Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Dusty!!

Today is very special day. It's my Pembroke Welsh Corgi - Dusty's Birthday!! She's 12, but since she's a Leap Day baby this only her 3rd real birthday. So, every 4 years we have a party for Dusty and  her closest doggie friends. This year, the party is this weekend.

I needed to push it back a little due to Dusty's recent eye surgeries. She's had ulcers in one eye (she's already had this surgery in the other eye a couple of years ago) and the first surgery she had about a month ago didn't work so she went to a specialist in Charlotte, NC and had another surgery 2 weeks ago. I've really had a tough month dealing with dog issues. But, Dusty is now off the painkillers and she got the "lampshade" off after 3 weeks so she is in a much better mood and ready to party!

I thought I would post pictures of her mom and dad today. Her mother was Jimanie's Sweet Talker "Kathie Lee" and her father was Ch. Hallmark's Olympian "Sport." Her father was the 1998 National Specialty winner and a gorgeous dog. She gets her good looks and athletic abilities from him and her sweet personality from her mother. Dusty's registered AKC name is Jimanie Foxllyn Dust in The Wind. She loves agility and won tons of awards and titles in her hay day. She hasn't competed in the last 5 years or so due to her mother getting tired from traveling on the weekends all the time. She's also been in newspaper ads and TV commercials for our local paper The State. She's my little star!!

Kathie Lee
Ch. Hallmark's Olympian

Of course, now I have to post some of my favorite pictures of Dusty.

A picture from one of her photo shoots - look familiar?

in the snow that we rarely get

At her last birthday party!

Doing her favorite thing - agility!


Monday, February 27, 2012

March Giveaway Post

I really meant to post this last week, but that just didn't happen. I said when I gave the Blog Candy away that on the first of each month I would giveaway a stuffed doggie and some scrappy goodies. So here is the March 1st giveaway. Just make sure you're a follower of my blog and leave a comment here by midnight EST Wednesday, February 29. I'll announce the winner on Thursday, March 1.  This giveaway is a cute stuffed Shih-tzu named Zen, A Stampin' Up Stamp set and a Unity Itty Bitty stamp set. Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

CAS-ual Fridays - My Favorite Pursen

I made this card for the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. I didn't look at the design team samples until just now, so I realized my sentiment was very popular with them. Oh well, I love a chance to use my Skipping Stone Stamps so I used it too! I went a little crazy with my layers as I sometimes do - but I just can't help myself. Thanks for stopping by!!


Here's my card.

Getting Dylusional - A Life Without Dreams...

Today, I'm showing something a little different. At the Stamp & Scrap Art Show last week I picked up a few of Dyan Reaveley's Art From the Heart Dylusionals Stamp sets at the Stamper's Anonymous Booth. This is the first card I made with my stamp sets called Doolally Dorris and the sentiment set called Quintessential Quotes. I also got a set called Birds on a Wire that I can't wait to work with this weekend!

I can't get over how much I enjoyed making this card! All the elements in the set were fun to color and so easy to cut out. I made the background by blending Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks. Then I colored in the different elements with my Prismacolor Markers and blended with Gamsol. I love the result and I can't wait to make more. And of course, I've already got more sets on order, because I have that little shopping problem I may have mentioned on this blog before :) Thanks for stopping by!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Some Published Cards

I've been busy working on some cards to submit for publications this week. So I thought today I would show you some of my cards that were published recently in CARDS magazine. I had one in the December issue and two in the January issue. I loved making these cards and the one thing they all have in common is no stamping!! I love stamping, but apparently I like just plain paper crafting too! Thanks for stopping by!!


I used Crate Paper Snow Day Paper to make this card.






Wednesday Gel-a-tins - Pawsitively Cute Card

This is my Wednesday Gel-a-tins card. I used the Gel-a-tins Cosmo Pups stamp set for this one. The papers are Basic Grey Sweet Threads and Out of Print. I also used a Sweet Threads die cut and Washi tape. For more info, check out the Gel-a-tins blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tuesday Trigger - Home Sweet Home

I'm entering this card into the current Trigger Tuesday contest in the Moxie Fab World. Click here to join in on all the fun. I was definitely inspired by house and the home theme. I love this new Hero Arts Newsprint House stamp and I finally got a chance to use it. Thanks for stopping by!

Here's my card.


Materials
1. Card stock - Crumb Cake, Real Red, Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi - Stampin' Up
2. Stamps - Newsprint House - Hero Arts, Sentiment - Impression Obsession
3. Ink - black - Stampin' Up
4. Grass punch - Fiskars
5. Pearl - Gold - Hero Arts

Monday, February 20, 2012

Play Date Cafe - Splash of Hot Pink

I made this card for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge #119. It took me awhile to figure out how to work in a splash of hot pink. But, I finally decided to use this new Paper Smooches stamp set. Thanks for taking a look!



