Rubber Raft

Hooray for The Man!

2010-11-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

If you’re like me, you are squeamish when it comes to bugs – especially killing them, and hearing that sickening crunch! That’s why I trained my man to be my bug squasher, and YES, I have gotten him up in the middle of the night to do the dirty deed for me! That’s why when Boni asked for ideas on new images I quickly described my husband to her, and asked for a bug squashing hero. He he

Here’s a Sneak Peek at this new image from Bonibleaux Designs Digis – “Kill It Kevin” hasn’t been released yet, but you will be able to get this helpful guy on November 30! Mark your calendars, because I KNOW you have a bug squasher in your life, too! :o)

Boni is so sweet, for those of you who haven’t “met” her yet! She sent me this guy to play with the very next day after I described him to her! She’s really a genius doodler; if you haven’t checked out her images yet, you are totally missing the boat!

You can also see Boni’s images, and the art from her design team, at this challenge blog: Dude Time Doodles Challenge Blog – they have some really awesome stuff going on over there! You should definitely follow this blog, because you won’t want to miss what happens next!

I colored my man with Tri-Art markers, and the bug was colored with Twinks. Any manly card needs some sort of metal “bling” so I added silver brads to mine. I ran the yellow mat through the Cuttlebug to get some texture, and swiped a bit of bronze ink over the embossed ridges. I added a bit of plain red ribbon under the piece to help bring out “The Man” phrase on his t-shirt. I colored two images, and cut one out so I could pop him up. I like how his raised arm is adhered at the fist flat, and then pops out as it goes down his arm towards his body. Makes it look more real. I totally dig it, and I know my Kevin will, too. Thanks, Boni! You ROCK!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'! Ursula

FCD Farewell Blog Hop (sniff sniff)

2010-10-21T20:47:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Farewell FCD Blog Hop! This is both a happy and sad day; can you believe the doors are almost closed? Make sure you do your shopping early before your favorite designs are all gone - more than half the store is gone already or down to only one or two pieces left! Hurry, Hurry! FCD Store closes forever on Dec 15, 2010 (or sooner if sold out)

So, the theme for this hop kind of evolved so you may see an eclectic set of themes. It started out as Word Play - make art based on a favorite poem. We added a Fall Theme bailout plan for those who hyperventilate over the poetry theme. grin. THEN came the announcement the store was closing, so we piggy-backed a Farewell theme onto the Word/Fall theme. Designers only had to meet one of the 3 themes, so you'll have lots of interesting art to see!

Since I was completely behind the 8-ball this month, I went with a Fall/Farewell theme. I would have loved to play with the Word Art theme, too, but just didn't have time to work it in. I used so much water on the above piece, it ended up looking kind of like tooled leather. I like it.

My card uses an FCD Digi Flower Harvest Honey. I wanted it to look water-colory so I colored it with markers, and spritzed the heck out of it. Then added a few dibbles of Distress re-inkers and water color pencil to refresh the washed out markers. I love the way it bled out. :o)

The Aloha word comes from the Happy The Hedge Hog set. (hurry - he's still in stock, and only 4.49 for the whole set!!)

Please leave a comment on all the blogs to up your chances for the Blog Candy Pamela will give away. Hop closes Monday, October 25, 2010 at 8Pm EST.

Now continue your Farewell Journey by visiting the lovely, and very talented Karyn! And please don't forget to wish Miss Pamela well when you get to her blog!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'! Ursula

Are you shocked? I made something!! LOL

2010-09-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

I actually made something this weekend, and it wasn't even for a blog hop! I know, you're shocked, right? he-he!
This card uses a new digi image released by FCD just yesterday! This image is called Bauernmalerei Blossom 1, and you can see it here> digi blossom

Here's the whole card:

I printed the image on white cardstock, and cut it out with a Nestie die: Labels 2, 3.25" wide

I colored it with Tri-Art markers, added some sparkle pen, and a bit of bling. Tied a ribbon, and done.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'! Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: There's No Place Like Home

2010-09-16T20:57:00.001-05:00

Hi gals! Welcome to the FCD Blog Hop! This hop started out about homes - make a 3-D or card shaped home, and decorate it with stamps and photos, etc. In the end, we opened up the theme and allowed the girls to also/or create a card using any FCD sketch and FCD images. So this one could turn into a smargasborg! :o)

I went for the house, and really dig the results! I'm going to send this one to my mamma, who will become a grandma for the 4th time in January when my sister gives birth to her son!

So, here it is! I started out with a pink colored house, thinking about those cute sherbet houses found so often at the beach. In the end, it didn't turn into a beach house at all, but I love it still! :o)

Images used: German Phrases - mix, Clearly Calendar Set, Happy Everything Set, Let's Celebrate set, and Pitchin In set. The trees and birdy also use the matching die-cuts.

here's another view that shows the windows and textures a bit better. The windows have bits of fabric in them to mimic curtains, and the roof was painted with a dry brush and some acrylic paints.

Announcement: In case you haven't heard, FCD is closing it's doors in December! Sniff, sniff. Last day to order is 12/15/10. October 1 all stamps (clear and rubber, no digis) go on sale 50% off. Whatever is left will be discounted further in November, and finally all product (excluding digis) will be on sale - Twinks, Shimmerz, etc in December, with remaining stamps discounted even further. Get want you want now before it's gone FOREVER!

Time to hop over to the lovely Shelly! Keep hopping until you get back where you started. Leave comments along the way for a chance to win some blog candy from Miz Pamela. Candy chance closes Monday, 9/20/10, 8PM EST.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stampin'! Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: Inspired Book Covers

2010-08-19T21:00:00.010-05:00

Welcome to another FCD Blog Hop! This month was so FUN, I decided to make 2 pieces for you to enjoy! Our mission: Create art that has been inspired by a favorite book cover! Inspiration can be based on sketch, colors, theme, design elements, etc.
I chose children's books for both of my pieces. The first up is the classic, The Red Balloon, by Albert Lamorisse.

To mimic the boy, I used a young lad from the FCD Heritage Boys set. The balloon, of course comes from the FCD Birthday Balloons Up Up and Away set. And finally, the small Eiffell Tower comes from the FCD Parisian Romance set. The rest of the effect was achieved with black ink and markers. Not bad, eh? :o)

And now for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! I read this to my son when he was small many times! (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room? LOL). The tree was made from the trunk from FCD Create-A-Scene, and the leaves are the leaves from the FCD Stinking of You set. The birthday words came from the balloon set (link above), and the happy everything phrase came from the FCD Birthday Wishes set.

Don't forget to leave comments on all the blogs. As always, a name will be drawn from one of the comments to win some blog candy from FCD! You can't win unless you comment. Giveaway closes on Monday, August 23, at 8Pm EST. Check FCD's blog to see if you won! (if you leave a contact addy, she'll also e-mail you.)

Please continue your journey by going to the lovely (AND NEW FCD DT), Dana. Please give her some extra love and welcome her to FCD! :o)

Happy hoppin' ya'll!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'! Ursula

Paint Chips and Sketch 021

2010-07-24T00:31:00.000-05:00

I just love paint chips, don't you? Something about browsing them in the home improvement section just makes me happy! :o)
I sat down this week to make a paint chip card. Really the card was inspired by this tre-chic clothing tag I cut from a Tee earlier in the week. As luck would have it, the colors in the tag coordinated beautifully with some new paint chips I recently picked up. Ahhh, Serendipity, I do love when you come to visit!!
The card was further inspired by FCD's Sketch 021, a diagram of which was still laying on my craft table from last week's hop. Way cool - this very quickly brought the card together! Gawd, I love a quickie! LOL

The two images used are the butterfly from Bliss, and the smaller sprig from the Chicory set.

The chicory flower was stamped onto a matching die-cut from FCD after I had inked it to match. The butterfly was inked, stamped, embossed and then cut out.

Hope you enjoyed this one. It felt good to sit down and create for no reason other than I just wanted to! Hope you find time to create this week, too! ;o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'! Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: FCD Sketch 021

2010-07-15T21:00:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the July FCD Blog Hop! This month we are using an FCD Sketch, #021, and you can see it here.

This month, too, we have several guest DT’s joining us again. Please give them a warm welcome when you get to their blog: Hetty, Karli, and Michelle Pearson.

Keep hopping until you wind back up where you started. Blog candy winner will be chosen from among those comments that are posted before 8Pm EST on Monday, July 19, 2010. Up your chances of winning by leaving a comment on every blog!

Here’s my sketch interpretation:

The image and phrase comes from a new digi selection from our newest digi designer! Boni, of BoniBleaux Designs has started designing the most fun digital designs for FCD. She’s a doodler by nature, and these are some of her doodles! Please give her some love, and buy a digi or two to encourage her efforts! I used the HillBilly Moonshine set. Isn’t he just the funnest? (Yes, that is a word – if you’re a hillbilly!! LOL)

I had just been to Home Depot, and picked up a new selection of paint chips, so I knew I wanted to use those. I just love using paint chips, especially when you can so easily get them color coordinated! All the colored matte pieces are paint chips. :o)

Hope you enjoyed this piece. Please continue on your journey to: The Fabulous Boni!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stampin'!Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: Open Roads!

2010-06-17T22:40:00.006-05:00

Hi Peeps! I know I’ve been absent a while! I’ve been busy moving, attending my niece’s graduation in SC, and having surgery! I still have some boxes in my studio to unpack, but I have enough to play, and my hand is recovering enough to make some play time possible – as long as it’s nothing too crazy or time consuming! But I’m working my way back, promise!

I’m a last minute entry to this month’s FCD blog hop! The theme is Open Roads. It’s finally summer and that means travellin’ tunes – make something inspired by a favorite travellin tune!
This month we also have some designers from the Paper Temptress store hopping with us, as well as the guest digi and guest stamp DT for FCD! Welcome to all of you gals; I do so hope you have a super time! And welcome to you hoppers, too! Ready, set, go!

This card uses some trash-to-treasure, digital file (the car), stamps, and computer printed text. I think I covered all the bases! LOL

So, here it is! Kind of simple, but it took a lot out of me so I hope you like it! :o)

The car template is an FCD freebie! You can find it here. The car was cut from the backing of a Basic Gray chip board pieces set. It had such a pretty design that I kept it for future use. Finally found a use. Looks cool as a car, doesn’t it?? The lady comes from the FCD Women in Character set. The music note comes from the Karaoke Star set.

You know the drill on the circular hops by now: keep hopping till you come back full circle, no matter where you started from. Blog candy chances are good through 8Pm EST Monday, 6/21 – just enter comments on all the blog spots. A winner will be randomly chosen from the comments from one of the blogs.

Now, please continue your travellin journey over to: Chrissy!!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: May Mayhem!

2010-05-20T21:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Firecracker Designs By Pamela May Mayhem Blog Hop where the more distressed the image, the merrier!

By now you know the drill: keep hopping until you come back where you started. Leave a comment on every blog to have the best chance to win the rubber that Pamela is giving away. Giveaway chance closes at 8:00 pm EST on Monday, May 24. Winner will be chosen by Pamela from a secret blog.

For all you digi artists out there: Did you know FCD has an open call for her digital DT? If you want to submit, click here for more info. Better hurry, though, deadline is approaching! Don't be shy; show us what you can do!

So, here is my piece. This card uses FCD Scatter Joy, and Sally Says. The flower is made from two of the flowers on the scatter joy set, inked, distressed, and tied together.

Now on to the lovely Boni for your next stop on the May Mayhem Journey.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

First Ever FCD Digital Design Team!

