Sassy & Sweet Notes

Blogger's Challenge Friday: Layout

This week's Blogger's Challenge Friday was to create a card using the layout on page 44 of the Stampin' Up catalog. It's a fun layout to use, so try your hand at it too!

I chose to use stamps by Rosie's Roadshow to create this little springy scene.

The four stamps I used to create the scene are Leif, Flower, Long Grass, and Sabine the bird.

The images are stamped in black Stazon and colored with Copic markers. The background around the scene was then watercolored with a light wash of color.

Exciting news about Rosie's Roadshow! Rosie has opened an online store! If you've had trouble finding the stamps at your local shops, you can now order them online directly from miss Rosie! Yay, Rosie!! LOVE the new shop!

A Day at the Beauty Parlor

Even farm dogs need a bath now and then, and today was one of those days for Mister Farley and Miss Daisy.

I take them to a place called Bow Wow Barbers. The folks there are so nice, and do such a great job! I think Mister Farley might be a favorite customer.

He's everyone's best friend, you know. Or, actually, everyone is HIS best friend. Miss Daisy is more concerned about the status of cookie delivery than she is about getting affection. Where's the next one coming from? Who's got the bag?

After spending the day at the pooch beauty parlor, Mister Farley is ready to go home. He gets so tired spending the day at the spa. I think he worries about whether or not he's going to ever see his family again. (He's kind of a mama's boy.) But at the end of the day I always come to rescue him and he couldn't be happier!

Daisy is the same way. Worry, worry, WORRY! She thinks it's a glorious thing at the end of the day when she hears me in the lobby. There is no time for leashes -- must RUN to MAMA!

"Hi MOM! I missed you! I was the best dog! Hey, do you have a cookie for me?"

The people at the salon spoil them ROTTEN while they're there. They're kenneled together while they wait for their turn in the tub, kept in the same room during bath time, and they both are loose and free to visit everyone at the salon while the other is getting brushed and dried. Sounds like a pretty ok way to spend the day as a pooch, if you ask me!

They smell so nice... they're so very soft. Thank you, Bow Wow Barbers! Woof!

Favorite Peeps

I thought it was about time I pulled my head out of the clouds and put some stamped ink to paper. Being sick sure has taken a lot of my creative energy. Well, all of my energy, really. I'm still coughing and have a funny, raspy voice, but I'm getting better - I think! Thanks for all of the well wishes you've been sending my way. You're so thoughtful! And YES, I do think the pineapple cake has helped. *grin*

For some stampin' fun tonight I used my Nesting Hen stamp and made this card for a friend. The hen is stamped in black Stazon and painted with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers. I like how the painted shadows around her make it look like the hen is cut out and adhered to the white background with foam dimensionals, but she's really just one single layer stamped on the white paper. Painting makes me happy!

The little chicken tracks in the background are drawn in with an apricot colored marker. They were an afterthought after the card was put together. Had I thought about it earlier I probably would have used the chicken track stamp from the Stampin' Up set called Best of Cluck. But now I'm glad they're hand drawn. I like their randomness and charm.

The sentiment is by Amuse, and is one of my favorites. Imagine that... me, chickens, and this sentiment -- we were made for each other! The sentiment is a year or two old, so if you're looking to buy it you might have trouble finding it. Your best bet would be the Amuse site.

In other news, I have to say I am CRAZY excited about the next Whipper Snapper unmounted set being released on March 14th! It seems forever and a day away because I can't wait to see what the March Featured Designers do with the images! It just makes me wiggle thinking about it! I'd better brush up on my stampin' skills, that's for sure! All this time off makes me feel rusty! I received my copy of the March set today, so I'll be hard at work getting ready for the release over the next couple of weeks. You KNOW how hard it is for me to keep things like this a secret, too! But I'm going to really try hard this time! Really! I promise! *grin*

Aunt Patty - Doodled

Since I shared the recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and thanked Aunt Patty for the original recipe, I thought I'd "doodle" Aunt Patty for no other reason than "just because". I think Patty looks best in pink.

