Random on Purpose

Good Morning to You, Good Morning to You...

...we're all in our places, with bright smiling faces - good morning to you, good morning to you!  (Another little ditty from my childhood - pretty perky, huh?)  I know - it's Monday, for crying out loud, so why am I so enthused already...?  Just 'cuz I wanna be, that's why!  AND - my previous sentence just reminded me of a standup bit by Norm MacDonald:  "That sounds like a pre-school award: Little Jimmy, for Crying Out Loud.  Suzy, for Crying Over Spilt Milk..."  I love that kind of humor...*sigh*...

ANYway - I said yesterday that I was going to do something I wanted to do, even though I'm swamped with work.  I did some work schtuff this morning (picked up a chair, cut the foam for all its pieces/parts, took some button thingies to my upholsterer friend to recover for me, went to a design appointment), and when I got back and sat quietly sipping a toasty beverage (Oreo mint double chocolate cappucino - can you say "decadent"?), I scoped the CAS challenge for today, and that's what I ended up wanting to do!

It's a color challenge today - white and ONE other color!  You can't even stamp in black and color it with your second color, because today black is being considered one of the colors!  I did this:

I've wanted that Santa Collage stamp (Rubber Stampede) for two years, but was unable to find it until last month!  I stamped him on white cardstock with Faded Jeans distress ink (Ranger), then cut him out with a Nestabilities Labels Four die.  I also stamped just his starry beard in two of the corners.  I used a Close to My Heart stubble tool (one of the best inventions EVER!) to add some speckles to soften the edges.  A stamped Inkadinkado sentiment (Warm Holiday Wishes set) and some sponging around the edges of things is all the rest of it!

Speaking of Nestabilities, I'm starting to acquire just a few select ones, and needed a good storage system for them.  Here's my solution:

Yup!  A CD case...  These dies will stick to a magnet, so I got some magnet poster sheets that I've had forever, cut them to size, and stuck them into the CD case with a bit of adhesive (I used AdTech).  I know the poster sheets are still available, but I'm not sure where I saw them.  The package looks like this:

Well, that's what it looked like when I bought it years ago, and after it's been moved and abused umpteen times...  Two Nestabilities sets fit very nicely in one case, as you can see!

Okay, the week is off to a roaring start!  Hope yours is, too, and thanks for stopping by!  Go smile at someone (especially if they're cranky) and pass it forward!  Ta!
 
 
 

Does This Look Merry?

I was sort of cruisin' around the 'net last night and decided to check out Splitcoast to see if the inspiration challenge was posted yet (the different hostesses for the different challenges have varying schedules - some post between 10:00 pm and midnight, some don't post until 8:00 am, etc.), and it was, and I had a lightbulb moment and stayed up way later than I was planning to execute the plan...

The inspiration source was Jonathan Adler's online store, and I chose this pillow:

as my inspiration for this card:

Stamp: Inkadinkado Ornate Christmas, Ink: Versamark, black; Paper: Stampin'Up! Melon Mambo, black, DCWV dp; Accessories/Tools: Detail clear embossing powder

I've had this paper for a couple of forevers, and have never quite made up my mind about it - is it Scrooge-y and morbid/somber, or is it elegant or what?  Anyway, it worked to pull off the inspiration I had when I saw the pillow, so I guess that's ultimately what matters, right?  The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder on the melon paper, then covered over with black ink.  I wiped the ink off of the embossing and trimmed around the whole thing, then pop-dotted it to the background.  'Nuff said...

Busy day today - more demolition of The Wall, and the electrician is coming to get our wiring updated and ready for what's next...  We're replacing the tacky plug-in shop lights in my workroom with a hardwired, flush mount one (still not pretty, but less ugly than what's there now), so hopefully I'll be able to get in there and paint this afternoon.

The fall-ish, previewed project is still in the works - maybe it'll be ready to share later today or tomorrow, depending on how it goes.  Have a great day/weekend, and thanks for stopping by!
  