2010-05-02T14:05:00.003-05:00

(Go to Pamela's original post.)

We are ready to create the first ever FCD Digital Design Team!! Do you have what it takes?
Can you wade thru megabytes of digital images? Can you vanquish the eternal computer lag? Can you befriend large file sizes?

(go to Pamela's original post to download the application form and submission guidelines.)

Your sword is your mouse, and your shield is your printer. You have one week to complete your tasks. Deadline for art submissions is Midnite, May 10th.

Your journey with FCD will begin June 1st. GOOD LUCK!

Email your querries to admin (at) firecrackerdesignsbypamela (dot) com

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!Ursula

National Scrapbook Day: May 1st!

2010-04-30T15:40:00.003-05:00

Happy NSD weekend!! In honor of this annual memory-love fest, Firecracker Designs By Pamela is offering two special sets just for you! These sets were specially gathered to coordinate with scrapbook pages; these are some of our favorite images, too! ;o)

Sale ends Friday, May 7 at midnight EST.

Set 1, Red Rubber Scrapbooking Collection:

Here's what you get!! (tip, you can search the FCD site by the product codes listed below if you want to view the individual sets closer up.)

Butter/Dragon Fly, 2x3002, 4.49
Dots–Hollow Bubbles, 2x3005, 4.49
Dots–Distress, 2x3004, 4.49
Doodles 7/Paisley, 4x5019, 8.99
Doodles 8/Journal Jammer, 4x5020, 8.99
Innies/Outies 4, Those Were The Days, 4x5025, 8.99

That's SIX red rubber sets, with a retail price of over $40.00, your deal? Just $25.00!!!!

Total value: $40.44

Sale price for set: $25.00

(we reserve the right to make equal substitutions to fill orders if an item is sold out.)

Set 2: Clear polymer Scrapbooking Collection:

(tip, you can search the FCD site by the product codes listed below if you want to view the individual sets closer up.)

Set 2 is all Clear Polymer stamps:

Curly Bird, CS2X2003, 2.99
Ribbon Moon, cs2x2007, 2.99
Blue Bird, CS2x2011, 2.99
Star, CS2x2012, 2.99
Pussy Willow, CS2x3005, 3.79
Boy w/ Flowers, CS2x3008, 3.79

That's SIX clear polymer images, with a retail price of over $19.00, your deal? Just $12.50!!!!

Total Value: $19.54

Sale price for set: $12.50

(we reserve the right to make equal substitutions to fill orders if an item is sold out.)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!Ursula

FCD Presents: Word Play

2010-04-15T21:00:00.002-05:00

So, this month's hop we had to choose a word from "Spring, Bloom, or April" and make something using those letters. One letter had to represent the stamp image, one a color, and one an embellishment. The rest of the letters were free.

So I chose to use SPRING:
S - swan image, P = paper flower, R = ribbon, I = ink, N= neutral, G = Green.
The image is the large swan from FCD's Swan Song. Such a regal bird are swans, don't ya' think?

The paper flower was made from a tutorial that FCD's guest designer posted to her blog a few weeks ago. See Gabi's post here. I looked at the tut a could of weeks ago, and then made it from memory. I see I fogot the thread parts in the middle... I also chose to use multiple layers of petals for a fuller effect. Not bad. FUN. Great way to use scraps. Will definitely do this one again.

So, you know the drill. This is a circular hop. Keep hopping until you come full circle. Leave comments on all the blogs for your best chance to win a prize (prize will be awarded based on comments received through Monday, 4/19 at 8Pm EST.). Go now to the fabulous Boni. Quick, she's waiting for you! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

BOM: Follow Your Heart

2010-04-11T19:27:00.003-05:00

I actually assembled this layout for my Book Of Me some time ago, but never could get it finished. I couldn't decide how to title it, or what else it needed. I finally decided today it needed to be a Follow Your Heart theme, so I added the chip board letters (sanded, inked, & sparkled), changed the rose that was in the lower left corner to this better coordinated Prima flower, added a couple of heart charms and some faux stitching, and voila. Page complete.

Hope you like. (you can click on it for a larger view if you like.)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Bite me Bunny

2010-03-27T16:35:00.003-05:00

Isn't this just the cutest image?? This little guy is a new digital design in the FCD store by artist Cat Gondek. He's called Flopsy Bunny, and you can get yours here. I printed mine on a pastel striped paper. I treated him simply with a bit of coloring and some yellow stitching. Cut him out, tied a yellow bow around his neck and mounted him to some pattern paper. The Bite Me phrase comes with the bunny; it's one of 3 fun phrases that you can print. I just love that font! :o)

Happy Easter to you!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

CAS: Jenny's Coat

2010-03-27T12:28:00.003-05:00

Here's my attempt at a couple of clean and simple cards (CAS).

(click on any image for a larger view)

The flower petals were made with a technique called Jenny's Coat, as found in Technique Junkies. The petals were stamped onto pattern paper using the Christmas ornament stamp from FCD Season's Greetings. The image was clear embossed, and then completely inked over in black ink to cover the pattern paper. The ink was wiped away from the embossed image. I then trimmed the piece and mounted it onto my card base. I then stitched around it to add a bit of texture.

The Happy Birthday was stamped with FCD's Clearly Greetings. The center of the flower on this piece is a Prima flower center bling.

The center of the flower on this piece was pieced together using assorted jewels and bling.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Presents Digital D'Illusions!

2010-03-18T21:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to another FCD Blog Hop!! For this hop we have a special treat for you! In honor of the opening of FCD's new digital stamp store, we are creating illusions using digital images! This was such an exciting challenge! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!

BLOG CANDY!! One winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess…so you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog so you don’t miss out! It’s like a treasure hunt inside a blog hop…he he he Prize this month?? 5 Free digitals!! Here's what Pamela is generously giving away this month: For the Birds; Audrey; Giroid-Hey There!; Manaone; Warm My Heart

Offical start time: 8 AM EST on Friday, March 19; if you get here early, please be patient. The links may not all be live yet. ;o)

For my piece, I used the oh-so-beautiful Audrey! Isn't she special? You can see her in the link above (she's part of the blog candy giveaway)! She's only $2.49 so if you don't win, do come back and add her to your shopping cart; she is oh-so-worth it!! :o)

For my Digital D"illusion, I wanted to create the illusion that you were seeing her reflected in a glass. With Audrey leaning against the wooden railing, she makes me think of our favorite patio at the condo on the beach. I added the palm trees with rubber stamps, using the Maholo set, which makes her look even more like she's at the beach! :o)

I couldn't decide which angle best gave the illusion of the glass reflection so I included both the left and right angles. LOL. Click on any image to see them larger.

(PS: the reflection isn't nearly as yellow IRL as the images look. Sorry about that!)

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to Boni Boutelle. Boni is a guest designer this month, and her work is really fantastic! Be sure to check out her blog, too, becuase her great personaility really shines through in her writings and posts! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Sketch 019: Fly

2010-03-13T12:51:00.002-06:00

Pamela at FCD released a new sketch on her gallery this week. She asked us to post our versions using Mr. Linky back to her site. Last night I made the above card using the sketch. In case you can't tell, this is an adult Birthday card (or other celebration card). I liked the play on the title word - FLY - with both the butterflies, and the wine bottle! he he

The images are the medium butterfly from the butter/dragonfly set, the wine bottle from the Italiano set, and the word Fly from the Fly Butterflies set.

The background paper is DCWV Mariposa, and the cardstock is from Club Scrap (POPs; not sure which sets).

(click on any image for a larger view.)

I LOVE the way the wine bottle turned out. I did take a fine black pen and added a bit of script to the label, a white gel pen to add a bit of highlight, and the clear star pen (Gelly Roll) for a bit of sparkle.

The images were colored with Tri-Art markers, and a bit of CTMH markers. They were all clear embossed afterwards.

Hope you like! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Sometimes you just gotta Howl

2010-03-07T14:47:00.005-06:00

Well, this isn't the best pic of this card, but it was the best I could get. The distressed area around the wolf's head isn't quite so dominant IRL, but you get the idea.

This card uses another piece of the fabric paper that I made for a recent blog hop. You can see the original post about it here. The distressed area is from some walnut ink crysatls I sprinkled onto the wet surface. It works ok with the howling wolf because it adds to the "smokiness" of the night.

Stamps used are from the new FCD Love Bites set. You can also see it pasted below. Isn't it cool??

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Teenagers

2010-03-03T12:37:00.001-06:00

So, how many of you have teenagers that “notice” on their own that the trash needs to go out or the bathroom sink needs to be cleaned? Do they magically do it without being asked, or do you have to point out the need to them? This is a constant sticking point between K and I; one of us is not being realistic, and I am curious how things work in your homes?? I’m of the opinion that kids (of any age) don’t reach that level of maturity until they have their own places, and take full ownership for the place in which they live... Am I crazy?

Thanks for humoring me while I vent! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Arm Deco

2010-02-28T11:27:00.014-06:00

Nope, that's not a typo in the title; this post really is about decorating your arms, or your wrist to be more specific. :o)

So, I had this old watch that had a fairly large face on it. The watch quit working many years ago, and since it was very inexpensive, I never bothered to get it fixed. I found it recently in a bin that had old watch parts, and laid it on my craft desk to ponder. grin.

It occurred to me I could take the guts out, and replace them with a small art piece I would make to fit inside the opening. This would require some pretty small stamps, which of course FCD has in abundance. Anyone who knows Pam's stamps knows she hates to have wasted space in her rubber sheets, and routinely fills tiny holes with small images that fit the theme of the plate. (boy how I hate cutting out those tiny things, but they definitely came in handy today!)

For this post I used the small butterfly from Solid, and the bumble bee from Golden Daffodils. I also used the 'bee happy" phrase from the daffodil set, and the dream word from the clear ATC words set (retired).

The background of the pieces were cut from scrap paper that was on my desk. In both cases, these were papers that I used to wipe my water brush on when I am painting with Twinkling H2O's. Did you know FCD carries those, too? You can see them here. Twinks truly are my favorite coloring medium, and there is always a sheet or two of scrap paper on my craft desk that has assorted colors of brush strokes from when I clean my brushes. These scrap papers are so pretty, and in this case I found a perfect use for them in my "watch" face.

I removed the ugly old leather straps from the watch, and replaced them with a pretty ribbon strap. I kept the pins that hold the straps in place, and sewed a folded over "loop" on the end of each ribbon that I could insert the pins into and reattach them to the "watch." The ribbon is actually 2 different ribbons that I layered on top of each other, and stitched together. The bottom base ribbon is a satin and sheer wider srtip. The top is a pretty floral ribbon I picked up from Walmart or somewhere. The ends are fastened with a couple of simple snaps.

The best thing about this project? I can change the decoration out any time I want! I just pop the back off the "watch," lift out the art piece, and replace it with a new one. I could make one for Christmas, Easter, birthday, you name it! I'm limited only to my imagination! :o)

I wonder how many of you will scour your old watches now, in search of your own piece you can alter and wear? if you do, I would love for you to share the link with me!

Bee Happy!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: Love Songs!

2010-02-18T21:00:00.013-06:00

Welcome to the another Blog Hop from Firecracker Designs By Pamela !
This month's theme was to take a favorite love song and use the lyrics and/or inspiration to create art! FUN! I love music, so this was a great theme for me!

