{Zero Calories} WSC - Patchwork

I don't know about you but I've had a wonderful MFT-filled day today! Oh and I ran a couple of errands too. :) With my classes starting Monday I realized it might be a good idea to buy a few notebooks. Yeah...what a concept right? lol

So it's also Wednesday which means another Wednesday Stamp Club challenge!

This week Kim is challenging us to

* create our own patchwork panel and incorporate it into your project.

* create a card using her layout.

I had never done a patchwork card before so I had a lot of fun doing this one.

The papers I used are mostly scraps from the Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety collection.

I was inspired to color the cake this way by one of my favorite stampers Susan Liles. If you're not familiar with her work you should definitely stop by her blog!!

The cake and the sentiment are from the MFT set Lovin' from the Oven and the candles are from the Who's that Birthday Girl set. To top it all off I added some Stickles Glitter to the icing of the cake. :)

Oh and I don't know if you noticed but I'll be using a different thread from now on!! I'm really excited about it!!

Jody Morrow was so kind to share what kind of thread she uses over on her blog and since I don't know anything about threads or sewing I decided to give her favorite thread a try: I LOVE IT!!

Tips & Tricks: use Coats & Clark Dual Duty HEAVY thread.

Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!!!

~ Sony

Stamps: Lovin' from the Oven (MFT), Who's that Birthday Girl? (MFT)

Paper: Garden Variety Mini Deck (CC), Quite Contrary (MME), Pure Poppy (PTI), Cream

Ink: Red Pepper (Adirondack), Antique Linen (Distress Ink), Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Mulberry Paper Flowers, Button, Jute Twine, Twill Tape, Square Punch, Crystal Stickles, Copic Markers, Sponges, Sewing Machine, White Gel Pen

{Vroom Vroom} TCP Tuesday103

Ouh I'm running late late late so this is going to be short short short. lol

We're having movie night (we're gonna watch the Gospel of John) at my church tonight with pizza and blankets and all that fun stuff. Can't wait!!!

Anyway - it's Tuesday and time for TCP Tuesday!!! This week Susan challenged us to use any TCP stamp!

Well that one was easy for me because as I was writing Easter cards yesterday I realized that I was about uhm 5 cards short...so guess what kinda stamps I picked today?!

So my card features Poochie in his yummy carrot car from the TCP set Spring Fling. The mushrooms are also from that set and I just love how they tie in the red and white polka-dotted ribbon. The sentiment is from the TCP set A Beary Good Year, such a must have set!

I used papers from the Garden Variety Mini Deck collection by Cosmo Cricket. I love all those bright colors!!

Oh and I saw how Jody made these awesome zig zag stitches around her circular images so I tried that today and let me tell ya...not half as easy as she makes it look!!!

Jody - I'm going to have to ask you for some pointers on that one because mine are kinda all over the place! lol

Oh well...I guess it adds a bit of a handmade charm to it all, right?

I gotta run!!!

Catch you next time! :)

~ Sony

Stamps: Spring Fling (TCP), A Beary Good Year (TCP)

Paper: Garden Variety Mini Deck (CC), Old Olive (SU), Crushed Curry (SU), Real Red (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue (SU), Lettuce (Adirondack)

Accessories: Ribbon, Checkerboard Punch, Sewing Machine, Nesties, Copic Markers, Sponges

{Summer Fun} Mojo 132

I'm in a bit of a funky mood today, don't really know why...so please apologize if this post is going to be a bit on the shorter side. :)

I got a little carried away with this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I looked at the round card and thought immediately of a floating tire or porthole and I had just the right stamp set for that sorta thing too! :)

I used stamps from the Cat's Pajama's set By The Sea for both cards. The sentiment on my mermaid's card is from My Favorite Things.

For my mermaid card I used papers from Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel collection.

My Poochie card uses papers from Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel and My Mind's Eye's Quite Contrary.

To get the whole Porthole effect I first off took a little creative license with this week's sketch and tweaked it just a bit.

I then used several Nesties and layered them, then I pierced holes in the the circle and added little silver brads.

Have a great Monday!!

