Blogger's Challenge #53

Don't you just hate posting a card that you don't like near as well as the post below it?? Ha ha ha! Needless to say, after that comment, I'm not too crazy about my card that I came up with for this challenge! I don't HATE it -- it just doesn't look like what it looked like in my head when I thought of the idea -- also hate when that happens! Maybe I should just change the name of this post to "Don't you hate when....." OK - I'm done complaining now! (hee hee!)

This week the challenge was to do any resist technique. I've been wanting to use this background stamp that I got at convention last year. I sadly have not used it since then!! I don't really love the stamp as a whole, but it's cute if you use the different strips on it. I was trying to challenge myself to use it as a whole. Well, I cheated a little! I ended up cutting it into blocks so I could have that little bit of color throughout. It was pretty boring all together.

Oh yeah, the technique........(I'm easily distracted!) I used the emboss resist technique. I used Versamark ink on white glossy cardstock and embossed it with clear powder. Then I just used my aqua painter and ink pads to color the different parts of the image. The colors just don't look as vibrant on the glossy paper - or maybe it's just from the residue of the embossing powder. The only orange doesn't really look orange at all!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day!

KWernerdesign Color Challenge #13

I really like how this card turned out! I have to admit that it was a little challenging for me to work in the Regal Rose color with the rest of the colors - the challenge was to use Purely Pomegranate, Regal Rose, River Rock, Wild Wasabi and Whisper White. I did not have any of the River Rock paper (GASP!), so I did leave that one out. Sorry! I love this little chick/bird stamp that I got for .99 cents at a local craft store. The word "chick" was done using my cricut machine in the rose color and then I did a shadow behind it in the pomegranate. I watercolored the rose color in the flower on the bird and added a little bling rhinestone to her - but she wasn't complete until I added her blushed cheek! I like doing this little trick with some of my animal stamps, especially if I'm trying to make it "girly"! I just press my pinky into the ink pad and stamp off on paper first so it's not too much and then press it on my paper. It looks really cute on baby girl cards!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day! It's rainy and dark here in good ole' Nebraska!

Blogger's Challenge #52

Holy Smokes I'm a big fat slacker! I go from Challenge #46 to #52! Wow! I don't know what I was thinking when I thought that we would slow down a bit after school got out for the summer! We have been running constantly to soccer camp, softball camp, VBS, Summer School, soccer games, etc. etc. etc. We also had pink eye and swimmer's ear mixed in there too! Needless to say, we haven't been bored! LOL!

Our challenge this week was to do a manly card. I'm posting the card that I made for Father's Day. I did the background with the little stamp from the Wanted set - it was time consuming, but I liked how it turned out. I got the layout idea from a card that I saw somewhere and saved it. There was no name on it, so I'm not sure who it was -- sorry! I did this card just a day or two before I found out the the Noble Deer set is retiring. I'm sad to see it go, but I'm sure that they have another fabulous set to take it's place. I have a few retired sets for sale so if anyone is interested, contact me and I will email the list to you.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Thanks for checking in!

Blogger's Challenge #46 - Mother's Day

I hope that everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day! I was sick in bed! ICK! It was just a one day thing, but of course it had to fall on Mother's Day. Here is my card that I made for my mom and my sister - they haven't actually gotten them yet, so I may be spoiling the surprise! I used Stampin' Up! Bashfull Blue cardstock and ribbon, the patterned paper is from a slab I got at Wal Mart, and the flower brad is from a pack that I got in the clearance isle at Michael's! What a hodge podge of materials!! The M's were made using my new Cricut Expressions machine that happened to be my Mother's day gift!! I was so excited - I love it! Wal Mart had them on sale for $289.00, which is a fabulous price if you've been scoping them out! OK, enough of my blabbing and on to the card! Enjoy!

I got an award!!

One of my bling sisters and my kind & dear sweet friend (hey, isn't that a stamp??!!) Lisa Martz nominated me for this Arte y Pico Award and I'm so honored! Especially because of what it represents and I feel humbled that she sees that in me. (Sniff, sniff!)

