A simple Birthday Wish

Things are looking up! I've finally been able to resolve some of the issues I had with my school, I won one of the Verve Spring Fling challenges (my first Verve win! yay) and I saw this great sketch at SCS and thought it was perfect for my Who's That Girl set from My Favorite Things.

In case you're new like me: every Wednesday there is a new sketch at the SCS Challenge Forum - a great way to practice your stamp-e-liciousness. ;)

I found this cute paper from Cosmo Cricket and decided to go for a bit of a vintage/retro look so I kept my card very simple.

My Who's That Girl? is full of fun little paper pieces and I made sure I did plenty of aging around the vanilla and kraft card stock.

Thank you for stopping by!

Stamps: Who's that Girl (MFT)

Paper: Lil' Man (Cosmo Cricket), Kraft, Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers, Nesties, Black Pen

Happy Anniversary, TCP Tuesday!!

TCP Tuesday is celebrating its' 100th week and they have something AWESOME for us to join in the celebration. Basically there are 4 challenges for us to play with, each is hosted by two members of the Cat Pack and one winner will win (I believe) it's 7 of their favorite Clearly Swanky Sets PLUS some goodies from Alma!!! How amazing is that?!

Since I'm still in desperate need of building my TCP collection you know I'm going to play along. Here are my entries so far:

PJ's Lucky Showdown

Challenge #4 (Supply)

Fun Fact:

The felt card table is a sticker from Jollee.

Stamps: A Beary Good Year (TCP)

Paper: Bitty Box Basics (PTI), Basic Black (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Buttons, Jute Twine, Sewing Machine, Pop Up Dots, Copic Markers, Playing Cards, Jolee Stickers

Lucky St. Paddy's Day

Challenge #4 (Supply)

Fun Fact:

That cute little Bingo Card is from the Digi Paper set Oh so Lucky (Sweet Shoppe).

Stamps: A Beary Good Year (TCP)

Paper: Oh so Lucky (Sweet Shoppe), Old Olive (SU)

Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black, Meadow (Adirondack)

Accessories: Glitter Glue, Felt, Sewing Machine, Fleur de Lis Border Punch, Nesties, Ribbon

Feed Me!

Challenge #1 (Sketch)

Fun Fact:

I used a piece of Jute Twine as stick for PJ's sign.

Stamps: Happy Camper (TCP)

Paper: Mr. Campy (Cosmo Cricket), Old Olive (SU), Chocolate Chip (SU), Crushed Curry (SU)

Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Buttons, Jute Twine, Sewing Machine, Pop Up Dots, Copic Markers

Hula Hula

Challenge #3 (Inspiration)

Fun Fact:

This card was solely inspired by the Fringes around the Table Runner. Somehow this card reminds me of an old Tarzan movie poster lol.

Stamps: Fun in the Sun (TCP)

Paper: Retro Tropical (Creative Imaginations), Vanilla (Paper Company), Pumpkin Pie (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Mulberry Paper Flowers, Buttons, Jute Twine, Black Pen, White Gel Pen, Copic Markers, Post It Notes (for Masking)

Get Better!

Challenge #1 (Sketch), 2 (Color), 3 (Inspiration)

Fun Fact:

There's a little Paper Piecing going on.

Stamps: You Sick Thing (TCP)

Paper: Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket), Happy Place (Sweet Shoppe), Kraft (SU), Pumpkin Pie (SU), Certainly Celery (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers, Buttons, Jute Twine, Corner Ticket Punch, Sewing Machine

Just Because

Challenge #2 (Color)

Fun Fact:

Sprinkles glitters to match the glittery paper. :)

Stamps: Cat in the Box (TCP), Essential Sentiments (MFT), Small Circles (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: Home Glitter Book (MME), Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket), Pumpkin Pie (SU), Kraft (SU), Certainly Celery (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Pumpkin Pie (SU)

Accessories: Ribbon, Button, Jute Twine, Sewing Machine, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Nesties, Pop Up Dots

Be Good!

Challenge #3 (Inspiration)

Fun Fact:

How about this for different christmas colors?! The Ribbon and the Hats of the lil' penguins have glitter on them. My Button stack needed some Jute Twine but I didn't want to make it another ribbon so I just thread it through and criss-crossed it. I love how this whole cards feels like one big present. :)

Stamps: Deck the Halls (TCP)

Paper: Distracted (Kaiser Craft), Pale Rose Red (SU), Chocolate Chip (SU)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue (SU)

Accessories: Ribbon, Jute Twine, Buttons, Sewing Machine, Glitter Glue, Copic Markers, Stampin' Write Markers

Can you say "My Favorite Things"?

