Sites of the week

Howdy SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY friends! Tomorrow brings us a new sketch, but before we get to that I want to share another card that I did with this month’s sketch along with some Skipping Stones Design stamps…

I used the TOUGH GUY set and used my crazy lil’ Nicolas as my inspiration. Here’s the sketch for September…

1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Ok, it’s your turn now! What you will come up with? {trying to see if using the linky system code from the original post works…}

That’s how long I have been married Tony. Yep, yesterday was our 8 year anniversary. We went out the night before, but last night was spent on the couch with a pizza and watching our shows…my kind of mid-week date night!

This lil’ Verve card is inspired by love/anniversary…

Detail shot…

This card uses one of my favorite color combos in conjunction with the set You and I, which pairs with the I Heart U die set.

Of course, I couldn’t just use one of the Verve dies when all the others were screaming to be a part of the card, too! I let the Jotted Heart and Tagged Rectangle dies come out to play, as well.

I gotta make this short and sweet since I have a big girl needing some guidance on her Kindergarten homework and a lil’ man begging for some attention from his “Maaaaaaa.”

It’s TCP Tuesday, stamping friends! This week, Cat Packer Jenny is the Hipster Hostess with the Mostess and she has a fun and could-be spooky color challenge for everyone…

I had to bring out my Witchy set from The Cat’s Pajamas for this one! I loved the way that Leigh paper pieced her dress {and hat!} HERE and had to play dress up with her myself…

Nothin’ like pairing a polka dot dress with some houndstooth and diagonal stripes! It’s too bad the mix of patterns wouldn’t translate so well into real clothing!

Here’s a couple of detail shots…

You might notice a little ink bleeding because my Copic marker was bound and determined to ruin this image! Seriously! I refilled it about a week ago and when I started coloring her face {which was the last part I was coloring}…kersplaaaat. A HUGE ink drop drips not once, but twice on my image. I gasped in horrow because it takes a long time to color and image and I reeeealllly didn’t want to start all over…I know you naptime stampers appreciate that! With a little love from my blender pen and heat gun {to make it dry faster} I finally got it to look like it wasn’t raining E50 all over my paper. Whew!

I’m batty for bats this time of year…embellished ones! I have been playing with my black Stickles lately, but this time I brought out the black enamel from Ranger {love this stuff!}…

Here’s that enamel that I just mentioned. It comes in a package of white and black {available at Michael’s}…

Do you have an idea for this color combo? Upload your card to the Slide show on Alma’s blog for a chance at a sweet lil’ prize!

Betcha never thought I would make a {cabbage} rose and pop it on a Halloween project! I didn’t think I would either, to be quite honest! This week’s TCP Tuesday challenge is hosted by Julie Masse and she wants to see what everyone can do with cabbage roses made from the beautiful seam binding ribbon from The Cat’s Pajamas {if you don’t have any yet, use whatever ribbon you have available}.

So I sat down and watched the how-to video that Alma did HERE and gave it a go. I used large sticky dots that I purchased from Jody HERE, but I am definitely going to be getting some of that fabby glue that Alma is using in the video! This is what I came up with…

I cut the top of the small black bag with the Pinking Border CutUps die to make it look a little more Halloween-y. The clothespin is covered in orange and white polka dot paper and then I added the cabbage rose on top of another black felt Sunflower Rosette. It just wasn’t quite spooky or bling-y enough for me, so I added the bat covered in black Stickles and some black rhinestones. The sentiment and fun bat image is from the set, Fright Night {which is only $9.50 now - originally $18!}.

Here’s a couple of detail shots…

Have an idea for how you want to use a cabbage rose? Play along with us! All of the challenge {and prize!} details can be found HERE on Alma’s blog.

I picked up the Christmas Set #6 Sizzix embossing folder on a recent crafty outing and I have been wanting to use it on EVERYTHING! I used it on the Hambo card that I posted a few days ago and I just knew it would be the perfect addition to this clean and simple Verve card…

I tend to over think on a lot of my projects and every now and again it’s great to bring it back to the basics. No crazy layouts, no mixing and matching of several papers, no techniques…just keepin’ it simple! {for the most part} That’s one of the things that I love about Verve. You can make it as fancy or as pretty ‘n plain as you wish. This card still has layers, stitching, embossing and paper piecing going on, but overall it’s a simple design that the elements help to make it more dynamic.

This card uses the set, Autumn Splendor {one of my FAVES}…which just happens to be the Verve set of the month and is on sale for 30% off! Here’s a detail shot of the paper pieced leaves {and you can see more of that embossing folder’s work on the kraft panel}…

I think I might just make a few more of these and put them in a set to give as a hostess gift this fall!

I mentioned this was one of my favorite sets above. HERE is a link to one of my favorite projects that I did with it last year.

Happy Fall Y’all…only 2 more days until it is officially fall! I’m breaking out the cute sweaters already!!