A La Card Monkey #100

I've been wanting to make a giant cupcake for sometime now, so when I saw this sketch I knew it was fate!  Just looking at this card makes my teeth hurt, thinking of the ooey, gooey icing applied in copious amounts to any respectable cupcake.

I chose a sweet colour scheme to build my card on.  Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, and Chocolate Chip (of course!).  The whimsy swirls of Curly Cute seemed the perfect match.  Some Vanilla Smooth and Dazzling Diamonds add a little glitz to this sugary number.  Now all it needs is a big glass of milk.

Happy 100th sketch Card Monkey!

Twitterpated Part III

On Monday I am hosting a card buffet so today I was bust preparing everything.  This one includes 8 different designs ranging from simple to elaborate.  I tried to include a few cards that showcased paper more than stamping to change things up a little.

I still have a bunch of this paper left over and since the mini's over next month I want to use it up while it's still current.  I love the gate fold design of this card, and the belly band offers one more place to show another of the patterns.

I am not really a huge fan of Riding Hood Red, but thus DSP is certainly doing a good job of changing my mind in it. Maybe I'll play with it a little tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

Happiest Birthday

It's my favourite Aunt's birthday today.  I was on a mission.  Continuing on with my love of rolled flowers, I spent ages making this card this morning.  I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but it certainly took some playing around before I could get it just how I wanted it.

After about an hour and a half, I was finally happy and glued it all together.  I have a card buffet coming up next week and I'm thinking about using this card as one of the selections.  I just love it so much that I'm convinced everyone else will too.  I'd need to balance it out with a really simple card to follow it with to make up some time, but I think it's a must.

I know there's a lot going on here, but I say - Go Big or Go Home!

Test Drive Stampin' Up

Only 15 days left of this unbeatable deal.  Sale-a-bration is the perfect time to test drive Stampin Up.  For $150 (INCLUDING tax & shipping) you will receive the following products.  There is NO REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE ANYTHING FURTHER!  I mean it!  There really isn't.

The Starter Kit gives you the following products:

4 stamp sets of your choice worth:  $11.95 or less, $27.95 or less, $30.95 or less, and $35.95 or less, as well as a standard Stampin Wheel $7.95 or less.  That means you're getting $114.75 worth of stamps.

4 Classic Ink Pads of your choice $29.00

Versamark Pad $9.95 (or Classic pad of your choice)

Ribbon of choice $12.25 or less

Assorted Cardstock of choice $8.50

Cardstock of choice $8.50

Punch of choice $30.95 or less

Clear Block $8.95 or less

Envelopes $7.95 or less

Patterned Designer Series Paper Stack $26.95

2 Stampin' Write Markers $9.00

Adhesive of choice $9.95 or less

Stampin Mist or Staz On Cleaner $6.25

Stampin' Scrub $20.95

Blender Pen $4.50

Stampin' Around Standard Handle $4.95

Uninked Stampin' Around Cartridge $6.50

Classic Ink Refill $3.75

Stampin' Dimensionals $5.35

I've done the math for you.  The total amount of products you get to choose is a whopping $329.85.  In other words, $179.85 FREE.

On top of this great deal, you'll also get 30% off of your first demonstrator order, and 20% off of all orders after that.

AND each month after signing up, you will get to choose a package of Designer Series Paper for FREE with your first demonstrator order of the month for the first year as a demo.

Not interested in pursuing the selling aspect?  Ok.  No problem.  You are NEVER required to purchase anything at all after you sign up for this amazing deal.  Really.  I promise.  If you want to, great.  You'll get a fabulous deal, awesome incentives, and sneak peeks at new items as they come out.  One of the many amazing things about Stampin' Up is their desire to share their passion for stamping with everyone.  Many hobby stampers sign up just to get the deal on products and then don't purchase anything further.  They don't call you or hound you through email.  You'll get an email once your first 6 months are over asking you if you want to continue or not, but nothing after that.

If you decide that you do want to keep your "demo status" (20% discount), you merely place $400 in orders every 3 months.  That can come from orders for yourself, friends, family, or from workshops or clubs that you hold.  If this is something you want to pursue, I'm more than happy to help you get started.

So if this sounds like the way to go for you, please start your order now and receive your package 8 days from now!

Trying Something New

So I was out in my new craft room this afternoon (pics coming tomorrow) and I tried out a new technique.  Basically I stamped the image in Daffodil Delight and then sponged some Old Olive onto the outer part of the image.  Then I used my Night of Navy marker to tap some colour on top of that.  I saw this on one of my favourite blogs (Sandi Mac Iver) and wanted to give it a try, however, I could see at once that I wasn't going to like it.  I think on a different background I would like it more.  She used Parlour Print and it looked amazing.  In this image however, it just wasn't quite right, so I sponged it in.  I like how it ended up, I just wish that I would have added a little more Navy.  Now I know for next time.

And here's my helper, Lily.  She traipsed back and forth across the ice patch that used to be our backyard and kept me company while I moved everything over from the house.  Tomorrow I'll post a better pic of my space.

Needed More Mojo

For the Mojo Monday challenge yesterday I used Twitterpated.  I was not terribly in love with the card, but I convinced myself that I liked it well enough.  However, upon entering my craftroom this morning, I realized that I still felt it was lacking something, so I pulled the paper out again and began playing.

I have a binder on my desk with old sketches on it that I wanted to get to, but never did.  I flipped through this morning and found this layout.  It gave me a few options for displaying the different patterns, so I went for it.  Mother's Day isn't right around the corner, but I figured it would be a good time to make my cards up now so I am not scrambling later on.

I'm MUCH happier with this card.  I recently purchased the Textured Impressions pads and pulled them out to have a little play.  I just wanted something subtle in the background, and the Damask print was perfect for this DSP.  I added a few of the coordinating buttons to finish it off, and voila!  1 mum's day card down, 1 to go.

Mojo Monday 232

It's the first Monday of SPRING BREAK!  This means that I get to stay in bed until I feel like getting up (which, incidentally, was 5:50am this morning so I could take a colleague to the bus to Vancouver en route to Italy).

So after I crawled out of my cocoon the second time I meandered into my craft room and started my morning surfing.   I've had a package of Twitterpated sitting around that I haven't used yet, and this sketch practically yelled it out.

I'm a big fan of Very Vanilla, and hardly ever use white.  It's just so...bright.  Glaring.  Stark.  White.  That said, this was quite a challenge for me.  However much I dislike that palest of shades, I'm pretty happy with this one overall.  I haven't added a sentiment yet, but I feel like it would be nice for Mother's Day.