I was so excited today when I opened my mailbox and found my very first order of MFT Stamps in it!!! Yay!! Of course I had to put them to use right away!

I ended up making two cards tonight: one using my new set Joy Ride and the other one using my Who's that Girl set Serenity Now.

This weeks WSC challenge was a sketch challenge so I thought what a great way to celebrate my brand new stamps.

My Joy Ride takes place in Italy as you can see by the patterned paper in the background panels. I took those out of an old travel book I had laying around.

I did a little bit of paper piecing on the scooter and colored the rest of my gal in with Copic Markers. I don't have that many Copic Markers yet so I had to reach for my Watercolor Pencils as well. A white gel pen is always perfect for some final highlights.

Since the basic card is black I added a white panel and

a polka dotted red card stock inside the card to give it a little spice. The words Adventure Bound seemed fitting: I'll probably give this card to my friend who is heading to Italy this summer. :)

Stamps: Joy Ride (MFT)

Paper: Basic Black, White, Real Red (SU), old page out of travel book

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers, Watercolor Pencils, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Sewing Machine, Ribbon, White Gel Pen

My next card is so what I needed today! If you've read my previous post you'll know I've been off to a rough start and well, my little issue hasn't been resolved yet...BUT a little trip to Michael's, where I found this cool paper from American Crafts and then this card and I feel a whole lot more zen now. :)

I paper pieced my lady because I didn't have the matching Copic Markers. I don't mind though, I actually really like how her top turned out. :)

The pattern on the purple cardstock is actually the lotus flower stamp from the Serenity Now set.

To top it all off I added the Mulberry Paper Flowers, a button and tied a Jute Bow tie. Aahhhh - I feel so much better. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Stamps: Serenity Now (MFT)

Paper: Aqua Mist (PTI), Pale Rose Red(SU), lavender, Amplified (American Crafts)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers, Mulberry Paper Flowers, Nesties, Word Label Punch, Sewing Machine, Buttons, Jute Twine

Jolly Mojo129

Happy Monday, everybody! I hope you're doing better than me because I'm already off to a rocky start. I'm in the process of applying to go back to school and somehow there has been a mixup at the school and they now want to change advisors on me, after I've already established a great working relationship with my current one...so annoying. Anyway, while I'm stewing (I am a redhead after all lol) and waiting for them to call me back so we can figure this mess out - what better way to calm my nerves than to make my card for Mojo Monday?!

You can see the sketch for this week over there on the left and since I'm in such a funky mood today, it's really no surprise that I made a christmas card using some funky colors today! Inspiration works in mysterious ways sometimes! :)

The Paper is from the Blue Skies collection by American Crafts. The polka dots have a little bit of glitter in them, which is always fun.

Sprinkles, the cat from peaking behind the christmas tree as well as the sentiment are from the Cat's Pajama's set Deck the Halls. I embossed her to add a little bit more texture to my card. I also stamped a very light snowflake background onto the aqua mist card stock (you can see it a little better in the detail shot below).

I added a different kind of stitch to one of the background panels just to spruce it up a bit more. Some brads in the lower right corner and my card is done! Yay - and they still haven't called!! lol oh good times!

Have a wonderful day! I'm sure mine will pick up after I figure this all out. :)

Stamps: Deck the Halls (TCP)

Paper: Blue Skies (American Crafts), Aqua Mist (PTI), Chocolate Chip (SU), Old Olive (SU)

Ink: Basic Black, Versamark, Aqua (Adirondack)

Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Copic Markers, Sewing Machine, Ribbon, Brads

Spring Fling - Challenge #2

Yay!!! My final upload for Verve's Spring Fling!! This card is fully inspired by the Spring Fling: from the colors (see Julee's sketch) to the once-a-flower-now-a-sun image (thanks to all these awesome sunny new images Julee came out with).

I had such a blast making this little card, which I kept relatively simple for my standards but I think it works for the whimsy of it all. I do love whimsy and playful!