Derailed

Super-quick post because I totally blew off work all morning to make a card:

It's for a little boy whose family is celebrating Christmas this week instead of waiting until December, because little Noah will probably have passed by then...  I read about it this morning when I checked the Limited Supply challenge on Splitcoast for today.  You can read the challenge and find a link to the story HERE.  Needless to say, this project pre-empted the one I previewed yesterday...

Here's a view of the card when it's opened:

I got to use four of my Whippersnappers (aren't they sweet?), and just plain ol' random-stamped snowflakes on plain ol' white cardstock (the snowflake stamp is from Stampin'Up!'s "Flakey Friends" set).  I computer-generated the "We wish you a" part of the sentiment (Comic Sans font), and the rest is an Inkadinkado stamp.  Pretty much all there is to tell on this.  Oh, wait - I need to tell you this, too:  I used a light box to see through the cutout images so I could color the backs and add a few detail lines (not as detailed as the fronts, though), so it would look decent on both sides...

Okay, I really do have to get to work now...  Have a great day, send Noah a card if you can, and thanks for stopping by!
  
 

Merci!

I'm getting ready to head out the door, but I managed to make one card that took care of two challenges, so I thought I'd throw it on here before I got too sidetracked...

 

This week's Clean and Simple challenge was a sketch based off of this fun card by Latisha Yoast,  Last week's color challenge was "Krafty Black Melons" - Kraft, Basic Black, and Melon Mambo - yummy!  I stamped the teensy heart from Stampin'Up's "Merci" set on some melon cardstock and added a little white gel pen accent to each one for my dp strip.  The main image from the same set was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Bic and Prismacolor markers, then cut out with a Nestabilities Labels Four die.  A bit of gingham ribbon and done!

Okay, I was serious about that heading out the door thing, so I gotta jet!  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! 
 

Creepy Crawly CAS

I don't usually do the CAS challenge on Splitcoast that happens every Monday - usually because I forget that there is one until I'm well on my way with other things - but I checked in this morning while stalking the technique challenge (not interested in that one today...)  The CAS challenge was to use brads or eyelets, and I made these:

Stamps: Studio G; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin'Up! Groovy Guava; Paper: SU! Vanilla and black, Making Memories guava and dp;Accessories/Tools: SU! Wide oval and tag punches, Marvy scalloped Square punches, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, brads and mini brads, white gel pen

What?  You don't think they look Clean And Simple?  Well, if you're a li'l cheater like me, they most certainly are!  I started with this cool paper from Making Memories:

and cut a 2 3/4" strip straight down the middle of it, then cut 4" off each end of the strip to make two cards.  I also cut the same pieces from the "side" strips leftover from the initial cut.  That way I had four cards, and four corners leftover for another project:

The rest of the cheating is using punches to make quick work of getting some layering going.  There's minimal stamping, NO coloring, and just a bit of sponging around the edges of things for interest.  I inserted brads or mini brads over the stamped spiders to make dimensional bodies, and added white gel pen eyes.  Ta da!  CAS spider cards!  They're also "postcards" - they don't open - so even MORE simple!

Here are "closeups" of the individual cards:

Okey-dokey, kiddoes!  That's it for me today!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a FABULOUS Monday!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

300!

So, it's been almost a week since I posted anything - so sorry!  I'm tellin' ya - it's been a helluva week, and this is the second one running!  I SO do not remember boarding the Crazy Train, but when I see the conductor I'm tellin' him to STOP it, so I can GET OFF!!!  Whew!

Anyway - curious about the title of the post?  I made a card for today's featured stamper challenge on Splitcoast, and after I uploaded it to my gallery, I noticed that I now have 300 pictures in there!  There are two pictures of several of the projects, so I don't have 300 cards, but close...amazing!  Here's today's effort:

Stamps: Stampin'Up! Thoroughly Thankful; Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Paper: SU! Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Good Morning Sunshine dp, DCWV Blue; Accessories/Tools: Fiskars threading water and scallop border punches, Bic markers, flower brads and ribbon

It is a CASE of THIS TOTALLY COOL CARD from Rachelhope13's gorgeous, gorgeous gallery!  Changes I made were colors, theme, border punches and embellishments.  I kept the same layout and basic arrangement of elements.