Materials
1. Stamp Set - Vogue Abode - Paper Smooches
2. Ink - Tuxedo Black - Memento
3. Card stock - Whisper White, Black - Stampin' Up
4. Twine - The Twinery
5. Die - Oval - Nestabilities

Hero Arts Digi Card

I finally made a card!! This time I did something a little different. I purchased a Hero Arts Digi stamp set from Two Peas in a Bucket called Words & Flowers and used it on this card. I created the card in Photoshop. I made the layout with the stamps I chose and then created the sentiment. These flowers were so bold and vibrant that I decided to leave this a very CAS card and make the flowers the star. This set has a lot more possibilities and I look forward to making some more digital cards. I started on Ebay in 2001 selling dog breed greeting cards so it was like dejavu making this card. But, now I have Photoshop which makes things much easier! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Fun Crafty Weekend!

Hi Everybody! I haven't posted in a few days because I had a really busy weekend. The Stamp and Scrap Art Show came to Columbia to a location about 10 mins from my house! My online friend Libby Hickson aka Stampinlibby decided on Thursday night to make the 4 hour drive from Atlanta and go to the show with me Saturday morning. So we shopped all morning. Our favorite place was the Stampers Anonymous booth and we enjoyed meeting Ted Cutts.

After the show we went to The Stamping Place and Scrapbook Station which is my local stamp store. They were having a Mardi Gras themed crop and we stayed there all night - I left Libby there around 11pm - she stayed until midnight. This store has the best crops - when we got there they had seats for us with jester hat name tags and plastic Mardi Gras cups filled with candy and a mask. Later on they brought out a delicious Mardi Gras pound cake and took a picture of the group wearing some fabulous masks. They had the picture developed and gave us all a scrapbook page to make for the crop that included a hand made one of a kind glittered mask that the ladies there had painstaking made for each of us. It's just a fun place!! Libby had so much fun she decided to stay a little longer and signed up for the crop again for Sunday. I stopped by and had lunch with the ladies Sunday and cut some paper for my upcoming card classes there. Libby and I had a great time and it was nice to finally meet an online friend in person!!

Here are some pics of the weekend.


Me with Ted Cutts at the Stampers Anonymous booth

Ready for the big group photo!

The scrapbook page they had ready for us to create!!
Yummy and beautiful Mardi Gras pound cake!
Late night creating with Libby!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

My Decorated Tim Holtz Cargo Case

I finally sort of finished decorating my new Tim Holtz Cargo Case. It's perfect for storing all my Distress Inks and Stains. I'm sure I'll still put a few more things on it. But, this is good for now. I covered it in Tim Holtz Retro Grunge Paper and used lots of Crowded Attic Stickers and Tim Holtz dies and embellishments. Thanks for stopping by!!






Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wednesday Gel-a-tins - Doggie Treat Bag

This is my Wednesday Gel-a-tins Post. This week I used the Cosmo Pups stamp set to create this treat bag. I plan to make these for Dusty's Birthday party at the end of the month - she'll be 12 on Leap Day!! For all the details check out the Gel-a-tins Blog. 



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day!!

Here is my Valentine's Day Card. All the materials are Stampin' Up. The stamp is new and the colors are the new In-colors and Rich Razzleberry. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Valentine's Day!!!!


Monday, February 13, 2012

Tim Holtz February Tag 2012

This tag was inspired by the tag Tim Holtz made for his new 12 Tags of 2012. I am entering it into the Grungy Monday 36 Challenge. I'm also entering in the Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes Challenge. You can get the materials used on this tag at www.simonsaysstamp.com.

The background was embossed in white and then covered with Distress Inks. The Distress Inks I used were Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Victorian Velvet and Festive Berries. I also used Worn Lipstick Distress Stickles & Embossing Powder on the heart. On the Cupid I used Festive Berries Distress Ink and Barn Door Stickles. I died the ribbon with Spun Sugar Distress Stain. I cut the letters out of the Seasonal Papers Pack. The velvet trim is from Crate Paper. I heated the Distress Stickles on the cupid and he got a little bumpy - but I'm doing that Tim thing of "embracing my imperfections."

For those of you who have asked about the Yahoo Group I am in called All Things Tim - just go to Yahoo and search for it and ask to be admitted into the group. You can tell them I sent you. It's just a fun place where people who love to use Tim Holtz products get together and discuss crafty things. Thanks for taking a look!


CAS Hero Arts Card Set

I am now going to be teaching card making classes at my local stamping store called The Stamping Place & Scrapbook Station. I wanted to come up with a CAS set of cards that students could make in a couple of hours. I used the Hero Arts/Sizzix set called Playful Flowers & Butterflies. The sentiments are from the Hero Arts set called Essential Messages. All the images have dies which makes it so much easier than cutting them!!  Thanks for stopping by!






