For Dad (aka "Pops")

Today, we're taking my dad out to lunch for father's day. I know, it's early...but Dad is going racing on Sunday (see a pic of Dad in his car below) and we're going camping.

I JUST made this card this a.m.....nothing like last minute, huh? LOL! I went with today's Limited Supplies Challenge, which was to use knots on a card...awesome challenge for us peeps (me!) who aren't SUPER talented with making bows.

I got this great classic car image through the wish-RAK forum. I colored two images with Prisma Pencils, cut the one out, and popped it up on dimensionals over the first colored image. The black mat panel behind the car is also up on a layer of dimensionals.

Recipe ~
Stamps: misc car image (from wish-RAK), Gina K Kindred Sentiments for Her
Paper: Papertrey White, Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Shiny Silver from LSS
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Accessories: Silver Brads, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals
Technique: Gamsol Magic

Wanna see that photo of my dad in action?...here he is racing at Maple Grove Raceway. That's him on the line getting ready to run. The slicks look all warped because he's starting to do his burnout to warm the tires.

We call this photo "Eye of the Tiger" because when we zoom in to his face inside the car, he's soooooo focused....very intense! I love my "Pops" and I'm so proud of him. He built this car all on his own....pulled it out of a junkyard and made it the beauty that it is today.

Good luck this Sunday, Pops! Hugs from all of us!

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and have an awesome Friday!

Lots of things to share this evening

Hi all! Me again...back with some things to share this evening.

First, CONGRATULATIONS to my friend, Janette (blessingsx3). She's been chosen to be on the Hanna Stamps Design Team. If you get a chance, hop on over to her blog (it ROCKS!) and send her some congrats!

Wow, Janette, way to go! You're so talented, I can see why you were picked. Have lots of fun, and I can't wait to see your projects!!


Second, I received this AWESOME card from my friend LeAnne today along with some great stamped images...on shimmery cardstock even!

LeAnne, this card is SOOO pretty! Your coloring is just fantastic, and I love the added sparkle...oooooooooh, lala! Thank you for sending me such a sweet surprise. {HUGS} ....P.S. where are the baby parade images from? ...awwww, they're so adorable!


...and finally, I received the Arte Y Pico award from Dream, Create, and Share.

Thank you so much for the award. You made my day! {HUGS!}


Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a good evening.

Black & White Note Cards...and a RAK

Did you see Beate's inspiration challenge on Tuesday? The inspiration piece is this really pretty pillow....totally inspired me! Thanks, Beate!

I decided to make some 3x3 note cards and a box to store them in, following last week's Technique Challenge (TLC171). If you click on THIS link, it'll take you right to the template for the box. I made six 3x3 cards to fit inside the box.

I stamped the flowers on the front panel of the box in White Colorbox ink and then heat embossed them in Irridescent Ice (love irridescent ice!). The note cards themselves are just simple white cards (Papertrey CS because it's thicker CS and, in my opinion, *stands* better as a card base) and I stamped the flowers in Adriondak Jet Black ink.

Recipe ~
Stamps: Impression Obsession Butterfly Bliss CL171
Paper: Basic Black, Papertrey White
Ink: Adriondak Jet Black, Colorbox White
Accessories: Sticky Strip (red tape), Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder, White Satin Ribbon
Technique: Heat Embossing

Next, I'd like to share a card I received from Jen (J-Bo)....her 3-D horse card!! hehe!! I loved this card when I saw it in her gallery, and now I have it if person!! If you get a chance, hop on over and check out her blog. She has a really great style that I love.

Jen, thank you so much for sending this to me! I love how you have two of the horses popped up on dimensinals, and the papers/colors are just gorgeous. It's hanging up on my wall board here by my desk so I can see it every day. {HUGS!}

Hope you all enjoy your day!

Announcing: Our Creative Corner

Announcing: Our Creative Corner

I’m so excited! I was asked to join this AWESOME new challenge group.