Say CHEESE!

Hi Patty!
(She's one of my Mom's sisters, by the way...)

Aunt Patty digital illustration by me: February 26, 2008.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Alright girls... it's time for a tasty treat! I made this recipe yesterday.

It's soooo divine, I must share it with you.

I started out using a recipe from my Aunt Patty, but altered it a bit to use what I had on hand.

Here's my version!

SweetMissDaisy's Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Aunt Patty says it's important to use a glass pan - pineapple can react with metal and make your cake taste metallic! I used an 8x8 square glass baking pan. You could also use a 9x9 glass pie dish.

Topping (cooked in pan):
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3 small cans CHUNKED pineapple

Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in the bottom of the glass baking pan. Spread 1 cup brown sugar on top of the melted butter. Drain 3 small cans (or 1 large can + 1 small can) CHUNKED pineapple, and place pineapple chunks on top of the brown sugar. You don't need the pineapple juice for this recipe, so mix it with some OJ and enjoy a fruity drink while you wait for your cake to bake!

Cake:
1/2 cup butter room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flour

Mix together the cake ingredients and spread over top of the pineapple chunks (it'll be thick!). Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Let it sit for 5 minutes, then turn it over onto a plate and serve, or leave it all in the pan and serve like a cobbler.

Yummy! Deeee-lish!

PS: Yum-Girl digital illustration by me: February 25, 2008.

weekend sunshine

It was sunny here this weekend, so I drug the ol' camera out and poked around the farm for a little while (in between naps, since I'm still sicky...).

I found Geronimo lounging in the sunshine and he gave me a kitty pose. He's wild. Can't you tell? He spends most of his time laying next to (if not IN) the food bowl. He's not one to miss a meal.

Junior was lounging in the sunshine as well, no doubt waiting for a meal.

What ever happened to "working" farm cats? I guess rolling around in the dirt, waiting for either a meal or a belly rub, keeps them busy enough.

welcome baby

Nope, I'm not expecting, but several people I know ARE, and that's pretty fun! Especially since it's not me! I made this welcome baby card to send to a friend. I used the bunny from my Whipper Snapper set called Spring has Sprung. He's stamped on a separate piece of paper, painted, cut out and adhered to the base of the card with foam adhesive. The balloons were done the same way. Hmm. Balloons. A sentiment. Perhaps these are new... being shared for the first time? Just maybe. *wink*

Got Snacks?

This morning the neighbor's longhorn calves were near the fence across the road from our house, so Alan and I went outside to see about getting some pictures.

The calves thought we were pretty scary and weren't about to have anything to do with us. They ran off to be with their mamas as soon as they could. The neighbor's horse, on the other hand, didn't waste any time coming over to see if we had any treats. Too bad we didn't...just a camera, and chilly fingers.

Scruffy fella, isn't he!

Western Eye Candy...

I'm in one of those creative phases where I've been busy, but not with anything I can post about just yet! But I don't want to leave you hangin', either!

In addition to being secretly stamping, I'm also busy working on a little project with some of my photos. I thought I'd post one of my photos for no other reason than it's good eye candy.

What's not to love..... *grin*

A Dirty Girl's Spring Sheep

Today is the day that the SplitCoast Dirty Dozen girls (past and present) share our February challenge card. I was MORE than excited when I heard that the challenge was for us to use stamps designed by fellow Dirty Dozen girls, because that includes my Whipper Snapper stamps! Whoooo-FUN!

There were a few other "rules" to the challenge as well. We were to use "spring" colors (whatever that means to us), NO die-cutting machines, and if we wanted to we could use any other Dirty Girl's card for inspiration for our own.

I chose images from Spring has Sprung and BoPeep's Sheep for my card. I stamped the images with black Stazon ink and watercolored them with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers. For a bit of extra pop with the flowers, I added color with Copic markers after the watercolored inks were dry.

I used a Quickie Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to add sparkles to the sheep's wool.

