Gnome Spotting

So I was checking out the blogs in my reader this morning and scanned down through the blog post for the Sweet Stamp Shop and was nicely surprised to come across my own card and a link to my blog! Wow! I had uploaded this card to flickr but had not yet posted it on the blog, so I figured maybe I should get on that.

The Sweet Stamp Shop is a new stamp company I came across through a friend's blog.  They make clear polymer stamps that are produced in the USA and they just opened shop at the beginning of August I believe.  I decided to give them a try so I only ordered the Gnomies set (although I like the sweet tooth set and the cool scoop sets as well).  I think their stamps are comparable to other great small companies I love like Lawn Fawn & Paper Smooches.  They stamp crisply just like other quality clear stamps

The only down side to this set is that some of the sentiments have very small text.  This sentiment actually says "we are the best of Gnomies" but since I was heat embossing it with white I knew that the small text would never be legible so I just left it off.  Otherwise I am please with it so far.  I'm looking forward to using the heart border and the mushrooms. Here is a picture from their website of the full set.

Go and check them out! They also have some sets that I think would be great for projects for teenagers (for those of you interested).  Hello Beautiful would be great for girls and Old School Rock would totally make a great teenage boy card.  And right now they are having a sale of 27% off your total purchase (through Friday).  Just use coupon code HBN27.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Chari

Owl-errific!

In the past week I have made Three owl cards!  This is not because I am an owl fanatic or anything, but it just seemed to work out that way.  First I was inspired by the Lawn Fawn DT to create something halloween-y.  I was going have the sentiment say "Have a Hooty Halloween" but my husband was not on board with that idea so I changed it.

Then a coworker requested a wedding card for a wedding she had to attend.  I turned to the little owl again, because I thought he would be good to try and mirror to make a wedding couple.

Can you guess how many Lawn Fawn sets I used on this card?  I was pretty shocked I used so many when I counted them up.  Just goes to show how amazingly well they all work together.  Then on Saturday I had a friend ask me if I could make a custom card for her to give her husband for their anniversary.  She said he liked owls so naturally I had to use owls once again.

I added the dragonfly not knowing that she loved dragonflies.  I just love how things work out perfectly sometimes.  I will probably give my owl stamp a little rest after all these cards, but he (or she) is so cute and works for many things (especially when given the appropriate hat!) so I can't make any promises. :)

Thanks for stopping by today!  I wish you all a happy week!

Chari

MossyMade

I never thought much about other people wanting my cards, I truly just made them for my own enjoyment and as gifts for friend's birthdays and other occasions, but lately they have been getting lots of attention (more than I ever dreamed...but I will have to share that another time).  So this week I created MossyMade {www.mossymade.com}.  For now it is just a small website (with a gallery) and a facebook page.  Who knows where it will go or how it will change in the future, or even if it will become anything at all.  But I wanted to have something accessible to people who may not know me personally so that if they are gifted a card I made they know where it came from.  I will keep my blog as it is because sharing things with you, my crafty friends, is my first priority and it is what I love most about blogging and crafting. :)  So with that said, I have some cards to share today!  I have been rather absent from blogging this week, but I have been very busy creating.

I got some new Lawn Fawn stamps earlier this week... none of the new releases because I ordered them before the release, but for the record I love ALL the new sets!  But I did get lunar lights, which has been on my wishlist for awhile.

I made this card using one of the new Six by Six pads from My Mind's Eye.  Have you seen those?  If not you should check them out!  This paper was from the "Everyday Flair" pad and I thought they would make beautiful lanterns with the soft colors.  I also tried a technique I saw my friend Laurel use on one of her cards this week.  She brushed a Jenni Bowlin Malted Milk paint dabber over kraft paper and created a nice soft background.  You can see her card HERE, she made it for her son's lunch box (how cute!).  I didn't stop there, I used the same stamps, color palette and left over paper to make this Thank You card requested by a friend.  I played along with this weeks Simon Says Stamp Challenge and used Dawny's Sketch for this card. {turned on it's side}

I used the same technique with the Malted Milk paint dabber for the main background.  The little "Thanks" panel was an experiment however.  I tried out my Picket Fence Distress Stain on kraft and then brushed the Jenni Bowlin Chewing Gum paint dabber across it too.  I did learn that stamping the sentiment with water-based ink over the paint does not work too well, so I had to re-stamp it with Archival Ink.  Chalk ink may work, I think I might need a little more experimentation with this. :)  I am not experienced with Archival Ink, I only just got it to try it out and see what all the fuss is.

Okay that's all for today, I've kept you long enough.  As always, I'm so glad you stopped by today.  I hope you all have a fabulous day!

