BCG Wk 49 - Stinkin Big!

It's Friday and time for Week 49's Challenge....Animals. - I loved this challenge as there were so many possibilities. Now anyone who knows me well enough probably figured I would use a (Cat) image since I adore furry felines. Sorry to disappoint you but I went with something totally different. It's a skunk (aren't skunks babies called, kittens though?)...Anyway I was enabled by one of the blogs I visit (right now I can't recall which one) to purchase the Cute Critters stamp set from Clear Dollar Stamps and decided to use this adorable little skunk for my card.

My card base is: Green Galore followed by a layer of Basic Black and then I embossed a piece of lavendar card stock (source unknown) with the Paisley Cuttlebug Embossing Folder. Then I added a piece of striped DP (Doodlebug) and some Black Grosgrain ribbon. To the side I added 3 Dew Drops (Grapes & Leaves) by Robin's Nest. I stamped my image with Basic Gray ink and colored it with Prismacolor Pencils blended with Gamsol. I added the ground by masking my image and punching out and oval that I sponged Creamy Caramel ink on. I used my Rectangle Nestablities Dies to cut out my image and mounted it on a larger piece of Green Galore card stock.

Then I added some flowers from Hero Arts Summer Collection that I purchased here: http://www.ellenhutson.com/servlet/the-1282/Art-Flowers%2C-Summer/Detail - and added a purple brad (Queen and Company) and then dyed 2 small white brads with a Copic Marker (T5 Toner Gray No. 5) which came out a nice black color after a couple of coats. I stamped the sentiment by using Basic Black and Lovely Lilac markers. My focal piece and sentiment were then mounted using foam mounting tape.

I'm sending this to a friend who is having a birthday next week. I hope she likes it. This was such a fun challenge. I'm off to check out everyone else's creations and hope you will as well. Check them out by using the Blogger's Challenge Icon on my sidebar.

Okay spell check doesn't seem to be working again so I apologize ahead if I did make any errors in spelling.

Cattitude Monday - Cat Scratch Fever

It's Monday and time for another installment of, Cattitude Monday.

First I wanted to share the bloody mess that is on my left ankle right now. - Last night I went in to our bathroom to get a drink and since I had light coming from the television I didn't bother to turn the lights on.

Suddenly I heard this hideous meowing and felt the slashing (dramatic huh) of my ankle. I saw furry flashes and 2 very unhappy cats. I'm not entirely sure what happened but somehow Snickers and Callie-Jo met each other in the dark and one of them managed to slice and dice my heel up pretty good. I'm always thankful for Benadryl since I'm allergic to cats (I know then I shouldn't have them) but I just couldn't live without my furry friends and allergy shots help tremendously. Anyway I'm keep a close eye on it as I don't want any infections. I couldn't resist adding Ted Nugent's song, "Cat Scratch Fever" to this weeks blog entry.

As promised last week I actually created a card for Cattitude Monday. The stamp is a new unmounted stamp (Third Coast Rubber - Titled: Miss Daisy) but it reminds me of our cat, Callie-Jo who is off course very playful since she's still a kitten. I tried to color the image to look Siamese but didn't include the much darker colors that our kitty has on her face.

The image was colored with Prisma Colored Pencils and blended with Gamsol. I stamped an extra image and cut out the top flower to layer over my main image. I used my new rectangle Nestabilities dies for the image and background. I added some So Saffron photo corners and More Mustard Brads.

The sentiment is by Autumn Leaves.

Card Stock: So Saffron, Blue textured by Chatterbox, Designer Paper, Sunny Pinwheels (Chatterbox - Scrapbook Walls), Whisper White

Ink: Palette Noir Black, Really Rust

Other: Frosted Lace Stickles, More Mustard Brads, Circle Punch, Coluzzle, Nestability Dies, Paper Piercing tool, Foam mounting tape.

BCG - Red White and Blue and a Sketch Challenge Too!

Okay doesn't that title just "grab ya!" - These days I find myself with "limited" stamping time.

I enjoy trying different challenges but due to time constraints this week I combined two different challenges. For Friday's Blogger's Challenge our challenge this week was to use the colors:

Red, White and Blue for our project. - Normally you think of these as traditional colors for the 4th of July but I really didn't want to go that route so instead I chose a Birthday theme.

Then I combined it with a "Sketch" challenge that I signed up for on another group (SSUS) that I belong too.

My card base is Real Red, with Brilliant Blue (I distressed the edges with BB ink & the cutter kit)

Then I used my Circles Cuttlebug folder and embossed some Whisper White card stock. I had purchased some cool red, white and blue striped paper (My Mind's Eye - Confetti from the Kaleidoscope Collection) and just knew I had to use it for this challenge.

