ARGHHH!

I am so sorry this is so late. I can't find my camera. The photo was taken by my husband on his camera because mine seems to be MIA. I had to wait for him to get home to be able to post this week's sketch challenge.



This is another card that I am going to send to Julie's mom as part of the 1000 Valentine's Drive. It uses Bubs the Beaver from Our Craft Lounge. It is a super cute set, and I *love* the storage built into these sets. Be sure to check them out if you haven't yet seen the OCL stamps.

Here is Lauren's sketch



Remember, the sketch is for inspiration, and it is okay if you don't follow it exactly, the point is to get creating!

Be sure to check out the rest of the sketch team for their take on this week's design.

Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen
Kendra Wisenbaker

Three Clovers Blog Candy

Have you seen this yet? Kerry at Three Clovers Designs is giving away some great blog candy including Martha Stewart punches, Basic Grey paper, cute stamps, and more.

Check it out!

Hip Hop Hangover

First off, I must say that I am *trying* to work out some photography issues with my cards. I generally craft at night, and don't have natural light to work with, so I have been playing withe the white balance on my camera trying to get decent photos. I don't think I am there yet, but I will keep trying.

The first card is one that was created to fulfill the I {heart} Unity challenge that Jeanne posted during Hip Hop yesterday. This is the only love or heart stamp I have from unity.



I stamped the So & so loves stamp on watercolour paper using brown staz-on ink. Then I watercoloured the image using the watercolour wonder crayons from Stampin' Up! I wet my brush and picked up the colour from the crayons. This is my first ever attempt at watercolouring using the crayons, and I think it went okay.

The second challenge is a birthday card for Ms. Unity herself, the fabulous Angela!



This card uses the fantastic Cocktail Party set. The beverages are stamped with basic black ink, and coloured with SU markers. The "shadow" was created by colouring on a plastic case with a blue marker, then water colouring it on the image.



I rarely do anything inside my cards, but this seemed appropriate.

The lanterns at the top are stamped on velum, and embossed with black embossing powder. I then coloured them with SU markers, and used a wet brush to dilute the colour. They are cut out, and attached on pop dots.



You can kind of see the pop dots through the lanterns, but I don't mind it.

If you haven't already been there, make sure you visit Angela's blog to get the list of all of the Hip Hop Hangover participants.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for my contribution to Lauren's sketch challenge.

Let me know what you think of these cards. I love to hear what's on your mind.

It's COLD

I wish I could just stay inside today and sit and craft by the fire. Instead I am at work, and had to deal with these temperatures to get here.

Info taken from the Weather Network

WIND CHILL WARNING: City of ReginaIssued at 7:27 AM CST THURSDAY 15 JANUARY 2009

EXTREME WIND CHILLS OF MINUS 40 TO MINUS 50 THIS MORNING. THIS IS A WARNING THAT EXTREME WIND CHILL CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.

BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES IN THE MID MINUS 30'S TO MINUS 40 COMBINED WITH WINDS OF 15 TO 20 KM/H ARE CREATING EXTREME WIND CHILLS OF MINUS 45 TO MINUS 50 THIS MORNING. AT THESE WIND CHILL VALUES, FROSTBITE CAN OCCUR WITHIN MINUTES. WIND CHILL VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO MODERATE SLIGHTLY BY MIDDAY AS DAY TIME TEMPERATURES INCREASE.

-40C = -40F
-50C = -58F

Valentine's for a cause

I am sure many of you have heard that the stamping community is trying to collect 1000 valentines to send to the Children's Hospital in Detroit. I am a regular reader of Julie's blog, and this post explains how her mom regularly donates cards to the hospital, and how YOU can get involved in this campaign.

There's also an opportunity to win blog candy!
Check out these blogs for more information.

This is my first card to donate, and it also follows Lauren's Saturday sketch.





This card uses all SU product (except the dew drop), although I think all of it is probably retired. The heart and flower stamp was stamped on the same light pink paper that I used for the larger background piece, then it was embossed with clear embossing powder. The paper was sponged with Pomegranate ink (love that colour), and the embossing resisted the ink. I then traced over the heart with stickles to add some bling.



Be sure to check out all of the members of the sketch team for more amazing inspiration.


Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen
Kendra Wisenbaker

Hip Hop Hangover

Happy Hip Hop Hangover!

Didn't we all have a GREAT time looking at all of the amazing blogs during the Unity blog hop!?!?

I am soooo excited there is now a scrapbooking design team. I *really* want to start scrapbooking, and I am sure these amazing ladies will inspire me to take the plunge.

This card was made because of Jeanne's Unity Dazzle challenge, but I didn't get it done in time for the challenge, so it is my Friday hangover card.



This card was also inspired by the one that Sharon Harnist shared on the Classroom blog. I never reach for purple, but her card is GORGEOUS, so I decided to pull out some Plum cardstock for the card base.

The image was sitting on my stamp desk from last week when I made this card. It is coloured with chalks, and the wings are also covered using my clear spica glitter pen. So glittery in real life.



Along the edge of the card I used some old olive SU rub-ons. They don't show up too well, but the metal charm tied to the ribbon is about the same shape and size as the rub-ons, so it really seems to flow well.



Make sure you also check out the rest of the Hip Hop Hangover blogs by stopping by Angela's to get the whole list.

Cute as a Bug!

Lauren's sketch challenge this week is such an easy and versatile sketch.



I decided to pull out some much under-used Unity Stamps. Their stamps are HUGE, but this is one way to break them up and use them on a card.

I stamped the caterpillar from Buzzin Around, then punched out three sections of 1.25 inches to create the squares in the sketch. The background is was created with a flower stamp from the same set using versmark to create a watermark feel.



I coloured the sections of the caterpillar using a paint brush and the bashful blue ink. It was "pounced" on and gives kind of a sponged appearance, but with more control and the ability to get into smaller areas.

The antennae are made with some craft wire, and I love the whimsical feel of them.



I stamped the sentiment using a $1.50 set from Michael's. The "cute as a" is stamped off once, and the "bug" is at full strength to make it more prominent.

Please the new addition to the sketch challenge team for 2009, Kendra Wisenbaker. As well as the rest of the team.

Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen

Dies and Dies and Dies, Oh My!

I have been soooo busy, like everyone I am sure, for the past few weeks getting ready for the holidays, then enjoying time with family.

This card is my first card of 2009, and it completes two challenges.

Kristina's Colour challenge



And Sharon Johnson's "New Toys" challenge

I got a Big Shot for Christmas and I couldn't wait to play with it!!

This card has no stamping at all, and I don't love it, but I *do* love that I now have a die cut machine to play with.



The white scalloped circle is sponged with Pretty in Pink ink, and the edges are dragged in the same ink to make the bumps more prominent.



I absolutely need to spend more time playing with my Big Shot, but I had such a blast just cutting out different shapes.

I will be back with a new card using Lauren's sketch on Saturday, if not before!

Thanks for stopping by.