Chari

p.s. I hope you will all join Young Crafters Unite! for our very first challenge.  Britta and Marie have worked hard to start these Challenges for all us crafters (no matter your actual age).  Please come join us!

One Layer Wonders

I know I'm cutting it close but I have yet to miss a Lawnscaping Challenge and I would like to keep it that way.  One Layer cards is the theme for this challenge and I must say I really did find it to be a challenge for me.  But in the end I have two different cards to show for it.

This first one uses Harvest Season and one of the little thank you stamps you get with your Lawn Fawn orders (I just love that about Lawn Fawn!)  I masked off the center and colored the border with scattered straw distress ink then stamped the little leaves with Jenni Bowlin Chicken Feed.  The Cornucopia is colored with colored pencils and the background stamped with Jenni Bowlin Malted Milk.  I wish I had staggered the background text a little more, it lines up too much for me.  But I will just have to remember that for next time.  This next card was actually the design I had in my head for this challenge, but I was waiting on my Quinn's ABC's to come in the mail. Here's a tip, don't design a card when you don't actually own the stamps yet! I have been very very bad about that lately, hehe.

I really love how this one turned out. Although my goal was to try and use only ink, and keep it one layer I want to try the same design again with maybe some coloring or patterned paper.  The thing that is really cool I think on this one is that I used only Lawn Fawn stamps (5 different sets) and only Jenni Bowlin Inks (7 different colors).  How cool is that?  I just big fat puffy {heart} Lawn Fawn & Jenni Bowlin.  Thanks for stopping by today.  I may be back later with another post.  I have been making lots of projects just not giving myself time to blog them lately.

Chari


Supplies:
Many Thanks Card
Stamps:  Lawn Fawn {harvest season & bon voyage}
Ink: Distress Ink {scattered straw} Jenni Bowlin {chicken feed, brown sugar & malted milk}
Paper: Neenah Classic {solar white}

Happy Birthday Card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn {bows & holly, quinn's abc's, smitty's abc's, teeny tiny backdrops, bon voyage}
Ink: Jenni Bowlin {chicken feed, lemon drops, cough syrup, lavender sachet, speckled egg & stick candy}
Paper: Neenah Classic {solar white}

Young Crafter's Unite! Challenge #1

Welcome to the very first Young Crafters Unite Challenge!

Our first challenge is to color a stamped image.  Since this is something I do a lot I thought I would pick one image to focus on and let the rest of the card become a backdrop.  I choose the lovely Angel Anya stamp from The Greeting Farm.

She is just so sweet.  I colored her with copics and added some iridescent glitter to her little wings.  I cut the cloud shapes out with a Papertrey ink die and then embossed them with an embossing folder.  I accented the edges of the clouds and the stamped background with stickles and gave her a pearl on her bow as a finishing touch.

Be sure you check out all the other amazing design team creations.

Marie/Legojenta

Britta Swiderski

Jennifer Rzasa 

Jess Larsen

Paulina Nakamura

Check out all the challenge details at the Young Crafters Unite! blog including the amazing prize up for grabs.  A $25 Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp!

Supplies:
Stamps:  The Greeting Farm {Angel Anya}  Lawn Fawn {cruisng through life}  Hero Arts {Magical Background
Ink:  Jenni Bowlin {spice tin & speckled egg} Memento {tuxedo black}
Paper: Papertrey Ink {vintage cream, aqua mist, lavender moon}
Other: Martha Stewart glitter, Stickles, Papertrey Ink Cloud Die, Cuttlebug polka dot embossing folder, copic markers

We're Off to See the Wizard...

 ...The Wonderful Wizard of OZ!

Okay I didn't actually get to see the Wizard, but I did see the Wonderfully Wizardly Wedding of two friends in the Land of Oz. (and yes that is exactly what the sign at the ceremony said).  We arrived early because Hubby was officiating.  So we had some time to walk around the grounds and explore.  The park does not keep all of their decorations out year round, but they do go all out one weekend a year when they have their Autumn in Oz event.  Then all the characters and decorations come out and the place is more alive.  I think I would like to come back some Autumn and experience that first hand.  But for now, here are some pictures from today's little adventure as well as the special Oz themed card I made for the happy couple.

