Happy Festivus!

Good Morning!  Happy Festivus, everbody!  Here's a little clip explaining the intricacies of this pseudo holiday.







The card above is not a Festivus card, but rather a traditional Christmas card.  It's actually a card that I 'm going to give my mother for her birthday, which was the 19th.  Lots of December birthdays...lol!

I probably won't be back to blogging until next week.  Until then, have a wonderful holiday, no matter what you celebrate!!!  Big Holiday Hugz to all my Blogland friends!  ;D

Happy Birthday to my sister!

Hello, everyone!  Today I am sharing a card I made for my sister's birthday, which is tomorrow, December 23rd.  That date may sound familiar, because tomorrow is Festivus.  This pseudo holiday was made famous by an episode of Seinfeld that aired in 1997, but more on that tomorrow.

Sunday, Nancy, the lovely proprietress of China Phoenix 2, held a Hero Arts Catalogue Release Party and asked my good buddy Kathy and I to demo a couple of make-n-takes.  I was lucky enough to get to work with a few of the new silhouette stamps.  They remind me so much of the beautiful images found on cameo jewelry, which I have always loved.  I guess I didn't get enough of them on Sunday so I decided to continue playing and managed to work up a card for my sister using one of the images.

This card is very simple and contains very little stamping, except for the main silhouette image.  I also added lots of paper flowers, gems, lush papers, and big black ribbon and bow.  I was worried that so many embellishments might drown out the main image, but I think it's bold enough to stand out against the frilly accouterments. I rather like how this turned out and can see myself using these silhouette stamps for lots of cards on the future.

I'm keeping this short today.  I am working on more stuff this afternoon, so maybe I will have something new for tomorrow along with a little bit of info on my favorite fake holiday ;D  Get inky and stay crafty!

Kenny K's Krafty Girlz Challenge - Week 24 Distressing

Time for a new Kenny K Krafty Girlz Challenge and Team B has a fun one for you!  This week, your assignment is to Distress It!  Create a card and add some sort of distressing to it.  The DT ladies have cooked up a lovely assortment of inspiration cards to get you started.  Swing by the Kenny K Krafty Girlz Challenge Blog to check them out.  In January, we have some new folks joining our team and I am really excited to work with them. On the other hand, we have some folks leaving the team and I will miss them tremendously.  Such a talented group of folks and I will be stalking their blogs regularly to see what wonderful things they are up to.

As always, if you use a Kenny K image on your card, you might be selected to win your choice of 5 Kenny K digi images.  These images just get hotter and hotter and I have seen them cropping up on projects all over the Internet!  The Kenny K stuff has really caught on, so don't get left sitting on the sidelines.  Visit the Kenny K Download site and pick up some of these amazing images today!

One Last Simple Christmas Card and a Holiday Party

Hello, everyone!  Wow!  What a crazy week!  We've had some ups and downs the past few days starting with a busted water heater on Monday (a down) and ending with a fabulous Hero Arts Catalogue Release Party at China Phoenix 2 on Sunday (an up).  The days in between promised a flurry of activity and not a single dull moment.

Friday we held our 4th annual "re-gift" exchange inviting 16 of our closest friends, and, in our tiny townhouse, they really were our "closest" friends...lol!  The idea behind the "re-gift" exchange is to take a really bad gift, received on a prior occasion, disguise it in some lovely gift wrap, and pawn it off on some poor unsuspecting soul at the party.  It's a lot like a White Elephant, but instead of purchasing a bad gift, we really insist that this is something that has been given to you, and hopefully, the giver of the gift is not at the party!  However...sometimes they are and that is all the more fun ;D  This year's gift highlights included a decorative resin cat fountain depicting frolicking kittens, a Xena Warrior Princess Action Figure who had made her first appearance at last year's party, and a pair of large decorative wooden male/female figures that closely resemble a fertility god and goddess.  This duo made their initial debut 2 years ago and have returned to the party each year since.  This time they came back enhanced...LOL!!!  Complete with curly ribbon hair, pink tattoos, and a myriad of other strategically placed embellishments!  They were fabulous!  We have pictures, but they still need to be edited, so they may show up here at a later time for your viewing pleasure or at the very least I will post them to my Facebook page.