You've got to see the other Dirty Girl creations! You can view the gallery of all of the designs HERE. It's so fun to see the various stamps by Lisa Strahl for Cornish Heritage Farms, Melanie for Gina K Designs, and my Whipper Snapper stamps all in one gallery!

polka dots & bunnies

I'm sharing these two cards today made with images from Spring has Sprung. The cards are very similar and pretty much speak for themselves. Square format, watercolored, diamond dust glitter added for sparkle. Easy Peasy! And now, I'd better muster up some creative energy.  Hmm...creative energy and DayQuil. Is it possible? We'll see...

three sheep a leapin'

Here's a card I made a couple of weeks ago with one of the sheep from my unmounted set called BoPeep's Sheep. This card came together really quickly. The sheep are stamped in black Stazon ink and painted using a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers.

The first sheep turned out a little too "blue" for my liking, but I wasn't about to scrap it all and start over. I just had to pay closer attention to the amount of ink I was laying down with the water brush so that I didn't make the same mistake on the other two sheep.

In order to hide the legs of the top sheep, I stamped the two lower sheep first, then masked them with post-it notes, and then stamped the top sheep. Where his legs overlapped the two lower sheep, the post-it notes protected the lower images, giving the appearance of distance or depth. Masking is fun ... like magic!

Instead of saying "happy spring", I think this card would be cute if it said "welcome baby"! The cute plaid Memory Box paper along with the big sheer ribbon and polka dots says "baby" to me.

Several people have asked for information on how I paint with reinkers. A long time ago (December 2006) I did a quick tutorial on painting with reinkers as well as using colored pencils with Gamsol or odorless mineral spirits. You can find those tutorials on my Tips & Tricks page. You'll also find a bit more information specific to the kind of paper that I use on this post, made earlier this month. Hope this is helpful!

And now, I'm off to crawl back into bed. Being sick is certainly NO fun when I could be spending this long holiday weekend stamping!
PS: Please excuse any typos ... I'm medicated.

another day in bed.

Yup...that's me.
Crackers & Gatorade.
And lots of Zzzzzzz's.

happy spring

Here's a quick and easy spring card using images from my Spring has Sprung set just released from Whipper Snapper.

I'm still stuck in my "fresh color" phase. This card was done in apricot and banana. It's difficult to see, but I stamped the small flower image in a random pattern on the background layer in apricot colored ink. I stamped the bunny with black Stazon ink and painted him with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers.

The carrot is also stamped in black Stazon, colored with markers, cut out and adhered to the card with dimensional foam adhesive.

It's a good thing I had a few cards ready for the release of the new sets. Since I got back from California, I've been in bed SICK! Icky sicky!! I've got a fever, headache, ear aches, cough, and I swear there's an elephant sitting on my chest. *pout* I don't like being sicky... I don't get anything done when I'm sick. Hopefully it passes quickly. I've got stuff to DO!

BoPeep!

I have had more fun playing with my new stamps! I made this card using images from my BoPeep's Sheep unmounted set. I stamped the chicks on the background paper in caramel colored ink. They look like they're running around the barn yard, peep peep peep'ing!

BoPeep was stamped directly on the white paper layer, but the sheep was stamped on another piece of white paper, cut out, and adhered next to BoPeep with dimensional foam stickies. The sheep's face is also cut out from another stamped image and adhered with dimensional foam stickies.

The images are stamped in black Stazon and painted with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers. I added just a few little dots with a small pen below the images. This is an easy way to "ground" an image, giving the image something to stand on. Hopefully on this card the dots are not mistaken as sheep droppings. Haa!

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

CHA Snippets

Here are a few snippets of what could be seen at CHA this year. There was a LOT to see, and I know I didn't see it all. But I saw a good portion, and had a GREAT time!

MAY ARTS RIBBON
From dots to stripes to solids to sheers, May Arts had them ALL! Even suede! Alan wanted to know what heaven looked like...

More MAY ARTS RIBBON


CORE-Dinations PAPER
I really liked their Vintage collection that is a textured cardstock, pre-sanded. This photo shows their "All in the Family" collection, which was just a pretty display of color.