~Sony

Stamps: By The Sea (TCP), Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Paper: Snorkel (CC), Generic Gray

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue (SU)

Accessories: Sponges, White Gel Pen, Copic Markers, Crystal Effects, Nesties, Paper Piercer, Brads, Twill, Pop-Up Dots

Stamps: By The Sea (TCP)

Paper: Snorkel (CC), Quite Contrary (MME), Yoyo Yellow (SU), Generic Gray

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen (Distress Ink), Bashful Blue (SU)

Accessories: Copic Markers, Black Pen, Twill Tape, Jute Twine, Button, Sponges, Sewing Machine

{Fun with Flowers} a Verve Project Parade

It's officially Spring, isn't it? Well okay maybe not quite where you live yet but it's a comin'...I know it is. :) Just hang in there a bit longer!! :)

In celebration of Spring the Verve Divas have come up with a fun theme for this month's Verve Parade:

Fun With Flowers

Now this is such a broad theme that I had a really hard time deciding on what I wanted to do...seriously...I've been wrecking my head for a few days now until today.

I was talking to one of our young people in church today and I noticed that something was off. She wasn't her usual happy self so I asked her if anything was wrong. She started crying, saying that she didn't get into the college she wanted to get into. I gave her a big ole' hug and tried to tell her that that was a sign that God had something better in store for her somewhere else but of course something like this just sucks!

So this little project here is for her! I'm hoping it'll cheer her up a little!

My Project consists of an altered Notebook, a Paperclip turned Bookmark, and a Card.

I love how Joanne stamped silhouetted flowers behind a sentiment on one of her cards so I drew a little inspiration from her here for my notebook.

The layout for the card may look familiar to you and you're right if it does: I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch because I really enjoyed it and I wanted the book and card to look related but not have the same exact layout.

I used papers from the Quite Contrary collection by My Mind's Eye and the Bitty Box Basics by Papertrey Ink - they remind me so much of school. :)

The sentiment on front of the notebook is from Verve's Beautiful You set - such a beautiful set!! I love love love their sayings! So inspirational!

The silhouetted flowers are from Verve's Because of You set. The little flourish you see on the notebook and the card is from the Clear Dollar Stamps set Words of Sympathy.

The flower with the button on the altered notebook is the same flower as the bookmark and the one on the card and it's from the Verve set Wishful Elegance.

The sentiment on the card is from My Favorite Things.

Well I hope you enjoyed stopping by and please leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you!

~ Sony

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Because of You (Verve), Beautiful You (Verve), Words of Sympathy (Clear Dollar Stamps), Label No. 4 (Waltzing Mouse), Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Paper: Quite Contrary (MME), Bitty Box Basics (PTI), Kraft

Ink: Lettuce (Adirondack), Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Buttons (MFT), Jute Twine, Paperclip, Twill Tape, Nesties, Sewing Machine

Would you...

...be so kind and vote for my card in the TGF Battle of the Design Teams Contest? All you have to do is become a member of TGF (no spam no worries) so you can leave a comment HERE.

You have until Tuesday to place your vote!!

Bascally the Greeting Farm is having a 5 week contest of Design Teams and whoever gets th

e most comments aka votes gets to move on to the next round. The top three DTs will get some free stamps!!

This is the first week and my DT has picked my card to be our first entry and even though I'm seriously flattered I also don't want to be the maker of the card that will get us kicked out - so can you pleeassee vote for me?!

Thank you sooo much!!

~Sony

A little bit more about my card:

The challenge was to create a Retro-looking card using the color scheme from the body scrub jar.

LOVED this challenge!! I love a good funky, retro look anyday and I had the perfect paper for this challenge too: the Lil' Man collection by Cosmo Cricket!!

Thank heaven for Digi Stamps because I only own one set of TGF rubber stamps and let's face it bubble bath Anya just wouldn't have worked out for this one. lol I downloaded Mr. Autumn Guy in their Digi Stamp section and he was just perfect!!

The big red striped ribbon is from the Cat's Pajamas and even though I absolutely love this ribbon I always find that I have a hard time incorporating it but not today!! :)

I hope you like it!!!

Stamps: Mr. Autumn Guy Digi (TGF)

Paper: Lil' Man (CC), Bermuda Bay (SU), Kraft

Ink: none

Accessories: Paperclips, Post-it Sticky Flags, Notebook Style Punch, Buttons, Jute Twine, Ribbon (TCP), Pop-Up Dots, Sewing Machine, Copic Markers

Fruity Egg Hunt

Last night was the first time I went to the Passion Play, a play that the Church Shepherd of the Hill puts on every year. It was great!! Very well done, from the set dressing to the performances and the performers had some voices on them!! Really great!