Sunday, February 12, 2012

Grungy Monday 35 - Holtz-ian ATC

This is my second post of the day. If you're looking for the winner of the Blog Candy look at the previous post.

I finally got some time to make a quick ATC for the Grungy Monday 35 Challenge to make an ATC in the style of Tim Holtz. I made one with this grunge board heart and crown and a Tim Holtz flower. I colored the canvas with Dusty Concord, Victorian Velvet and Milled Lavender Distress Inks. Thanks for stopping by!!


And the winner is........Plus more giveaways!!

Hi everybody!!! First I want to say that I'm stunned at the response to my blog candy giveaway. I have been humbled by all the nice comments and compliments I have received from so many people over the last 2 weeks. I have visited many of your blogs, but please bear with me if I have not made it to yours yet. I will making my way around to all of your blogs as soon as I can - there are a lot for me to visit!!

I wish I could send all of you a prize!!! But, unfortunately there can only be one lucky winner of this blog candy. To get the winner I went to the random number generator at www.calculatorslive.com and put in the total number of comments on this post and when the number came up it was 10 and I counted each original poster down from the top of the list and the lucky winner is Therese of Lost in Paper!!! Congrats Therese - I'll be contacting you shortly to get your address. Keep reading for the More Giveaways part...

Below are 1 random numbers between 1 and 106

10

Since response to my blog candy was so great and the plush dog got so many comments, I decided that for the rest of the year I would giveaway one stuffed animal on the first of each month along with a couple of crafty items (you can tell I always have extras laying around). Each month I will designate one of my posts to be the monthly giveaway post. To be eligible for the monthly drawing just check out my blog and leave a message on that post, make sure you're a follower and you will be entered. This is open to all - even international followers. You have until the end of the month to find the post and leave a comment. The first giveaway will be Thursday, March 1st - so check back in February and look for the giveaway post - it will be after today.

I had planned to do another giveaway when I hit 100 followers, but thanks to you all I have surpassed that now!! So, the next big Blog Candy giveaway will come at 200 followers or my 2nd Blogoversary - whichever comes first. Thanks for all your amazing support!!

Please note the entries for the giveaway ended at Noon on Sunday, February 12 EST.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Gel-a-tins Wednesday - Friends Furever

Here's my weekly Wednesday Gel-a-tins card. I used the Cosmo Pups stamp set to create this card. I think these dogs are so cute!! For all the details check out the Gel-a-tins blog today. Thanks for stopping by!


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

All Things Tim Post Card Swap

I recently joined a the All Things Tim Yahoo Group for people who love to create with Tim Holtz products. They're a really fun and nice group of people and it's a very active group. They have several swaps going on at all times, a monthly challenge and tons of info and encouragement on their message board.

For example, I found out from the list that this coming Friday, February 10 at 10:00am Tuesday Morning Stores will be having a huge sale of scrapbooking supplies including Martha Stewart, K & Company and Tim Holtz. They say they will have configurations boxes and I hope to get some of those at good prices that I can decorate for Christmas gifts. Luckily for me, my mom is retired and loves to shop so she has that on her calendar for Friday morning - I can't get there until 4pm!!

Anyway, I'm participating in the current All Things Tim 6x6 "Use Your Stash" Postcard swap. I need to use up my stash and making 6 postcards looked like a fun way to start. The postcards are 4x6 and can be decorated anyway, in the Tim Holtz style of course, and on the back side you're supposed to write something about yourself. Here are my 6 postcards. I had a great time making them. I used Grunge paper with various distress inks and stains and Tim Holtz, Stamps, Grunge Blocks letters and Ranger Glossy Accents. I can't wait to see what I receive when I get my 6 in March!! I'll be sure to post them here.






Saturday, February 4, 2012

Play Date Cafe - Happiness Always

I made this card for the current Play Date Cafe color challenge. I made the lilac flower from Tim Holtz tissue tape. I watched the video how-to he made and decided to give it a try. Click here if you would like to watch the video. Before I made the flower I colored the tissue tape with Dusty Concord Distress Stain and I used one of his Accoutrements for the center of the flower. Thanks for stopping by!!


Here's my card.

Materials
1. Card stock - Very Vanilla, Blue - Stampin' Up
2. Stamp - Happy Greeting - Stampin' Up
3. Ink - Basic Black - Stampin' Up
4. Tissue Tape - Tim Holtz
5. Distress Stain - Dusty Concord - Tim Holtz
6. Seam Binding - Very Vanilla - Stampin' Up
7. Die - Nestabilities
8. Rhinestones - Kaisercraft