SAMPLES SAMPLES SAMPLES!
This lovely little 4-piece set was one of the samples in the Ranger booth. I'm excited about their new white gel pen. It comes out in a nice fine line, has a really nice opaque color, and is smoooooooth as can be. Order a dozen, at least!

SIZZIX
There were lots of new dies. Here are just a few.

FUN TECHNIQUES:
I was able to catch a few demonstrations by various designers. There were two demonstrations at the Tsukinecho booth that were fun. One gal from Japan (the "most famous stamp artist from Japan") was there showing how she cuts her own stamps from soft white erasers. Her images are printed on new erasers and sold so that others may cut their own version of her stamps. I believe the man assisting her at the booth said she has written seven books on stamping. She was very sweet, and now owns a copy of my Posies for You set. (Her name and url are in a box with all of my other catalogs, etc, being shipped to me, so I'll update this when the info arrives.)

The photo below is of Claudine Hellmuth, collage artist. She shared various transfer techniques. I've read her blog for a long time and enjoy her TV spots on various shows so it was fun to chat with her and be able to ask her questions.

There was so much to see and do at the show! I'm looking forward to the summer show in Chicago!

Whipper Snapper: TWO NEW SETS!

I am so VERY excited to announce today that Whipper Snapper is releasing TWO of my new unmounted stamp sets! Not just one, but TWO! Yahoo!

It has been so hard not sharing all of the cards and images with you. Secrets like this are HARD to keep!

I made this Spring has Sprung card using images from the BoPeep's Sheep set, and the sentiment from the Spring has Sprung set. The chicks and the sheep are popped up on dimensional foam, and there is diamond dust glitter on the flowers for LOTS of sparkle!

On the second card, I used the blue bells image on the background paper to create a subtle pattern to the paper.

I stamped the images with black Stazon ink and painted them with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers. The flower on this card is also popped up on dimensional foam. I love this bunny!!

BoPeep's Sheep features BoPeep, two of her fluffy sheep, mama hen and chicks, some blue bells, tulip, sentiment and grass to help finish off scenes. As I've been making cards with the images, I've found that not only is this a fun set for spring, but also makes cute baby cards as well!

I love versatility!

Spring has Sprung features a cute bunny, an easter basket with eggs and flowers, some tulips, a fat carrot, grass, and sentiments.

Cards I've made using this set are great for Easter, spring, baby, and even birthday!

You've got to see what the Whipper Snapper Featured Designers have created for this new release! AMAZING!!

Jeanne Streiff
Leigh O'Brien
Cheryl Rowley
Diane Zechman
Tracy Harp

Posies for You Blog Candy Winner!

Hi again! Wow! It's been a while since I've been able to post, so I've got a lot to catch up on!

The response to the Posies for You blog candy was the BIGGEST response I've ever had to a drawing, and WOW! What fun! Thanks to all of you who participated.

I put all of your names into an Excel spreadsheet and let the random number generator choose a number. Big congrats to Rachel Hope! Get in touch with me, Rachel, and I'll get your Posies for You set out right away.

CHA, a Sneak Peek, and Blog Candy, too!

WHOA, have I been busy! I think my head's spinning!

First of all, tomorrow morning bright and early I'm off to California to attend CHA with Lisa from Whipper Snapper. We're going to spend three days enjoying the show, meeting all KINDS of fun, friendly people, and SHOP! I'm excited!

It will be my first CHA experience, and I can't wait! I'm excited, and nervous (so many people, so much to see!) but know it will be a fun time. I'll have my computer with me and will blog what I can, when I can. Stay tuned!

Next, I've got Whipper Snapper news, and oooooooo.... this card is a sneak peek at something NEW! You've seen the Posies for You butterfly before, but I do believe you're seeing a new sentiment AND a new bunch of flowers! The next Whipper Snapper unmounted release happens SOON! I can't WAIT! That's all I'm sayin'!