We went all out on the food and tried to make as many dishes as we could.  Kirk smoked 2 HUGE turkey breasts and a ham on his Big Green Egg and they were phenomenal.  He basted the ham in pineapple juice and finished it by packing on a coating of brown sugar, clove, cinnamon, and black pepper, and putting it back on the grill for another 20-30 minutes.  This is how my mom cooks a ham and it is insanely delicious!  Kirk also whipped up a batch of his award winning Egg Nog Ice Cream.  Okay, it hasn't technically won any awards...yet...but it should!  Check out his blog at Albukirky BBQ for mouth-watering photos plus the recipe.  He also shares a little secret that he uses in all of his ice cream recipes that ensures a lovely creamy texture every time.  I stirred up a big ol' pot of decadent classic Swiss fondu and served it with lots of veggie dippers.  I also turned my home made blue cheese dressing recipe into a dip by substituting the buttermilk with sour cream, and for dessert I made Gold Bars.  Gold Bars seem to have some sort of a cult following in Albuquerque, because everyone who attended a school in the Albuquerque Public School system remembers buying these chocolate peanut butter treats in the cafeteria.  I did not go to school here, but I have had these bars elsewhere and loved them.  I saw them referenced on a friend's Facebook page and decided to track down a recipe for them.  Through the miracle of Google, I came up with one that sounded like it would do the trick.  At the party, these bars flew off the plate and within 10 minutes, they were gone...lol!  Everyone was talking about buying them in school and seemed to wax nostalgic after that.  I guess my bars were a pretty good likeness ;D

All in all, the party was a fabulous success and it appeared that a good time was had by all.  If my friends read my blog (and they better!) I just want to express my heartfelt thanks to them for stopping by and taking time out of their busy holiday schedules to share an evening with us.  You guys are DA' BOMB!!

Believe it or not, I have a card to share with you today.  It is the last of my Simple Christmas Cards.  There were 4 designs and they are the cards I created for my sister-in-law, Diane.  I did not get these cards mailed to her in time for her to send them out, but really, what else is new.  Those of you who read my blog with any regularity already knew that I wasn't going to finish these in time as it has become a holiday tradition of sorts...lol!  I emailed my apologies to her and she has accepted my groveling, and assured me that she does not hate me, which I am very grateful for.  The bright side is, she will have them early for next year ;D  It will be the first time...EVER...LOL!

I have a few more cards to make this week, so I will try to be back with something new.  In the meantime, enjoy the holiday countdown and stay crafty!      

More simple Christmas...

Hey, everyone!  Talk about going from one extreme to another!  This card is completely different than the last one...lol!  This is a simple Christmas card and I have to confess...these are hard for me to do.  I try to keep the embellishments to a minimum, because they are going to end up going through the regular mail, but I have this insane desire to add a few flowers, a charm, etc.  I have to really exercise some restraint and I tell you, this holiday season, that's the ONLY thing that's being exercised...LOL!  AND not very well, at that ;D

The lacy border image on my card is one of my favorites and it's by Penny Black.  It's perfect for adding that little bit of something to a card.  The tree image is by Paper Inspirations.  I think this was the first time I actually got it inky.

I have one more simple Christmas card to share with you tomorrow, so be sure and come back.  Stay crafty!

Kenny K just for fun...