I also recently purchased these delicious cupcake stamps by Hero Arts and decided they would go perfectly with my birthday theme. I stamped the cupcake on Whisper White and also on a piece of the designer paper. Then I cut out only the cupcake wrapper on the DP and glued it on top of my other cupcake image. I used White Liquid Applique to create my frosting. My cherry was colored with Copic Markers (yes, I broke down and bought a set) and I can tell you that right now I still need TONS of practice using them but for this little cherry image they worked just fine. Plus I highlighted the cherry with a clear Spica Glitter pen although it doesn't show in the scan.

I stamped the Polka Dot background (Cornish Heritage Farms) on Brocade Blue card stock with Craft White ink and layered that on top my striped designer paper and the white cuttlebug piece.

I cut my circles out using Nestabilities Dies. The sentiment was stamped with Brilliant Blue ink and mounted on BB card stock which I attached 2 Real Red brads and then mounted it and my cupcake with foam mounting tape to complete my card. I think it's a very festive card and could still be used for a patriotic card as well since the 4th of July is America's birthday.

Be sure to check out all the other great cards by my fellowBlogger's challenge group members by clicking on the icon on my side bar.

Mystery Image

I belong to a really fun group (Stamp Girls Gone Wild) or SGGW and we've been doing some Mystery Image swaps lately. The way it works is one person (the Hostess) picks an image and stamps several of them and then sends them out to those who sign up to create a card with. We are each assigned a partner and send the card we made to that person. Then a file is created that we all post our cards in so we can see how each person used the Mystery Image. It's really FUN and you get a lot of inspiration by seeing how different and unique each persons take on the image turns out.

This round was Janet Rains turn to chose the image and she picked this floral image by Impression Obsession to send out. It's really very pretty but I must admit when I first saw it I wasn't sure how I was going to use it to create my card.

I decided to make my card larger then the standard 41/4"x51/2" size so my card measured 51/4"by51/4" .

I took my color inspiration from a piece of designer paper (Adorned - Fancy Pants designs).

I really liked the striped pattern. My first attempt was to stamp the En Francais background stamp by SU behind the flowers by masking it but I didn't like the way it turned out so I went with plan B and stamped the background instead on the reverse side of my designer paper. I used Chocolate Chip Ink to stamp the background. I really liked how that looked.

My card base is So Saffron which I distressed the edges with Saffron Ink. Then I layered a piece of Rust colored textured card stock (Bazzill) and added my stamped designer layer. Then I added the striped piece on the side along with another small strip of the rust card stock and a crimped piece of So Saffron.

My image was colored with Prisma Colored Pencils and blended with Gamsol. I cut out the larger flower and leaves and layered them with foam mounting tape. The centers of the flowers were highlighted with a clear Spica Glitter pen for a little shimmer. I'm not sure it shows up in the photo but looks pretty in real life. I mounted the flower image on Chocolate Chip card stock that I rounded using a corner rounder.

I added a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware and some Saffron ribbon and added 3 Dew Drops to complete my card.

Can't wait to see what our next Mystery Image will be.

Cattitude Monday - A Quiz

Happy "Cattitude Monday" everyone. - Here are a couple of pictures today of some of our little furry friends. Picture #1 is my hubby hard at work painting along with his little painting buddy, Callie-Jo who sat there up there on his shoulder the entire time he rolled the walls. She loves sitting on shoulders and found painting to be quite fascinating.

Picture #2 is a "rare" photo indeed as it has our cat, Snickers actually allowing the new kitten, Harley to be so close to her. It's rare that she even lets him even in the same room as she is much less a few inches away. I snapped this photo and about a minute later he got a little to close and she was off the couch in a flash.

So here is a little Quiz you can take even if you don't like cats to test your knowledge about cats in "songs." You can find the quiz here: http://cats.about.com/library/FillBlanksQuiz/blcatsongs.htm - I scored 19 out of 24.

Have a great day & next week I hope to post a Card (yes an actual stamped card) with non-other then a CAT image on it for Cattitude Monday. I'm waiting for the stamp I ordered to arrive and it's a good one so be on the lookout for it soon.

BCG Wk 47 - And I'm Back!

Ah...it's good to be back after a 2 week absence from posting for the Blogger's Challenge Group. Life was just way to hectic to do much stamping but I took the time last night to complete this weeks challenge. In fact I finished up my card at 11:30 pm. I was determined to participate this week.

This week was a "sketch" challenge. Our sketch was to use the (Dog) card on Pg. 21 of the current SU Occasions Mini Catalog. - This time I decided to try and stick pretty much to the sketch even though it wasn't my style.

I chose to use a couple of new stamps that I bought form Hambo Stamps that you can find here:

http://www.hambostamps.com/animalsair.htm - Aren't those little "chicks" cute!

