Viva la Verve!

I made this card for the Split Coast Stampers March Verve sketch contest.

Paper: Scenic Route, American Crafts; Stamps: Verve "Fluttering By", "Thankful Blossoms"; Ink: Brilliance (Rocket Red); MS border punch; Embossing Powder: Stampendous (Detail Copper)

Finishing up M/J

I've been busy the last couple of weeks trying to finish up work for the May/June eZine and trying to get my companies to write back regarding feature articles. The latter it turns out, is not so easy.

I think I've done about 25 cards this past month! Some months cards come easy, and this was just one of those months I guess. I've also done some work in Alexis' dollhouse, papering the walls and altering some bare wood furniture with stamps and spray color. I made several pictures and a clock to go in there too, we've had fun :)


Here's a card I made a couple days ago with paper that I designed with stamps. The butterfly paper started out a plain pale yellow. I used My Favorite Things background stamps with blue and then pink Momento dye ink, inking up the edges a bit as well. I sponged some lighter pink and blue ink over the images to create a bit of a distressed look. Then I finished it off with butterfly and dragon fly images stamped with Creative Imaginations (dragonfly) and Crafty Secrets (butterfly wings) stamps and black Brilliance ink. I made an 8x8 sheet of this paper, so I have some more to make other cards with later. It was fun!


The rest of the card was finished off with some pink brocade Scenic Route paper, Scrap Within Reach pale blue pattern paper, a Stampendous! black damask and American Crafts glitter Thickers.

Colorful Cards

I got this pretty American Crafts paper (patterned and cardstock) a few months ago, and I've been getting a lot of use out of it! Here are a couple quick cards I made last night.

The stamps are all from Verve Stamps, such a great company! I love their sentiments as well as their beautiful designs. They've got a great card sketch contest going on, but you've got to hurry! Lots of prize goodness.

It was a busy few days! I had Micah's Birthday Party on Saturady and his Cub Scout banquet yesterday. I've been scrapping and card making a LOT lately, but can't share most of it yet ;) Once the March/April issue debuts I'll have some stuff to show. That's coming up here quickly too, I can't believe February is almost over. Wow!

I like Coffee, I like Tea

I was so excited to see my package of Crafty Secrets clear stamps propped up in the mailbox yesterday! It was the last of the Design Team product that was coming to me for the May/June issue, and I was ready to play. I got several different sets of the stamps, but my all time favorite was the Coffee & Tea set. I love vintage and retro items, and these were just perfect. I love how many possibilities these stamps provide for layouts, cards, and off the page projects. In fact, I love them so much, that in the time I've had them I have created 4 cards, a special altered item (to be seen in the May/June issue!) and a large decorative frame. I can't keep my hands off of them!

When I stamp, I like to stamp items at one time that I can use on different projects. That way, I have pre-stamped items just waiting for me to use them on cards or other quick projects. Here are a few pieces that I stamped this afternoon.

And here are a couple of the cards that I made today. I just love these ladies!

Please Come for Coffee

Paper: Three Bugs in a Rug (polka-dots), Cardstock Warehouse; Stamps: Crafty Secrets; Ink: Brilliance (black); Border punch: Martha Stewart; Markers: Copic E00, RV11, RV14

Coffee & Hairspray

Paper: Cardstock Warehouse; Stamps: Crafty Secrets; Ink: Brilliance (black), Momento (pink); Border punch: Martha Stewart; Markers/Pens: Copic, Signo

11 years ago...

A decade and a year ago I was a senior in high school and had the lead in the musical "The King and I." It was such a great experience, and I really miss those late night musical practices leading up to the performances. Here is a LO I did a while back with one of the press release photos and a personal photo of myself. I drew the butterfly shape onto a piece of sheet music, cut it out and sprayed several coats of acrylic sealant on it. Then because it was glossy, I was able to apply alcohol inks and color it. The paper fans and bamboo background were items I received in my design team package, and I thought they fit in nicely.

Someday I'd like to get back into theatre, whether I'm performing in community theatre or directing high school productions. They're a whole lot of work, but so worth it!

Thinkin' Ahead

Since I have to work tomorrow morning, I decided to post this tonight. Just a card I finished with one of my new Stamping Bella stamps.

I stamped the Stamping Bella stamp onto smooth cardstock and also onto yellow polkadot and blue distressed cardstock. Then I cut out pieces from the yellow and blue and adhered them over the original stamp with mini glue dots. IRL you can see the slight dimension. I used a Signo white pen to add accents to the brown cardstock and also to write the "whoa momma."

paper: Cardstock Warehouse, Scenic Route, My Mind's Eye; Adhesive: Glue Dots; Pens: Signo Uniball, Creative Memories; Misc: ribbon and heart punch

Once Again

After I got busy working with Scrap 'N Art last year, I completely and utterly neglected my blog. The longer I didn't post, the harder it became to think about posting. Hopefully a fresh start will jumpstart my blogging, because I have really begun to miss it in the last few weeks!

For anyone wondering about the blog title, "Crazy Blue" has been a username I've used a lot in the last 4 or 5 years. I pretty much just picked it out of the blue, if you know what I mean. Soon people began to know me by that name on various boards and sites, so I decided to keep with it.

Today, I'll just share a few cards I've made in the last 2 weeks. I've been selling cards at the store I work for in the mall lately. So if you're in the area and you see a card that I post that you particularly like, drop on by! :)

For this card, I used watercolor paint on a piece of watercolor paper. I just used a broad brush and swished it back and forth and let it dry. After it dried, I stamped the sentiment and inked the torn edges of the paper.

Paper: Scenic Route; Stamps: Verve; Sticker: Stampendous!; Ribbon; American Crafts ; Ink: Colorbox pigment (black, brown), Brilliance (black)

I used my Silhouette to cut out the leafy item and the die cut frame and oval on this card. They're available for download in the Scrap 'N Art forum. Did I mention they're free?

Scrap N Art Forum.

Instead of machine sewing on the card, I decided to paper pierce for a change. That way it was easier to go around the delicate swirls.

Paper: Cosmo Cricket; Ink: Colorbox pigment ink (red); Rub-on: Melissa Frances; Border punch: Martha Stewart

The city scape on this card was cut with a GSD file I designed for Scrap 'N Art. It's available for free downnload in the Scrap 'N Art forum as well.
Paper: Making Memories; Stamp: unknown; Letters: American Crafts Vinyl Thickers