Check it out…there’s a brand new blog and everything, which you can see HERE.

...now, here's where YOU come in....every Saturday, starting June 14th, there will be a new challenge that YOU can participate in as well! ....sketch challenges, designer paper challenges, etc. It should be a lot of fun, so be sure to add the blog to your favorites and check back with us.

Meet the "Our Creative Corner" team:

Amy Sheffer
Cindy Haffner
Dawn Easton
Jennifer Meyer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynda Benden

...and me! :)

Look forward to seeing you on Saturday! :)

Time For You

Here's a card for today's color challenge on SCS (Real Red, Regal Rose, and So Saffron). I combined it with Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch #41...love this sketch!!

The bicycle and sentiment were stamped in black Colorbox ink and heat embossed with clear EP. I watercolored the image with inkpads, and added a dot of stickles to the center of the flowers. The red panel behind the sentiment and bicycle is up on dimensionals. The inside of the card includes a white panel with all four edges sponged in Regal Rose, and then I stamped the small flower from Short & Sweet in Real Red along the bottom. The rhinestones were glued down with Crystal Effects.

Recipe ~

Stamps: SU Time For You, SU Short & Sweet
Paper: Real Red, Regal Rose, So Saffron, White
Ink: Black Colorbox, Regal Rose, Real Red, So Saffron, Basic Black
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Red Gingham Ribbon, Red Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch, Sponge, Crystal Effects, Pink Stickles
Technique: Watercoloring with Inkpads, Sponging, Heat Embossing

That's it....short and sweet today. Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Hugs,

More Fresh Cuts ...and my talented daughter

Hi all! Hope you're enjoying your Sunday morning!

When I saw the inspiration piece that Steph chose for yesterday's inspiration challenge on SCS, I couldn't wait to play. I combined it with Taylor's Sketch Challenge TECC19.

I love all the soft colors in the room. There were three different angles of the room to choose from. I chose this piece for the colors of blue, white, green and yellow; the yellow flowers against the white headboard; and the silver accents.

Here's my card from that inspiration piece. I cut a piece of Bashful Blue to 7.5" x 9.25" and folded in half. This fits nicely in a standard #10 envelope. The entire white panel on the Bashful Blue base is up on dimensionals, the green nestabilities circle is up on a second layer, and then the white Fresh Cuts circle is up on a third. It's a pretty *puffy* card...but I love dimensionals! Don't you?

Recipe ~
Stamps: SU Fresh Cuts, SU Warmest Regards
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Ink: So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Accessories: White Satin Ribbon, Silver Brads, Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Dimensionals


I'd also like to share something that DD#1 drew late last night.

She pulled up this photo of DD#2 (awwwww!) and sketched it!!...has she got talent or what?!?! I sooooo wish I could draw like she can (thank God for stamps!!). I asked her to do a sketch of herself next so I can frame both sketches and hang them in our living room.

Love it, Peanut!! I'm so proud of you!!

My DH went to the Pocono race with his buddies today, so I think us girls are going to go out for lunch...maybe Olive Garden or something like that. It's supposed to go up to 95 degrees today...so who wants to cook!

Enjoy your day. I'm hoping to get to the Featured Stamper Challenge later today as well.

Shopping!

Hey everyone, and happy Saturday!

It was over 90 degrees here in PA today (ick!), but despite the heat, I got to meet up with some of my blogging friends to do a little stamp shopping!

From left to right that's LeAnne (weeinklings), me, Wendy (weebeestampin), and Jen (jetstudio29).

We hit three stamp stores early this morning, had some lunch, and then hit another store before heading home.

Girls, it was AWESOME to finally meet you in person and I hope we can all meet up again real soon! So what was your favorite store??....I'm guessing with all the ooohing and aaahing at that last place with ALL that paper, that was the favorite of the day. Oh, and my air conditioning didn't work on the way home. Double ick! Thank God for Central Air in the house!