Santa hired a new elf and Mrs. Claus is none too pleased about it!  Meet Biker Betty.  She was looking for a seasonal job around the holidays and Santa, being the caring and understanding person he is, decided to help the poor girl out...lol!  For whatever reason, Mrs. Claus did not take a shine to Betty and had Santa give her the boot.  Oh, dear...!  What will Betty do?  Never fear, as long as there is an aluminum pole nearby, Betty can make do.  What...?  NO!  Get your mind out of the gutter!  Betty celebrates Festivus and the aluminum pole is a big part of that holiday ;D  Festivus occurs on December 23rd each year, which happens to be my sister's birthday, and it has been forever immortalized by the Seinfeld series.  Don't believe me?  Just check Wikipedia, it's there, I swear...LOL!

On to my card.  Let me say this, if you want to practice coloring skintones with your Copics, these are the images to use...lol!  Seriously though, there is quite a bit of real estate and all the curves require a bit of shading.  My favorite Copics for fair complexions are E11, E00, E000 and as of late, I have been adding a bit of R20 to the curvier areas.  It a fantastic combination.  The R20 really adds that little bit of rosiness that skin naturally possesses.  Give it a try and you'll see what I mean.  I wish my pictures had captured those colors better, but I believe I left my exposure setting a scant bit light so it drowned out some of my details.

I also used my favorite reds on this...R39, R29, R24, and R22.  Love the gradation that I can achieve with these.  Anyway, this card was fun to make and I really love the Krash Kittenz release.  They are super sexy, but oh so cute and just a tad sweet ;D  I have been seeing some amazing creations around the Internet using these images.  Visit the Kenny K Krafty Girlz Challenge blog to see fabulous cards not only by the DT, but also by the folks entering the challenges...WOW!

I've got to scoot! Stay crafty ;D    

Kenny K's Krafty Girlz Challenge - Week 23 Let it Snow!

Welcome to a brand new week!  I bet your "to do" list for this week is as long as Bernie Sanders recent speech on the Senate floor, but remember...it's very important to squeeze in a little time for yourself and I have just the recommendation.  Join the challenge this week at Kenny K's Krafty Girlz and create a card featuring snow.  Creating can be very therapeutic and relaxing, so nobody will fault you if you take a few moments to play and you can knock out another holiday card in the process.  It's a win/win situation!

I used Bodacious Bev for my card.  She's part of the Gothik Angelz release, which isn't too Christmas-y, but a Santa Hat from the holiday accessory pack, puts her in the mood to spread some holiday cheer.  The snowflake background is by Hero Arts and a die cut snowflake by Nestabilities helps to reinforce the theme.

I hope you find time to join the fun this week, because one person will randomly be selected to win 5 Kenny K images of their choice.  Isn't that an awesome prize?!  With all the newly released images to choose from, you won't want to miss out.

Swing by the Kenny K Krafty Girlz Challenge blog to see the incredible and inspiring creations that my teammates have cooked up.  After that, head to the Kenny K Download site to check out the new images and to pick up the December digi freebie.

Be sure and come back tomorrow, because I have a Krash Kitten Kristmas Kard up my sleeve that will give new meaning to the term Global Warming...LOL!  I'll give you a hint, I am using Biker Betty ;D  Have a great Sunday and I will be looking for looking for your Kenny K submissions on the Krafty Girlz site.

Another simple Christmas card...

Hello there! Welcome back! Today I am sharing another simple Christmas card with you, because sometimes you just have to pare back in order to survive the holidays. With so many things to do, it feels like there is a constant shortage of time and energy, so any little tidbit saved is a treasure.

This card features a simple layout and even simpler stamping. Not much to it really. In fact, the most challenging task was mustering up enough patience to let the glitter glue dry before sticking it in an envelope...lol! Me likey that ;D

Again, I'll keep this post short. I know you've got better things to do, like...shopping for presents, wrapping gifts, decorating the tree, making and mailing cards, getting the house ready for company, planning that Christmas party, attending other holiday parties...sheesh! I'm exhausted just typing all that! I think it's time for a hot chocolate break...peppermint schnapps, anyone?

'Til next time ;D Stay crafty!

A simple Christmas card...