Can you believe that Easter is only a few weeks away?! Time is just flying by this year.

I think I need to make a few more cards and Jen' sketch over at SFYTT this week is just awesome!!

I just got some new Cosmo Cricket

paper and have been dying to use it. The papers are from the Garden Variety Mini Deck. Love the size of the Mini Decks - they are perfect for card making!

My little penguins and the sentiment are from the Cat's Pajama's set Spring Fling. Aren't they just too cute?

For the extra special sum'thin' sum'thin' I added brads in the upper right corner and I did a little bit of paper piercing in the upper left and bottom right corner as well as around the sentiment. There's a little detail shot below.

Happy Egg Hunt, everyone!!

Stamps: Spring Fling (TCP)

Paper: Garden Variety (CC), Real Red (SU), Old Olive (SU), Orange Scraps, Cream Scraps

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue (SU), Lettuce (Adirondack)

Accessories: Copic Markers, Sponges, Nesties, Paper Piercer Kit (SU), Brads, Sewing Machine, Pop-Up Dots

My Portfolio (Part 2)

As promised here are some pictures of drawings I did in High School.

~ enjoy :)

a Little Package For You

Happy Friday, everyone!! How y'a doin? I hope all is well in your life!

I feel like (with me going back to school) my life is finally back on track - I'm so happy and thankful about that! I have a sense of purpose and structure again, which is great.

Anyway, moving right along to stamp-y things: it's Viva La Verve Friday today!

This week Amber graciously allowed us to find our own kitchen-y inspiration to go with her fabulous sketch.

My inspiration?

* this awesome star cookie tray

* Amber's sketch! It reminded me so much of a package and an index card that I had to use that somehow

* me going back to school

I'm in need of a masculine birthday card anyway so the color choices coupled with my package/index card inspiration was pretty easy.

To add to the overall look of the card I did quite a bit of distressing. I sponged first antique linen and then soft suede all around the edges of the papers to give it an aged look. I don't have any sandpaper at home but I wanted to sand down the edges of my paper so I used a nail file instead - worked like a charm! Another thing I did to add to that worn look is crumple my paper! It adds so much character and is a ton of fun, too! :)

My patterned papers are a big mix& match today: I used papers from the Bitty Box Basics collection by Papertrey Ink, the Boyfriend collection by Cosmo Cricket and some papers from Stampin' Up.

The sentiment was a little thank you stamp Julee sent with my last Verve Order. I'm so excited I got to use it for this card. :)

As embellishments I used this cute little paperclip from Michaels and I love how the piece of Kraft paper behind it almost looks like a tab.

Thanks for stopping by and 'til next time!

~ Sony

Stamps: Verve

Paper: Bitty Box Basics (PTI), Boyfriend (CC), Thoroughly Modern (SU), Kraft, Chocolate Chip (SU)

Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Antique Linen (Distress Ink)

Accessories: Sponges, Jute Twine, Button, Nesties, Paperclip, Notebook Style Punch, Sewing Machine

My Portfolio (Part 1)

All right - I know I've been talking about going back to school for a while now and well today is the day that I can officially say I'm enrolled!!

I met with Brian, Director of Admissions and counselor extraordinaire over at Gnomon's today. Gnomon's is a very small but highly recommended school here in LA that just specializes in Computer Animation and Visual Effects (that's what I'm going back to studying btw). :)

He took a look at my portfolio and even though my drawings are all still from HighSchool he said that he can see that I have an artistic eye. Yay!! I was so nervous!!

Since it's been a while I really wanted to start at the basics again - which means drawing. Yes ladies and gentlemen - I'm going back to the drawing board starting April 5th!

You can be assured I will be posting some of my drawings in the future but for now I thought how about I share a few things from my portfolio with you.

Here are some of my photographs:

the Amalfi Coast

Italy

Offense

taken during my college years at the University of Miami

Life

one of my friends asked me to take her maternity pictures so here you go. It was a girl btw and her name is Sarai.

Huh?

this was taken on one of my trips to SeaWorld. :)

Beauty is Everywhere

Who would have thought a swamp can be so pretty? This was taken in the Everglades in Florida.

Renewal

I hope you enjoyed this little excursion. I'll be posting some of my old old drawings tomorrow. :)

Sony

Mmm, Mmm, Good

This card is a just because card - no challenge for a change although it does use the same color scheme as the TCP Tuesday challenge this week. Funny how that worked out...huh.