Since this is Valentine's month, I figured most everyone would do something romantic, aimed at their signifcant other. So, dear readers, ever mindful of your enterainment, and not wanting to bore you to tears with too much gush, I did something different! The card at left is themed after an old song by Tanya Tucker, called Field of Stone, and uses the FCD Far Away set. I'm goint to attempt to embed the song here, but I have no idea if it will work!

(click on photo for larger view.)

While it's meant to be a love song, ever since the war in the Middle East, I can 't help but find the similarities in the lyrics to what our Mighty Hero's are going through to fight for our Freedoms! They are indeed walking thousands of miles through burning sands! So, this card is a tribute and a Thank You love note to our soldiers! Thank you for all you do!!

Here's the drill on the circular hops work: No designated beginning, no designated end - wherever you start is the "beginning" and when you link back to your original post you have come full circle and completed the hop. As always, there will be a blog candy giveaway chosen from the comments on one of the blogs. To up your chances of winning, be sure you comment on all the posts - no one knows who the mystery hostess will be until it's over!
Drawing for candy will be announced at 8 Pm EST on Monday, February 22. Check FCD's Blog to see if you've won, or leave your addy in your comment so Pamela can contact you. (spell out the parts of your addy so phishers are less likely to find it - like this: john dot doe at yahoo dot com)

Now, head on over to the very talented Chris to see the next post!

Happy Hoppin'!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Special Announcement!

2010-02-08T11:58:00.001-06:00

Share the LOVE of FCD Celebration!!

1. Just for being an FCD FB member, you'll have a chance to win a 10$ gift card. To enter, all you have to do is join the FCD fan page, before Feb. 14th!! Easy huh? One randomly chosen member will win. If we reach 150 members before Feb. 14th, we'll draw TWO winners!

2. We are having a contest! Create ANY piece of art that uses ANY FCD image you have, submit it to the fan art by uploading in thru a post on the FCD wall, and you are entered to win a 15$ GC! ONE entry per person, one randomly drawn winner will be chosen.

Don't own any of our rubber? No problem! You can use an FCD digital to enter! AND to kick things off, Pamela has uploaded TWO brand new freebies to the digi page, so EVERYONE can play!! What are you waiting for? Go get creating!! (link to digitals is here) Deadline is Feb. 13th!

Drawings will be held on Feb. 14th!!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

More Fabric Paper: You've got a Friend

2010-01-29T08:00:00.003-06:00

Here's the last card I made using the first piece of the Fabric Paper I made from the book Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Perkins (got mine from Amazon). This was the red, loose, meshy fabric. You can see what the original fabirc looked like here. This card is also a Hybrid Stamping card since is uses both rubber and digital images.

The little girls and the "You've Got A Friend in Me" phrase were rubber stamped using images from the FCD Sweet Child Of Mine set. The Winged Heart image is a new Firecracker Digital Design that was released this week. You can see all currently available digital designs from FCD here. Be sure to also check out the designs from FCD's two new digital desiners, Cat Gondek and Melisa Waldorf. They both bring a fun & unique style to FCD Digitals. Also be sure and download the FREE sheet of Conversation Heart Words that is posted on the digi page! Whoo Hoo!

The images were all colored with an assortment of Twinks. Did you know FCD now carries Twinks? You can get them here. Twinks are my favorite color medium; they are so easy and fun to work with! I LOVE how I can see the texture of the red meshy fabric through the little girl's pink shirt! It's almost as if that mesh texture is part of her shirt! Very cool.
The winged heart image was also clear embossed after I colored it, and then cut it out and pop-dotted it over some Scrapper's Floss that was wound around the fabric paper piece.

I do hope you have enjoyed my recent Fabric Paper posts. I definitely plan to make some more pieces soon; it's such a fun technique and a great way to incoporate scraps of ribbons, papers, and unused paper embellies! I do have most of the second sheet I made left, and will be turning them into art to share very soon! Hope you all have a Fabulous Weekend!! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

More Fabric Paper: She Decided

2010-01-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

Here's another card I made using pieces of the Fabric Paper I made from the book Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Perkins (got mine from Amazon). This one uses sections from the second piece of trial paper I made. (I'll post the last card from the first piece this week also.)

The above card was made in the style of Anne Taintor. I've always wanted to make something that mirrored her style, so when a friend posted a Moxie Fab World challenge that was exactly that, I decided to play along. I used stamps from Firecracker Designs By Pamela. The Lady comes from the Women In Character set, while the bird comes from the Yoo Hooo set.

Both images were stamped onto the Fabric Paper, embossed, colored with Twinks, and then cut out and mounted. The lady was pop-dotted for emphasis. The bird was attached only under his body, and the wings were curled outwards to show him in flight. That's a great thing about the Fabric Paper - it holds its shape so well, but can be manipulated and curled without risk of collapsing the way regular paper will.

The phrase was stamped onto cardstock using CTMH Sans Small Lower Case letter stamps. I then cut them into strips, added a bit of Twinks, and mounted them to my card base.

The cluster of embellishments in the lower right corner is made from two Prima flowers for the base, two silverware charms (dipped in a bit of watery glue and walnut ink cyrstals to "dirty them up"), a trimming from my kitchen sponge, and a red "NO" cirlce made with an inked & trimmed transparency scrap.

The card base is from a boxed set of card blanks by My Mind's Eye, called Just Dreamy.

Hope you like! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Fabric Paper: Happy Hour

2010-01-25T20:00:00.004-06:00

Here's another card I made using a piece of the Fabric Paper I made from the book Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Perkins (got mine from Amazon) that tells how to turn fabric into a paper-like surface that can be inked, stamped, printed on, embossed, etc. This piece of paper is from the piece I made for the Blog Hop. I still have enough of that pieceto make one more card, which I will post later in the week. You can make your fabric paper as big or as little as you wish. Since this was a new technique for me, I decided to make 2 pieces (different starting fabrics) that each measureed approximately 6"x12". I'll be posting stuff made with the second piece of trial Fabric Paper later in the week also.

The above card was stamped with images from the FCD Happy Hour set. The hurricane glasses were stamped multiple times, at varying heights to add interest. One glass was stamped with a pile of ice cubes inside, and 2.5 were stamped with an umbrella (one goes off the edge, and you can't really see the umbrella much). The glasses were all colored with an assortment of "drink colored" Twinks. Did you know FCD now carries Twinks? You can get them here. Twinks are my favorite color medium; they are so easy and fun to work with!

The yellow-orange heart in the background is a sticthed & inked paper embellishment I made a long time ago, and incorporated into the Fabric Paper layers. I love that look! The watch face is a real face I took out of an old watch I had. It no longer works, although, as my sister pointed out, I could easily have used a working time piece. What fun wuold that be??! The watch is mounted onto a large Prima flower that has been Twinked to give it sparkle.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Another FCD Blog Hop!

2010-01-21T21:00:00.006-06:00

Welcome to the January edition of the Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! In honor of the New Year, this month’s theme is to pick something old and make it new again! Oh Boy! I do love using up old stuff and finding new ways to turn “junk” into art, don’t you?

If you’re like most crafters, you have old supplies tucked all over your craft area; most of which you have long forgotten about! That can sure make the job of choosing a project seem overwhelming! As luck would have it, I just picked up a new book from Amazon, Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Perkins that tells how to turn fabric into a paper-like surface that can be inked, stamped, printed on, embossed, etc. So many cool possibilities! Since I also have 2 pizza boxes full of 12"x12" fabric swatches, this seemed like a perfect project! (for the inquiring minds, those aren’t “real” pizza boxes! They’re Club Scrap kit boxes that come in pizza boxes. No pizza has ever come in contact with my fabric! He he)

Anyway, I love fabric, and I love paper! What a fun idea to blend them into one crafty medium. The general process of making fabric paper is pretty easy: it involves a piece of muslin-like fabric, strips of tissue paper & other scraps, and watered down glue. Once the gluey mess dries overnight, it easily peels up off the parchment paper work surface, and can then be used in myriad projects! I cut two rectangles out of one of my completed fabrics to make two large tags. I think I may use the other pieces for cards, on layouts, and who knows what else! Ooh, they’d make great bookmarks, too!

I went from this:

To this:

The tags were inked with some tattered Rose Distress ink, and stamped with the ladies from FCD Leading Ladies. The remaining images came from the partner set, Theater Lights. The tag on the right was colored and heat embossed, while the tag on the left was stamped & colored and then overlaid with a duplicate transparency image. I also pulled out lots of fibers (remember those?) to go with some ribbons to make the fringed knots. Man, I haven’t used actual fibers (in place of ribbon) in forever! I finished them off with some junk jewelry finds and an old button.

So, what do you think? Do you like my fabric paper? I think I will do this again! It was so fun & easy. Sort of like making serendipity squares, except with a fabric base!

Here's the drill on the circular hops work: No designated beginning, no designated end - wherever you start is the "beginning" and when you link back to your original post you have come full circle and completed the hop. As always, there will be a blog candy giveaway chosen from the comments on one of the blogs. To up your chances of winning, be sure you comment on all the posts - no one knows who the mystery hostess will be until it's over! Drawing for candy will be announced at 8 Pm EST on Monday, January 25. Check FCD's Blog to see if you've won, or leave your addy in your comment so Pamela can contact you. (spell out the parts of your addy so phishers are less likely to find it - like this: john dot doe at yahoo dot com)

This month, our lovely Melisa has also generously offered to give away some blog candy so be sure to leave her some extra lovin'! :o)

Now, head on over to the very talented Donna to see the next post! Happy Hoppin'!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Ruby Anniversary

2010-01-11T22:39:00.005-06:00

My folks are celebrating their 40th anniversary next month so I made them this card. I wanted it to "be ruby" since ruby is both the traditional and modern gift for the 40th year. The large rose stamp from FCD's Paper Roses set would be ideal for this ruby card.

I started out by inking a plain trasnparency piece with several colors of Ranger's Alcohol Inks in the red/ruby shades available. I then mounted this piece over a black & white pattern paper and stitched it in place with red thread.

I then stamped the rose onto a piece of white cardstock, and embossed it in black. I colored it with assorted red shades of Twinkling H2O's. When I was satisfied with the color, I added a bit of white highlight, then cut it out and mounted it to the prepared panel. I also attached a red ribbon piece diagonally across the bottom, and stapled it in place.

I took two grungeboard numbers, inked them, and added red jewels. I attached these to the upper right section. Keeping it simple, I used stickers for the "ruby" and "anniversary" words. I did add some sparkle pen to the "ruby" letters to bring them out. They got kind of lost on the background.

I mounted all of this to a piece of pattern paper that was mounted to a 6.5x5 card. Hope you like. :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Late Night Cyphering (How Anal Am I?)

2009-12-22T20:37:00.003-06:00

So, last night I sat down to look through my new issue of Just Cards that came in the mail yesterday. Within the first 3 pages I became aware that there were already several artists who's names had been repeated..

