"Dinner was soon followed by tea and coffee" (Mansfield Park)

This week's challenge at Card Makin' Mamas is to incorporate food or drink into a project... AND I'm currently signed up for a swap with Splitcoast Stampers featuring caffeine, so this double whammy came in QUITE handy!

Quite honestly, this is the MOST clean and simple card I think I've EVER made, lol! I added stickles to the sugar cubes and some bling on the ribbon trim, but even though it's got all my favorite things (like Graphic 45 paper, ribbon, lace, bling, copic coloring), It's still so... clean! :) But I like the look, although oddly enough I'm not too sure I can always repeat the effect!

Although it doesn't have a Some Odd Girl image (though I generally LOVE using 'em!!), I am also submitting this one into the SOG challenge this week, which is a "Thank You" theme (cause the DT's terms are up... If you HAVEN'T checked out SOG, you should definitely hop on over there... My pal Kristy is beyond talented and has some AMAZING artwork for sale!

Thanks for looking and have a sunshiny day!

Christmas in July!

It has been a SWELTERING week here in Jersey... So hot that we lost power on Friday and have been pretty much exclusively indoors all weekend. The only good thing about being stuck inside is the time to get crafty! :) I signed up for like a bazillion swaps to keep myself busy, not to mention the fact that I'm still working on samples for my Copics Club classes at Scrap-A-Doodle Doo...

But my mojo has been semi-MIA... I haven't scrapped a single solitary page in FOREVER... Cards help me get the creative juice flowing, but nothing has helped me crack the lack of scrap mojo... What to do??

BUT, I did check out the Kraftin' Kimmie challenge this week (awesome sketch, btw!) and it definitely helped me get some craftiness goin'... I was stumped on what to do for my Pink n Green Christmas Card swap, and though I am not 100% sure how reproducible this card is (it took me about six hours to make... I had fun making it, but to repeat six more times for a swap? Not too sure...)

I had tons of fun coloring in and paper piecing this cutie, Christmas Clara... I used some old Basic Grey Nook and Pantry paper for Clara's dress and then added highlights using Copic markers R10, R13, T0, and T6... I colored her skin in with E000, E00, and E11... Then I went to town on her hair. :) I used E50, E53, E31, E33, E25 and E27 to get the shades correct for her hair. And sadly, I think I am still in need of other "E" shades... :) Since she came out so cute, I did think to include her in Papertake Weekly's challenge... :)

AND I finally got a Cuttlebug Machine... I've been in denial for years and gave in recently... So featured here are the script Cuttlebug folder and the Spellbinders Labels 8... SO much fun being able to emboss and cut with the Cuttlebug... And less noisy than my Cricut, so I was able to play with these pieces at 1 AM this morning! :) SOOOOO... I'm also entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp challenge (Newspaper) for the printed embossing on the side of the card.

Well, I've got to run, but thanks so much for checkin' out this lil' cutie, and STAY COOL! :)