Here’s a sneak peak of one of the sets being released at Mark’s Finest Papers on Tuesday. Doesn’t this little guy look like you could just eat him right up? I was so glad to be able to find a way to use that little embossing folder that came with my cuttlebug, Yep it took me two full years to use it. 
HYCCT challenge on SC
Ha-Ha. The challenge was to make a masculine card but include pink on it in remembrance of NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS month. (isn’t it cool to see all the sports players sporting pink on their uniforms this month?) This was a pretty simple card to make and I love being able to use that dancing pigs stamp that I purchased so many years ago. I used it a couple of times for cards for Gilbert because he works at Nueskes’s and pigs are his business. But otherwise it kind of sits there in the bin, cute as can be.
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
Chinese Proverb
A good capture yesterday. We just love those little birds. I love the finches and how they are always chattering and cheeping. Such a friendly sound.
Can you find the finch in this picture?
Happy Fall Ya’ll
Here it is October already. Can you believe it? It’s finally gorgeous. I do think it has rained for seven days straight. It was so good to see the sun I just had to grab some outdoor pics to share with you all. What is prettier than a Wisconsin Autumn Sky?
It froze this morning and the impatiens bit the dust but the mums love it. Most everything survived but I spent the day emptying the flower pots and got ‘em all cleaned up. I can’t stand to throw away a living plant. They have a new residence in the worm bed at the edge of the woods in the back yard. What a mixture. Marigolds, impatiens, petunias, and I don’t even know the names of some of the others but they are all cohabitating in that spot til nature does her thing. In the meantime I still have some pretty blooms to see from the kitchen window.
The hydrangeas were HUGE this year and they are turning purple, finally getting some sunshine. They are so beautiful.
I hope you have a very enjoyable October and maybe we’ll get that Indian summer that the old folks talk about. Lots of rain this fall, Lots of sun this summer and the trees are all more yellow than red, so we have lots of rust but not a lot of vibrancy.
Come on over to Speedy the Cat’s blog and play along in our challenge to use DOTS. You could win a free set of stamps.
If you click on the picture image you can see the dots on the pretty paper better.
All these papers are from Mark’s Finest Papers. Most were from the Premium paper pack the SpringTime pack. The dark mahogany brown that is super luxurious looking is from the newest pack that has been put together for you.
Mark's Finest Papers Neutrals Premium Paper Combo Pack 28 sheets for only $7.99
It’s a great way to purchase a variety of papers and MFP has THE best prices on paper packs.
I used a bit of Stardust clear on the butterfly spots. The pearls are done with a pink pearl pen. Love that stuff! The gatefold just seemed to be the perfect fold for this creation.
Thanks for stopping by. 
What a great time to have a challenge using things with wings. I’m thankful for this brand new set by Mark’s Finest Papers called Autumn glory. Isn’t this pheasant gorgeous. You could join us over at Friends of Speedy the cat and win a beautiful soon to be released set. They stamp so beautifully I am always amazed when I look at the stamped image how crisp it is.
Colored with Copic markers
Linda challenged us with a one layer card. Now this really is a challenge for some of us who are used to layering for depth and contrast. However, when I first started stamping I never layered anything and I didn’t have a lot of cardstock or back ground papers so I used to cut my own templates and make masks like this. The image is a new one from Mark’s Finest Papers, called Autumn Glory. This set is a beauty and you get a lot of stamps for the price of ONE wood mounted stamp. Check it out here.
This looks like a multi layered card but the only layer is the corner pieces. Shown below is a tutorial I have put together for you to see how to do this, especially if your supplies are limited.
Sponge all the way around the mat or mask that you have laid on the base. Take a coordinating pen and outline your mask before removing it.
I use this wonderful little gum rubber adhesive remover to get the temporary adhesive off the base. LOVE this tool. Grateful to whomever thought this up and informed the rest of us. I use it a lot.
Once again use removable adhesive and tape the mask over the entire front of your card. This time you will sponge inside the mask. Notice the first time you sponged outside the mask.
Final step, I leave the inside a bit lighter so my image will be highlighted a bit. Take a marker in a coordinating color or a dark color and carefully trace around the inside lines of the template. This will take away from the flat look of the stencil design and give the illusion of a piece of cardstock layered on. Clever, eh?
Now remove the mask and use the gum rubber eraser to remove the adhesive again. Now you have a layered look, like the top picture . to stamp your image on.
Fun technique, eh? I hope this is useful for some of you and you can practice with it. Happy Autumn.
9/11 : You remember, don’t you? You remember exactly where you were when you heard the sad news. It was said with such a terrible impact it was hardly believable and yet so believable. How could anyone do that?
We have many friends in New York City, what a frustrating time to try to get a hold of them by phone. They were crying, we were shocked, after three days they were all accounted for, all alive. What a relief, what a blessing. Oh, our hearts break, still today for all those lives lost.
A personal friend of Gilbert, is Michael Lamonico, the head chef for the restaurant Windows on the World, on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. He lost so many people he cared about. Lost all the people he worked with on a day to day basis. He is alive because he had an eye doctor appointment on the lower levels that day. He can hardly take it in, he is alive and everyone else is gone.
This post is a tribute and a memorial for all those who lost their lives, all the ordinary people, all the fire fighters, all the families, for every single person who was affected that day because of a senseless act against innocent people.