I've been accused of having a very analytical mind before. I suppose that must be true because the next thing I knew I was driven to find out just how many repeat artists there were, and what the ratios were. LOL

So, at 10:30 last night (on a work night, no less!), I pulled out several sheets of clean paper, started over at page 1, and started making a list of every artist in the magazine, and tallying up each piece of art they had published. I worked at this until 2 am this morning, all the while telling myself what a retard I am. grin. Anyway, here are the results and my conclusions:

The Numbers
327: Pieces of Art in the issue
74: Artists with only 1 submission
40: Artists with 2-4 submissions
16: Artisist with 5-9 submissions
1: Artists with 10 submissions (Erin Kellogg)
1: Artists with 13 submissions (Virginia Miermaster)
1: Artists with 18 submissions (Beverly Sizemore)

Ratios:
Pieces of Art by Artists with 1 entry: 74/327 = 22.63%
Pieces of Art by Artists with 2-4 entries: 106/327 = 32.42%
Pieces of Art by Artists with 5-9 entries: 106/327 = 32.42%
Pieces of Art by Artists with 10 entries: 10/327 = 3.06%
Pieces of Art by Artists with 13 entries: 13/327 = 3.98%
Pieces of Art by Artists with 18 entries: 18/327 = 5.5%

Conclusions:
If you are dying to get published, you can increase your chances substantially by submitting 5 or more entries. Roughly half of the magazine came from people who were published with 5 or more pieces of artwork.

Congratulations to the 3 artists noted with 10 or more pieces of art! What an accomplishment! While we are at it, congratulations to our very own Pamela of Firecracker Designs who was published with 1 entry, and Etha Schuette who had 2 pieces, and Barbara Hardeman who also had 2 pieces, one of which used FCD stamps! (edit 12/23/09: Congrats also to Heather Lee Reppen, a past FCD DT member, who was one of the lucky ones with 5 cards published! I'm adding this note from work since my oversight was pointed out to me; I'm going from memory here, so please don't fire me if her numbers or more or less than 5! LOL) Way to go, Ladies!!

(My son just told me I am "so weird." hee hee) Thanks for joining me today! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Card from a Layout Sketch

2009-12-18T23:34:00.003-06:00

Only one week left; are you ready?? I finally finished my Christmas Cards tonight and got them all written, stuffed, and stamped! Whew! :o)

I made this card based on a layout sketch in the january 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes. This is from the sketch insert that has front & back sketches. It's sketch # 4, titled Pieces Of me. I thought it looked like an easy sketch to turn into a card, and I was right! I love the results! It was easy to duplicate too - I made 6 of them this evening. :o)

All stamps from Firecracker Designs By Pamela. I used the Shepherds Snow Family for the shining star, the lamb, and the smaller stars. I used Christmas Phrases 1 for the awesome Magic phrase! There is a spot of Polar White Flower Soft on the tuft of the lamby's tail, too. :o)

What I really love about this sketch is that it let me use some of my ribbon stash in such a lovely way. I am totally ribbon challenged!

By the way, FCD still has an awesome End of Year Blowout Sale going on. They are currently at 60% off on all items on the sale page (prices reflect the sale already.) You can get some really incredible stamp sets - that's whole sets, people - for only $3.60!! That's insane! better hurry, though - qty's are limited! Next Thursday (Christam Eve, no less!) the prices will drop again down to 70% off! Items will be removed from the sale as they sell out, so don't wait too long. (PS: They are on holiday until Jan 2nd, so you can shop, but no shipments will go out until they re-open.)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD018 Sketch Challenge

2009-12-05T17:00:00.004-06:00

Pamela at FCD released another card sketch today, and challenged us on her blog to use it and post our results with Mr. Linky. So, here's my interpretation of the sketch. Hope you enjoy!

For this card I used the Misteltoad Set (sold out, but you can order and she will ship when it comes in). The DP on the left was made using Color Wash Spray in Raisin, and several shades of Glimmer Mists. I made a bunch of these pieces last weekend, and was eager to work one into this sketch. :o)

The frog is colored with Twinkling H2O's, and his hat is trimmed in Polar White Flower Soft.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

End of Year Inventory Blow Out!!

2009-12-01T21:51:00.010-06:00

Help FCD make room for next year's rubber!!

As of today, all items on the Sale page are already discounted 40% off. Every Thursday in December they discount will increase by another 10% until 70% off. Disocunts will remain until stock is depleted or December is gone. Most of the sets are being discontinued so get them while they last!

Many colors of Flower Soft are included in this sale, as well as some fabulous stamp sets!!
Here's a taste of what you can find on sale:

Aren't these great sets? You know you need them!! Better hurry before they are G-O-N-E!!!

And with FCD's new stream lined shipping rates, your check-out is even EASIER than ever!!! Yay Team!!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Black Friday Sale at FCD!!!

2009-11-25T17:53:00.003-06:00

Black Friday Sale at Firecracker Designs By Pamela!! You Won't want to miss this!! :o)

Sale starts at 6 am, on Black Friday. See list below for times. Coupons expire at end times!!

Sale ONE: All Rubber 50% off : Friday 6am-10am EST - Use code: TG50
Sale TWO: All Clear stamps 30% off : Friday 10am-2pm EST - Use code: TG30
Sale THREE: All Shimmerz & Flower Soft 30% off : Friday 2pm-6pm EST - Use code: TGSHIFL

In stock items only.

No combining coupons, no combining shipping.

SHOP TIL YOU DROP!! Orders will begin shipping on Saturday!!!

Great time to stock up on stamps for yourself, to giveaway as Christmas Goodies, or to use for your Christmas Cards!!

PS: Did you know FCD has a Wish List option? Fill your wish list today with the items you want, and send hubby the link with the coupon codes & times so he can do his Christmas shopping for you! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Blog Hop Winner

2009-11-23T20:15:00.004-06:00

Congratulations Carole! Please send me your snail mail addy so I can get your set out to you.
Thanks everyone for playing along!

Just as a reminder: FCD will be closed over the Christmas Holidays, so get your orders in early! Last shipment day for pre-Christmas mailing is December 15!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: Thankful

2009-11-19T20:15:00.012-06:00

Hello Friend's! Welcome to another FCD Blog Hop! With Thanksgiving fast approaching, it seemed appropriate to do something around a "Thankful" theme this month. And since we are EXTRA Thankful for you, our dear readers, this month we have an extra treat for you, so read carefully! You don't want to miss this! :o)

This is a circular blog hop: No designated beginning or end - wherever you start is the "beginning" and when you link back to your original post you have come full circle and completed the hop. Blog hop ends - 8PM EST, Monday, October 19, 2009. There are 9 posters today - and here's that EXTRA exciting news: Pamela has graciously donated a stamp set to ALL 9 of us so YOU have NINE chances to WIN!!!! To up your chances of winning, be sure you comment on all the posts - then you will be entered into 9 different drawings!!

My Blog Candy Giveaway is the oh-so-sweet Love Never Melts set!

Drawing for candy will be announced around 8 Pm EST on Monday, October 19. Check FCD's Blog to see if you've won. Pamela will post a list of all the winners, but if you are anxious and can't wait for her to get the news from all of us, check each of our blogs to see if you are the lucky winner! (You can also leave your addy in your comment so we can contact you. Spell out the parts of your addy so phishers are less likely to find it - like this: john dot doe at yahoo dot com .)

Now for the Art! Last month I used 13 different stamp sets in my Blog Hop piece; this month I have used 12. Don'tcha just love stamps that coordinate so well together?? Stamps used: Bridge of Thoughts, Let's Celebrate, Bliss, Pitchin In, Theater Lights, Wow - Clear, Punch Art - Ray Of Hope, Something Fishy, Cool Dude - Clear, Inspire Me - Doodles 9, Tattoo You - Doodles 10, and Cheer (retired).

If your family is like mine, you are more prone to harp on your loved ones negative qualities rather than pointing out there positive ones. "We always hurt the ones we love." (That's a quote from Some Kind of Wonderful!) So, for my Thankful project, I made a Thankful Jar. Well, OK, so it's really a Thankful Box; the idea is the same, but "jar" sounds better! LOL

This box will sit on my dining room table, and all year long we will add little notes to the box to commend a thoughful action, thank each other for odd jobs, and give praise where praise is due. Then each year, as part of our Thanksgiving celebration, we will open the box, and read the notes to each other. Doesn't that sound like a nice family stengthening moment? I sure hope it works the way I imagine! :o) What are some of the things your family does to bond?

Please continue on your journey to the lovely and talented Donna's Blog. Don't forget to leave comments along the way to qualify for the blogcandy drawing.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'! Ursula

Celebrate!

2009-11-16T22:51:00.005-06:00

2 Reminders: November Blog Hop starts this Friday! Nov 20, 8AM EST. There's going to be NINE chances for BLOG CANDY, so you won't want to miss this one!!
Also, FCD will be closed for the Christmas holidays. Last day to place an order and have it ship before the holiday is December 15; mark your calendars so you can order your Christmas card sets and gifts before the deadline!

Haven't posted in a while; been bogged down with life. Here's one I made at our girl's weekend at Pam's house in August. I don't think I have shared this one yet. :o)

This card you need to click on to see; hopefully you can see the glimmer in the larger view. I thought this pattern looked a lot like FCD's chandelier set from the Parisian Romance set, so I stamped it simply, and colored it with a shimmer pen. Added the ribbon and a few clear gems, and it was done. Easy peasey. This set is a big 8.5x5, and has tons of great images!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Digi Art: This Bud's For You

2009-10-29T22:01:00.002-05:00

Hi Stampers! I have another FCD Digi Stamp to share with you! Isn't this Count the Bomb?
I added the "really important person" to the tomb stone before I printed mine out. Can you think of any other cool phrases that could fit there?
I colored this guy in completely with Twinkling H2O's! Man, I love that stuff!! I did go around the outer edges a bit with Chalk-A-Lots Blackberry Cobbler, though.

Do you LOVE this digi image? You can get yours here for only one dollar! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Fall Digi Art

2009-10-28T22:09:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Pamela at FCD released a sample digital image for free on her gallery. (You can download this image here.)

I finally got around to playing with it, and created the card above. I used a Word Picture Style to "frame" the image in the beveled edge with the drop shadow. After I printed it I colored it with a mix of Copics and CTMH markers, and then clear embossed it. I'm definitely color challenged, but I do like how it came out. Of course, IRL it's shiny from the embossing. :o)

Hope you find time to play this week. Playtime is good for the soul! grin.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

ATC: Night Before... Mouse

2009-10-22T21:45:00.004-05:00

One of my groups issued a challenge to "drop everything and create an ATC with whatever is on your craft table right now." It just so happened I had a new shipment of rubber (5 new Christmas sets - WOW!) from Firecracker Designs on my table.

I used the set called Oh Holey Night; isn't it adorable?

Since I had not yet cut out the rubber, I decided to just lay a sheet of rubber face up on my table, ink the section I wanted on my ATC, and lay my panel face down on the inked rubber. So - here's my results.

Colored mostly with Tri-Art markers, some Dew Drops inks, and a touch of candel light Shimmerz.

The metal signage came in a RAK from Ms. Pamela herself just this week, and was also still sitting on my craft table.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

SU Stamp Giveaway - Followup

2009-10-20T13:12:00.003-05:00

Remember that big giveaway I had for 20something sets of SU sets? Well, Chris - the winner of that giveaway - was kind enough to send me a photo of some of the crafters getting ready to use some of those sets. Not only that, but her Church group also made me a Thank you card (using some of those sets, of course) that they all signed, AND I received an official letter from the Church thanking me for that donation! Isn't that the sweetest? I'm so glad those sets went to a good home where many stampers can use them to make kind greeting cards to share love with others. That's certainly paying it forward, don't ya' think? :o)

Chris told me I could post the photo she sent here so you all could see, too. They even have a couple of stampers-in-the-making! LOL! Aren't they sweet?