And finally, BLOG CANDY! You knew it was coming! I couldn't miss an opportunity like this to give someone a special treat!

I've got a copy of Posies for You for one lucky person! Will it be you?  If you'd like to be entered into the drawing for this set, leave a comment on this post. Tell me your favorite THEME for stamping. Flowers? Birthday? Baby? Whatever it might be!

What? You already have a copy of Posies for You? Good! But enter anyway! You can always give a copy as a gift!

You've got until Tuesday night at midnight central time to post your comment. I'll use a random number generator to choose one name from the comments, and will announce the winner on Wednesday.

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Have a great weekend!
-Anna.

A Vintage Treat for You

Alan and I went to an auction last year and I ended up buying several photo albums FULL of various vintage post cards, and little greetings like this one.

Tonight I was poking around in the image files on my computer, and I came across some of those vintage post cards and calling cards that I scanned last summer.

Tonight, I thought I'd post this one for YOU!

Click on the image to view the larger image size. Save the file to your computer. If you right-click on the large image, you will get a menu that will have some sort of a "save" option, like "Save Image As..." or "Save Target As..." -- choosing that option will allow you to save the image file to your computer.

Once you have the image saved, you can print the image (I like printing on white cardstock), cut it out and use it on a project! Or, if you're a digital scrapper, you can use the digital image file. Whatever you decide to do with it, have fun! I think it's a sweet little image to say I love you.

Enjoy!

Feel Better Wishes

Several of my friends and family members are in need of some happy, healthy thoughts right now. I made this quick little get well card to send some feel better wishes. Florence Bear (by Rubbernecker Stamps) is stamped with black Stazon and painted with reinkers. I added some Stardust Stickles for sparkle. (Ha! Another square card! I'm hooked!)

Be well, friends!

Bowl of Cherries

Tonight I decided to use my Bowl of Cherries stamp, and make another square card! I've had my cherry stamp for about a week, and tonight was the first time it met ink. Ooooh, it likes ink! I'll be using this stamp lots and LOTS!

I stamped the image on a slightly textured white card stock and colored the image with Copic markers. I realized something tonight while I was coloring this image and thought I'd share it. Normally when I color an image, the shadows (light gray) are the last thing I do. But... I've learned that it really should be the FIRST thing I do. I've noticed that the light gray marker pulls a bit of color from any other colors it might touch, so as I was adding shadows around some of the cherries, if I touched the red of the cherry with the light gray marker, suddenly red was pulling into the gray! ACK! That's BAD when I have so carefully colored the image! Maybe you've noticed the same thing? It sure took me long enough to figure out that I need to reverse my coloring process if I want to keep this from happening.

The swirls on the background were made using the flourish stamp from the Stampin' Up set called Priceless. LOVE that stamp!

Happy Wednesday!!

Valentine Journals for Kids!

When I was a kid (and still now as a taller kid) I liked getting things for Valentine's Day that wasn't just candy. The candy was great too, but I liked the crafts I made, and the trinkets I was given as gifts.

I made these "great for kids" journals for a craft sale that never happened. Now seems like a good time to get them out of the house, just in time for Valentine's Day! They're still wrapped in the clear cellophane packages, ready for the sale that was canceled.

I've posted 9 different eBay listings for journals, all similar to this one (the images on the front vary). The auctions are only 1 day long so that I can get them shipped as quickly as possible this week.

The journals are 4x6 inches and have lined pages (I'm not sure how many pages, but there's a bunch!).

View the auctions at the top of this eBay listing page (top 9 listings).

I want them to make some kids happy this Valentine's!

Me and my Ducks

Last night I was looking through some of my image files for a client, and came across some family photos I scanned a while ago for my Aunt Patty.

This is a photo of me in our back yard, carrying a wooden spoon (why? dunno...), and my ducks Soup & Quackers. I like the angelic glow.

I'm going to guess and say that this was the summer of 1974, but Mom and Dad would know for sure. Maybe one of them will leave a comment on this post, and enlighten us all!

Maybe Mom knows why I was carrying the wooden spoon, too!