Okay - now about this cutie (it also works for the Crazy 4 Challenge this week which is all about Paper Piercing):

I used Verve' Bountiful Backgrounds stamp to stamp the Polka Dot pattern on my temping turquoise cardstock. I used the same set to stamp the Stripes on my Kraft cardstock. I can't even tell you how often I've used this set! If there is any basic set you HAVE to have - it's this one!!

I wanted a little bit of Texture too so I ran my green cardstock through my Polka Dot Embossing Folder. A little bit of stitching and some Paper Piercing here and there added the final touches.

The Sun is actually a flower from Verve's Wishful Elegance set. I colored it using my Copic Markers, added some highlights with a white gel pen and added some glitter glue to make it shine!! :)

The Clouds are from the TCP set Happy Camper. Oh and before I forget: The sentiment is from the amazing Verve set Beautiful You.

Thank you so much for swinging by! I hope you're having a bit more sunshine than we're having here in LA at the moment. It's downright yucky outside!!! Brrrrr!!

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Beautiful You (Verve), Happy Camper (TCP), Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve), Small Circles (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: Tempting Turquoise (SU), Spring Moss (PTI), Summer Sunrise (PTI). Kraft

Ink: Pumpkin Pie (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black, Frost White (Colorbox), Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Copic Markers, Glitter Glue, Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Sewing Machine, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Pop Up Dots, Nesties

Dreamy Birthday Wishes

Happy Saturday, everyone! Time for another awesome sketch by the fabulous Jen del Muro over at SFYTT!

I was still so inspired by all these beautiful sun images I saw at the Verve Spring Fling yesterday, add the fact that it's raining here in LA right now and I immediately reached for my Verve set Wishful Elegance and turned my flower into a Sun.

I added some glitter glue and now I feel like she's really smiling at me. :)

I really love this cute cloud Paper from American Crafts and I was worried it would end up being all covered up so I came up with the idea of using a Window Sheet and stamping my sentiment on that.

I stamped the Sentiment twice: once in Soft Suede and once in Frost White so it had this cool shadow effect.

After I added the glitter to the sun I felt like I needed something shiny on the other side of the card so I added a few Rhinestones to the brim of my circle window. I really love how they kind of look like the moon..very dreamy.

The Clouds are from the Cat's Pajama's set Happy Camper. I feel like they add another dimensional layer and compliment my little sun perfectly.

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Happy Camper (TCP)

Paper: Heat Wave (American Crafts). Kraft, Thoroughly Modern (SU), Clear Window Sheets

Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Frost White (Colorbox)

Accessories: Rhi

nestones, Glitter Glue, Copic Markers, Nesties, Ribbon, Sewing Machine

Spring Fling - Challenge #4

Sooo I woke up this morning so excited about how my first tag for the Spring Fling turned out (and I'm very tag-challenged for some reason), I had to make more. Plus I thought...with this being a Verve challenge and all...I should probably use some Verve stamps, right?!

So here it goes - my his and her version of Verve tags:

The DP for both tags is from My Mind's Eye. I also used some of my Digi Paper from the Cottontail Collection (Sweet Shoppe).

The Flower is from the Verve set Wishful Elegance and the Sentiment is from the Bountiful Backgrounds set.

I embossed the flowers and the sentiments on both cards - just to add that little extra spark...which brings me to glitter: I couldn't help myself - I just had to add a little bit of glitter to the tips of my girly flower. Sorry boys - no glitter for you!

Just a little fun side note - these tags are the first time I've tried a button stack! So cute - don't know why I've never tried it before! If you haven't either - give it a go! You'll love 'em!!

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve), Small Circles (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: My Mind's Eye, Cottontail (Sweet Shoppe), Kraft, Basic Black

Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Basic Black (SU), Versamark

Accessories: Copic Markers, Stampin' Write Markers, Glitter Glue, Pop-Up Dots, Buttons, Jute Twine, Clear Embossing Powder, Sewing Machine, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Nesties

Spring Fling - Challenge #5

Yay!!! I just finished my last entry for Verve's Spring Fling and I'm so excited with what I came up with because it's something I actually really needed: a container for my Copic Markers!