We remember you all…your memory is forever etched in our hearts.
Here’s another sneak peek at the new MFP releases coming out Tuesday. This fall set called Autumn Glory is such a beautiful set for masculine cards and thank you cards. The main image is from that set. The sentiment is from the stash at Edith’s house. 
The technique: You simply outline your image with a darker color, rough color the large spots with a lighter color of the same family. Take a Q-tip, pull off some of the cotton so you have more control of where the color is going. Dip the end in baby oil and in a small circular motion begin blending the colors together. It leaves you with a gorgeous finish, don’t you think?
I even rescued the brown cardstock from her garbage pile, it was the back of a store bought card, then I ran it through the Cuttlebug with a Sizzex embossing folder.
Edith didn’t have any black brads and I used her black Copic marker to help with that little issue.
So this really was a cobbled together card. The entire thing is made from scraps.
USE A PUNCH
Carol, bless her heart, gave us an easy challenge this month. Use a punch. I love using punches and for this one I used Martha Stewarts fence punch. Aren’t these Halloween Stamps just the greatest? Here’s a sneak peek for you on the release coming up this week at Mark’s Finest Papers.
The card went together quickly and it was just FUN to make. Why don’t you hop on over to Speedy the Cat’s blog and make a card with us…you could win a great stamp set being released next month. You get yours right away, though, you won’t have to wait ‘til next month.
BLING??? that’s all that shiny and rhinestone, diamonds and such, right? Well, okay then, I have just been waiting to find a reason to use this beautiful lacy bling that is from Mark’s Finest Papers. It is all one piece and very easy to use. I’m tellin’ ya, they offer more embellishments to purchase than you can believe. It’s so fun to browse through it all.
…….waiting for the drum roll…..TA-DA…. here it is.
All papers, stamps and embellishments are from Mark’s Finest Papers. Both sentiment and image are from the All Aboard set. Thanks for looking.
Here’s my other purchase from Oscar’s in Door County.
Oh my goodness, she is just TOO cute. This was so fun to work with. The marshmallows are melted applique so they are soft to the touch. The fire is three layers and looks real. (yes, I fussy cut those little pieces) 
You might want to click on this picture to get the detail to make you smile. Thanks for looking.
I always appreciate your comments.
Carols challenge to use lace stumped me for a bit. I think of vintage when I think of lace and I’m really not a ruffles and frills kind of girl. Think more, Eddie Bauer and LL Bean.
This entire card is out of character for me. I love flowers but don’t use them much in stamping. I love butterflies but same story. I think because they are so delicate looking and my stamping is more bold I haven’t quite found a fit but THIS, ah THIS, I just love01he way it came out, so finally I am showing you the Wisteria that I wanted to show you as a sneak peek three weeks ago. I hope it makes you feel relaxed. Deep Breath, now, ah there, let it out. Don’t you feel better?
Who wouldn’t enjoy some blog candy? This is a site I’ve just found that is so much fun. Lots of good ideas here and they are giving away some wonderful blog candy. This is just one of them. Why not go and visit the Arty Carty blog and see for yourself?
I think it’s been almost twenty years since I sent a kid off to school. I really had to put on my thinking cap to create a card to enter into the challenge at stamptv.
It’s always fun playing over there. I’ve won a couple of sets and it’s fun to see what everyone comes up with. It always amazes me how one idea thrown out there can create so many different varieties of cards.
Here it is. 
Hope you all had a super great Monday as summer is winding down. The days have been gorgeous.
Thanks for stopping by.
This is such a cute little image from High Hopes Stamps that I purchase at the Stamp Shoppe last summer and I never used it til now. I made the back ground by lining up a ruler on my scoring mat and then just using markers to make the lines. The really fun part of this card was doing the paper tole work. I colored and cut out a second layer of her head and feet. I turned the pieces over and using a stylus and went around the outside edges of those two pieces. Then I rolled some glue dots and placed them all along the outer edges where it’s curled over and you layer them onto the original colored image. It pops up those pieces and gives them a lot of dimension. Here’s a tutorial for you. And here’s a side view so you can see what I did.
Isn’t she a sweetie? This is a fun technique I have used before but you have to have kind of larger plain stamps to do this with. Something without a lot of detail. I could have taken this one step further and layered her hair. You can add as many layers as you like for a 3-D look. Thanks for looking. I hope you like her.
Thought I would go ahead and post the other Tole card I made some time ago. I now have the perfect newly weds to send this to.
I got this adorable stamp at a thrift shop a couple of years ago along with a bunch of other goodies altogether in a bag. It was a real bargain. 
EMBOSS IT- That’s Linda’s challenge to us
Isn’t this a gorgeous butterfly? It comes from the Butterflies and Wisteria set that was released last week. Embossing, that’s fun. I think I emboss something on ever card. This time I used dry embossing with the Cuttlebug folder I used for the back ground, I embossed the die cut also, and then I used Versamark black pad and sparkling black embossing powder for the butterfly. The little leaf charms from Mark’s Finest Papers they were a brown metal and I used my copics to color them. Didn’t that turn our great?
Faith showed us how to do that with this tutorial. Are you signed up with Speedy TV yet? If not, join us, it’s fun, you learn lots and there’s a whole lot of stamping friends to get acquainted with. Remember you get your name in the drawing twice for the Speedy Cat challenge when you use stamps from MFP.