This award is given to bloggers who share their art and creativity making their contribution to the blogging world. Here are the rules:

a. Choose five blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.
b. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
c. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
d. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

It was hard to choose, cause I admire so many people in this world! But there were certainly a few that really stuck out in my mind. I have never met these people, but would love to! It's funny how you read the blogs and you get such a sense of their personalities just from their blogging and you feel like you do know them! If you were already chosen to receive these awards previously - well, you deserve to get them again! Here are my choices to receive the award -- everyone - take a bow! Drum roll please..................

1. Lori Craig - I love her whole attitude, her faith, and just the way she represents herself and even though I've never met her, I have great respect for her. Oh yeah, her stamping style is amazing too!

2. Cambria Turnbow - This girl is crazy! Her blog is so fun and full of energy - she seems like an amazing person and great fun to be around. Her style is her personality on paper! It's fun, bright, and sometimes kinda loud! ha ha!

3. Kristina Werner - Another really fun person! She has an amazing blog with endless ideas and creativity. Her style is beautiful, elegant, fun, classy, and colorful all wrapped in a simple package. She is teaching me that sometimes less is more!

4. Lisa Johnson - Lisa is someone that again, even though I've never met her, I have a lot of respect for her. She's a beautiful person that loves her family and I love when she shares pictures of them occasionally! She's an amazing designer that has blown me away numerous times with her ideas and creations.

5. Dawn McVey - I love her! She is so spunky and fun and it comes out in her projects and her blogging. She has a beautiful outlook on life that just oozes from her fingertips! She is another person that I admire as a person and as a designer. Her style is simple yet lacks nothing!

Blogger's Challenge #43

This was CASE'd from Julie Buhler's blog, Paper Pleasing Ideas. It's such a cute idea! It's a little Card Attache Case. She says it will hold 5-10 depending on how thick the cards are with embellishments. If you visit her blog, the tutorial was posted on April 13th. And if you go to the post on April 10th, you'll see a really cute little Business Card Attache Case to match! So cute!

I haven't made the matching cards to go in my case yet, so that will be a future post! The challenge was to use chipboard - how fun! I used the shapes from my On Board Blossoms and Basics kit. I used my TOMBO mono liquid glue to attach the Soft Sky cardstock to the shapes.

I used a swirly clip attached to the middle of the flower and threaded the ribbon through to tie it shut. I bent it a little in the middle so it kind up stuck up a little. That made putting the ribbon through a lot easier.

This is the case open. OOPS! Maybe I should've covered the back of the shapes too!

Recipe:

Stamps: Pick a Petal

Paper: Bayou Blue, Soft Sky

Inks: Bayou Blue

Other: Jumbo Eyelets, On Board Blossoms & Basics, Bayou Blue Double Stitched Ribbon

KWerner Color Challenge #5

I love doing these challenges! It forces me to go "outside the box" and use color combos that I normally wouldn't think of. This week the inspiration for the color challenge came from this photo from Pottery Barn - don't you just want to curl up a take a nap with them?!!

Translated into Stampin' Up! colors, the challenge was: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa.

I came up with a 6 x 6 scrapbook page. I rarely do scrapbook pages, so I decided to double the challenge for myself! Here's what I came up with.

Soft Sky Challenge

Sometimes my good friend, Lisa Martz, and I get together online and give each other challenges to do. It's fun! We chat on the computer as we're working and we've come up with some pretty awesome projects if I do say so myself! This is a card that I made the other night when our challenge was to use the color Soft Sky on the project. Although I didn't use it as the dominant color in the project, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!

Recipe:

Papers: Close to Cocoa, Bayou Blue, Soft Sky

Inks: Close to Cocoa, Bayou Blue

Stamps: So Many Scallops, Jove & Joy, Polka Dots & Paisley

Other: Bayou Blue Double Stitched Ribbon

Happy Birthday Sister!

These are a few of the gifts that I made for my sister for her birthday. The hedgehog project is a post it note holder and the other one is a birthday card. I love SU's sticky cut letters. They are like the sticky strip (or Terrifically Tacky Tape) in the shape of letters. You just stick them on your project, peel off the lining and cover them with whatever - glitter, beads, punched out images, the skies the limit!