Dorothy's Farm

The barn in the back houses a Wizard of Oz museum room.  It was filled with Oz artifacts including merchandise, actual costume pieces from the movie, copies of many Oz books and albums of photographs from when the park was a popular destination.  We learned that it was one of the hottest destinations on the East Coast back in it's day and many celebrities came to visit. When you go in Dorothy's house, you walk to the back and down into the basement.  Through a dark room that ramps it's way down even more and is painted on the walls as if you were in the twister, including sound effects.  Down another dark hallway and then you come out in the house after it has landed in Oz...in quiet a disarray.  The house itself is built wonky with uneven floors and walls so you almost have to hold on to something as you walk through.  (They also had decorations used for the park stored in here, so there were many buckets of giant flowers and mushrooms and such scattered about)

Dorothy's House after it lands in Oz from the tornado

Wicked Witch (smoosh)

The beginning of the Yellow Brick Road

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

One of many trees with faces

Wicked Witch's Castle

The Gates of Oz

The Cake

My hubby Matt waiting in his
place for the wedding to begin

Here Comes the Bride!
(in her ruby slippers you can't see)

And as promised I wore my "ruby slippers" so I would be sure to make it home to share this very cool experience with you all.  Although after all the walking on the very hilly walkways I do have a blister now.

My "ruby slippers" on the Yellow Brick Road

Layers

Just popping in with a quick post tonight.  This card was inspired by last weeks Trigger Tuesday at Moxie Fab World as well as a card I remembered of Britta's from awhile back (you can see it HERE).

I used a new nestie I just picked up, labels nineteen, and some yellow pearls I got as a free gift in a recent Simon Says Stamp order (Thanks Simon!)  The papers are from My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Mabel Paper pad.  This was a good design to use up some scraps of paper.

I also made a very unique wedding card this week for a wedding we are attending on Saturday.  My dear husband is officiating (he is a magistrate) and we are heading to the Land of Oz!  I know, sounds strange, but I hope to take my camera and capture some pictures to share with you all.  The Land of Oz is a real place only a couple hours drive from Asheville near Beech Mtn (best known for it's ski resorts). I only learned of it's existence recently when a friend shared some pictures of it.  So I googled it! (don't we all do that?) and THIS is what I found.  Once a theme park, it is now private property.  I have always loved the wizard of Oz so I was thrilled to hear that our friend, who was planning an Oz themed wedding, actually booked it as her venue!  But don't worry, I'll wear my ruby slippers so I am sure to make it back home and share my adventures with you. :)

Pretty in Purple

Today I have a card to share inspired by the current challenge over at Jay Gee's Nook.  This is my first time playing along at Jay Gee's but the beautiful college of purple inspired me to to break out some stamps and create.

I thought purples would be super easy, but I sat at my desk with 6 different purple inks trying to figure out the perfect combination.  This is what I finally came up with.

I first thought my distressing got away from me, so I flipped my card stock over and tried the peacock and background without distressing...turns out I actually liked my first side better.   Funny how that happens.  Also, I am super proud of myself for making a light box.  I have been thinking about making one for awhile but have just been lazy about it.  So last night I did it,  I think it improved my photos  quite a bit even though they are still not as great as some card photography I've seen around the block.  But it is an improvement so that is a start.  If anyone has any brilliant photography tips for photographing cards I'm all ears.

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts {beautiful peacocks & flourish background}
Ink:  Distress Ink {dusty concord & milled lavender}  Colorbox Pigment Ink {violet}
Paper:  Papertrey Ink {plum pudding & vintage cream}
Other:  Stickles {stardust} Purple Gems, Clear Embossing Powder

Young Crafter's Unite! Design Team

Today I can finally share some news that I have been super excited about for the past couple weeks.  In case you haven't already heard The Young Crafters Unite! Blog is beginning monthly challenges as well as a blog hop every two weeks.  The first challenge is August 23rd.  But that is only part of the exciting news.

At 32, I think I probably fall in the "young at heart" category...hehe. However I had a lot of fun being part of the blog hop for YCU in July, it was my first ever blog hop.  So you can imagine how excited and honored I was when Britta and Marie asked ME to join the YCU design team.  Oh wow! This is my first ever design team spot so I am pretty ecstatic about it! Hop on over to the YCU blog for the official announcement of the Design Team and meet all talented ladies I will be joining.  They are a pretty amazing group and I hope you will ALL come along on this exciting new journey with us.  Don't forget to leave a comment on the DT  post too, there is a prize involved!

DeNami August Blog Hop

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the next stop on the DeNami Design Mini Card Blog Hop!  If you have been hopping along then you should be arriving here from Linda's blog.  If you have not been hopping and would like to join in the fun, you can start at the beginning by visiting the DeNami Design blog which can be found HERE. You should really play along because there some prizes involved.  Yay! Now on with the hop!