My card base is Chocolate Chip and then I layered a piece of So Saffron stamped with the Aida Cloth BG stamp with a strip of textured Red (Bazzill) card stock. I added some "faux" stitching by using a piercing tool and my Ruby Red Marker. I also added a piece of striped designer paper (Adorned - Fancy Pants Designs) which I used for my color inspiration as well.

I stamped the chicks and sentiment with Palette Noir Black ink and then colored my image with Prisma Color Pencils and blended with Gamsol. I also added some light speckles with the Itty Bitty BG set (SU) and Cool Caribbean ink. I tore the edges (not something I normally do) and added an extra piece of Cool Caribbean also stamped with the Aida Cloth BG. My chicks have Lemonade Fun Flock on them and I highlighted the flower with a Red Spice Glitter Pen. I wasn't sure afterwards if I liked that look but it was to late to do anything about it by then. For accents I added a Prima flower and a Saffron Brad and tied some twine around the focal point. Then I raised up the panel using foam mounting tape to complete my card.

So be sure to check out the other members cards to see how they interpreted the sketch. You can find them by clicking on the Blogger's Challenge Icon on my side bar.

Addendum - Giving Credit

As promised here is the source for the blue card in my previous post. It was inspired by this card made by Kimberly G. on her blog : It 's so pretty it's so cute and can be found here: http://itssoprettyitssocute.blogspot.com/2008/05/bloggers-challenge.html

Thanks Kim!

A couple of cards - Inspired by...

Not a very original title but today I don't feel to original so it will have to do. Besides neither of the 2 cards are original ideas either so I think the title fits.

These were the cards I managed to come up with for last nights Stamp Club meeting. I have had such a hard time this year coming up with card ideas because I was basically not real thrilled with a lot of the stamp sets available in the current SU catalog. - No "Flames" please but that is just how I feel about this particular catty.

I found the idea for the bright Orange and Green card here: http://splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/893765?cat=5806 and was inspired by the ideas of bright tropical colors. I altered the color scheme as I didn't have enough of the Teal to use for my club meeting. Plus I just like the combo of the Only Orange and Green Galore together with the Gable Green. I altered the design a little as well. I liked the flower with the brad but wanted mine to be off set so I used my circle punches to create my flower accent. I also accented the flower centers with Orange Peel Stickles. and stamped my sentiment at the bottom instead of using the tab on the side. Thanks, Kris for the inspiration.

Card #2 was inspired I believe by a card I saw on some one's blog. They did not include a watermark with their name so I can't give credit since I can't recall offhand which blog I saw it on. If this looks vaguely familiar to anyone let me know so I can credit my inspiration.

This card used the set, Priceless. I loved the original color scheme so I kept that but added some brads to the bottom of my card and altered the placement of the sentiment and also popped my butterfly up on dimensionals.

Cattitude Monday - Introducing....

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the latest member of our family. This little guy is none other then, Harley ("lil hog") Krause.

With the passing of our beloved Nuisance we were left with no male animals in the house. Some neighbors down the street from us had kittens a few weeks ago so I decided to check them out and see what sex this little yellow fur ball was. Turns out he is male so naturally we (well hubby did protest a great deal about this but knew the battle was lost) just had to bring him home to live with us.

He's just about 5-6 weeks old and wasn't entirely weaned yet but the owners were wanting to find homes for the kittens as quickly as possible so they suggested we take him home early. Personally I think they were tired of my stopping by everyday and sitting on their porch playing with the kittens so they just let me take him a few weeks early. None the less he's here to stay and fitting in quite nicely. The photo on the right was taken at his old place and I'm not exactly sure what he was trying to tell me but it sure made for a fun photo.

So far the "girls" are adjusting to his being here for the most part. Dottie our short haired Calico could care less. Snickers the long haired tortoise shell Calico is pretty persnickety towards him but she knows he's not going away so she just tries to avoid him. The other new kitten, Callie-Jo enjoys hissing at him and batting at him but she has tried to get a little rougher then she should and gets promptly chastised for it. I'm sure in time they'll be bosom buddies.

Isn't he a cutie! We now have 5 cats (yes, they call me the "Crazy" Cat Lady)...the other cat, Blackie is basically non-existent as she is never around any of the other cats. She was pretty much neglected and sometimes abused by her former owners and hates all other cats so she spends her time alone in her own little room. She's fed, watered and petted though and seems perfectly content living her life that way. She occasionally ventures outside but lately hasn't even wanted to do that as loud noises scare her. It may seem cruel to keep her secluded but she appears to want it that way so we let her be. Someday I'll share some pictures of her as well.

Have a truly terrific day, pet a cat (it helps lower your blood pressure, proven fact.)!