I used a nearly empty Hot Chocolate Mix can, (what a great excuse to have a cup of hot cocoa ) peeled off the label and went to town on it until I ended up with this:

This adorable digi paper is from the Cottontail Kit (Sweet Shoppe) and Jen, in case you happen to come across my blog: Thank you so much for discovering this awesome paper!! Jen used it in one of her Sneak Peek cards and I just had to ask her where she got it from. :)

Let's see...what else can I tell you? Oh yeah, I used the Nestie friendly stamps from Waltzing Mouse to create that lovely border inside my label. I love how you get this funky, dimensional effect when you punch out the middle and have some of your letters spill over.

I used the Nightie alphabet set from TCP to spell out "Copic" and I used one of the flowers from Verve's set Wishful Elegance to complete my can. The flower is colored in using what? Well, my now neatly organized Copic Markers of course. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Nightie (TCP), Label No.4 (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: Cottontail (SweetShoppe), Kraft

Ink: Basic Black, Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Sewing Machine, Hot Chocolate Mix Can, Pop Up Dots, Brads, Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Copic Markers

Spring Fling - Challenge #1,3 & 4

Today was Verve's Spring Fling and boy how much fun it was!! There were Challenges, Sneak Peaks and some amazing new Stamps released!

I decided to combine all the challenges I've done so far in one post and here they are:

Note: I have the perfect stamp for Challenge #2 coming to me in the mail (I hope I get it tomorrow) so there is no picture there yet.

Challenge #4:

Tag

Stamps: Cat in a Box (TCP), We've Moved (TCP), Label No.4 (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: Cottontail Digi Paper (SweetShop Design), Kraft

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Sewing Machine, Hole Punch, Ribbon, Button, Jute Twine, Nesties

Challenge #3:

Yellow, Chocolate, Green

Stamps: Peace Within (SU), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)

Paper: various Digi Papers, Dark Chocolate (PTI), Crushed Curry (SU)

Ink: Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Sewing Machine, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Stampin' Write Markers, Copics

Challenge #1:

clean, simple, flower

Stamps: Beautiful You (Verve)

Paper: Kraft, Aqua Mist (PTI), Appealing Apricot (SU)

Ink: Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Pop Up Dots, Brads, Ribbon

Viva La Verve - Whimsy Thanks

It's Friday which really means it's Viva La Verve Time!! This week's sketch is just amazing but then...they are always amazing so.

Here is the photograph I used for my inspiration. Since my entry last week was very simple, clean and classy I had to switch it up a bit and add a bit of whimsy to my card today.

The Flourishes from the Inkadinkado set Sketchy Flouris

hes were a lucky find at Target yesterday. Love those!!

The Pattern on the smaller panels is from the Verve set Bountiful Backgrounds, one of my favorite sets of all times!! You can use it for anything!

The Sentiment is from the Verve set Beautiful

You, which has amazing inspirational sayings and I really wanted it to stand out a bit more so I stamped it first in Always Artichoke and then stamped it again, over the Always Artichoke in Basic Black. That gives it this nice shadow effect.

Add some sparkly rhinestones, color in some of the flourishes, add a few stitches and you're done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Sketchy Flourishes (Inkadinkado), Beautiful You (Verve), Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve)

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Green Galore (SU)

Ink: Basic Black, Always Artichoke (SU)

Accessories: Rhinestones, Ribbon, Sewing Machine, Copic Markers

just a little Fold Charge

It is Week 3 - time for another challenge for Joanne's Blogaversary.

This week it's all about Folding It Up!

Since I've just recently discovered My Favorite Things and am therefore still eagerly awaiting my newly ordered stamps from them, I just used my MFT Digi Stamp and Digi Papers in the meantime.

I just love how versatile this stamp (Say Charge) is because depending on your needs these ladies could be heading to a birthday party, shopping spree or baby shower.

My heavily paper-pieced ladies here are heading to a birthday party with their gifts. I even added little pieces of Tissue Paper to their bags. A little glitter to the flower bag and they are ready to party!!

I'd never tried Paper Pleating before so I gave it a try. I'm glad I did because I really like the look of it and I will definitely be using this technique again.

I ran a piece of pink cardstock through my Polka Dot Embossing Folder to add a little bit more texture.

Thank you for looking and please leave a comment - I'd love to hear what you think!