 

I actually have three mini cards to share today.  The first features some cute chickies on the beach!  The Aloha sentiment is a stamp I actually purchased in Hawaii, it was made there as well.  A unique souvenir that goes perfectly with these chickies and pineapples.

Next I have two cards I created using some of the stamps from the new DeNami release.  Fall will be here before we know it, so hopefully these two little cards will help get you in the Thanksgiving mood.

Your next stop on the hop is Patti.  Thanks for stopping... or rather, hopping by today!

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 DeNami gift certificate!

Chari

Under the stars

I'm back from a great camping trip.  I had lots of fun with family, it wasn't too hot and there was only a little rain.  It was nice to be "unplugged" for a few days.  But that did mean I came home to a pile of email and a long list of things to catch up on in the blog world.  So after I did all that I wasted no time getting back to my stamps and creating a fun camping card based on my favorite camping activity... roasting marshmallows on the fire. Yum!

The sentiment inside reads "...is where I want to be."  I used three Lawn Fawn set for this card, Cozy Christmas, Plus One & My Silly Valentine.  The tents on the hills in the background were stamped with the "to: Santa" card from Cozy Christmas.  Makes me want a roasted marshmallow right now.  But on to other business.  It's time to pick the winner for my Blog Candy Giveaway! Yay!

And the winner is.... (thanks to Random.org)... number 14... which is... Laurel! 
Congratulations!  I have more goodies to give away so stay tuned for another blog candy giveaway in the near future and thanks to all who participated.  For my first giveaway it was very successful.  Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you all have a crafty week! :)

Distress Mania!

Have you ever had one of those projects that started out as one idea but became something completely different?  Well that was this card.  I made it for this week Lawnscaping Challenge Distress Mania!  Well it was mania alright, but in a good way.  Originally I was going to use distress inks to create a sunset and then add some clouds and the cute little Bon Voyage plane.  The gradient turned out great, but I wanted to do some experimenting with it so in the end I said Bon Voyage to the plane and clouds and went in a totally different direction.

I believe the only thing not distressed on this card is the twine.  I used Distress Inks on both the card base and the background panel.  The sides of the panel are distressed with my new Tim Holtz disressing tool.  The Canvas piece has both distress stain and distress inks applied to it.  And finally the leaves are embossed with Antique Linen Distress Embossing powder.  I also got to use my new Harvest Season Lawn Fawn set for the first time. :)

On another distress note...

I created this card over the weekend using distress stain with Tim Holtz Trimmings.  The trimmings come white which is nice because you can stain them to which ever color you want.  

Thanks for stopping by today... I'm headed into the woods tomorrow so I will be MIA this weekend.  And when I say "into the woods" I do mean literally.  I'm going on our annual cousins camping trip.  I believe this will be our 18th year and our group has grow to about 18 people (as us "kids" have grown up and gotten married). Should be fun.  Last year we had a kickball game, a corn hole tournament and of course some serious singing around the camp fire.  My family is full of musicians and singers, so it's not your typical campfire singing, there are instruments and songbooks, we usually attract a crowd of other campers.  My mom even brings craft projects!  So keep you fingers crossed that it won't be unbearably hot this weekend in NC.  I would rather not come back in the form of a puddle.  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  Stay Cool!

Update: Since Karen asked... this is a pic of our corn hole game.  Note all the "teams" watching and waiting their turn to play, the winners of each round went on to the next round, like NCAA basketball brackets. :)

Corn Hole tournament
(you might call it bean bag toss, or our neighbor called it "holy board")
The bags are filled with corn, that is how it gets its name.
The goal is to get the bag to stay on the board for 1 pt. or go in the hole for 3 pts.
The corn creates a powder on the board when the bags fall which makes the game a bit trickier.

Supplies:

You Are A Blessing

Stamps: Lawn Fawn {harvest season}

Ink: Memento {tuxedo black}  Distress Ink {scattered straw, wild honey, spiced marmalade, fired brick, dusty concord, black soot & tea dye

Paper:  Neenah {solar white}  Papertrey Ink {kraft}

Other:  Distress Embossing Powder {antique linen}  Distress Stain {antique linen}  Papertrey Ink Button Twine {whtie} Tim Holtz Distressing Tool, Foam Adhesive

Happy Birthday Card

Stamps:  Lawn Fawn {year one} Papertrey Ink {fillable frames #5}

Ink:  Colorbox {frost white} Jenni Bowlin {stick candy}

Paper:  My Mind's Eye {lime twist happy go lucky pad}  Papertrey Ink {raspberry fizz}

Other:  White Signo Pen, Tim Holtz Trimmings, Distress Stain {broken china} Embroidery Floss