Sunflower Studio

SCARE UP SOME FUN!

Here's a little something to get us in a spooky mood!  (This and these three adorable little figurines by Jenene Mortimer that I bought at A Country Setting in Bel Air today.  I found some pix online HERE.  I got BART the bat and MOE the mummy and JACK the pumpkin.  OMG...there are some others here that I just might HAVE.TO.HAVE! Oooh, I love me some Halloween!)

My sweet friend, Carole, gave me this image to try out. She can work wonders with these KRAFTIN' KIMMIE images but I just wasn't sure I could make the detail in these work.  I'm so not good at "realistic" and that's what I think of with these.  You know...the hair...and the clothes.  I'm actually pretty proud of the way she turned out though.  Who wouldn't like some purple Halloween hair and tights to match?!  Ack...she's called MAGICAL MATHILDA but I can't seem to locate her on the website.  I did find her HERE in another card on the KK blog.  I'm sure you can "inquire within" at the KK site and they'll give you the scoop.

I used Copics to color her and some colored pencils and gamsol for her "halo" effect.  I'm really diggin' her go-go boots where I added a tiny "shine" with a white gel pen.  I have been so wanting those Wonky Rectangle Nestabilities dies but have yet to plunk down the money for them so I handcut the main panel shape.  I used a bunch of colored twine, a big black button, and an inverted scallop diecut for my embellishments.  All of the patterned paper is from the Eerie 6x6 pad from Basic Grey.

YOU SAY THE TWEETEST THINGS {tcptues174 & Fabulous Felt Challenge in the Moxie Fab World}

I'm squeaking...or should I say "tweeting" in with my TCP TUESDAY card at the last part of the the day today!  Of course, it didn't help that we didn't have electricity since Saturday night due to Irene.  (I have to say that the pitch black neighborhood at night was verrry creeepy!)  But, all came back to life at 9:00am this morning and waht a relief that was!

SUSAN is our hipster hostess with the mostess this week and her challenge to us all is to choose a stamp/set from THE CAT'S PAJAMAS that includes WINGS - or at least a bird!  The penguins will even work!  Remember it's a STAMP CHALLENGE week so you need to use TCP images for this challenge.  (Most weeks we would love for you to use our images but you don't have to.)

I chose the birds from the NESTING set and the branch and sentiment from THE TWEETEST THINGS set.  I also used the ROLLED NEST CUTUPS die with brown and green felt.  I rolled small triangular pieced of felt to create blue birds eggs as well.  I used patterned paper from October Afternoon (newsprint and clouds) and Simple Stories (background).  Tiny MFT Adornments rhinestones, buttons, Linen Twine, and ribbon finish it off.

I also gave one of the MOXIE FAB blog challenges a try this week - the Fabulous Felt Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  I notice people mentioning them all the time and I thought I'd give it a go.  The fact that it's a felt challenge fit this week's card them perfectly!  You can find the details for this challenge by going HERE.

So, grab your bird stamps and join us for this week's TCP challenge, won't you?! Use keyword TCPTUES174 when uploading to SCS and don't forget to add your card to ALMA'S BLOG too.

Rolled Nest CutUps

Nesting

The Tweetest Things

BOY...BOAT...BOOKMARK!

I noticed THIS AMAZING BOOKMARK on the TIDDLY INKS blog this week by Renee.  Is that gorgeous or what?!  I knew that I had to make something similar.  So, while we're waiting for the hurricane to show up here in Maryland, I'm enjoying a quiet day in the craft room.  (So nice to not have anything else to HAVE to do!)  I went in search of some instructions and did find a quick how-to but basically just used that for the base.

I used the FLOAT MY BOAT mini set from THERE SHE GOES as my central image.  I think this guy with his curly hair is the cutest thing.  I teamed him and his doggie up with great papers in the Cosmo Cricket Social Club 6x6 paper pad.  I also used the WAVE CUTUPS die from THE CAT'S PAJAMAS and a large scallop border die from PTI.  Cherry Divine Twine and two bright red brads finished it off.  Now all I need is a good book and they day will be complete!  (I actually have a really good book but it's on my Kindle...but I have a few library books waiting on the nightstand too!)

