Silver Medal Winner

I had a very pleasant surprise this morning when I opened my e-mail and saw a bunch of new comments for this card in my Splitcoast Gallery.  Of course I had to check it out and I came to find out that I had won a Virtual Silver Medal in the February Virtual Stamping Night Olympics for this Snow and Sky Challenge card.

I was going to be cheeky and say "everyone rise for the national anthem now" but I remembered they play the anthem of the gold medal winner.  Darn.  Oh well, I'll just virtually bow when you virtually applaud.  How's that!

Here's the Gallery with all the challenge winners.  Bravo to them all!

Teapot Tuesday 84

Oh, we've got a bunch of stuff going on this week.  And not only that, but the teapot is, well it isn't an actual teapot.  It's a lovely quilted teapot.  See what I mean.............

I think it's adorable.  You have to check out Cindy's glob for the challenge story and her work of "heart".  I say work of "heart" because this week our cards are actually going to a good cause.  That is not to say that those that I actually do send don't already go to good causes, but this is a special situation and it might become a monthly part of the challenge.  I think that's such a great idea!!!!

The other stuff is that it happens to be part of the weekly color challenge also.  We were to use Bashful Celery Melons (Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo), and neutrals of our choice. 

While I was working on my daffodil card the other day, the lattice that I used reminded me of a quilt which is why I chose to make it part of my card this week.  There's very little stamping on this and a lot of paper piecing.  I added some faux stitching with a white gel pen to give it some quiltability.

I did use Fresh Fillers in Bashful Blue on the white piece and the tiny flower from Simply Said was used for the flower on the pot. 

Say, I was debating whether to add some Polka Dot Melon Mambo ribbon under the Melon Mambo panel - what do you think?  Yes, with a bow on the side, or no - leave it like it is?  Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Anyhoo, I think this came out pretty cheery.  I hope the young lady it's going to will get a smile from it.  Now, go and check out the gallery for this week.

Abundant Hope

It was a gorgeous day today.  The daffodils are finding their way up towards the sun.  If we keep up the warmth, we might have some blooming in a couple of weeks. 

I used the daffodil stamp from Abundant Hope and stamped it in Basic Gray on Confetti Cream cs.  It was colored with SU markers and blender pen. 

The Garden Green lattice work framing the flower is a Big Shot die altered to get that shape.  I glued it onto the Certainly Celery panel and then used my craft knife to cut out the center.  The green panel is popped up over the flower.  The bow looks white in the photo but it is Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon. 

Unfortunately this will be a sympathy card but I might make another one to have for a happier occasion.

Fabric Anyone?

This seems to be the new "thing" - using fabric.  I've done a couple of posts repurposing some denim jeans (here and here) and some scrap fabric recently.  Today I'll show you another pin that I made using the Big Shot, Scallop Circle Dies, and cotton fabric. 

Like those colors?  This is made the same way as the scrap fabric pin highlighted above.  I took the scraps from these circles and made this embellishment...........

Then I took the embellishment that I made from the scraps and added it to this $1 frame I found at Mike's.  The sentiment is from All Holidays...........

Okay, where is the rest of my fabric stash? 

Thursday's Throw Aways - Denim Again

With all the flower shows that HWNSNBP and I have been attending recently I was inspired to use my Blossom Party Die for this week's throw away.

Here's the start of the first project.............

After die cutting the flower pieces, I used my paper piercer to make a hole big enough for the brad to go through.  I cut the ribbon to approx. 9" and tapered each end.  The flower was added to the ribbon using the brad.  You can't see the back and I forgot to take a picture, but the ribbon is folded over the brad in the back and glued down. 

The second project revolves around some clothing tags I recently saved.  I thought these tags from Kohl's could be made over to something useful.

I used a regular white brad to put the blossom together and adhered it to the front with a large sticky dot. 

On the back I stamped the floral image from Vintage Vogue in Bordering Blue.  Then I stamped the bird tag from Garden From the Heart also in Bordering Blue, colored the bird and highlighted the edges.

Now I have a cute little package tie-on ready. 

I know I've used the denim before but it just seemed to be perfect for today's projects.

What do you think? 

Teapot Tuesday 83

How does a London Premier sound for a party place this week?  Oh, but how will we get there?  No need to worry, Cindy has procured several Leer jets for us to get there on time.  They even have official Teapot Logos!  I'd love to see that.  I wonder if anyone will have a card like that.

