Mojo Monday Week 82

What a fantastic layout!

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use this DSP from Stampin' Up. It matches perfectly with the Dreams du Jour stamp set, and the Love You stamp was the right size for the square image. I toyed around with how I was going to layer it, but wanted to give it a little punch with black. I coloured the flower with Blender Pens using Baja Breeze ink. I cut out the square and mounted it on Baja Breeze and Basic Black. The square panel behing it is Whisper White and Baja Breeze. The card base is Baja Breeze too. I used the Eyelet Border punch on both layers. I used the sentiment from the Always set and punched it with the large oval punch. I sponged around it with Baja Breeze and used another layer in Black to tie in the black again. I used the beautiful Whisper White Satin ribbon to finish it off. Thanks for having a look.

Mojo Monday Week 81

This is my submission for today's Mojo Monday challenge. I had the birds already coloured and the sentiment done so I just separated the birds and layered them with Tangerine Tango and Chocolate Chip. I found some cord buttons from my Baba's stash (long story but if you want to find out, read down in my posts a few entries, and you'll find out all about Baba). My card base is Gina K. 120 lb. white card stock. I layerd the Good Morning Sunshine DSP with Chocolate Chip. The birds were watercoloured. Have a terrific day everyone!

Mojo Monday Week 80

I have to say, I do like starting my day off making a card, especially if it is for Mojo Monday! I'm trying to decide (still) if I like this stamp set or not (Best Kind of Friend). I think I do, but I don't often reach for it when I am making cards. I guess it was needing a little love today so why not? This is a great layout. The flowers are just starting to peek out in the garden, so I had that in my head too. I used Gina K. 120 lb. card stock for my card bae. The patterned paper is S-U (of course!). I used versa mark, then Riding Hood Red and clear embossed the flower pot. I used Regal Rose, Ruby Red and Old Olive to colour the flowers. Kiwi satin ribbon and a few rhinestones from the dollar store along with a couple of punches and c'est fini. Have a terrific day everybody!

A Milestone and Mojo Monday!

Today our little blog passed a major milestone:

10 000 Hits! ... and counting!

Thanks to all of you who keep coming back to see what we're up to, leave a kind word, and generally make us feel motivated to keep sharing all our tips, techniques, and artwork.

I haven't actually posted a new card in a few days because I have been focussing on getting our first Chicks Challenge organized. I was also feeling a bit like I had been "rushing" my cards in order to respond quickly to various challenges and I wasn't all that thrilled with some of my results. So this week I took a deep breath and decided to stop trying to be "first" and to focus more on "quality."

Which is why it has taken me until Wednesday to respond to Mojo Monday this week! Here's the sketch:

And here's my card!

I really liked this sketch and I had fun with this card. I have kind of a thing for dogs - one dog in particular: my crazy, goofy, lovable labradoodle, "Izzy." Whenever I see dog stamps anywhere, I am always hoping to find one that looks like her. But alas, I have yet to come across a labradoodle stamp! So I decided to take a shot at drawing my own and I surprised myself by coming up with a pretty good likeness! I scanned this into my computer so I can resize it and print it any time I feel the need for a labradoodle card. (I know, I'm a little weird, but basically harmless).

Anyway, I coloured Izzy with Copic Markers, layered her onto some cute My Mind's Eye paper, added a scalloped edge and a little ribbon....but I still didn't feel like the card was balanced. So I used a straight edge and a fine black marker to draw the border around the top half of the card and that seemed to do the trick!

The sentiment, "Woof," is hand written and inside the card I wrote: "Translation: Happy Birthday!"

Mojo Monday Week 79

I'm glad to have gotten this done early today - I have a feeling it is going to be a busy day - I've got loads of "real" work to do and my Sale-A-Bration workshop on Sunday to prepare for. I made this card with the workshop in mind - I wanted to showcase a few SAB products (the Polka Dot Punches stamp set and Delcate Dots DSP in this case). I'm happy with the way it turned out. It was a little tricky matching up a colour with this Sahara Sand patterned paper, but the Blush Blossom looks nice, I think. This is my submission for today's Mojo Monday Challenge. My card base is Basic Black with the Blush Blossom panel over top. I used versamark and white embossing powder on the 5-petal flower and punched it using the coordinating punch. They were popped up on a white panel that was layered over black. I used the Eyelet border punch on my black panel under the patterned paper. I finished it with grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment comes from the Great Friend set (due out on April 1st).

I still have a little room in my SAB workshop for anyone local who wants to come! Send me an e-mail and I'll save you a seat!

Brian, Don't Look!

Not that I really think my DH is checking out my blog at work today - but just in case!

I made this card for today's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge - you can see the sketch and Donn's card in Donna's last post, below.

I just loved this sketch! I had additional inspiration from my hero, Mel McCarthy over at Mel Stampz. Her blog is so full of great tips, techniques, templates and truly original and lovely artwork that I will never be able to work through all the ideas she so generously shares. Love ya', Mel ; ) !!!

I downloaded a terrific text page from her site and used it as the background for my stamped image. The image, from Sunshine Designs, is coloured with Copic markers and the background is sponged with a combination of Weathered Wood Distress Ink and Adirondack Stonewashed Dye Ink. I did an oops when I removed my mask, so I stamped a tiny chickadee from Inkadinkado and popped it over top to cover it! The patterned papers are from the Basic Grey Granola line.