Blogger's Challenge #40

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything since the last challenge! It's was Spring Break here and having all 5 kids home all week didn't allow Mommy very much time to play! Ha ha! This week's challenge was "Spring Flowers". I was trying to do something bright and cheery without using the usual "Spring colors" - I'm not sure that I achieved that! Although I like the contrast of the colors, I'm not sure I would call it "bright and cheery". Oh well! Sometimes things just don't turn out as well on paper as they do in your head! Happy Spring everyone!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Whisper White

Inks: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Craft White, Versamark

Stamps: Spring Solitude (Hostess set), Three For You, Polka Dots & Paisley

Other: Three for you Punch, Silver Brads, Turquoise Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder

Blogger's Challenge #39

The challenge this week was to use the color combo of Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip and Real Red. I think these colors actually look great together! My post is a day late - I've been fighting a cold and my brain has been too foggy to even try to think! So I almost just skipped this week - then I came across a little kit that my bling sista, Lisa Martz, had given to me from one of her classes. It already had Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip and a design! I didn't have to think at all! It was for a beautiful tag. I didn't have the same stamps that she used, so I improvised a little and put the tag on the front of a card so I could incorporate the other colors that I needed. It didn't turn out too bad for being sick and unable to think! ha ha! Thanks Lisa!

Happy Good Friday and Easter!

I hope everyone is having a great start to your Easter holiday! I'm sorry that I've been away for a few days, but we have all been fighting colds AGAIN! What is it this year? There has been more sickness going around than I ever remember before. I think I'm finally starting to feel a little better though.

These are some boxes that I made for Hope to take to her preschool friends. I'm sure all the parents just LOVED the fact that I sent home that messy chocolate! I got the idea from my stamping friend, Cambria, she rocks!

Blog Candy Winner!

Today the blog candy winner is.........drum roll please..........Lorri! Congrats! Lorri if you could email me your address, I'll send out your fabulous prizes!

Stay tuned and I will post a new project and some more blog candy to win!

Blog Candy Winner, New Project & More!

Congratulations to Kelli for winning the blog candy! Woo Hoo Kelli! But not to worry! There's more for the rest of you to win!

This time around I'm giving away 3 onesie gift bags & 2 hershey nugget boxes that say "boy oh boy" on them. 4 of the Hershey nuggets fit perfectly inside them. A little stamp and stampin' spot ink pad, the retired wrought iron corner slot punch, and an Alphabet brass template for embossing or stippling. Just leave a comment on the new projects posted and you'll be entered to win!

The new project posted is a treat bag that I made for my 3 year old to take to preschool with her on her birthday. They are just lunch bags that I used my circle coluzzle to cut the hole, stamped it with the Time Well Spent set and made my little ladybug with the Pick a Petal set and some circle punches. We filled them with the "Bug Bites" graham cracker cookies. All the kids loved them!

Blogger's Challenge #38

This was my birthday card submission for the Blogger's Challenge Week #38. I used the color combo Summer Sun, Blue Bayou and Wild Wasabi. I used the stamp sets, So Many Scallops, Birthday Whimsey, Celebrate Everything and I just love the "Whoo Hoo" saying from the Just Celebrate set. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Stay tuned - later tonight I will announce the winner of my blog candy and post some more to give away. Don't have time to do that now cause I gotta start supper!

Anniversary Card

This is the anniversary card that I made for my brother and sister-in-law for their anniversary. Their anniversary is on Valentine's Day, but I didn't want it to look too much like a Valentine's Card. I love the Berry Bliss Paper - ALL of it! It has all my fave color combos.

I used the Stampin' Up! set Love and Joy.

Outlaw Card

I made this card for my sister. (No....that's not why it's called the "Outlaw Card"! LOL!) I CASE'd it from one of Beate's cards from her blog - sort of! I started out copying hers and it ended up being a little different than hers. I just love all her stuff! I was really sad when the Outlaw Designer paper retired.

Pink Ladybug

My friend, Lisa, and I are joining in on a color challenge that a fellow blogger posted. She is awesome - Hi Kristina! I get a lot of inspiration and ideas from her. You can view her blog here. We had to make a project and post it using these colors: Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, and Pretty in Pink. I love all those colors! Here's what I came up with.

Stamps: Pick a Petal (Stampin' Up!) & a couple of clear stamps that I got out of the $1 bin at Michael's!