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: Harvest Mesh

2009-10-15T21:00:00.014-05:00

Hello Friend's! Welcome to another FCD Blog Hop! With all of the lovely fall leaves popping out all over town, we knew we wanted to use Fall images and make something warm and harvesty. For a little extra punch we decided to pull out an old staple - MESH! Remember that stuff? I have always adored mesh, and have a whole drawer full of it! What I discovered in this little exercise is that some of my mesh is so old the sticky no longer works! Ack! I had to coat the backs with some Zig chisel pen action! Know what that means? - Yeah - I need to USE more of my old supplies and stop buying new stuff! Ya, right! :o)

And with that segue, Pamela is offering you, dear blog-hoppers, a coupon code for 15% off - good for everything in the store (except magazines). Coupon expires when the blog hop ends - 8PM EST, Monday, October 19, 2009. CODE: hopidays

By now, you regular hoppers probably know the drill, but for those new comers (and we Thank Ye!), here's how these circular hops work: No designated beginning, no designated end - wherever you start is the "beginning" and when you link back to your original post you have come full circle and completed the hop. There are 9 posters today - short, sweet, but colorful & exciting!

As always, there will be a blog candy giveaway chosen from the comments on one of the blogs. To up your chances of winning, be sure you comment on all the posts - no one knows who the mystery hostess will be until it's over! Drawing for candy will be announced at 8 Pm EST on Monday, October 19. Check FCD's Blog to see if you've won, or leave your addy in your comment so Pamela can contact you. (spell out the parts of your addy so phishers are less likely to find it - like this: john dot doe at yahoo dot com )

Now for the good stuff! My post this month was originally inspired by my friend, Brenda Loock, who I first saw reusing clear plastic boxes to make clear cards & such. Brenda loves to repurpose interesting items, and she's a genius at it! So, one day I bought this room diffuser from the store, pumpkin scented, and it came in this cute, cube shaped, clear, pumpkin decorated, plastic box. I immediately thought of Brenda, and decided to save this box for a "some day " project. You know about those, right? "Some day you'll make something with this item, but most days it sits in your closet/drawer/cabinet, etc, gathering dust, right?" Fast forward one year or so later (LOL), and I finally put this box to use! Yay Team! :o)

I cut the box apart, follwoing the natural score lines in the cube. The result gave me a nice squarish set of pages to work with. While most of the packaging was very sweet - pumpkins, orange colors, gold "pumpkin" titles, etc, some of the package was not so nice - black type that described the contents, chemical makeup, usage directions, etc. I certainly didn't want that junk distracting from my art, so I first painted the pages in places with a neutral acrylic to cover up the bad parts.

Once dry, I went to work incorporating mesh, brads, Prima flowers, Paint Chips, ribbon, scrapper's floss, buttons, tiles, and.... hmmm, I'm forgetting something... Oh yes! - STAMPS!! I counted THIRTEEN different stamp sets used - surely that's a record for one project! That's what I LOVE about Firecracker Designs' stamps - they are all so versatile and interchangeable! You can create thousands of combinations in any direction your heart desires! Talk about value! Who doesn't love stretching their crafting dollars? I do! :o)

Here's the front cover (click for larger view).

Stamps used: birds, Recyle Me (Bridge of Thoughts); Simply Perfect (Let's Celebrate); pumpkins (Harvest Fun).

Inside pages 1 & 2 (click for larger view).

Stamps used: No One Goes Their Way Alone, bridge portion, Bridge the gap, birds, Dream (Bridge of Thoughts ); pine trees (Just Breathe Again); mesh chain border (Silhouette Flowers); It's Fall Ya'll, Crow (Medium Crow); Treasue Every Day (Let's Celebrate); Chipmonk (Little Things); Pumpkins (Harvest Fun).

Inside pages 3 & 4 (click for larger view).

Stamps Used: It's the Little Things, Cardinal, Birch Tree (Little Things); Butterfly (Bliss) ; Swirl (With A Flourish); Crow (Medium Crow); Give Thanks, Simply Perfect (Let's Celebrate); Bird silhouette (Little Bird Told Me); Pumpkins (Harvest Fun); mesh chain border (Silhouette Flowers).

Inside pages 5 & 6 (click for larger view).

Stamps Used: Cardinal, Birch Tree, Tree "Tops" (Little Things); Bird (Little Bird Told Me); Pumpkin (Harvest Fun); mesh chain border (Silhouette Flowers); Simple Things, Dasiy (Oops-a-Daisy); Just Breathe (Just Breathe Again); Dragonfly (Thinking Of You); Birds, Don't Wait To Be Discovered (Bridge of Thoughts ).

Back Cover (click for larger view).

Stamps Used: Scarecrow, Cornstalks, May The Bounty..phrase (Hangin Around Scarecrow).

I so hope you enjoyed this little recycled clear book project! I know I sure enjoyed putting it together! :o)

Please continue on your journey to the lovely and talented Donna's Blog. Don't forget to leave comments along the way to qualify for the blogcandy drawing.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Sound The Trumpets!

2009-10-01T20:42:00.003-05:00

The other day, my sister and I were getting ready to chat on yahoo. She was finishing up a project she was working on and said she needed about 30 minutes. So, I told her no problem, I was thinking of starting on a card anyway.
She decided that was a great opportunity to issue me a 30 minute challenge. I had to make a card from scratch in 30 minutes! Yikes! Anyone who has ever seen me craft knows what an impossible challenge that is for me! LOL!
Thank God for card blanks with built in pattern paper! :o)

I stamped & embossed the strip in the middle, crumbled it, and added a bit of distress ink.
Attached it, tied on some scrapper's floss, hung a couple of charms from the floss, stamped the phrase onto a scrap, and stapled it on. Voila! 30 Minute Card! Now, that's something to sound the Trumpets about!! :o)

Stamps are FCD Elephants on Parade

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Frankly My Dear....

2009-09-26T13:50:00.003-05:00

... I think you're Fabulous!!

Inside:

I made this card a couple of weeks ago, but haven't shared it yet. This one uses the TJ technique Sanded Whitewash. I didn't do much sanding because I used a pattern paper instead, but I did do the gesso and Cuttlebug embossing part. I did sand a bit, but then swiped my Old Paper Distress ink over the sanded dots. Not quite the way the tech was designed, but I like the results anyway.

I then decided to cut a window directly into the card, and stamp my image on the smooth inside, and have it show through the window. I like this result, too - especially the added bonus of seeing the image again when the card is opened! :o)

The stamps are the Leading Ladies set from Firecracker Designs. Isn't that a perfectly fabulous set??

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Think BIG! ~A Li'l something fun :o)

2009-09-19T21:26:00.003-05:00

Inside of card:

I got a little happy with my stamps today, and created an image that suspends disbelief. Paired the larger than life lady with the Think BIG phrase from Paisley on the inside of the card. Isn't that FUN?

Stamps used: Leading Ladies, Elephants on Parade, and Crazy 4 Paisley (all Firecracker Designs By Pamela).

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Presents: Greetings & Salutations (Blog Hop)

2009-09-17T21:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the first Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop for DT 04! This month's theme is "Greetings & Salutations." We were asked to create any piece of art using our FCD monthly set that focused on this theme.
** The official start time of this Hop is Friday, September 18, at 8:00 AM (EST). If you arrived early, please be patient as all the links may not be live yet. **

This is a “circular blog hop” where the only beginning is wherever you start!! You will know you are at the end of your blog hop when you’ve come back to the blog you’ve started from! (It’s not a huge circle…so it should be easy to remember where you started.)

Here's a Sneak Peak at the blog candy! Isn't that a Fun Fall Festival prize? :o)

The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that will be announced when the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out! **To find out if you’ve won… you will be contacted by Pamela via e-mail (so be sure to leave it with your comment.) and you can also find out on Pamela’s blog after the blog hop ends on Mon, September 21, at 8:00 PM (EST).**

For my card, I used the lovely poppy anemone & welcome phrase from the Forgive Me? set. The background was painted with gesso & embossed per the TJ technique (edited 9/18: Sanded Whitewash Tech, minus the sanding, plus patterned cardstock instead of plain). The combo of these two worked nicely to muddle the very busy & bright background paper! The Welcome title is from a sheet of old chipboard scrabble letters I pulled from my stash.

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to Lydia, the guest designer for FCD this month! Keep going until you’ve come back to where you’ve started! Thanks so much for playing along with us and we hope you have a great time!

A Big HEARTY Welcome to the new FCD DT!! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Free Stamps Winner

2009-09-16T12:48:00.007-05:00

Here is the winner for the SU! Stamps giveaway:

Chrisd said...
The SU issue seems to be a awful decision to make for many people who count on their earnings to help out with the family budget. America is a land of personal freedoms and I know where my limited spending choices will be going in the future.
I do have a card ministry at our church and work with seniors and other groups to make Cards for Heroes and other organizations. I would use your items to brighten the day of people in need.
Hugs from Michigan
Bitmap
9/3/2009 13:49

Chris, please e-mail me your snail mail addy so I can get these out to you right away! Congrats to you, and THANKS to everyone for participating! This was so fun, I may have to do it again with some of the other tons of stuff in my Raft of stamp & scrap goodies! :o)

Don't forget the Blog Hop starts at 8AM EST this Friday! Blog candy giveaway for that will be open through Monday, Sept 21, 8Pm EST.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

National Yoga Month

2009-09-12T23:42:00.006-05:00

Good evening, friends! It's late, and I'm trying to sneak in a challenge on the FCD DT. If I hurry, I can get this one in - just under the wire - before the new weekly challenge posts! LOL

This card uses FCD sketch # 15 from Firecracker Designs By Pamela. She has quite a few fun card sketches for your enjoyment and inspiration! Try one today! :o)

As you see from my title, September is National Yoga Month. Since Pamela has 2 fun yoga sets (set 1, set 2), it seemed appropriate to use them for this challenge! And guess what?? They're on sale - all month long - for 25% off!! Cool, huh? Go get one, or both! It's a great price at only 6.75 a set!

Hope you enjoyed this art today!

PS: The first Blog Hop with the new Design Team is scheduled for Friday, September 18 at 8am EST. It will run through 8PM EST on Monday, September 21. As always, there will be a drawing for free stamps. Please stop by next weekend, and wish the new design team well! Who knows, you might be the lucky winner! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Mama Hen

2009-09-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

(if you are looking for the FREE STAMPS post, click here.)

Here's another poem from my archives. This one is about my sister. Feel free to use any part of it you wish on your scrap pages or cards, but please give me credit. Thanks!

Ever since the moment
that my life came to be,
I’ve always had my sister
To keep me company.
She kept me out of trouble
More times than I can say -
Even did my chores for me
While I went out to “play!”
She took a lot of ribbing
From the neighbor kids back then.
They gave her crazy nick names
Like Spam and Mama Hen!
My friends, they didn’t understand
Why it didn’t make me mad
When she would tell me what to do
Or fuss when I’d been “bad.”
But even then I realized
What they could never see-
My sister would do anything
She could to protect me!
Now that we are grown,
and Living far apart,
I cherish every moment and
Keep her in my heart.
We still are very close,
And chat almost every day.
Pam, I want to Thank you!
For showing me the way!

~Ursula Riley, 7/18/04

Happy Birthday, Pamela!! Love you! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

I Think You're Fabulous!

2009-09-05T11:48:00.006-05:00

(if you are looking for the FREE STAMPS post, click here.)

This card uses the new Leading Ladies stamp set from FCD. I just love the classy look of these ladies! They just don't make fabulous women like that anymore! What is it about them that makes them look so different from the women of today, do you think? Women back then sure had style, didn't they? :o)

I made this card on the ladies' stamp weekend at Pam's house a few weeks ago! We sure did have a bawl! Anyway, I love this image of the bathing beauty! Hope you enjoy it, too! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

HOLY MOLY, MACANOLY!! And FREE Stamps!