Stamps: Say Charge Digi Stamp (MFT), A Beary Good Year (TCP)

Paper: Chocolate Kiss Digi Paper (MFT), Sweet Blush (PTI), Chocolate Chip (SU), MME, white Tissue Paper

Ink: Bashful Blue (SU)

Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers, Copic Markers, Glitter Glue, Ribbon, Buttons, Jute Twine, Sewing Machine, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Post it Notes (for masking)

And

TCP Tuesday #99 - Nuts about You!!

What a busy stamping day it's been today! I've really only made two cards today but my little stamping area looks like a bomb went off. Yuk and I really don't look forward to cleaning it all up again either so here's another quick blog entry instead. :)

It's Tuesday and another TCP Tuesday challenge from the Cat's Pajamas. This week Leigh O'Brien is the hostess with the mostess and she came up

with this adorable sketch for us to try.

Yes, I know I didn't use an oval..well I did that because I simply don't have any oval Nesties yet...notice how I said yet. ;)

I'm hoping my circles will be okay too.

I'm so excited about this card because I've been wanting to use the Happy Camper stamp set from TCP and somehow it just never worked out...until now. Yay! Isn't that little squirrel adorable?

The paper I used is called Girl Friday from Cosmo Cricket and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I love how the colors feel like spring. :)

Okay, now I have to run meet my friend at the Farmer's market. Have a great rest of the afternoon/evening, everybody!!!

Stamps: Happy Camper (TCP)

Paper: Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket), Old Olive (SU), Aqua Mist (PTI)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers, Buttons, Sewing Machine, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Nesties, Jute Twine

Updated 3/3/2010:

I loved this sketch so much that I had to make another card like it. This card is for a Card Flood Swap that a few of my Stampin' Up friends and I are doing this year.

This card is for Tina. Tina likes pastel colors, white, cats and dogs, (yay for TCP) and anything shabby chic.

Now I really tried my darn-est but shabby chic just doesn't come naturally to me for some reason but I did get the pastel colors, white and Poochie in so I hope she won't mind so much.

Oh and I also used Jen's Glazed Glitter Technique on my cake!!! I just love how it looks (sorry you can't really see it that well in the photograph).

Have a good night, everyone!!!

Stamps: Smells like Cake (TCP)

Paper: Certainly Celery (SU), Soft Suede (SU), MPS-12 Pastel (My&My Big Ideas)

Ink: Basic Black (SU), Lettuce (Adirondack)

Accessories: Buttons, Glitter, Crystal Effects, Copic Markers, Stampin' Write Markers, Jute Twine, Nesties, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Fleur de Lis Border Punch, Sewing Machine

Travel Sprinkles

Soo many challenges so few to do them for me...at least that's what Sprinkles, the cat from The Cat's Pajamas would say if she were me.

This sassy little cat is going on a trip but she feels (and I think we can all relate to that) that she has way too much to do and so few to do them for her. Don't you just love that cat?

Let me tell you about the challenge first before I get into my little card:

It is hosted by Joanne at ...just a little something.... . She is having a little blogaversary celebration and in honor of that she's giving us 3 challenges (one per week). At the end of the challenges she will pick out a winner at random and that lucky person will get an amazing price package with goodies from MFT, Stamping Bella and The Cat's Pajamas!!! How cool is that?

Okay back to the challenge:

Joanne calls this week's challenge SEW KRAFTY.

Translation? Get busy with your sewing maching, paper piercer, embroidery floss and make sure you use some Kraft paper.

Now that you know all the details (or at least the important ones) let me tell you a little about my card.

This card was really inspired by this awesome paper I found the other day. It's called Retro Travel by Creative Imaginations.

I did all kinds of stitching (to satisfy Joanne's stitching needs of course ;). I did some faux stitching around the saying and real machine stitching around the paper, plus some funkier stitching on the top panels (which you can see below).

The little suitcases are chipboard stickers from K&Company I found at Joann's (cute right? And glittery, too).

I used some clear embossing powder on Sprinkles to make her really shine and I did a little paper piercing to the white circle behind her just for fun. :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

If you have a moment or two, please let me know you think!

Stamps: Big Sprinkles (TCP), So much to do (TCP)

Paper: Retro Travel (Creative Imaginations), Kraft (SU), Old Olive (SU), Tempting Turquoise (SU)

Ink: Basic Black, Versamark

Accessories: Chipboard Stickers (K&Company), Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Sewing Machine, Ribbon, Nesties, Paper Piercer, Stampin' Write Markers, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun

Embellish Color Challenge

One of my favorite stampers is Susan Liles at Susiestampalot (words like Stamp-Mentor or Stampin' Guru come to mind). :) She entered this darling challenge from Embellish magazine and when I saw that, I couldn't resist.

