SBS 22 September Blog Hop Challenge Card

Here's my entry for the first-ever SBS22 Blog Hop Challenge. It was fun to create, but did prove to be a bit of a challenge for me because I realized AFTER I had my squares all stamped, embossed & run through the Wizard that it would not fit on a 6" square card and still allow any of my colorful background paper to show! Necessity being the Mother of Invention (not to mention lack of time or the inclination to start over), I took creative license and made it 6 1/4" square! Yep, I cheated on my first-ever challenge!!! ;-} Since I had a couple of cardstocks larger than 12" square to cut a larger base AND a 6 1/2" black envelope to mail it in, I decided to just go with it! Rules were meant to be "bent" anyway - right?!!! LOL!!!
Paper: Strathmore Bristol Vellum (card base); SEI's Eerie Alley Nightmare Square DP; SU's cardstock (squares)
Stamps: Making Memories Spellbound Clear Acrylic
Ink: ColorBox's Raven Black; Tsukineko's Moonlight White Brilliance
Tools: Wizard Diecutting Machine & Square Nesties
Embelllishments: Clear & White Embossing Powders

Friend Card RAK Received

How dang cute is this?!!! I received this from Peggy, my SBS22 Sister in Canada, for our September friendship RAK exchange!!! It's just totally adorable, I think!!!
I have no idea what company that precious girlfriends stamp came from, but it's darling! Love the brown/blue color combo & how she used the Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background, which really compliments the circles she used for her stamped image & layers. I like the way she layered "friend" next to the girls too!!! I give it an A+++, Peggy -- thank you so very much!!! ;-)

Massive Blog Candy

RUN -- don't walk -- HERE -- NOW -- for the LARGEST EVER -- BLOG CANDY!!! You only have until Friday Night @ 8:00 p.m. CENTRAL time to post a card to benefit: Alzheimer's Association and in particular the caregivers who care for these very special patients. Cammie has put together an unbelievable post (which had to take many hours) in memory of her dear Grandmother and will draw a very lucky winner on what would have been her Grandmother's birthday.
It's very touching to see all the awesome contributions and read her post & all the comments from those whose families have been touched by this horrific disease. Papercrafters generally are the nicest folks with huge hearts and her post proves that! I decided to do a card for a male because I know there are many deserving men who are so vitally important in caring for Alz. patients. I'm sending this card to the caregivers who cared for Cammie's Grandmother as mentioned in her post, but if you know an Alz. caregiver you may send yours directly to that person.
Paper: Bazzill Cardstock; SEI's Madera Island cardstock & tag
Stamp: (Inside only) Stampin' Up! 2001
Ink: Color Box Dark Brown Fluid Chalk
Embellishments: SEI's Madera Island Rub-0ns & Ribbon; Making Memories Woven Label; Timeless Touches Metal Corners

Sistahoodabellas RAK

Oh my, the stamping sistahs are in the hood!!! :-)

This adorable card was sent to me by my new SBS22 Sister, Sarah!!! Thank you so much, Sarah -- I love it!!!

Isn't it just the cutest card!!! Love the sistahs she colored, that beautiful DP, the pretty flower & that cute "Sistahs" stamp -- it just makes me smile!!! Our group is so much fun!

Award Week

Wow, I'm just imagining what it must be like for actors/actresses to be nominated for an Emmy or Oscar, as I received TWO awards this week through my SBS22 sisterhood. This one is from sweet Stephenie -- thank you so much, Stephenie!!! Pop by her blog, leave her a comment, and brighten her day!!! ;-)

The blogs that bring me joy (besides Stephenie's) are: Gwen, Tina, and Aileen (Spike). Give them a look-see & shout out while you're there!!!

Okay, I'm exhausted from preparing my acceptance speeches - ummm, blog entries - for acceptance of both awards, so I'm logging off to enjoy the rest of the evening at my craft table! I'd very much like to thank the academy . . . LOL!!!

I Love Your Blog Award

My SBS22 sister, Julanne, recently gave me this award. Thanks, Julanne! Stop by her blog & leave her a comment soon!
I'm very lucky to belong to this talented group of ladies and I'm very much looking forward to all the wonderful ideas, challenges and papercrafting opportunities that await us!!!
I'm purposely nominating bloggers outside our SBS22 group, as I very much enjoy perusing their blogs and I want my sisters to be able to expand their horizons in this big world of multi-talented folks! I therefore
nominate for this award: Claire, Glee, Jak, Latisha, Monique, Regan and Jennifer.

Friend High Heel Shaker Card

My favorite card of the 3 we did in our CKC class is this one! I've rarely made a shaker card & this to me is just too cute & so "girlie" with those shaker beads & flower sequins inside the shoe!!! Again, the "hello friend" is a transparency, Gwen!!! Tee-Hee!!!
Interestingly, the "card" is actually a piece of stationery folded in half, also a unique & fun idea to keep in mind. It's a lightweight cardstock rather than just a sheet of paper, but keeping that in mind, I often see bargains on stationery when shopping - just always need to "think outside the box" in this hobby to push your possibilities & expand your options! ;-)
Embellishments: Doodlebug Design, Inc.'s Flower Sequins & Beads

Girlfriends Tent Card

This is the front & back views of the 2nd card we made in the Heartstring

Designs class. It is suggested that you could add a photo and/or message inside, but I also think a photo on the back swirl paper would be fun, especially if you're going to display it where you'd see it from front & back! If you're mailing it, your girlfriend can glue the back narrow bottom flap, but I also like it just left with that little flap holding the tent up. That way you can always open it to read the inside message or see any photo you've placed inside!