As it came together, I started to think that it was looking very clean and masculine, so I decided that I would tuck this card away to give to my hubby on our (gulp)! 20th anniversary in a few weeks. As it's for Brian, I restrained myself from adding glitter and fiddly bits I actually really like how this card came out. Honestly, I don't think it needs anything else!

Mojo Monday Week 78

What an intresting sketch! This is definitely not one I would ever come up with myself. It's neat that the girls at Mojo Monday have great sketch ideas. My submission uses all Stampin' Up! products. The card base is Whisper White. I added a Kraft panel on top of that and then coordinating Parisian Breeze designer papers. The sentiment is from the Laughter & Love rub-on package. I added Organza Ribbon and embellishments from the Pretties Kit. Thanks for having a look!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

When I look at Donna's cards, I suffer from a severe case of "elegance envy!" As you're about to see, when I look at the same sketch challenge, my brain tends to go off on a completely different tangent!

Here then, is my version of Mojo Monday - Week 77:

Actually, this is a variation on the card I made for my teenaged son's last birthday. Although he makes an effort to be appreciative of my artistic efforts, his sports-obsessed mind really doesn't care so I need to have a "hook" to get his attention! (This is why I need to blog - I just don't have a wide enough audience at home)!

The shark is an older stamp from Stamp Oasis and I heat embossed him in black on watercolour paper, then watercoloured him with Tombow Markers and a waterbrush. When he was dry, I trimmed him out and slathered him with waterfall blue and frosted lace stickles for lots of shine. Instead of the scalloped border called for in the sketch, I turned the scallop element inward to create "bite" marks out of my sentiment. I thought it was kind of fun!

Mojo Monday - Week 77!

Well, it's Monday morning and Julee has posted another great sketch to help us kickstart another week living with our addiction to rubber and ink! Here is Donna's take on the sketch:

Another clean and elegant design from the lovely Donna, using our favourite SU set, Pocket Silhouettes, Designer Paper and Sheer Ribbon!

Mojo Monday 76

This is my submission for today's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and contest. I'm loving these layouts and I really have fun stretching my imagination (the little I have) with these challenges. I used Gina K. 120 lb. paper - this holds up so well - as well as Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper (Bella Rose). My main image is from the new catalogue & it's called Thoughts and Prayers. I will be making another sympathy card later today using this set for my husband's aunt's family. His aunt passed away last Friday. It's so sad to see family members leave us. We've had a lot of that this year and it's pretty depressing. I'm so thankful for my family, friends and neighbours. The sentiment comes from the All Holidays set, which has so many uses. I finished the card off with some prima flowers I've had for ages as well as retired S-U organdy white ribbon and used the Mat Pak to add little element by the sentiment.

Mojo Monday 75 - Butterflies are Free!

Donna's right - Mojo Monday is a fabulous blog and I can't believe we're only just discovering it! The sketches are beautiful - so layered and rich with about a million possibilities!

So I'm a day late (and a dollar short) but here is my submission for this week's sketch challenge. I loved Donna's take on it - as usual, very sophisticated and soft. She's my hero! Unfortunately, sophisticated does not come naturally to me, so I went for pure whimsy. My image is one of many wonderful designs from Eat Cake Graphics and I spent some happy time on Saturday night colouring her in with my Copic Markers.

The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Urban Lily collection and it worked beautifully, right down to the butterfly for this card. I followed the sketch pretty closely, using ribbon for one of the strips, a strip of paper punched with the Fiskars Threading Water punch for the scallop, and the aformentioned butterfly cut from Basic Grey paper for my embellishment. I just added a row of Kaiser rhinestones for some bling.

Happy Monday!

Mojo Monday Week 75

Here is my submission for the Mojo Monday Week 75 challenge. I used the Botanical Blooms Sale-A-Bration set. I used Gina K 120 lb. for my card base (man, this stuff is thick!) and some DSP. Chocolate chip was used as my layering panels. I inked the flowers with Cameo Coral and stamped off for the lighter images. I also used some dollar store rhinestones. I omitted the embellishment on the bottom left, which was optional. I tried something there, but it just didn't look right. Anyway, it's done, and I must get to my regular job! Have a good one!

Donna

Mojo Monday Week 74

Car

Where have I been? I must have been sleeping for the past 73 weeks! I stumbled across the Mojo Monday blogspot yesterday after looking at my upline's blog (Paper Playhouse - take a look - Karen's cards are fantastic!). Cathy and I will definitely be following these layout challenges and posting our creations. Here is my submission for Week 74. I know my card colours are exactly the same as my last post, but I can't get enough of this Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP from S-U. My card base uses Gina K's 120 lb. paper. Holy cow! Is it ever thick! I knew it would be sturdier than the S-U Whisper White, but you can hardly bend this stuff! I definitely recommend scoring it before folding it because it breaks the fibres down easier for a crisper edge. The stamp sets used were Pocket Silhouettes (one of my fav's) and Best Yet (retired Hostess). I used non-S-U ribbon for my only embellishment. I hope to have more time later today to play a little more. For now, I must get out of my PJ's and get ready to bottle wine (I'll refrain from drinking it until later :).

Donna