Hello, everybody! Just a super short post tonight. The sandman has chased me down and this time he has won. I think it's Mr. Holtz' fault, because I have been staying up late every night to catch a glimpse of his newest tags as he loads them. The latest one will just have to stay a surprise until tomorrow morning...sigh :(

Instead, I leave you with a simple Christmas card where the sentiment is the focal point. I don't do many of these, but I rather like this one.

Nighty-night, all!

Tim Holtz Tag and a Kenny K Challenge!

Hey all! I want to give a big shout out to all of the fab folks that joined me Saturday for my Goth Christmas card class. It was a blast! Thank you for spending your afternoon with me, as I know there were probably a million things on your "To Do" list that day, especially this time of year. I truly appreciate it!

Now, for my tag. My mom has been playing along with the Tim Holtz 12-Tags of Christmas this year. In fact, she played along last year, as well, and my sister and I got to reap the fruits of her labor. This year, she has convinced me to play along, too. I am a little late to the party...I just finished Tag #1, but I had a good time putting it together.

I cut out all of my grunge board pieces including the Rickety House, however, when I was trying to assemble my tag, I couldn't balance all of the elements to my satisfaction. Tim (yep, first name basis, except that he doesn't know mine) used a wire type tree that he fashioned out of some Prima rustic branches. It didn't take up much space on his card. I decided to go with the Alterations Branch Tree and it is slightly more bulky. When I laid everything out on my tag, it was way busy. I really liked how my tree turned out though, because I layered on lots of glitter to resemble snow. AND it was REAL glitter, not the glitter glue crack that I am addicted to. BUT, you know what that means... there was glitter everywhere! The cats are going to be pooping glitter for a week...! Oh well, at least it will be sparkly when I clean the boxes. So, because I was so fond of the tree, I had to forgo the house. It may show up on a tag down the line, who knows. I also opted to add a smaller tag with a sentiment on it, whereas he has a ticket on his. It is certainly very different from Tim's tag, but you can see where his original tag sparked the idea for my tag. All in all, I am happy with the way it turned out and can't wait to start Tag #2.

Before I go, I have two things to share. First, there is a new challenge happening over at Kenny K's Krafty Girlz Challenge blog. This week, Team B is asking you to create a monochromatic card. I've never created a monchromatic card, but the results are stunning. My Team B teammates have really created some amazing pieces using this technique, so please pay them a visit on the blog. Remember, there are lots of new images in the store including those sizzling Krash Kittenz (MROWR!). Also, there's a new freebie for December, so stop by and pick her up.

One last request. We're having a Design Team contest over at the Bombshell Stamps Forum. Each of the DT members has created a project and we want you head over there and take a look at all the fab eye-candy. Now I'm going to give you my best Politician Running for Office spiel...please cast your vote for me and I promise to lower taxes and bring more jobs to your state. Ok, so I can't do those things, but I can be really grateful and thank you profusely ;D

Tomorrow I am sharing a Christmas card, so be sure to come back. Until then, stay crafty!

Playing Favorites!

Hola, bloggers! I know I haven't posted much in the way of new cards this week, but I intend to make that up to you next week. I have lots of Christmas card ideas percolating in my little bitty brain AND I want to color up more of those delectable Krash Kittenz. I know you gasped when they were first introduced, but there is a part of you that is smitten with them...LOL ;D Also, mom has convinced me to play along with Tim Holtz' 12-Tags of Christmas, so I am going to give it a shot. I'm already behind, but I'm not going to let that stop me ;D

I made a bombshell card earlier this week and I am reposting it again today. I know...what a cheater I am! I jumped the gun and blogged about it a bit too early and now I am double-tracking. There is a contest happening at the Bombshell Stamps Forum involving the Design Team and the Guest Designers. Our assignment was to take our first bombshell stamp set and attempt to create our best work with it, then ask the forum members to vote on their favorites. Now, I don't know if this is my best work, but I had fun making it and that's all that really matters. I used a ton of glitter glue and that makes me happy, as well. Hey, it doesn't take much ;D

I'm not asking you to vote for my card, instead, I'm asking you to visit the forum using this link, access the thread titled "Vote for Your Favorite", take a look at all of the amazing projects and cast your vote. You may have to register to gain access, but it's really no big deal and you can join in on the monthly challenges while you're there. There are always fabulous prizes up for grabs and somebody has to win, it might as well be you! The holidays have a tendency of draining our wallets, so if you enter a bombshell card and win one of the challenges, that would be like a little Christmas bonus just for you ;D Whaddya say?