So I've seen quite a few cards lately that have text in them (either from a discarded dictionary or book) and I loved the look so much I've been dying to try it for myself and what better stamp to use it with than my brand new Who's that Girl - Lovin' From the Oven set by MFT.

I took an old cookbook, tore out one of the pages and distressed it quite a bit for the background. I layered a distressed piece of Kraft card stock on top of a Kraft card . I love how Kraft kind of looks like leather when you distress it and put some stitching through it.

The patterned paper are from the Little Man collection by Cosmo Cricket and Bitty Box Basics by Papertrey Ink.

You're going to notice something else I'm currently lovin' and that's paperclips! Yup - you heard right: paperclips! I'm totally channeling this whole going back to school thing! lol Why don't you check back tomorrow?! I'll be posting some photos from my portfolio.

Okay - time to go to bed now.

Have a good night, everyone!!

Stamps: WTG Lovin' From the Oven (MFT)

Paper: Little Man (CC), Bitty Box Basics (PTI), Kraft, Old Olive (SU), Basic Black, old cookbook

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen (Distress Ink), Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Paperclips, Buttons, Jute Twine, Copic Markers, Sponges, Sewing Machine

Sparkly Sparkles

It's Wednesday Stamp Club over at MFT and Kim has come up with a really fun challenge for all of us:

* Create a Custom Embellishment using Glitzy Glitter (or Glitter)

* Create a card or project featuring hand snipped gras

* Create a card using her layout.

All right let's see:

Glittery embellishment? Check.

Hand snipped gras? Check.

Kim's layout? With a little creative license - yes. :)

I'm so excited because this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to ink up my brand new Pure Innocence Stamp. Yay!

I used it to create this little scene with the sparkly umbrella and this awesome flower button that was in my Candy Sprinkles Button mix by The Cat's Pajamas. A little Stickles on top of the flower add just the right glittery touch. The stem as well as the border are hand drawn.

The papers I used are from the Quite Contrary collection by My Mind's Eye. It's such a wonderful, sunny collection - I can't seem to get enough of it. {hehe}

Have a great Wednesday!

Stamps: PI - My Umbrella (MFT)

Paper: Quite Contrary (MME), Bitty Basic Box (PTI), Melon Mambo (SU), Old Olive (SU), Bermuda Bay (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue (SU)

Accessories: Black Pen, Copic Markers, Glue, Glitter, Stickles, Brads, Twill Tape, Jute Twine, Pop-Up Dots, Nesties, Sewing Machine

TCP Tuesday - Chicken Soup

Ouhhh...I woke up this morning all puffy and stuffy - so not cute!! Spring has definitely sprung and that means allergy season has begun! Yuk!

I get them so bad I have to use eye drops which means bye bye contacts and hello glasses. More yuk yuk! You should have seen me today: I had this big box of tissue that I had to carry with me wherever I went. lol good times!!

Okay now that I'm all done with my silly whining let me get to this week's TCP Tuesday challenge!

Joanne is the fabulous hostess for the week and she has come up with an equally fabulous color combination for us:

Joanne - I was seriously channeling you today with the Kraft-i-ness of it all. {hehe}

I just love how the Kraft adds that touch of home-y feeling that you get when you eat chicken noodle soup hence...the Kraft. ;)

I used patterned paper from the Quite Contrary Collection by My Mind's Eye. I've been using their paper in almost every card I've made lately. It goes with everything!! I've also used the Bitty Box Basics by Papertrey Ink.

My chicken and the sentiment are from the Cat's Pajama's set You Sick Thing, one of my all-time favorite sets. I "colored" my chicken in with the help of a Copic Marker and a white gel pen. The double line border around my chicken and the sentiment were drawn by hand to keep in sync with the homemade feeling of it all. I also did some light distressing around it all which is a bit hard to see in the photograph.

Oh and before I forget - the button is from the Cat's Pajamas Great Outdoors collection.

Wanna play along?!

