Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen January Gallery - Now Open!

If its the 15th then you know what that means - Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen Gallery for January is now open!  I've had a blast making my cards for this month's theme.  I won't give away too much here, but lets just say that I've been finding inspiration all around me!

You've seen snippets of my sitting room for the past year, and this is where I love to sit and read, or enjoy a quiet cup of tea. Its the ONLY room in the house where there are no toys allowed.  

Don't forget to swing by the Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen Galleries to see who the latest two Dirty Girls are (I'm so excited and would love to gush about them both here, but then, I'd ruin your surprise!!!!)  Have fun perusing everyone's creations!  

Here's just a snippet of the card inspired by my favorite room in the house... you'll have to visit the gallery to see the full card!  Ahh, such a tease I know, now --- Get Going!!

Splitcoast's Gift to You

Admittedly, I've been a little quieter around here than I'd like lately.  Yes, the Christmas cards, and general Christmas preparation around here has been keeping me busy.  But I've also been working on my cards for the Dirty Dozen Gallery on Splitcoast.  Usually these galleries are visible only to members of the Splitcoast Fan club, but I have some really fun news for you.....

As an extra special gift, Splitcoast Stampers is opening the December 2008 Dirty Dozen Gallery for all registered members, not only the members of the Fan Club.  If you're not a Fan Club member and wondered what the Dirty Dozen galleries contained, here's your chance to get a little sampling!!

Also wanted to mention that Splitcoast is also running a terrific special this month.  For this week only, purchase a one-year gift subscription (or renew your own) for just $19.95. Subscribe today and you'll get access to past Dirty Dozen galleries as well as next year's.

I'll have this full card to share tomorrow, but if you're really interested, you can see this card, and all the Dirty Girls December creations tonight at 12pm CST!

Thankful Hearts

How could I not play in the Dirty Dozen and Dirty Dozen Alumni monthly challenge?  Oh my goodness am I ever so excited to be in the presence of these fabulously talented stampers!

This month's challenge was to create some sort of table decor, or a hostess gift for Thanksgiving incorporating a heart into your project.  

I had picked up this beautifully boxed candle on a recent excursion to Target.  Its a pumpkin scented soy candle, so in addition to being beautifully packaged, it meets my green criteria (lead free wick!) Yahoo!!

I created a little bellyband to cover the label, adding a nestie diecut oval and scalloped border adding the "thankful" from Cornish Heritage Farms.  Then added a little felt flower petaloo love from My Favorite Things.  I stamped the little heart from Cornish Heritage Farms "Heartwarmers" set colored it with copics and then gave it some sine with stickles.  It is attached to a Cuttlebug Tiny tag die and then attached with some linen thread and a button. 

Glitter always looks so much better in person, it has totally befouled my photograph, in real life its so sparkly like a little ruby gem! The whole box is tied up in some pumpkin and chocolate ribbon.  

However, the more I looked at this project, I felt like the heart was really just tucked onto there, and not integral to the design. And, being the

 over-achiever I am, I had to try again.

I still had plenty of this October Afternoon paper leftover, and I had just received my order from Just Rite Stamps of the Brayton font as well as the rectangular stamper.  What a great excuse to put them to work!!  

Following Sharon's Tutorial on Rubber Stamp Conditioning, I cleaned and sanded the stamp surface to really condition that rubber to take to the ink.  I zig zag stitched all my edges on the card for a really homey feeling and then added a Cosmo Cricket chipboard heart shaped button finished off with a felt flower and button from Making Memories.  Although I loved the altered candle, I thought in the end, that this project was really more reflective of the Thankful Hearts challenge.

Thanks so much to Sharon Harnist for hostessing this challenge - please be sure to check the Splitcoast Galleries with the keyword "DCTH1108" to see what all the other Dirty Girls and Alumni have to share today!

Happy Mother's Day!!

So, I can finally show you my secret stamp project. I went to visit my mother today with the boys to deliver her mother's day gift. I created this tag card based on a design by the lovely and talented Valerie Stangle. If you'd like the instructions as to how to make one yourself, you'll have to join the Splitcoast Fan Club!

I also decorated one of the Stampendous tins from Eclectic Paperie with paper from the Just Delightful Sell-A-Bration Simply Scrappin Kit from Stampin' Up. I also used the Paper Trey sentiment "love you forever" and placed it on a slider from my Cuttlebug. This pail is filled with with some sunscreen that I bought at Beauty and Main, a new nail polish, and a belt and headband from Kaleidoscope Designs. I have a few bags and belts from Kaleidoscope my mother has QUITE the collection. She's the lady that quite literally has everything, so it was fun to try to put together a collection of a few trinkets she didn't already own!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

U are the Best

Thanks to all of you who stopped by to visit the last few days! Its been so fun!

Here is my naptime card today. I used both my textile and french script cuttlebug folders, my new favorite ribbon (from Cindy's "starlit studio" on Ebay) my SU paisley background - kissed onto the U - the linen background is stamped on the middle white layer (it is super hard, if not impossible, to see here) and my glitter on the glue dot on the brad trick for a little sparkle on the flower. The first white layer looked a little blah, but by this point, I was out of backgrounds, and naptime was coming to a rapid end, so I did some paper piercing around each corner for just a little touch.

The little flower holds a hidden message, tucked behind the U reading "are the best." This idea comes from a card from JulieHRR which I found on the Dirty Dozen's Splitcoast Fan club.

I can't link to it, because if you're not a member of the Fan Club, you don't have access to it. I can't recommend the fan club highly enough. The work is amazing, and so worth the cost of entry! In fact, I even found a recipe for chicken from Taylor on there. Have to say, it was YUMMY. If you want to see Julie's card, or find Taylor's chicken recipe, you'll have to sign up!