2009-09-01T19:58:00.007-05:00

Have you all heard about the new changes at SU! ?? (I am NOT an SU! Demonstrator; I just feel very strongly about FREEDOM!)

read FAQ's here

Crapola, what is this world coming to? This type of Big Brother control just rubs me the wrong way!! I can not abide by this kind of thing. It's one thing to tell Reps not to post "contraband" on their SU! Blogs, but to tell them they can't post it anywhere, even on a personal non-SU blog, or link to it in gallery's and forums that promote other competing products? Where do they think all of those customers are coming from? People see the stamp in use at SCS or some other big site, and rush to buy it through the link back to SU rep (if they don't have a rep already). Not anymore! Those Reps won't be allowed to link to SCS and other "competing" sights anymore!!

Well, I for one, am putting my money where my mouth is with this pledge: I will never again buy an SU! product or any other product from a "control freaky" organization. And I wll not give them free advertising by using their products and posting it on ANY site I frequent. Therefore, I have a bunch of SU! Stamps I no longer have a use for. Good, I need to make room anyway.

So, here's what I'm going to do! I'm going to collect comments on this blog post for 2 weeks, and choose a randomly generated winner to GIVE all of my SU! stamps to! I'll even pay the shipping to get them out of my house! (I considered excluding SU! Reps from this offer, but decided against it; I'd almost rather give them to a Rep - They ** have ** to advertise SU!, but the rest of us don't! If I give them to a customer, that's more potential for FREE advertising to SU! Well, it won't be ME doing the FREE advertising for them!) Anyone who posts a comment qualifies.

Here's what you will get FREE: I have 22 sets of SU! stamps that are in boxes, plus about 4 other sets that are loose. Many are cut & mounted, but many are not. I do warn you, though: I'm not one of those people who keeps her stamps scrupilously clean. Some of these are used, and have ink stains. They're FREE, what more can you ask for? grin. These stamps are older stamps from approximately 2000-2004. There are 3 Alpha sets, 1 from 2001, 2002, & 2003. I won't post pics, because that would be FREE advertising; you'll just have to be surprised. :o)

I hope I get a TON of comments. But, maybe you don't want to support this company with FREE advertising either, even if you get the product FREE. :o) If that's the case, please leave me a comment about that, too. I'll exclude you from the drawing!

Drawing will occur at 10:00 PM CST on Tuesday, September 15, 2009
(PS: I fyou don't leave a link to your blog or your e-mail addy, I won't have a way to contact you. I will post it here, though, so be sure and check back after 9/15. If you leave your addy in your post, please write it like this to help keep it safe from phishers: "jane dot doe at yahoo dot com")

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Blog Hop: Farewell FCD DT3!!

2009-08-29T09:45:00.005-05:00

Welcome to another FCD Blog Hop! This one is kind of sad, since we are saying Farewell to the Season 3 FCD DT. I guess it's a Season Finale of sorts! :o) But, don't worry, a new team will be joining us in September, and we will still have a monthly blog hop once they get settled. ;o)

First the bookkeeping stuff: As usual, this is a circular blog hop, where the only beginning is the blog you start with, and the only end is the one that brings you back full circle! There will be blog candy, but the candy hostess is kept secret until it's all over. So be sure you leave a comment on all the blogs in order to qualify for the chance to win! Plus, we LOVE reading your comments, and seeing what excites you, our dear readers. :o) The Blog Hop officially ends on Monday, August 31, at 8 pm EST. The blogs will still be available for your enjoyment, but the candy giveaway will be over.

For my art this blog hop, I decided to make an ATC card for each of the departing team members. I wanted the cards to be unified in some way - like the team we have been this past year - so I used the Technique Junkies Scene Silhouettes Tutorial from July/Aug 2009 to create a background that when all the ATC's are put together creates a complete scene. I used chalk ink (Chalk-a-lots) to brayer the sky & grass; I love the soft effect that gives! I further unified them by using the branch stamp from the elephant set to add grass and tree branches to the edges of each card.

The horses all come from horse set, of horse! (hee hee). I made one major mistake with this set - anyone remember the "shimmery" paper from Club Scrap Reflections (Dec 2002, I think)? Well, I used that as my base, which worked okay for the chalk ink, but it did NOT work okay for the markers I used to color the horses (Tri-Art)! I kept accidentally removing the previous marker shades everytime I inked over it because they just wiped each other off that slick paper. Weird, because they dried in about 2 seconds if left alone. Anyway, I decided the somewhat mottled coats on the horses worked okay, so I went with it. LOL! The good luck phrase also came from the elephant set, and the backs are stamped with the ATC base from the ATC set.

Now for the really FUN stuff! ~Well, my art is fun, too, but this is even better; tee hee! Why? Because YOU get to benefit! In addition to blog candy, Pam has decided to have a Scavenger hunt for a 25% off coupon code on your entire order (excluding magazine orders please)!! Your letter from my blog is M! Have fun! Once you've gone all the way around, you'll have all the letters for the code. To unscramble them, put them in order, starting with Pam's blog. (Follow the links from there, to get the correct order for the letters.)" Better hurry, though - the coupon code is only good until Monday, 8/31 at 8pm EST.

Your next stop on the blog hop is the lovely and talented Vicki!

To all the FCD Design Team 2008-2009: Thanks for your hard work, and dedication this past year! I have been continually awed and inspired by your creativity & boundless energy! Good luck to you as you stamp on into new endeavors!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

If I Were A Cat

2009-08-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love cats, don't you? They are so goofy! I have 3 of them, and they keep me laughing all the time. I wrote this poem for a page I did a while back about one of my cats. Hope you enjoy it. :o)

If I were a CAT…

If I were a cat, I’d rule the house like Royalty,
Because cats are a lofty Sort you see.

I’d preen around with my tail held high,
And fall to the ground when someone walks by.

Just hoping and praying they’d bend close to me,
And pet me, and stroke me so pitifully.

I’d stretch out and sleep wherever I choose,
The house is all mine, I have nothing to lose!

I’d sit on the table, and watch the birds out in the grass,
And longingly wonder why the world invented Glass!

I’d tolerate the humans, who get in my face,
But only because they control the food in this place!

I’d play in my water, and with my food, too,
I’d bat it and chase it; don’t you do this, too??

I’d mew for attention when they’re doing other things,
Oh, how I love the scratching this brings!

Yes, if I were a cat, the world would be mine,
Because cats have ruled since the beginning of time!

~Ursula Riley, 4/10/05

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Thoughts Of You

2009-08-09T00:03:00.003-05:00

(click image for larger view)
I just love this sweet little guy! Reminds me of when my son was young, and he used to pick wild flowers for me! :o) This handsome little fellow is available from Firecracker Designs By Pamela. He is a clear single, and sells for only $3.79. He's called Boy With Flowers. The phrase comes from the Bridge of Thoughts plate.
This card uses the marker watercolor technique again from TJ's, June 2008. (See previous post for another card using this same technique.)
Hope you enjoy! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

How 'Bout Lunch?

2009-08-08T17:00:00.004-05:00

Happy Saturday! Hope you are enjoying your day, and finding some time to play! :o)
I made this card last night using FCD's single clear stamps: Purple Martin On Branch and the Flourish. The clear singles are a great deal at only 2.99 or 3.79, depending on the size. Check them out in the "under $5" shopping sections! The phrase stamp comes from the Clearly Calendar set. I plan on playing the rest of the afternoon, so check back agian tomorrow, and I'll share something else. :o)

The technique today is from Technique Junkies June 2008: marker watercoloring. Basically you stamp an open image (one with open spaces you can color) & clear emboss it.
Then, using markers, outline the inside edges of the areas you wish to color. For added depth, be sure to use more than one color in places to create shadows, etc. Use a water brush to pull the marker colors into the sections of the stamp. Blot up excess color or water with a paper towel.
When dry, mount the piece, and use as desired. The ribbon I used here has the same green as the paper accent piece on the left, but for some reason that ribbon never scans the green correctly.

It's still not too late to apply for the FCD design team! Pamela recently made a change to the comittment length from 12 months down to 6, so if time has been a deciding factor for you, perhaps the length will now work for you. We hope to see your work really soon! Details here.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Magical Day

2009-08-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

Isn't this the sweetest couple? I just love the distinguished gentleman and the elegant lady! These stamps are from the new clear singles collection at Firecracker Designs By Pamela. You can see them here: Man With Rose, and Lady In Hat. The phrase comes from the She Dreams set - LOVE this set! The phrases are so useful, and the images so yummy!! :o)

The technique is another new one from the latest Technique Junkies newsletter: Inside Out Vellum. The vellum is the red piece on the left; I ended up covering much of it, even though it turned out quite cool. I added some white dots with a gel pen; that wasn't part of the technique, but I thought it needed it. LOL! (my people's skin isn't so yellow IRL; I apologize for that. Maybe I need a new scanner? Mine is kind of old.. hmmmm....)

Hope you enjoyed today's art! :o)

PS: Don't forget about the open call for the FCD design team! Don't be shy - you have talents the world needs to see!! Deadline to submit is August 15; better hurry! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

The Future

2009-08-05T11:33:00.002-05:00

I love to write poetry. For something fun today, I thought I'd share one I wrote a couple of years ago. Hope you like it! (Feel free to use it in your artwork/scrapping, but please give me credit. Thanks!) If you enjoy reading these, please let me know, and I will occasioanlly post a new one! :o)

The Future
How can we predict where are lives will go?
The future is something we aren’t supposed to know.

Most of us wonder what the future has in store,
We dream or we dread right down to our core.

But knowing would surely change the course,
As we seek to alter our life’s own force.

To see where we’re going we must turn around,
For there our direction is sure to be found.

Our future stems from where we’ve been last,
For the Key to our Future is tied to our Past.

Ursula Riley
05/04/06

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Joy Babe`

2009-08-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

This card uses some RAK pieces from my dear friend, Diane. The ribbons, flower, and photo corner all came from her. Thanks Diane! :o)
The stamps use the new clear single Hang 10 (baby feet) stamp from Firecracker Designs By Pamela. It also uses the original red rubber babe set (retired) with smaller feet, and Joy & Babe words. The ribbon moon is a clear single, too, and was originally released on the She Dreams set. The single is a reversed image of the original, and is slightly bigger.
The background was created using gesso as per the latest Technique Junkie newsletter, Aug 2009, as is called the Gesso Off technique.
The bling jewels were all originally clear, but I wanted them to be a soft yellow, so I colored them with a yellow slick writer. :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Noteworthy

2009-08-03T20:52:00.008-05:00

Happy Monday! :o)

Today's card uses another Technique Junkie technique from the June/July 2009 issue: Stencil Stamping. The tech calls for a solid image so I paired it with the singing boy from Firecracker Designs By Pamela Karaoke set. The tech also requires a stencil, and I thought the Club Scrap music stencil from December 2005 was a perfect choice! (note the music notes flowing across the boy image).

(click on image for larger view.)