On a totally different note, here's a cool thing about my new abode:

That's my back yard and the three deer that visit from time to time.  They are a doe and her two fawns, although the fawns have grown significantly since they first started coming to nibble my grass and trees.  They no longer have their spots, and one of the fawns has little buds on his head where antlers are starting to grow - too cool!  It still amazes me that they come around at all, because I'm pretty much in a neighborhood, not out in the country or something!  There is a strip of woodsy-looking stuff at the back of the property, and I don't know what's on the other side of it (I haven't investigated...yet...), so I don't really know where they come from or where they go to from my yard, but there they are, anyway!  Sorry about the poor pics - hard to get good ones through screen, but I didn't want to scare them off by going outside...

Okay, gotta go see what my better half's up to (he was napping), and what other mischief I can get into before bedtime.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!
 
 
 
 

Butterflies to Bats

I decided this morning when I saw the technique challenge on Splitcoast that it was a good thing I didn't finish my card yesterday!  By tweaking the card base a bit, I managed two challenges in one card:

The title of this post reflects one of the changes I made to the card I CASEd.  The Featured Stamper was dancerriley, and I selected THIS CARD to CASE.  Riley's has butterflies, but - since I was doing Halloween - I switched to bats!  I also made a wiper card instead of a gift card, and added some layers and punching.  Here's what a wiper card looks like open:

Super easy to make, and kind of fun!  There's a tutorial (pictures and video) HERE.  I used some fun new toys (Martha Stewart corner and border web punches, horizontal slot punch) and some oldies, too (Provo Craft dp, Martha Stewart bat punch and ribbon).  I did do something new with the bats, though.  I wanted to add texture with my textile embossing folder and Cuttlebug, but I wanted symmetrically embossed bats, so I punched them first, then put them into the folder where I wanted them:

It was a little tricky, 'cuz I had to hold the folder over my head so I could see where I was putting them!  Here they are all texturized:

And on the card:

Some fun, huh?  The only other things to tell you about this card are that I used a witch's feet stamp from Recollections, a "Boo" stamp from Studio G and a "Happy Halloween" stamp from Inkadinkado.  Ta da!

Okey-dokey, I've blown off work for as long as I dare, so I'd best get to it!  Hope your week is WONDERFUL, and thanks for stopping by!
 
 
  
   
 

Cardmaking When There's NO Time!

So - today's challenge on Splitcoast was a real time-saver!  I decided that since the challenge was to use a pre-printed card base, half of the work was done for me (actually, more than half, since it eliminated having to figure out a layout, as well)!  I grabbed another new Whippersnapper cutie, stamped and colored and cut out and assembled to make this:

Stamps: Whippersnapper Tuxedo Kitten;Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Close to My Heart Smitten card base, DCWV red; Accessories/Tools: Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Labels One dies; heart mini brads, Bic and Prismacolor markers

See why I had to order a whole slew of Whippersnappers?  They're just too, too cute!  I didn't put a sentiment on the front, 'cuz I don't know yet who he's going to or for what occasion...

Okay, have to go sew another mega-huge tablecloth and a topper to go with it, so I'm off!  Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!  

Almost Better Than Christmas

Hoo-whee-ya!  What a WEEK I'm having!  On the one hand it's been INSANE on the work front - more on that a different time - and on the other it's been ALMOST BETTER THAN CHRISTMAS!  Why is that?  Well...Christmas is a one-day gift-fest, but I've been getting new toys every day this week!

Monday I gifted myself some new toys from a few great sales going on around town and got these:

The scallops on the border punch are the same exact spacing as my apron lace punch and my scallop punch with holes in the scallops, so now I have multiple options, including layering!  I've been keeping an eye on the fun things Jennifer McGuire does with distress inks, so I got a few more of those, and a Memento Rich Cocoa pad for stamping antique-y images I will want to color with Bics or Prismacolors.  The teeny brayer has been on my wish list for a bit, and Nestabilities are always a good thing!

Tuesday my prize from Unity showed up:

The papers are the Laundry Line collection from My Mind's Eye, and they're GORGEOUS!  The stamp set is "Folk Inspired", and has some fun images and sentiments, and I've been wanting to test-run Palette ink pads, so now I can, since they included a Noir Black one in my gift!