This week's teapot is called the Madhatter teapot and it fits right in with the release of Johnny Depp's new film Alice in Wonderland.  Head on over to Cindy's glob.  She's got a link to the trailer there and you'll have to look at it to understand my card.  And here is the teapot for the week......

These flying pigs were so busy inspiring people on National Pig Day when they heard about the Madhatter Tea Party and that the Red Queen needed pigs. Well, pig bellies! Not wanting to wait for the Lear Jets and risk making the queen cross, they donned their Madhatter Hats and took flight. Let's hope it will be clear sailing to get to the party and the premier. They're dressed in their best and promise not to squeal too loudly when Johnny shows up!

Okay, now fly on over to the teapot gallery!

National Pig Day

March 1st is National Pig Day.  If you know me, you know I like to celebrate some of the more obscure holidays and this is one of them.  I prefer to call it Flying Pig Day as to me, the flying pig is a symbol of accomplishing the impossible.  One can say that it expresses hope, perseverance, and determination.

I have my reasons for celebrating this holiday and they began several years ago.  You can read about that in my post from last year.  But it has become even more personal to me over the course of this last 14 months and, as luck would have it, I now owe a bit of my health to a pig.  (They used a pig's pericardium to repair the hernias I had in my hysterectomy incision.) 

Of course you know the phrase "when pigs fly" is a figure of speech that is, to quote Wikipedia "in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to suggest a complete impossibility".  But did you know that that has a name too - it's called Adynaton.  Another example would be "when hell freezes over".  These things that express the impossible.  I love finding new words that define the trivial things.  It doesn't always follow that I'll remember them, but in this case I just might. Call it a "when pigs fly" moment.

I have made some cards and tags to celebrate this year.  I have a list that keeps growing of my "pig ladies".  Those that may or may not at the moment need some encouragement or have in the past.   My message to them this year - The Sky is the Limit!  I hope they find something inside themselves to push ahead and overcome the things that they feel are impossible at this time. 

These are the earrings that HWNSNBP got me for Christmas and a pin that I recently found on Etsy that I got for myself.

Last week HWNSNBP and I went to a flower show and he insisted that we get this bird feeder.  I'll be putting it outside later today. 

So if you're reading this today, do me a favor and wish someone a Happy National Pig Day.  You never know, they just might need a little encouragement.  And I'll leave you with this.....

A pig that has wings

Does impossible things!

Over clouds it can fly

In the wink of an eye!

She may tickle you pink

But she wants you to think

Of her messge to each

"Nothing's out of your reach!"

©LMastalski 2007

Inspiration Challenge - Skating Costumes

I've been watching the Olympic skating events over the last 15 days and have enjoyed them even though they are airing very late here on the east coast.  Today's Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast was to be inspired by the skating costumes.  Here's the costume I chose.....

And here's my card......

The card base is Whisper White with a diagonal panel of Summer Sun that I sponged Regal Rose onto.  The sizzlit scribbles were punched fromn Regal Rose and the sparkle sizzlet from Summer Sun.  I added a 1/2" circle of Regal Rose to the center of the sparkle and a sticky jewel over that.  The white was a bit plain so I added some punched splats in Whisper White.  The sentiment is from SU's set - Best Yet.

What do you think?  Got a favorite costume?

Splitcoast VSN Olympics

They're holding a Virtual Stamping Night Olympics over at Splitcoast this weekend and I thought I'd participate in a few of the events.

The first was a sketch challenge which I may get back to.

The second was to be inspired by the Hudson Bay sweater that is the official olympic sweater for the Vancouver Olympics. 

The next challenge would be right up HWNSNBP's alley as it refers to Curling - something he's now mentioning that he would be interested in learning (when pig's fly, I think!).  We were to use the Marble Technique.  For anyone unfamiliar with this technique, it involves a container, reinkers, and marbles.  You take a flat plastic container that has a lid and drop some ink into it.  Add some marbles, close the lid and roll them around in the ink.  Then open carefully, put your paper down on the bottom, close the lid and roll again.  You get a pretty cool background this way.  Here's my card.......

Challenge D was called Snow Blind and required a white card with a little color.  I've about had it with winter so I had virtual target practice with some paper snowballs......