Still pretty quiet around here on the weather front...rain mostly.  Hope we won't need a boat too!

WHAT A WEEK!

So, our family has been trying to wring everything we can out of this last bit of summertime 2011.  We started last weekend by seeing JOURNEY, FOREIGNER, and NIGHT RANGER in concert in Virginia Beach with my sister, Lynn.  What a blast from the past too!  There were even quite a few people dressed in "vintage" 80s clothes and hair-dos.  The problem with them was that I'm thinking they were so not even old enough to have been around during the heyday of these bands.  Well, you gotta give it to them for appreciating the "old folks" music!  Ha!

Then, on Tuesday, my mom and I took the little boy and a friend to MOUNT VERNON.  Why not get a little educational activity in there too, right?  I highly recommend visiting George and Martha's home.  It's such a beautiful place. It's all restored to what it would have looked like in 1799, I think it was.  I don't know why I didn't remember that it's right on the Potomac and so picturesque.  The museum and gardens are wonderful as well. 

Of course, the big news on Tuesday was the East Coast Earthquake!  And here we were right there in Virginia - not really THAT far from the epicenter - AND WE DIDN'T EVEN FEEL IT AT ALL!  Crazy, I know!  I was somewhat entranced by all of the amazing sunflowers in the gardens - I think I took 35 pictures of them! - and we missed it.  When we headed to the spot where the mansion tour started everyone was talking about it and they were evacuating the mansion to make sure that all was still okay.  WHAT?  An earthquake on the East Coast?  That's just silly talk! Anyway, I made a little slide show of our day at Mount Vernon in case anyone wants to take a look...

 

Now, we await Hurricane Irene here on the East Coast!  The in-laws will be coming inland (they live at the beach) tomorrow morning and spending the weekend.  We get so many of these "gear up for anything" events only to have the storms change track and head out to sea.  Nothing to do now but wait and cross our fingers that no major damage comes our way.  (I'm also praying that my sister - who lives about three blocks from the ocean - will remain safe and sound!)

WHAT A WEEK!

YOU MAKE ME HAPPY {tcptues173}

Here I am checking in for TCP TUESDAY on a Thursday...it's been a busy week.  It's shocking to even think this but I'm actually happy that it rained today.  That gave me good reason to spend the entire day in the craft room and get some things done.  Our weather has been fantastic until today so I really can non complain one iota! 

So, this week we have a COLOR CHALLENGE from TORI - CORNFLOWER BLUE, ORANGE, and CHOCOLATE BROWN.  Fun, right?!  I do love some orange and brown and I just happened to have a few sheets of new patterned paper (trees/wood from American Crafts, polka-dots from Echo Park) that fit the bill perfectly!  I grabbed the KICK SOME GRASS bunny in his field of flowers for the central image.  I know....he's orange.  Looking back, I might have made him the same old brown, gray, or white but, hey, let's get wild and crazy and go orange.  Why not?!  I also used the GRASS and BIG SCALLOP CUTUPS dies and the sentiment from the BEARING FLOWERS set.  Blue rhinestones, hemp twine, and various buttons finish it all up.

Join us this week, why don't ya?!  Make sure that you use keyword TCPTUES173 when uploading to SCS and also add your card to the slide show at ALMA'S blog as well. 

DON'T MISS THE END OF SUMMER SALE AT THE CAT'S PAJAMAS!

SUNFLOWER GIRL

It's been a little bit since I've had a chance to make something with one of my PURE INNOCENCE gals from MY FAVORITE THINGS.  Fortunately for me, KIM at MFT, sent me one of their newest images, SUNFLOWER GIRL.  Oh, how I love her!  This is the Sunflower Studio, after all!!  Well, it could have been the fact that when I saw Kim in January I screamed "You have to make a Pure Innocence gal with a sunflower!"  I think I mighta scared her...ha!