Gwen "needs" details, so I'm adding them here too! The black frame is mat board (just like in picture frames!) & phrase is printed on a transparency & I colored in the little flower over the "e" from the back with a marker. On the back I decided to add the pink to the "braid" in the design to make it pop!

Paper: DCWV's All Dressed Up line

Embellishments: Making Memories' Mini Blossom Paper Flowers &

brads; Doodlebug Designs Flower Sequins; transparency phrase

Queen for a Day Belly Band Card

Queen for a Day is just one of the cards we created in Heartstring Designs class @ CKC Friday. A fun class which uses matboard embellishments in very fun, unique ways on cards!!! On this one, that's a matboard crown!
Paper: DCWV's All Dressed Up line
Embellishments: Doodlebug Designs Flower Sequins; gems & transparency phrase
Ink: Ranger's Worn Lipstick Distressed Ink

"Open, Open, Open" CKC Convention!!!

How do you sum up the MOST FUN a papercrafting girl can have in just 3 letters & one word: CKC Convention! OMG, I just cannot believe how utterly wonderful, exciting & fantastic it was! In case you can't tell, this was my first trip to a CKC Convention & I hope there will be many more! The classes were phenomenal; we learned so much & the product you took home to play with, the many prizes & unbelievable vendors & products available literally overwhelmed me & "made my head hurt". I mean that in the best way possible, though I truly had a splitting headache when I finally got home last night. That was partly because I had too much fun to stop & eat properly yesterday & because I was way too excited to get enough sleep before we went.
Shown above are my 2 dear friends Gwen on the left & Ilene on the right, anxiously awaiting the opening of the vendor faire Friday morning. We weren't anxious or anything, but we arrived @ 7:00 a.m. & our first class wasn't until 8:30!!! ;-) Truthfully, none of us drives to downtown Phx. much, so we made sure we allowed plenty of time so as to not miss a moment of fun! Ilene's the main person responsible for getting me into cardmaking in the first place & Gwen is totally responsible for getting me into blogging & I love them both dearly for it!!! Gwen's probably going to flog me if I don't start creating & posting like mad these next many days because she knows what I spent the bulk of my Stimulus Check on!
And that's without even mentioning the added bonus of the Bazzill Warehouse Sale here this weekend! Yeah, I know, they tried to totally kill me off all in one weekend, but I still love both CKC & Bazzill anyway!!! I did manage to hit the Bazzill sale for a bit on Sat. a.m. before I returned with Gwen to convention. I won't even tell you what a gigantic savings I got because I really don't want you to hate me! Suffice it to say, it was more than worth the sacrifice I made to get up really early 2 days in a row to "steal" 275 sheets of gorgeous 12" x 12" Bazzill (including a bit of their scalloped & punched-edge) papers!
Now I'm totally on product overload, which surprisingly often causes me to NOT be able to create -- I know I'm weird; what can I say?! Somehow I'll try to muddle through this "awful dilemma"!!! ;~}

Free Standing Pop-Up Get Well Card II

For the second time in 3 weeks I needed a guy's get-well card - a trend I hope does not continue. My good friend Ilene's husband is the intended recipient, so hopefully she'll be too busy taking care of him to be blog hopping before his card arrives! She's a card maker (who was directly involved in getting me into this wonderfully addicting hobby), so I know she'll keep my surprise to herself. Since my mojo is slowly returning, I wanted to finally post something I created - been way too long!

My other friend Lucy's husband is in the hospital for an extended stay & she let me know that his card (posted on 8-17) was perfect because it takes up very little space & stands up nicely without constantly falling over. That was my intent. I kept Randy's card simple, both because I think guys prefer that & to open/close easily!

Splitcoaststampers written instructions can be found here, but I always change the width to 4 1/4" to fit an A2 envelope.

Paper: Making Memories Cosmopolitan Collection cardstocks

Embellishments: Making Memories Mini Curling Tags; American Crafts Ribbon; sticker letters from stash

Tool: Making Memories Tag Curler

RAK from Kelly SBS8

How sweet is this? My SBS8 Sister, Kelly (http://kelleast.blogspot.com/), posted a card on her blog awhile back using this "many thanks" stamp from her AC Moore store. After I commented I loved it & wished I could find it @ Michaels, she then went to her store (at least twice that I know of) to find one & sent it to me, along with this adorable card!!! Isn't it pretty? It makes me think of Hawaii with its beautiful blue waters and all those gorgeous flowers!!! :-) I didn't even know the cute little chick & flowers were part of the set. You're absolutely the best sister, Kelly!!! ;-) Thank you so much for making my day -- isn't it wonderful to open your mailbox & find a handmade card from someone you know (either in person or just online)? So fun!!! '-)