pictures of. Thanks to everyone for thinking of me! As my friend, Anna, put it, I'm now in the world of closer to 30 than 20. I haven't made up my mind yet on whether it's a good thing or not, but I'm sure 30 will be here before I know it.

I made some cards too for the Featured Stamper challenges on SCS and although they were a lot of fun I should have started on the Christmas cards instead. I don't even have my design yet and it's already November! Instead, I'm still making summer cards, I guess it's wishful thinking. Here's one with the Bee wishrak image. I stitched the frame and added some Crystal Effects to the image for an added pop.

Supplies:(All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Bees by Stampendous, Best Yet by Stampin'Up!
• Paper: Basic black and whisper white by SU, American Crafts DP
• Ink: Basic black, soft sky, real red, summer sun by SU
• Accessories: Buttons, stitched ribbon from Hobby Lobby, Making Memories eyelet, Crystal Effects
• Tools: Punch, sewing machine

The next one is for my mom who's been requesting dog cards. It's another wish rak image. Since I had my sewing machine out I stitched border, ran the background through Cuttlebug and cut out the image with Sizzix Top Note die. Inside the card I stamped the adorable sentiment, "There is nothing better than to end a bad day covered in dog slobber." This is my new stamp from American Art Stamp company that I picked up in Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and have been dying to use.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Dogwalkabella by StampingBella, Dog Slobber by American Art Stamp
  
• Paper: Brown, ruby red, whisper white
  
• Ink: Ruby red, close to cocoa, really rust, creamy caramel
• Accessories:  Prima flowers, bling
  
• Tools: Sizzix Bigz Top Note, Cuttlebug,sewing machine

~Olgy

Candy Shoppe Sweet 16 Blog Hop Challenge

Candy Shoppe blog is hosting a super fun blog hop challenge in honor of their birthday. There are 10 blogs with instructions on each one and in the end you end up with a unique layout. Plus, the participants have a chance to win a sweet kit from Studio Calico, more details on Candy Shoppe Blog. I had a blast playing!!! Thanks, gals, for setting this up.

Here's a summary of the steps:

1) Choose a unique background. I was walking around my room looking for what would work when I came across this 12x12 cork I had leftover from a self made bullatain board. It was just the right size too so I couldn't pass it up. The only downside is that it won't fit into a page protector, but it was definitely unique compared to my traditional backgrounds.
2) Add an paper with an edge.
3) Add patterned paper on top.
4) Choose a closeup photo. I didn't have many options here because I was running low on photos and this one was a few of the closeups.
5) Do something to the side of the photo. I punched mine.
6) Layer the photo over the DP.
7) Add ribbon. On my page I have a ribbon seperating the two DPs and twine wrapped aroudn the lower part of the page.
8) Put at least 3 flowers into a corner of the photo. Did that.
9) Add at least 3 other kinds of embelishments. I added a paper tag that said "Smile", a fabric tag that says "Live with passion", a chipboard bracket and cut out branches from the remainder of my DP to tie in the earthy feel.
10)Add a title. My title was "Outside the Box" because this whole layout was kind of unusual for me, the layout was about me and in some aspects my life is kind of unique and finally because the page was about nothing in particular and I needed a generic title (there, I gave it away). The word "outside" is put together using Heidi Swapp clear alphabet where I outlined the edges with chocolate ink to make it more visible. The word "box" was a self made embelishment of a sort. I took some pop caps, smashed them, added DP with alphabet stickers and then covered the whole thing with Crystal Effects. I had to let it dry overnight but now it's hard and shiny. 

Hmm, since this doesn't fit into my album now i need to find a place on the wall to put this up. It's finally Friday, I'm so happy the weekend is here. Hope yours is a good one.

Supplies :

• Paper: Cork board, SIE Tarragon from Dill Blossom collection, Colorbok DP form a chipboard set
  
• Ink: Chocolate chip, Sharpie
• Accessories: Ribbon, twine, Heidi Swapp chipboard, tag and clear alphabet, Prima flowers, Stampin'Up! pearls, fabric tag ( I think it's from Around the Block), pop caps, Around the Block alphabet , Crystal Effects
  
• Tools: Stampin'Up! punch

~Olga

Rain

After 2 months of 100+ degree weather and drought, it started raining in Austin last weekend. It's been raining for several days, which is great for my lawn, but I'm already missing the sunshine. It was a lazy, gloomy Saturday morning this weekend so I made pancakes, I think for the 2nd time in my life (I'm not kidding), but they turned out delicious. I just had to take a picture.

Then, somewhere between painting my fireplace wall and cleaning up the guest room I would sneak back to my craft room (ahhh, did I mention how much I love my new craft room?) to work on a few pages. This one is my latest favorites.

The picture is of my parents' dog, Alice. She loves the outdoors (especially in the winter) and always gives the same questioning head tilt asking "You want me to go back inside? Are you sure? I'd much rather sit here instead," when called to come back indoors. The layout is 12x12 based on this adorable Pencillines sketch . I used primarily Basic Grey papers, stitched the sides and under the title, layered, sponged the edges of the papr, added beads (icicles), ribbon and twill, layered some more, stamped in irodescent ice on the title and snowflakes and cut the smaller part of the title on my Wishblade. 

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Snow Flurries
  
• Paper: Figgy Pudding and Dasher collection by BasicGrey
  
• Ink: Chocolate chip, soft sky, Versamark, iridescent ice embossing powder
• Accessories:  Beads from Pretties Kit, plastic winter Holidayhouse and Metalgrams by American Crafts, Heidi Swapp alphabet, ribbon, twill
  
• Tools: Sewing machine, Cuttlebug

The second layout was from last week for a submission to Back Porch Memories. I was hanging a copy of the "Apparition of the Face of Aphrodite" painting by Dali in the library and the colors and papers I chose were loosely based on the painting with a somewhat modern, contemporary feel.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Note It by Inque Boutique
  
• Paper: Pinot Noir, Merlot from Periphery collection and Recess from Basic Grey, yellow Bazzil
  
• Ink: Basic black, bordering blue, chocolate chip
• Accessories: making memories eyelets, chocolate chip ribbon, Prima flowers, swirl clip from Hodgepodge Hardware, stickers by Kelly Paracci

No cards for today because the pages took most of the time, but stay tuned later in the week.

~Olgy