I masked the image after stamping, and also added the German Script stamp from FCD for a bit more interest and depth. For those of you who love background stamps, but hate chintzy sizes that make it hard to fill a card, this stamp is HUGE at nearly 5x7! :o) I also inked the image with a Versamark marker, and then clear embossed it. I'm not 100% thrilled with the blue diamond shapes, but they were scraps from the scrap drawer, so that - at least - makes me happy! LOL

Hope you enjoyed this little note. :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Grid Card

2009-07-31T21:57:00.005-05:00

You know how crafters always say, "This looks better in real life?" Well, I gotta say it, "This looks better in real life!" The colors are off just enough to throw off the harmony of this card. The background is actually an ivory/cream color, and the two birds that look "uncolored" are actually a light turquoise.. Weird how sometimes that happens. :o)

Anyway, this card uses 2 of the NEW CLEAR stamp SINGLES from Firecracker Designs By Pamela! I used the curly bird and star , both of which retail for only $2.99!! Pamela added a bunch of new clear singles that sell for $2.99 & $3.79; if you haven't checked them out yet, I highly recommend it! You can't beat that price for great quality, unique designs!

This card also uses the grid technique from Technique Junkies April 2007. I added bling in addition to the random doodling. The colors are VersaMagic Ocean Depth and Sierra Vista; LOVE those two colors together! Hope you like! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Blog Hop: FCD Heats Up!

2009-07-25T09:20:00.003-05:00

This hop officially starts at 11:00 am EST on Saturday 7/25. It will be valid for blog candy until Wednesday, 7/29. (If you are here prior to 11 am EST, I had to launch mine a bit early since I will be away for a few hours Saturday morning, and we have had issues with scheduled posts lately.)

Welcome to another Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! Appropriately, this hop is all about HEAT! July is full on summer in most places; the temps heat up, pavements sizzle, and the air is steamy! (Yes, I live in the south! LOL) So, in honor of summer, we broke out the heat guns and heated up some images!

(click image for bigger view)

This card uses two of the awesome new CLEAR singles! I used the Pussy Willow and the Boy Walking. To make the boy image a bit more fun, I paired him with his girl counterpart from the Sweet Child Of Mine red rubber set. What's cool about these two images is that they are the reverse of each other, so the hand and feet positions look like they would if someone were really walking. I figure the other details were close enough that if I colored them the same way, they'd look like the same child - in motion! Of course, this scene could also feature triplets - you decide! LOL! The other stamped images are the little ducks from the Silhouette Flowers plate.

The chidlren were stamped & heat embossed. Then I colored then with CTMH markers, and then inked them in with a Versamarker, and heat embossed the entire image(s) again. Once the children were finished, I inked in the rest of the scene using Distress & Adirondack inks and a sponge. The details in the grass, path, and water were made with coordinating CTMH markers and white gel pen. And, of course, the path was finished off with Flower Soft Sweet Pea. I free-handed the sentiment.

Don't forget our hops are now circular. It doesn't matter where you start out; just keep hopping until you get back to where you started. There are 9 of us particpating today, so it should be FUN. Remember, too, you need to comment on every post to be eligible to win since the candy hostess is a msytery, and will be announced by Pamela after the hop ends.

Your next stop on the tour is the lovely and talented: Heather!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Christmas in July!

2009-07-09T13:56:00.002-05:00

Hey gals,

In case you haven't heard, NOW is a great time to get started on those Christmas cards you need to make! Don't let your holidays be bogged down by card-making obligations; get them out of the way now, and save yourself some Peace! To help you get motivated, Pamela of Firecracker Designs is having a Buy 2 get 1 free sale on her Christmas/Winter sets. Better hurry, though, the sale is only good until Sunday, July 12!

Go here for more info. Note your free set in the comments section when youo order. Offer is repeatable (buy 4 get 2 free, buy 6, get 3 free, etc).

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Sending you Sunshine

2009-06-29T22:41:00.003-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows how much I ADORE the beach! The little sandpipers in this image were made into rubber from a photo I took on vacation a few years ago to Pensacola Beach. You can find these birds and the snorkler man on the Secrets of the Sea set from Firecracker Designs by Pamela.
The background water/ sea foam look was created with one of the BG images on the new ATC set 2009. I stamped the bubble image all over the paper in Versamark, and then covered it in a white puffy embossing powder from my stash. I then rubbed some ink over it in places to mimic the changing colors of the sea from the horizon in towards the shore.
The images were all stamped, colored, & clear embossed. They were then cut out and pop-dotted over the water/shore area. I added the Sunshine sentiment and a small swipe of sunshine ink to the lower left corner of the piece.
Hope you enjoy my piece of sunshine today! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD Goes Outdoors!

2009-06-27T09:45:00.003-05:00

Welcome to another Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! For this hop we were able to create any art piece we wanted as long as it had an outdoors theme, and focused on the new nature sets. For the card below I used the new Little Bird Told Me set. This set has some great bird images and phrases! If you're a bird lover, this set is definitely for you! :o) This set is currently on backorder, but you can still place your order for it, and gurantee yourself to be first in line when the new shipment comes in! (usually in about a week; Pamela will let you know.) This card has faux stitching on the edges. The bird was stamped on a formica sample. The background was a very lame attempt at the TJ technique, Depth of Field. It was on a white background, but the 3 colors of ink I used to stamp my images were much darker than I thought, and it looked awful. So, I added some Ranger AI's and a few smears of hazy ink. Still hated it, so I covered most of it up with the white handmade paper piece. LOL. It looks better IRL than the scan, but even so isn't my favorite work. I do love the chikadee on the formica, though; that's a great piece that could add great texture to a scrapbook page or other piece of art.

Well, since I felt like I cheated you with the above card, I decided to make another also. Now, this is more like it! :o) The card below uses the bench & fence from Scenic Byways and some trees, birds, and breathe sentiment from the new release of Just Breathe (again)

Most of the images are embossed in clear and then ink added to color. There is also a sprinkle of Flower Soft near the bench and around the fence posts. I love how this looks IRL - it looks so real! I am one of those card makers who is seriously ribbon challenged, but this piece needed a pop of color. I think the bright ribbon works, and helps to bring out the Flower Soft, too.

Don't forget our hops are now circular. It doesn't matter where you start out; just keep hopping until you get back to where you started. There are 10 of us particpating today, so it should be FUN. Remember, too, you need to comment on every post to be eligible to win since the candy hostess is a msytery, and will be announced by Pamela after the hop ends.

Your next stop on the tour is the lovely and talented: Heather!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

SC231, CAS18 - Twitter

2009-06-08T23:45:00.003-05:00

Yay, I played in two SCS challenges this week! It's been forever since I have done one of their challenges!! :o)
This card uses the new Little Birdy Told me set from FCD. I just love those birds, and that cute saying! LOL

I'll be out on vacation for the next 10 days or so. I'll check in with you gals later! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Wedding Card

2009-06-07T14:37:00.002-05:00

I made this card for my step-daughter's upcoming wedding on Saturday. They are getting married on Pensacola Beach. The card doesn't have any stamping, but the photo is one I took in 2002 before Ivan destroyed that part of the island. I placed the text directly on the photo before I printed it. Hope you enjoy it! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Top 10 Fav's, and Love Awards

2009-06-03T22:10:00.001-05:00

Top 10 Fav's Award:

Karyn over at Frog Lady Creations gave me an award sometime back. Since I was still so new at blogging, I felt it was sort of undeserved, and delayed posting it. (lol) Since I received a new award today, I figured I'd better post this one, too! How sweet; thanks so much Karyn! :o)

I'm supposed to pass this along to 10 others who's blogs make my heart smile... In no particular order, these people always bring sunshine to my life when I visit their blogs:

Photo Cat, who has the most divine photography blog ever!
Brenda, who is always such a sweetheart!
The oh-so-sweet Beth Ullman!
The truly inspirational Card's For heros!
Libby, who creates the most fun art around her baby's wardrobe!
The amazing Firecracker Designs!
Lorraine, who makes the most artsy, cool backgrounds!
Vicki, who is one of the kindest people I have met on-line - and so creative, too!
The very talented Mama Dini!
Julie, of Just Write Designs, who creates the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous art!

Love Award:

Etha gave me this sweet, teddy bear love award today! Isn't it adorable? Thanks so much, Etha! There isn't anything required for this, except to share the love with 5 others. So , here goes:

The adorable Kim Davenport!
The amazing Michelle Zindorf!
Pat, of TJ fame!
The creative Karyn!
The very talented Lizabeth Lee from Rubber Road!

Thanks for all the continued inspriation ladies! You always make me smile! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD goes Patriotic!

2009-05-30T09:45:00.006-05:00

Hello fellow crafters! Welcome to another happy Hop from Firecracker Designs ! This hop is slightly different from our previous versions in that it is Circular! What does that mean, you ask? Well, simply put – it has no designated beginning or end. You can start on any participating blog, and work around the links until you end up back where you started. When you come full circle, you have completed the Circular Blog Hop. (There're aren't very many blogs participating so you should have no trouble remembering where you started. grin.)

Pamela will once again be giving away blog candy, but in order to qualify you have to leave a message. The candy hostess is a mystery so you need to leave a message on every blog in order to have the best chance to win. Pamela will choose a blog after the hop is over to be the mystery hostess, and will use a randomizer to choose a winner from among that blog’s comments. So, if you want to win, you need to leave a comment on every blog, because you never know which blog will host the winning comment! Check back on Pamela’s blog after the Hop concludes for the announcement of who won. (She’ll also notify the winner by e-mail, so be sure you leave contact info in your comment if you want her to contact you.)

Now, enough housekeeping; let’s get on with the art! For this hop, we are all using the same Patriotic stamp set, So Far Away , and just for your, for this hop, it's on SALE for 20% OFF! I just love that emotional image of the soldier with his gear! He looks like he is leaving, but I prefer to think of him as coming home! :o) Thank YOU to all of our military who are now serving, have in the past, or have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect our FREEDOM! You are NOT forgotten! And to those family members who have a loved one away on duty: I pray your soldier will be safely back in your arms in no time! Thank you all for your continued sacrifices!

For my piece, I wanted to incorporate a photo image of an old tomb stone I discovered recently. I found this tiny little roadside cemetery a few weeks ago, and happened to have my camera in the car, so I stopped to look. I was amazed to see that most of the tomb stones indicated the people had passed around the turn of the 20th Century! Some of the markers even indicated the person was a soldier in the Confederate States Army! I was awed to be standing so close to such a real piece of our nation’s history!

I also decided this piece was a perfect place to use some ancient Pathway’s stickers I got about 6 years ago! I love that they are somewhat translucent – they make a perfect layering piece for this card. Both the eagle and Statue of Liberty are stickers. Notice I stamped the “You are not forgotten” sentiment from the stamp set across Lady Liberty? That seemed a very appropriate place for that stamp, don’tcha think? I also stamped the star pin in 3 of the corners, and the heart stamp in the lower left corner. The main image is, of course, our returning soldier. :o)
To finish the card, I decided to trim around parts of Lady Liberty. I just love how that turned out!

Thanks for following our blog-hop today. Be sure you follow all the way through and leave a comment on every blog for a chance to win! The next stop on the hop is Miss Pamela’s blog: FCD's Blog .

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Stamp-N-Foil Fish

2009-05-04T00:00:00.007-05:00

Pamela of FCD was recently contacted by a company called Stampee about possibly carrying this foil product in her store. Stampee offered a test sample of the foil & bonding powder, and yours truly was designated as the offical tester for FCD. :o)

The foil product comes in a generous 4.75" x 20' roll, so there is plenty to play with. The maker intends for the product to be used/applied with the aid of a heat laminating machine. As I don't own one, nor was I willing to buy one specifically to test this product, I set out on a mission to see how it could be used sans laminator.