Wednesday brought my Whippersnapper order:

Red rubber heaven, right there!  I tend to NOT get "cutesy"-type stamps, but these aren't juvenile, just cute in a whimsical way...

Today, Brown Santa (Sherry's name for the UPS guy) brought my Stampin'Up! order:

A relatively small order this time: cardstock in two of my favorite colors (Chocolate Chip and Real Red), a horizontal slot punch, a Sizzlit die that cuts the fun "Merry Details" (that's the name of the die) I cut out in red for you to see, and the Voila stamp set.  Big plans for this portly chef (never trust a skinny one, they say...), and I'll share when I get far enough along in the project.  Meanwhile, I couldn't resist the temptation to ink up a Whippersnapper ghostie to make this:

Stamps: Stamp Camp Gingham, Whippersnapper Moon Balloon Ghost; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Stampin'Up! Only Orange, Basic Black; Accessories/Tools: Cuttlebug w/Sizzix Top Note Die, JoAnn's epoxy sticker, Bic and Prismacolor markers

I'm positively smitten, I tell you!  Isn't he the cutest?!  He's wholly responsible for getting me to snoop around the Whippersnapper site to see what other adorable-ness was to be had!  I think he looks pretty happy combined with my favorite background stamp (gingham), don't you?  This is a small card - the base is 2 1/2" x 3 3/4".  I may have to make more this size - fun stuff!

Well, that about wraps up this episode on the ol' blog!  My experiment is still left untouched from the other day, so I'm not ready to share anything here on that yet - sorry!  Refer back to my work comment in the first paragraph, if you need an explanation...  Gonna go see what Greg's up to and then hit the hay!  G'night, and thanks for stopping by!
  
 
  

You're My Favorite

I say that to Greg all the time...  Mostly 'cuz he really is, don'tcha know?  Just thought you needed to know, and also it helps to understand where Odd Brain went when I read the "ways to use it" challenge on Splitcoast this morning.  Since World Card Making Day was last Saturday, the challenge hostess had "world" stuck on the brain (I can relate), and challenged us to make something related to, inspired by, based on, etc., the world, the earth, travel, other countries, etc.  I just took a phrase I say all the time, anyway, and tacked on "in the whole world":

Stamps: Stampin'Up! The World Over, The Paper Company Studio Eco-Friendly; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Close to My Heart Dutch Blue; Paper: Stampin'Up! Kraft, red and yellow scraps; Accessories/Tools: Fiskars apron lace border punch, EK Success 1 1/2" scalloped circle punch, 1/8" round punch, computer for sentiment (Kristen IBC font), Bic MarkIt and Prismacolor markers

Those cute kids are from a retired hostess set called "The World Over" - there are flowers on another stamp, and snowmen on a third to make up the set.  I also used my globe stamp from my color challenge card, but outlined the continents with a very fine-line journaling marker.  I punched each scallop on the yellow circle with a 1/8" circle punch to make it more open and to coordinate better with the apron lace borders.  Everything is colored with Bic MarkIt markers.  I guess that's it...

Oh - I keep forgetting to say!  Even though I was only able to play in two of the challenges Saturday, I did in fact get entered for a prize, and actually WON one!  Unity sponsored the challenge I made the "Laughter" card for, and they're sending me some goodies - woo hoo!  I'll share what they are when I get them, k?  I also have new rubber coming from Whippersnapper - I just placed my first order with them (SO cute!)

One other thing to share:  Check out this post on the Cosmo Cricket blog, and follow the link they have for a new kit company.  It's too late for the giveaway, but I LOVE the kits!  I'm not a kit girl, as a rule - too Odd Brain and independent and stubborn to play well with others' ideas, but these could change my mind!

Alrighty then - I'm hitting the hay!  Why, you say?  It's early, you say?  Because, my sweets, I have been awake since 2:30 this morning, and up and moving since 4:00, and I'm beyond fading - time to crash and burn!  I started an experiment last night, and will share tomorrow or this weekend, so y'all come back now, y'hear?