Up close you'll see the punched snowball splats that I tried to obliterate the word WINTER with and some paper snowballs in the lower corner.

The last challenge for the evening yesterday was to use snow and sky as your inspiration - a blue and white theme..........

I'm thinking of sending this one to myself!

I'm off to see what else I can participate in today.  Let me know if you have any questions about any of the ingredients or how to's for these.

See you later!

Thursday's Throw Aways and a Free 4 All

I hadn't gotten to my Thursday Throw Away yet and saw the new Free 4 All Challenge on Splitcoast today so I decided to combine the two. 

The throw away I used this week is a thin piece of packing material.  I think it came wrapped around something delicate...........

The challenge requirements were to make a card with textures, patterns, and a color that you don't usually use. 

I used the Floral Fusion Sizzlit to punch out some flowers from this textural material that I joined with yellow brads in the center.  Then I took a piece of Glorious Green CS and ran that through the Big Shot using the Dots folder.  I punched out little hearts and glued four at a time to a 1/2" circle to make shamrocks.

The pot was made with the cupcakes sizzlit out of Creamy Caramel CS and I used a dauber to age it with Bravo Burgundy and Handsome Hunter ink.  The leaves are punched from the Little Leaves sizzlit out of Gable Green and daubered with Glorious Green Ink. 

For the background I took a piece of Confetti Cream CS and embossed it with the diamonds folder.  Then I got out my watercolor crayons and added some Glorious Green to the diamonds to punch it up a little.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped in Close to Cocoa and punched out with the small oval punch.  I daubered the edge of that with Glorious Green.  The ribbon was a leftover from a Christmas gift that I just gathered up and sewed the button to. 

To add just a little more texture (as if there weren't enough already!) I crinkled up some Creamy Caramel CS and then ran it over an inkpad of the same color to highlight some of the wrinkles.  This was added to the corners. 

I've used green in cards before but not to this degree - so that would be my other requirement fulfilled.

Bluebirds on a Bleak Day

Yesterday, in a dogwood tree outside our office window the bluebirds, there were several of them,  gathered to check the tree for berries and the newly unsnowcovered ground for insects.  This is grainy because it was shot through the window and screen.  I hope they come back today!

Teapot Tuesday 82

The snowshoe rabbit, a great white owl, an arctic fox or polar bear all blend into their surroundings making them almost impossible to see against the stark whiteness of the snow.  Look carefully.  You will also see the tender blossoms of the Chrysalis plant designed by nature to provide a winter home for the very colorful and elusive Aurora Borealis butterfly. 

The plant itself is striking in it's beauty.  Silver stems support delicate pearl white petals with centers of gold.  The butterflies remain protected inside the closed flower until they are touched by a breath of spring.  The pods open and tiny little butterflies emerge.  When this happens en masse the bobbing and weaving of these colorful creatures ripples across the sky giving the appearance of the Aurora Borealis.  This is how they got their name. 

We are lucky today to be traveling to a teaparty where these magical flowers can be found.  To read all about it, please visit the Teapot Tuesday challenge or Cindy's glob for all the details. 

Our card was to have a white background today to reflect the inspiration teapot.  I embossed my white panel and then highlighted the flowers and stems with my Shimmer paints.  The butterflies were made using the new Butterfly embosslits die.  The corner punched with the new scallop corner punch and the rainbow ribbon wrapped in gold were the final touches.

Please visit the Teapot Gallery to see all the wonderful cards from this week. 

Birds on a Wire

The Limited Supply Challenge today was to use a border punch and ribbon.  No other embellishments.  I've been dying to use my new MS Birds on a Wire punch and finally matched it up with the little bird from Picnic Parade.

Of course you knew I had to make it a bluebird. The bird was stamped in Basic Gray and was colored with ink pads and my blender pen.   I used a scallop circle and scallop oval and a sponge to create the cloudy sky.  I cut one of the birds off the wire because I wanted the colored bird to look like he had just left to fly away.  The white and blue taffeta ribbons complete the requirements for the challenge. 

Thursday's Throw Aways

Ahhhh, Valentine's Day can provide some pretty nifty items to repurpose.  Of course there are candy boxes and such, but I was given something else and I knew exactly what I wanted to try with it.  One of the teachers I work with gave me this piece of fabric that was wrapped around the bouquet of flowers she got for Valentine's Day.  The hearts are metallic gold.