This photo reminds me of one of my Whipper Snapper stamps, called Gretta.

eat chocolate

I think one of the cutest images from High Hopes Stamps this year is this indulgent piggy. I'm certain that the chocolates he ate weren't intended for him, but for his sweetie instead. What's a chocolate loving piggy to do, but eat chocolate?

The sentiment is printed on the paper (not stamped). The piggy is stamped in black Stazon ink and watercolored with reinkers and Twinkling H2Os.

The layout is clean and simple, perfect for large images.

It's a Monday... ugh. Definitely a day for chocolate.

Hoppy Easter

Here's another card using the layout from the SMDSC02 sketch challenge I posted last night.

The squares on the base of this card are 2.25" square, and the square for the main image is 3" square.

The stamps used on this card are the February Project of the Month images from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. Cute as a button, isn't she!

I stamped the image in black Stazon and painted the bunny with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers. The white dots on her cheeks are made with white acrylic paint, placed with a toothpick. There are sparkles on her yellow bow, and on the eggs in the background.

Several people have asked about the kind of paper I use for my painted images. It varies, actually, but here are a few that I use that are readily available:

Acquarello Studio Watercolor Pad (140lb Cold Pressed) by Fabriano
Fabriano Artistico Bright Wight Watercolor Block (140lb Hot Pressed)
Arches Watercolor Blocks (140lb Hot and Cold Pressed)
Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Blocks

I use 140lb paper because I like the weight of the paper. It won't curl or twist with the kind of painting that I do. Hot Pressed papers are the smoothest surface texture, and they're what I use most of the time for stamped images. I like to use Cold Pressed papers for original illustrations/paintings. Cold Pressed papers have a bit more "tooth" to their surface, so it's more difficult to get a good stamped impression on Cold Pressed papers. You can also get Rough paper as well, and as it sounds, it has a very rough surface. I don't recommend Rough if you want to have a good stamped impression, but it's great for loose, traditional watercoloring.

If you're looking for more info on my painting technique, check out my Tips & Tricks page. There's information on using Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, as well as Watercoloring tips. Hope it's helpful!

Hope you're having a great weekend!
-Anna.

Sketch Challenge: Fun with Squares!

Every now and then I like to offer up a challenge on my blog, just for fun! Here's a sketch challenge for you!

Create a card using this layout. Your images, colors, etc are up to you! (The squares on my card are all 2.25" square, but you could use any size.)

For my card, I chose to use this cutie of a stamp by Stampendous. The image is colored with Copic markers.

If you're up for the challenge, post your card to your gallery, blog, or photo hosting site and leave a link to your card in a comment on this post. It'll be fun to see what you come up with.

If you happen to upload your project to SplitCoastStampers, use keyword SMDSC02 so we can find all the sketch challenge cards! Hope you can play!

Gift Frog & One LUCKY Blog Candy Winner!

I'm having such a great time using the stamps that I received this week. Gift Frog is one of my new Whipper Snapper images that I *needed* to have. I stamped him in black Stazon, and painted him with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers.

I used white acrylic paint on the tip of one of my smallest embossing tools to add the small white dots to the frog. It worked well, and was much easier to clean up than a paint brush.

I'm really liking River Rock colored Stampin' Up cardstock this week. (It's the funny pale green colored paper on this card.) I found that it matches this plaid paper by Chatterbox perfectly! Wouldn't you know it, I only have 1 sheet of the plaid paper, so I'll be on another search through my paper stash for a good match to River Rock before too long.

ANYWAY.... I bet what you are really wanting to know is who the LUCKY winner is of the three Whipper Snapper Blog Candy stamps I posted earlier this week.

WOWEE!! Out of 430 posts congrats to Anette Eakins!! It's YOUR LUCKY DAY! Get in touch with me, and I'll get your Shy Bunny, Hen's Easter Egg, and Love Line stamps out to you right away!

BIG thanks to everyone who participated! YOU are the reason offering Blog Candy is so FUN for me!

Happy Friday!