Here's what you need to know:

1. Each a week one of The Cat’s Pajamas DT members will host a challenge.

2. The challenges will vary {stamp, techinque, color, theme, sketch, etc.}
3. You will have until the end of the month to complete the challenge.
4. Post your design to the guestbook on Alma's blog. Your design must be uploaded to the guestbook to be considered.
5. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, highly encouraged. {Unless it is a challenge calling for a specific stamp}

6. There will be one winner each month. They will be deemed that month’s Swankiest Stamper and get $25 in Cat’s Cash {money to spend on the TCP site!}.
7. Only designs posted to the guestbook will be considered for the Swanky Stamper.
8. The newly crowned Swanky Stamper will be announced on the First of the Month and have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat’s Pajamas website where he/she will reign for the entire month.

Have a good night, everyone!! Til next time!! :)

Stamps: You Sick Thing (TCP)

Paper: Quite Contrary (MME), Bitty Basic Box (PTI), Kraft, Basic Black

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen (Distress Ink), Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Twill Tape, Black Marker, White Gel Pen, Copic Marker, Great Outdoors Buttons (TCP), Jute Twine, Checkerboard Punch, Sewing Machine, Pop-up Dots

Game time Anya

I'm really hungry so this is going to be a rather short post. I hope you won't mind. ;)

This card is for this week's Monday Mania sketch challenge over at Club Anya. I tweaked the sketch a little bit so it would work for my card.

I used the fabulous Kicks Digi Paper kit from SweetShoppe and a piece of Quite Contrary paper by My Mind' Eye.

The soccer field is a sticker by Jolee that I found at Michaels.

My Anya is a Digi Stamp from the Greeting Farm.

Do you know why Digi Stamps are handy?! Despite the fact that you don't need physical storage for them you can also scale them so you'll always have the right size stamp for your project.

For the sentiment I used my brand-new Coolvetica alphabet stamp set by the Cat's Pajamas. Such a handy set and I just love the font!

Thanks for looking - my beef stew is ready! Gots to go! :)

Stamps: Soccer Anya (TGF), Coolvetica (TCP)

Paper: Kicks Digi (SweetShoppe), Quite Contrary (MME), Basic Black

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Jolee Stickers, Black Pen, Copic Markers, Ribbon, Sewing Machine

Deep Sympathy - Mojo131

Well...unfortunately I'm in need of a sympathy card today. One of my friend's mom passed away last week. She had been battling cancer for seven years and her time had come. My friend and her family were able to be there with her and from my understanding it was a very peaceful moment.

I wasn't able to make it to the funeral but I still wanted to send a little love note their way so I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and made my sympathy card.

This card I feel is perhaps a bit unusual or out-of-the-box for a sympathy card but it is very me.

I think it's upbeat, which is exactly what I wanted and has a touch of playfulness or freshness to it. I hope it's going to make her smile! :)

I used the Textile Embossing Folder by Cuttlebug on the white background panel.

The Flower pattern was actually stamped using Verve's Wishful Elegance set and I added little rhinestones to the center of the flowers because I felt like there was something missing.

The sentiments on the front of the card and the inside are both from the Essential Sentiments set by MFT. I absolutely love the font and it adds so much to the overall feel of the card!!

The borders around the sentiments are both from the Waltzing Mouse set Label No.4.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a Happy Monday!!!

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Essential Sentiments (MFT), Label No. 4 (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: pale pink, basic black

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers, Rhinestones, Sewing Machine, Horizontal Slot Punch, Nesties, Ribbon

a Card for Susan

This is my second card featuring Jen's sketch challenge at SFYTT. You may not know this but one of the SFYTT sisters Susan Liles is going through a rough time. Her husband was diagnosed with Lymphoma and just had his first chemo this past week. Jen dedicated this week's sketch to Susan and Eric!

Wouldn't it be great if we all flooded her with cards?! Please join us, whether you know her or not. The kindness of a stranger can mean sometimes more than that of a dear friend!!

Here's their address:

Eric and Susan Liles

7920 Sunrise Dr.

Watauga, TX 76148

So let me tell you a little bit about my card:

My card is all about the sentiment: "After the

rain comes the sun." A little tip: If you don't have a sentiment - simply print it out! It's so easy to do and it looks as good as stamped. :)

The cute little girl is a Digi Stamp from the Wild Sprout Series by TGF. I just adore her in her red raincoat.

The papers are from the Quite Contrary line by My Mind's Eye.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you'll join us in this card flood of love and support for Susan and her hubby Eric!!!

Stamps: WS Rain Rain Digi (TGF)

Paper: Quite Contrary (MME)

Ink: none

Accessories: Computer, Copic Markers, Buttons, Jute Twine, Sewing Machine