I used my Scallop Circle Die to punch out 10 large and 10 small scallop circles.

Then I cut eight scallops off the large ones and four scallops off the small ones.

Next I used a needle and thread to sew a running stitch along the straight edge of each scallop. 

First I stitched all 10 large ones and tied that off. And then I did the same for the smaller ones.

Then I gathered a corduroy brad, a circle of stiff felt (I punched this out with a 1 3/8" circle punch and made a whole in the center), and a pin backing.

I sewed the pin backing to the felt making sure to keep the center hole free.

Once that was done I took the brad and inserted it through the rings that were created with the scallops and then through the felt circle making sure the brad came out the center hole of the pin back. 

Turn it over and you have a cute pin or package topper. 

(This was not my creation.  I expanded on a ponytail holder designed by someone for Stampin' Up.)

For something that was going to end up in the garbage can I think I've managed to make it pretty one more time. 

I'll be trying this with cotton fabric very soon.  Stay tuned!

Teapot Tuesday 81

It's Fat Tuesday!    A truly fat Tuesday when you take into consideration that the Valentine parties at school were postponed until today because of the snow days and holidays.  It's so hard to always say no to the sweets - so I didn't.  See what I mean about Fat Tuesday! 

Getting back to Teapot Tuesday - Cindy provided us with another great story and a really cute Mardi Gras teapot.  How fitting for today...........

This brought back some memories for me even more memorable this week as it is my son's birthday on Friday.  When he was in 8th grade the theme for the dinner dance was "Mardi Gras" and I designed the table centerpieces.  They were pretty cool and consisted of masks - the kind on sticks - in an over-turned top hat with green and gold and purple "grass".   The kicker was that the kids had taken them apart to "play" with the masks within the first 30 mins of the dance.  The ladies who were working there that night (you weren't allowed to be at the dance if you had an 8th grader) managed to put aside a centerpiece for us and believe it or not, I still have those masks.  Here is a picture of the card I made with the masks.........

Go figure that 14 years later I would still have them and the bag of feathers stashed away.  What I couldn't find this afternoon was my gold ink pad.  You stampers out there, do you have days like that?  Last week I couldn't find the stamp I wanted to use and this week it was an ink pad!  Well, in the absence of gold ink, I went with gold embossing powder.  In my search I came across a little fleur de lis punch which I also embossed and added to the motif from Carte Postale to make the handle.........

I had this card in my head all day and if I hadn't spent so much time looking for that darn ink pad I would have gotten it done a lot sooner.  It seems I'm always so late posting these! 

I used two background stamps for this - En Francais in black on YoYo Yellow and Print Pattern in Glorious Green on Whisper White cs.  The fleur de lis comes from Carte Postale and it was first embossed in gold on Rich Razzleberry and then I embossed the whole piece in clear several times.  That square is backed with metallic gold cs. 

I think this will be Chris' birthday card on Friday and I might just ask for it back cause I really like the way it came out.  Let's see if he gets the connection! 

Okay, please check out the other challenge cards in the gallery this week and make sure to check out Cindy's glob to see her wonderful creation.  You won't want to miss it!

Some Final Valentine's

This is what I woke up to on Valentine's Day.  This wonderful Heart Tart.  It's custard in the middle with all that gorgeous fruit on it!  Yum!  This came along with a very nice little package from Vera Bradley - a cute little tech case for either my phone or my camera.  He's the best!

And this is something I was working on during those snow days.  I had borrowed the Bigz Tree Die from my upline Debbie and came up with this. 

First the outside...........

Then the inside..........

I got the idea from Karen Burniston's blog (I'll be back with the link later).  She had a beautiful tree that was actually all hearts.  Well, I tried that and it didn't look half as great after I got done folding those larger hearts to put them through the slots.  So I took my heart punches, punched out the smallest hearts in shades of pink and ran them through the Xyron to make them into stickers (so much easier than gluing all those individually!). 

The medallion stamp is centered on the cardstock and I surrounded the tree with more hearts I had previously cut from I {Heart} Hearts.  The sentiment inside is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and on the front from (? forgive me, I'm trying to get this posted before work and I've forgotten the name).

HWNSNBP liked this tree a lot more than the other.  What do you think?