New stuff next week...I promise! Until then, stay inky!

I'm teaching a class this Saturday! Join me!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am teaching my Goth Christmas card class this Saturday at China Phoenix 2 at 1:00pm. The cards feature fabulously edgy images by artist Daniel Torrente for Stampotique.

Sick of the long lines at the mall? Tired of the incessant non-stop assault of Christmas music blaring over store speakers? Angry at the sight of all the broken Christmas ornaments at Hobby Lobby, because they've been hanging around being randomly molested by looky-loos since Halloween when you weren't ready for them, but now you actually need them? If the holidays are already starting to get under your skin, cut the sugary sweetness by adding something a little bit twisted to your Yuletide festivities. Join me Saturday and I guarantee just that!

Afterwards, we'll all get back to the holiday hustle and bustle we have grown to love, but for a few hours, let's take a little break and create something edgy and elegant ;D

More Bombshell!

Hello. everyone! Sorry I'm late with copy for this post. I stayed up really late this morning putting this card together, so when you glance at the posting time and it says 3:00am...that's really the posting time. That's nuts! I know!

There is a challenge for the Design Team members and guest designers over at Bombshell Stamps to create a card using the first BSS stamp set they ever purchased. I had a bit of choice on this one, as I purchased 5 sets my first go round. I remember how I found Bombshell Stamps...queue upward glance and faraway look in eyes to indicate a flashback...

Actually, I found them on the Internet, probably in the same manner as most of you. What prompted to go on a quest for these types of stamps was my husband's niece, who had just opened a rockabilly clothing store in Las Cruces. She asked me if I would consider making some cards to sell in her shop that would work with the rockabilly style. I took that as an invitation to go shopping for more images, so I gladly accepted without any knowledge of what images I would use. I literally did a quick search on the Internet for "bomshell stamp images" not having any prior knowledge of BSS and guess what popped up on Google? Yep! There was the link to Bombshell Stamps. I had no idea that images this cool even existed. I was blown away! So needless to say, I ordered 5 stamp sets right off the bat! That was probably a couple of years ago and now my BSS stamp inventory is off the charts, but my wish list continues to grow. With all these new sets being released, I won't rest until I have them all! LOL!

For this card I used Butterfly Queen, even though my first instinct was to go with Bombshell Angel. Bombshell Angel is my absolute favorite and I have used her in countless creations and have even taught card classes where she was the star of the show. This time I intentionally decided to refrain from using her, because she gets used so much that surely the other bombshell's in my arsenal are getting jealous. Instead I went with Butterfly Queen and though I have used her on some things, she has probably seen less ink than the rest of the gals. I colored her up with Copics and also combined her with images from the Love and Luck set. I also picked up a new pad of coordinated papers at Hobby Lobby (half off, YAY!) by G.C.D. Studio called Paris Nights. Yes, the front DP is flocked! So decadent! I would wallpaper my house with it if I thought could afford a gazillion pads of it...LOL! With only 3 sheets of this design in each pad, it is not exactly cost effective ;D

So, there it is...my love affair with Bombshell Stamps. Do you want to start your own love affair with these images? Take a look at the photo and link I just added to the top of my side bar. Bombshell is having a Follow That Bog contest and one lucky winner will receive their choice of 2 stamp sets, one rubber and one digital. That winner could be YOU! Follow the link and find out how you can win. See you later, stampers! Stay inky!