Hoppy Birthday!!!

I made this card for a friend's birthday that is coming up & I wanted to play with my FROGS JUMPING FOR JOY set by Simon Says Stamp! I had a scrap piece of Kiwi Kiss laying on my desk, so I folded it & made a long card (7 1/4 x 4). The DP is cottage wall from SU and the flowers & rhinestones are from my stash which I bought at Simon Says Stamp too! I added Googlie eyes, cuz these little frogs are just TOO cute with googlie eyes!!!! The frogs are coloured with Koh-i-noor pencils & Baby oil gel.

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Chris

Fabulour Friday Freebie #25

The winner of last weeks House Mouse stamp is.......................... CHERI HOWARD!!!!

Congratulations Cheri!!! Please email me so we can get your stamp out to you!!! THANKS to all who play along!!!!! Hope to see you all next week!!!! Be sure to come back every Friday to see if you are the winner!!!!

This week you can win TILDA WITH BUNCH OF ROSES, as seen on my card from the challenge on Wednesday...check it out HERE !!!!

Requirements: All you have to do to enter is

1. play along in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog (this weeks theme is a beautiful photo inspiration challenge)
2. leave me a comment here with a link to your post that states you've entered it into the SSS challenge
3. add my blinkie to your sidebar

(I CHECK!!!!)

& you can WIN that fabulous STAMP!!!!!! Tell all your friends too!!!!

Thank you to Heidi & the girls at Simon Says Stamp for being SO generous!!! We LOVE you more than you know!!!! MWAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Good luck!!!!
Chris

I am in the SPOTLIGHT!!!!

Check out this POST!!!! I am in the spotlight at Simon Says Stamp!!! Wheeeeeeeeee!!

What a wonderful honour to be part of such a fabulous team!!! I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be (ok, well, maybe living on a beach with a cabana boy bringing me drinks and my packages from Simon Says so I can create in the sand!!!! LOL) I am so proud to be on such a wonderful team & to have met such wonderful friends!!!! You really have to check out the Simon Says Stamp Superstore.....it has truly EVERYTHING you could ever imagine!!!! Great prices, great shipping and great customer service!!!!!

Thank you Heidi!!! You ROCK!!!!! (thanks for the plug for my Etsy store too!!!! I appreciate that!!!!)
Chris

Simon Says.......Photo inspiration time!!!

This week Simon has a photo for inspiration!!! You can use the colours, the roses, anything from this picture for inspiration! Please check out the Challenge Blog to see what the other DT members have made....GORGEOUS, is all I can say!!!! And you can meet our 3 new members of the team!!!! So, here is the picture we want you to use:

And here is my card:

The cardstock is Real Red (SU) and the DP is Bella Rose (SU). The ribbon is Old Olive scraps that I had in my bin. I coloured Tilda & the roses with my Koh-i-noor pencils and Baby Oil Gel then added Spica gel pens to give them & the leaves some shimmer. The big roses were coloured with Copics and then stickled on top! This is a birthday card for my Mom cuz she loves roses!!!

Please join us this week in the challenge! Remember if you do, you can win a $25 shopping spree at Simon Says Stamp and you are eligible to enter my Fabulous Friday Freebie (come back to see what I'm giving away!!!) Thanks!!!

Chris

Need all of your expertise....

I took a stab at trying some collage stamping....not my forte, I'll tell ya that right now, but I wanted to try it. I got some manilla tags from Simon Says Stamp & figured I should probably use them!

What I need is some helpful advice to make these look better, more collage-y...and not so crowded & busy.

This first tag is done on white paper, cuz I didn't want to wreck one of my good manilla ones (LOL - silly, I know!!!) I actually like this one the best. The tower and ROME are heat embossed, then sponged over with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. Not crazy about the ribbon but that is easily fixed. This stamp set is a Simon Says Stamp exclusive set called Dream Paris Rome New York.

This was my second attempt & I don't like this one AT ALL!!! Too busy! I wanted the focal point to be the Tim Holtz stamp (LOVE COLLAGE - available at Simon Says Stamp) but it is lost in all the other "stuff"...it is heat embossed too, so is CHERISH at the top. I think maybe I shouldn't have sponged over the embossing on this one....or done it a completely different colour?!?! What do you think??

And thirdly, I tried a card with a collage look....SO NOT HAPPY with this one. I think what bugs me the most is the ribbon (too small, too ugly??) and the charm (not grungy or vintage?!?!) and the colours....I wonder if I did this in pinks and purples it would look different? I might have to try it!!!!



So, seriously...PLEASE.......give me advice, criticism, laughs, vomits, help...anything..honestly, I WILL NOT be offended!!!! I KNOW they suck!!!!! LOL I am new to this style, it isn't my strong suit but I want to learn!!!!
Thanks in advance for your help!!!
Chris

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Put on those HATS!!!!

This week at Incy Wincy Designs Challenge blog, the challenge is to PUT ON THOSE HATS!!!!! This might be a tough one, but check your stamps....I was AMAZED at how many stamps have hats of some sort in them!!!!! We were generously given this image to work with from June at DEZINAWORLD as she is our sponsor this week. Head to the challenge blog to see what the rest of the DT did with this image!!! AMAZING!!!!! It was fun, very out of my box, but I am starting to "get" these vintage type cards & I like them!!! Need to work on them more, but I like them!!!!

The background paper is a free digi download but for the life of me cannot remember where I got it. Sorry!!! I printed out two of the hat images, one in black and white and one in colour. I spotlighted the red hat by punching it out with my circle punch & popping it up on dimensionals. The swirls are from my new swirl punch I got about a month ago as a gift. The centers of the flowers are charms, I thought it gave a more "vintage" feel than rhinestones (my frequent "go to" embellishment for flowers!!). I distressed the edges too.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you get a chance to dig out your hat stamps & join us this week!!!! At least go check it out, and see what the rest of the DT has done for your viewing pleasure!!!!
Chris

All U Need is LOVE....Corrosive Challenges blog

This week at The Corrosive Challenges blog we want you to focus on LOVE!!! All you need is love......all you need is love..... all you need is love, love, all you really need........(I'm a terrible singer eh?? LOL)

A friend was kind enough to send me some images of the Wedding Magnolias that are "elusive"... no one knows where to buy them in North America.....or if they are even for sale.....but I got my inky little paws on a few but I can't tell you where I got them from! I forget!!! ;-) (THANKS, you-know-who!!)

So of course I couldn't wait to colour these cuties up!!! I used Copics to colour them & a very simple layout. The colours are pink & brown, just like my niece & her fiancees wedding will be...hmmmmmm......guess what was on my mind when I picked the colours for this card? LOL

I hope you will join us this week!! Head to the challenge blog to see what the rest of the Design Team members have created!! Have a great week!
Chris