This challenge calls for the use of one or more borders and the use of the colors in the Polaroid-inspired swatches. The peach looked a bit orange-y to me and I didn't have Melon Berry paper so I ended up using Summer Sunset from PTI instead (I hope that's ok).

Anyway, all of the above equals this little busy bee of a card for me!

Let's see - I was inspired by the fondant shapes of the cake to use my brand new Fleur de Lis border punch.

The Flowers were inspired by the Flower on the little girls' hat, which is just too cute! They also gave me the chance of adding a little bling to my card!! How fun!!

The eggs gave me an excuse to throw in some of my beloved polka dots.:)

I got a little carried away with my layering. Below you can see a close-up shot. You'll notice that I used the Scalloped Trim Border punch on both the Sweet Blush as well as the Summer Sunrise paper, layered them, then topped them off with a stamped strip of Spring Moss paper and then added the ribbon on top of that. Whew!!

After all that layering I think I need a nap now! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve), Label No.4 (Waltzing

Mouse), Small Circles (Waltzing Mouse)

Paper: Spring Moss, Lemon Tart, Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise (All PTI)

Ink: Pumpkin Pie (SU), Red Pepper (Adirondack), Mountain Rose (Adirondack)

Accessories: Mulberry Paper Flowers, Clear Rhinestones, Ribbon, Scalloped Trim Border Punch, Fleur de Lis Border Punch, Nesties, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Sewing Machine, Rounded Corner Punch, Copic Marker

Swanky Stamper of the Month

YAY!!! I'm so excited - I just found out I'm March's Swankiest Stamper! Thank you so much, Alma for this amazing honor!! I already have a list of stamps I'm dying to get so this is awesome!!

This is what Alma, The Queen of Creative Cats ;) said:

There is always something so wonderful when a window frame is used in a card. I don't know if it is because it adds a new dimension to the design or if it is all about peeking into a world that could surprise us. This card does both.

Sonja uses color to her advantage here and grabs us with her striking orange, pink and black color combo. Then she uses the window frame to take us deeper into the design to gaze upon the wonderful goodness. Add Sprinkle to the mix and we are goners. YUM-O!

If you don't know exactly what all this Swanky Stamper stuff means, let me fill you in real quick:

Every Tuesday a Cat Pack Designer will host a challenge for the Cat's Pajamas or TCP Tuesday as they call it. You have until the end of the month to complete the challenge and post them to the corresponding guestbook on Alma's Blog. There is one winner each month who will be deemed the month's Swankiest Stamper and gets $25 in Cat's Cash (money to spend on the TCP site).

Aloha Mojo128

I found the most adorable paper the other day. It's called Retro Tropical from Creative Imaginations and I've been dying to use it with my beloved TCP stamps so when this new sketch from Mojo Monday rolled around - I couldn't stop myself. :)

You'll notice that my brads are not exactly where they are supposed to be according to the sketch but I just had to go with what worked for my card...so I basically HAD to take a little creative license there. Oopsie!

I had so much fun using this paper that I couldn't just stop and decided to make a HIS and HER version.

The layouts for both cards are exactly the same. I typed and printed the word ALOHA on the computer but the rest of the stamps for both cards are all from the TCP set Fun in the Sun. For HER version I used a Nestie Label No.4 to frame the Aloha. For HIS version I just kept it a simple rectangle - none of that girly stuff for the boys. :)

To make my Sprinkles really pop I used clear embossing powder and I wish that thought had occurred to me earlier so I could have done the same with Poochie but what can you do?

Well...I could try to pry off Poochie and attach a new Poochie but we'll see.

Tips & Tricks: Have a stamped image that's really high above your cardstock like Sprinkles and Poochie? Put two Pop-up dots on top of each other to attach your image.

Have a wonderful start to a new week!!!

Stamps: Fun in the Sun (TCP)

Paper: Retro Tropical (Creative Imaginations), Basic Black (SU), Vanilla

Ink: Basic Black (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories: Mulberry Paper Flowers, Brads, Copic Markers, Stampin' Write Markers, Nesties, Pop-up Dots, Scrappy Glue