Sweet dreams,

Ants in a Picnic Basket...& a meet-up!

Hey all! I'm sorry I didn't have anything to share yesterday. I wanted to participate in the Ways to Use it Challenge...until I saw what the challenge was and realized I don't own wire. Oye! So anyway, I was jonesin' to make a card today!

This is for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #50 that she just posted this a.m. Awesome sketch!! Thanks Beate!!

The inside of the card includes an Apricot Appeal strip across the bottom with the ladybugs from Garden Whimsey stamped all the way across. I wish I had small ants to go with this WS image, but I don't so I had to find something *else* that would fit the picnic theme. Are the ladybugs okay?? I also wonder (now that I'm looking at the pic on the screen if I should have used a red strip on the inside versus the apricot...hmmmm). Oh well, it's done. The Apricot panel behind the main image is up on dimensionals.

Recipe ~
Stamps: Whipper Snapper Ants in a Picnic Basket, SU Time for You (sentiment), SU Garden Whimsy
Paper: Papertrey White, Textured and Regular Apricot Appeal, Basic Black, Textured Real Red
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Accessories: Black and Red Gingham Ribbon, Dimensionals, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Pack, Prisma Pencils with Gamsol & stumps
Technique: Gamsol Magic

Wanna hear something really exciting?? I'm going to meet up with Wendy (weebeestampin), LeAnne (Leanne Pugliese), and Jen (jetstudio29) tomorrow for some shopping!!! O-M-G, I'm so excited to finally meet these incredibly nice girls. We're all taking our cameras so be sure to check back this weekend for pics!! {smile}

TGIF!

Attention Marisa

Hey Marisa,

I saw your comment that you emailed me your mailing info, but nothing is showing up in my inbox?? So sorry to make you do double the work, but could you resend it to my email addy (rubydeuce@gmail.com), and maybe also send me a PM on Splitcoast??

Thank you!! {smile}

Fresh Cuts & Fabulous Flowers

Hi everyone! Here are a couple cards I made today.

The first one is for today's sketch challenge (#SC179). I've been wanting to try these colors together ever since I saw a card that Silke made with the combo (thanks for the inspiration, Silke!). You can see her card with this color combo HERE.

The scalloped Close to Cocoa circle is up on dimensionals, and then the Barely Banana circle is up on a second layer of dimensionals. The inside includes a white panel of CS with some stamping across the bottom (flowers were stamped in Barely Banana and the stems were stamped in Close to Cocoa).

Recipe ~
Stamps: SU Fresh Cuts
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana
Accessories: Brown sparkly brads, circle and scallop circle nestabilities, dimensionals


The next card combines Tuesday's Color Challenge with Sunday's Featured Stamper Challenge.

The featured stamper this past Sunday was Maren (mmbc). I can see why she was picked...she has a really great style!! You can view her gallery HERE. This is HER CARD that I chose to CASE.

The rules of the Featured Stamper Challenge are to change some things. I kept the same basic layout, the same flower from the Fabulous Flowers set, and the scalloped edge along the bottom. I just changed the color combo, stamped my ribbon instead of tying a bow, and used Swarovski Crystals instead of brads on the scallops.

The flower was stamped three times in Blue Bayou, and then cut out in three sections. Each of the three sections is up on a separate layer of dimensionals, and the edges of the flowers have some Irridescent Ice embossed on them.

Recipe ~
Stamps: SU Fabulous Flowers
Paper: Papertrey White, Blue Bayou, Real Red, Soft Sky Designer Prints
Ink: Blue Bayou, Black StazOn
Accessories: White Satin Ribbon, Clear Swarovski Crystals, Corner Rounder Punch, Dimensionals
Technique: Heat Embossing

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Blog Candy WINNER and RAKs

It's time to announce the blog candy winner.........

Random Integer on random.org picked #83

*** Marisa ***

Congratulations, Marisa!! Send your mailing addy to me at rubydeuce@gmail.com and I'll get your goodies sent right off to you. Yay!