Gift for a Friend and more Blog Candy!

This is a gift that I made for my good friend, Kris! Hi Kris - love ya! It was her birthday and there is a funny story that goes with why I gave her this gift! She is part of our small group from church that meets at our house on Sunday nights for a bible study. During Christmas time our small group did a White Elephant gift exchange, and I have to tell you, her family had THE best gifts - the kind that you're suppose to have at a White Elephant exchange! They really cracked me up! Well, my gift that I opened from Kris was this jar candle, but not just any jar candle! It was half burned, the glass was black and the wick was gone so you couldn't even light it anymore! Ha ha! So I cleaned up the jar and told my husband that I was going to make it in to something and give back to her. Enter our Designer Series Papers, a jew Rub Ons and Voila! She loved it and we got another good laugh out of it!

My blog candy this time is 2 sheets of star and balloon templates, a pack of pretty bling, bling snowflake embellishments and a little baggie with a small stamp and a stampin' spot ink pad. Just leave a comment and you will be added to the drawing to win! I will draw a name on Friday and add new items up for grabs - it's just gonna keep getting better!

Would "anonymous" please email me and give me your address so I can send you your fun and funky fibers and your magnet tins that you won? Congrats! Thanks for playing along!

New Project and Blog Candy!

Hey everyone! I'm doing a little Spring Cleaning in my craft stuff and have a lot of stuff that I don't use anymore, or it's retired Stampin' Up! stuff that I can't use anymore, etc. But instead of filling up my trash can, I thought I would give you guys a chance to win it! Today the blog candy that I have available is some fun funky fibers. You can use these on your cards or scrapbook pages, or whatever projects you want to! All you have to do to win is to leave a comment on my project picture that I have posted. I am going to start doing this regularly so you can get used to visiting my blog on a regular basis! I have been trying to post new projects on there every week and hopefully will more frequently. I will randomly pick a winner from all the comments. Now for my new project:

This is a butterfly paperclip tin that I got on clearance at Office Max. I bought every single one that they had! They have a magnet on the back so you can stick them on your fridge, your file cabinet or whatever. I used ribbon around it with some punched out flowers and circles and then used some punches and chip board shapes for the top. It was a fun and easy project - hey! How about I throw in a couple of these for the blog candy prize too? OK! So leave those comments! Feel free to browse around and look at my other projects that I have on here too - check back for more!

Blogger's Challenge #37

This card was really fun to make! I cut a piece of cardstock the long ways (4 1/4 x 8 1/2), folded it in half and then just used a ruler and cutting blade to make the triangle shape - remember to make the top of the triangle at the top of the hat! Leave about an inch or more of the fold at the top while cutting your shape to open and close the card. I used the Celebrate Everything set, the polka dot background stamp from the Polka Dots & Paisley set and I actually used one of the snowflake images from the Snowflake Spot set on the scallop punch at the top! You can't see that it's a snowflake, but I thought that it gave it a sort of "confetti" look. I kind of snipped in between the scallops to make it look more like a tassle. Let me know if you have any other questions about it! Thanks for looking!

Blogger's Challenge 36

OK, I'm finally getting mine posted! I liked this layout - it was simple, but very versatile. I killed two birds with one stone with this one! I made this card for my daughter that just endured a tough week of soccer tryouts for her high school (she's a freshman) and she made the team! Whoo Hoo! Go Silverhawks!

Blogger's Challenge #35

Hey there! I just joined a new group that I already love! Each week we have a challenge to do and post to our blogs on Fridays. It really exercises all your creative muscles! This week the challenge was to use the colors Purely Pomegranate, Brilliant Blue and Old Olive together. I've learned not to pre-judge color combos in my head until I lay them out on my desk! The reason is, what I'm thinking in my head is usuall wrong! LOL! Anyway, I tried the z-fold cards that everyone else has been doing for awhile now and it was really fun - I'll definitely do one of these again. It was much easier than I was thinking it would be -- there I go thinking again! Ha ha! I also used the the sticky cuts letters for the first time - VERY FUN! AND, I used some of our fabulous new rub ons too. I took a few different angles of the picture. Enjoy!