I teamed her up with a gaggle of beautiful new papers in the Blissful Collection by Authentique.  I am in love with this paper.  I used this week's WEDNESDAY SKETCH CHALLENGE #33 for my layout.  THE CAT'S PAJAMAS SUNFLOWER ROSETTE CUTUPS die worked perfectly for the circle part of the sketch.  The branch with leaves is a Sizzix die, the rhinestones from Colorbok, and satin ribbon from PTI complete the look.

TCP TUESDAY #172 - Supply Challenge

This week's supply challenge from THE CAT'S PAJAMAS is to use FELT on your card or project.  Did you know that The Cat's Pajamas has wool felt in their store?  Yup...color bundles that you will love!

Well, this challenge was perfect for me this week because a neighbor had a baby recently and another neighbor had asked me to put together a small album to give to the new baby's big brother.  She also getting a little camera so that the big brother (and he's only like four!) can take pix for the book.  Cute idea, right?

I purchased a small flip-style photo album at the dollar store for a buck and then went to work with my felt stash.  I used the GRASS and CLOUD BORDER CUTUPS dies in the obvious places.  I used Spellbinders oval dies for the nose and ears.  Everything else I hand cut and then I also added some stitched french knots and details with embroidery floss.  Oh, and I added the pink cheeks with my Copic airbrush. So, a pretty quick and easy project and definitely inexpensive!

Of course, you've gotta have a card to go along with your gift!  I found a onesie card pattern online and made up this simple card.  The new baby is a boy so I went with tiny train paper from the MME Lime Twist - Out of the Blue paper pad.  I stamped PJ from the HAPPY CAMPER set and cut out just his cute little head to add to the pocket of the onesie.  I die-cut a tiny tag and stamped "baby" (both from PTI) and then pinned that onto a DIVINE TWINE bow with a teensy pin from Making Memories.  And to get just a pinch of felt into this too, I added an itty bitty felt heart to the tag.

Okay...grab your felt and let's see what you can do.  You've really gotta love the texture and fun that felt adds to a project!  You've still got time to join us in this month's SWANKY STAMPER contest as well as to get your cards in for our weekly contests.  Come on...we're talkin' CAT'S CASH and you know you want that...more stamps...or felt, for that matter!  Add your card to this week's slide show on ALMA'S BLOG! Use keyword TCPTUES172 when uploading to Splitcoast.

(*note* - I'm having some computer issues as I write this so I'm not able to give you the links to my TCP supplies like I normally would.  You can always click on the TCP logo to be taken directly to the site.)

YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME {sssc130}

I've been wanting to use this adorable little boy image for a few weeks now.  I am completely enamored of him.  I mean, take a look at his alien t-shirt! CA-UTE!  The image is called USE YOUR HEAD and it's a digital image from TIDDLY INKS.  The sentiment here is from A MUSE. I paired him up with new BOARDING PASS papers from OCTOBER AFTERNOON to go along with Karen Giron's SWEET SUNDAY SKETCH CHALLENGE #130.    He's all colored up with Copics and I added CHERRY DIVINE TWINE and a tiny red rhinestone to finish it all off.

 

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS {tcptues171 - inspiration challenge}

All of a sudden I'm seeing lots of Christmas creeping into stamp images, patterned papers, and Splitcoast.  Is everyone gearing up for the holidays a bit early?  Getting a head start?  Well, my middle name is "LAST MINUTE" so that's surely not me but this week JEN has a wonderful TCP TUESDAY INSPIRATION CHALLENGE for all of us that's screaming CHRISTMAS!

I went with the button tree and the Christmas green and red color scheme.  I dug deep into my CAT'S PAJAMAS stamp bin for these great images.  PJ and the Santa hat are in the A BEARY GOOD YEAR set.  The sentiment is included in the YOUR GIFT set and the presents are from the YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY set.  The tree is cut using one of the larger PENNANT CUTUPS shapes.  The patterned paper is from the Modern Homemaker pad from October Afternoon except for the woodgrain and that's from A Muse.  It's all finished off with a gaggle of various buttons and Cherry Divine Twine.

Let's see what you come up with using Jen's inspiration collage at the top of the page.  Add your creation to the slide show on ALMA'S BLOG to be included in our weekly/monthly contests.