...and in case you were all wondering...my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip. Yum!


I also wanted to share two more RAKs I received yesterday. They're really gorgeous! They're, of course, going right up on my wall board here by my desk where I can look at them every day.

The first is from Michelle (sf9erfan). You can view her awesome gallery HERE.

Michelle, this is absolutely gorgeous! I love that ribbon and all the detail you put into the flowers with the glittery edges. So pretty! Love these PTI colors too. You rock, girl. I can TOTALLY see why you're a dirty girl!!


The next is from Jessie (knightrone). You can view her awesome gallery HERE or her blog HERE.

Jessie, I just LOVE this card! I love turtles and your coloring on this little guy is awesome. Love how so many layers are up on dimensionals. You're one of my favorite stampers. Thank you so much for sending this to me!

That's it for now. I did make one card so far today that combines yesterday's color challenge with Sunday's Featured Stamper, and I want to do today's SCS sketch challenge too. I'll post those later today. Right now I want to leave the blog candy winner up at the top.

Enjoy your morning!!

Lots of Happy Mail

I had a huge stack of happy mail waiting for me when we got back today, and I wanted to share it all with you. My awesome friends made these for when I was the featured stamper on SCS. I have them all proudly displayed on my wall board here by my desk.

These two cards are from Lori (LMcAree). The one was for the FS challenge and the other was a total surprise. You can check out Lori's gallery HERE and her blog HERE.

These are so pretty, Lori, and I'm truly touched by that sentiment. You're a doll! {HUGS}

The next two are from Silke (sparklegirl). She made both of these gorgeous cards for the FS challenge..yep, TWO of them. You can check out Silke's gallery HERE and her blog HERE.

Love everything about these, Silke! Gorgeous in every way! Love ya, girl! {HUGS!}

And finally, this was made by Cindy (Mothermark), themed around my SCS screen name. There are so many cool details on this, it's amazing! You can check out Cindy's gallery HERE.

Cindy, I absolutely ADORE this card and I loved the creative story you made to go with it last Sunday. I've always admired your work and enjoy talking to you through PM'ing...you're a sweetheart too. {HUGS! your LB}

We're back from Dover

Hi everyone! We were away this weekend for the NASCAR race in Dover, DE (the Monster Mile), and just got home.

Check out the new Monster monument they just put up this year. Very cool! To give you an idea of how big that monument is, that's a full size car he's holding.

It rained on Saturday on our way down to the track and most of the afternoon, so the Nationwide series race was delayed for a bit, but they did finally start the race around 6 p.m.

After the Nationwide race on Saturday night, we got to see Emerson Drive in concert right there at the Dover Casino. They were REALLY good! They're a country band, but with a cool rock sound.

The Cup series race on Sunday was a little boring...not a whole lot of position changes...but we still had fun hanging out with friends and enjoying our time away. Here's a pic of my husband from Sunday night after the race. He's posing next to a Monster trophy that they had in the room.

That's it for today! Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to sign up for the blog candy in the post below this one.

It's BLOG CANDY time!

Heeeeeeeere’s the blog candy I promised. I can’t believe my counter is at almost 12,000 hits after just two months. Wow!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU for visiting me!

Here’s what you have to do….

Just leave a comment to this post telling me your favorite ice cream flavor and include your entry number in your comment. If you’re a subscriber, you can post a second comment for a second entry. How’s that for easy??

Oh, and if you’re posting as "anonymous" *please* include some sort of name at the end of your comment…just so I can identify you if you win!

I’ll draw a number through www.random.org on the morning of Wednesday, June 4th and announce the winner that same morning.

Now......here’s the package of what you can win:


~ a Martha Stewart butterfly craft punch (love, love, love this punch!!)
~ a 6" x 6" K&Company Hannah paper pad
~ two packs of Mini Me Primas

Big {cyber} hugs,