My first few experiments invloved the foil, bonding powder, a heat gun and bone folder. This produced okay results. It was a bit hard on the fingers since I had to be right under the heat gun rubbing with the bone folder; the results were decent, albeit distressed. If you were going for a distressed look, this would be an acceptable application method - but watch your fingers!

So, the next thing I tried was a fine tipped glue pen (Zig) and free-handed drawing. I placed the foil directly on top of the glue pen design, tapped it in place with my fingers, and let it dry. Once dry, I removed the foil sheet. The results were very exciting! Even though I only used a border scrap of paper for this test, I may try to incorporate it into a future piece of work. It was playful and fresh.

So, the next thing I decided to do, was use one of FCD's die cuts, the something fishy fish to be specific, and the coordinating stamp. I coated the die cut completely in adhesive, and then placed the foil on top. I covered the foil with a piece of paper to protect it, and rubbed it to firmly adhere it. I then set it aside to dry. Once dry, I removed the foil sheet, and stamped the image on top using black Stazon, and added a bit of shimmerz to lightly color portions of the fish. I also colored a handmade paper in shimmerz and used it for the bottom matte on my card. Once dry, I stamped the phrase, and attached my fish. I then attached this matte to a plain ivory card. To finish the card, I used the fine tip Zig glue pen and drew a border around the card. I then covered the glue with some foil strips and set it aside to dry. The finished results are quite happy: shiny, playful, cheery. This will definitely brighten anyone's day! What do you think? This is the scanned version; you know scans never show shine very well, but this version captures the color fairly well:

Here are a couple of alternate views taken with a camera to capture the shine. Notice the shimmery background on the handmade paper? Lovely, isn't it? And the clean shine of the foil on the border and fish - also very pretty:

Hope you enjoyed this product test. The product is fun, but to really appreciate its intended purpose, you must have a heat laminator. The product is supposed to work with a stamped image, coat with bonding powder & heat (like you would a clear EP), then apply the foil, cover with a sheet of paper, and feed through a laminator. When done, the image is supposed to be a perfect rendition of the stamped image in foil. I suspect not many stampers own a heat laminator. If you do, and would be interested in seeing this product in FCD's store, I'd appreciate a comment back.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Flower Soft Bier (Beer) Stein

2009-04-28T22:51:00.003-05:00

I made this fun little card today using my new Flower Soft I got from Firecracker Designs. FUN stuff!! I free-handed the beer stein shape; okay so I'm not the best at drawing, but it looks like a mug anyhow! :o)

I used a handmade paper note card blank - only because it happened to be in my way on my work surface. So I drew the design in pencil, cut it out, and painted it with some Shimmerz in candlelight and golden wheat. WOW, the texture and color on handmade papers when using Shimmerz is incredible! I wish you could see this IRL. Way cool - especially since this was an accidental discovery due to my messy desk!

After letting the Shimmerz dry a bit, I stamped the "Prost!" word from FCD's German Phrases Set.

I then added the glue around the top for the beer head, and sprinkled on some ivory Flower Soft. I layed that aside to dry while I worked on the pretzel.

I stamped, colored, then clear embossed the pretzel from FCD's German Pretzel & Lebkuchen heart 2x3 set. I added some tiny glue dots, and sprinkled on more Flower Soft to mimic the pretzel salt. I also made the sweetest heart (It really looked like a Lebkuchen Hertz!!), but it just didn't work with the beer & pretzel, so I saved it for another project. :o)

I popdotted the pretzel to the stein after it was all dry. The finished card looks really cool in real life!

Prost!!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Blog Hop: FCD Presents Atypical Artwork!

2009-04-25T09:30:00.002-05:00

Ever wondered just what you could do with your stamps that would make your images look unique? Have you ever looked at an image, and been reminded of something else, entirely unrelated to that stamp image? If so, this HOP's for YOU! This month's Firecracker Designs Blog Hop Challenge was to use any FCD stamp in a unique way that deviates from the stamp's intended design. Sounds intriguing, don'tcha think? :o)

If you joined this hop in the middle, you can jump here to FCD to start from the beginning.

I needed to make 8 cards to send for a RAK swap I am in, and so wanted to combine that task with this challenge. Therefore, I wanted something simple, that wouldn't take hours to recreate. I'm also a kitty lover, so I decided to use the S Swirl from the Hearts & Scrolls Doodles set to make the haunches & tail for my kitty. For the head, I used part of the image from Lizzie Cat, and I finished the piece off with the furever friends phrase from Riley Raccoon.

Please HOP to Karyn's blog for the next stop on the trail. Be sure to follow the trail all the way to the end for a chance to win some yummy blog candy. (You have to leave a message on the final blog to be in the drawing for the prize.) :o)

If you would like to see other samples I created in the past that also work with this challenge, here are a few more links. Don't forget to come back to Karyn's Blog to finish the hop if you take this detour first.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

50 Ways to Use Fiber

2009-04-25T01:21:00.002-05:00

Here's another old list I dug out of my scrapbook files. This was dated from Dec 2003 so some ideas may be "dated" and there are probably many more things you can do today. It's still a great resource, though, and I hope you will get some use from it. :o)

Map out your vacation route with fiber threaded through eyelets.
Use as laces on paper pieced-shoes.
Make a frame around a matted photo or journal box.
Tie through the hole of a tag.
Use in a sports scene as a basketball hoop, soccer net or fishing pole.
Create grass or trees.
Spell out a title using fibers to stitch out the letters.
Wrap around a border, nugget, tag or corner accent several times.
Make hair or other features on paper dolls.
Use as a string for balloon diecuts or eyelets.
Tie lassos for western pages.
Create seaweed on an ocean or vacation page.
Attach a tail to a kite.
Build a mountain/water outline.
Use a rope for a tug of war scene.
Fringe on animals.
Wrap fibers around letters.
Create a shadow for die cut letters.
Use fibers to tie 2 or more elements together.
Weave through mesh.
Create bows.
Scarf on a paper pieced snowman.
Attach to a brad and use it as a yoyo.
Glue random scrap pieces to the base of a card to make a background.
Used to stitch pieces together to form a pocket.
As embroidery stitching.
Attach tire (swing) to tree.
Wrapping presents.
Crossing corners of a photo mat or journal box.
Clothesline for hanging mittens with wooden clothespins.
Stitching a template design.
Thread punchies on fiber and create a bracelet around a photo/mat.
Down the length of the page, photo mat or journal box as a border.
To hang/attach buttons or charms.
Used to hang signs or metal rimmed tags from buttons, brad and eyelets.
Decorations on a Christmas Tree.
Decorations on an Easter Egg.
Create a spider web.
Wrap around a brayer to add dimension to your brayered background.
Ends of a hammock.
Wind fibers tightly to form the centre of a flower or leaves.
To knit or crochet page accents.
As a blanket stitch around a border, or mat.
Tassels.
Braiding the fibers together to create borders, page breaks etc.
As needlepoint stitches on your page elements.
Hanging header letter squares or mini tags.
Enhancing die cuts
Accent on Serendipity Squares.
Use to stitch the outlines of a simple stamp image.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Thanks for Pitchin In!

2009-04-04T17:44:00.006-05:00

Isn't this just the cutest stamp set ever?? I just adore the big tree, and the boy in his overalls! You can get this set from Firecracker Designs By Pamela for only 8.99!

I had some pattern paper scraps laying on my desk from the last card I made, and decided to use the scraps to make a card. This card & images were pieced together by stamping various bits onto scraps, coloring them with a Versamark pen, and clear embossing them. I then cut the pieces out, and reassembled the stamped images. I especiqally love the little boys shirt & overalls - isn't that pattern paper perfect?

I just love using paper scraps! My friend, Carole, she is the Quintessential Queen of Scrap! :o) Do you have a fun way to use paper scraps? I'd love to hear or see your work! Please send me a link to your favorite scraptastic pieces! If I get at least 5 links, I'll draw one lucky winner to send this card to! So, come on - don't be shy! ;o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD's Spring Fling - Another Fun Firecracker BLOG HOP

2009-03-28T10:00:00.003-05:00

This month's blog hop is all about SPRING!! Everywhere I look, spring is popping out all over the place - what a great time of the year! Flowers are blooming, trees are budding, bees are buzzing, and BABIES are "borning!" :o)

This actually turned out to be quite a useful theme for me because, as luck would have it, I needed to make a baby shower gift - and new baby life definitely fits a spring theme in my book!

And it worked in quite nicely with the spring stamp set I chose to use from Firecracker Design's new spring collection! You can see the complete new spring collection here!

Aren't those just the cutest little ducks?? I thought the duck coming out of his shell was appropriate for my baby gift so I decided to go with him. I altered a photo album for the mom-to-be, using some soft pink paper, the ducky, some embellies & bling, a phrase from the set, and the tiny flower stamp. Her baby is going to be a girl - how sweet!

My gift started out as a black photo book. It holds 12 pages/photos, and you can record a matching 10 second message for each of the 12 pages! Can't you just imagine how sweet it would be if the new mommy would take a matching photo at each new stage of baby's communication and record the matching sounds of baby? Coos, gurgles, full belly laughs, "mama" - what a treasure that book will be when baby gets older; mom can flip through her sweet baby photos, and hear the corresponding sound of her precious one at each stop down memory lane! Wish they had stuff like that when my son was a baby!

Here's a close-up of the sweet ducky corner! That duck is just so happy, LOL! I love his little fluttery wings popping up out of his shell! Ta-da!! That's what I think he's saying as he pops up! :o)

Hope you enjoyed our Blog Hop today! Please check out Marie's blog next. From there your journey will end with a link back to Pam's blog where you can leave a comment for a chance to win some "love." :o)

Happy Trails!

Ursula

70 Ways to Use Eyelets & Brads

2009-03-26T19:49:00.003-05:00

Here's another old list I dug out of my scrapbook files. This was dated from 2003 so some ideas may be "dated" and there are probably many more things you can do today. It's still a great resource, though, and I hope you will get some use from it. :o)

1. connectors on paper piecing for moveable parts
2. attaching vellum
3. accents on journal blocks
4. to "hang" things from
5. center of flowers
6. center of letters
7. spell out words (outline letters)
8. corners of picture mat
9. eyes of paper dolls
10. nails in a fence
11. earrings for a paper doll
12. belly button jewel for a paper doll
13. "stone" in a ring
14. buttons on a snowman
15. decoration on a child's ball
16. stepping stones on a garden layout
17. attach a fiber to a brad to make a yo-yo
18. attach elements on a page by wrapping wire or fiber
19. to form "bullets" for a list of things
20. as an accent on the tail of a letter
21. in the hole of a tag
22. white - as stars on a black or navy blue sky
23. white - as dropping snowflakes
24. light blue - as falling raindrops
25. orange - as pumpkins
26. white - as moonbeams
27. jeweled belt on a paper doll
28. brown - as chocolate chips on a cookie
29. toppings on a pizza
30. M & Ms
31. buttons on a shirt
32. decorations on an Easter egg
33. decorations on a Christmas tree
34. purple - grapes in a cornucopia
35. lights on top of a police car or fire truck
36. center of a pinwheel
37. center of tires
38. tires on a toy car
39. end of antenna on a bug
40. center of fiber spider web
41. hair ornament on a girl paper doll
42. the "dot" on an i or j
43. attach handle to a basket
44. to attach fibers or lacing something together
45. attach a sign to a post
46. rocks
47. center of propeller on an airplane
48. on serendipity squares
49. sesame seeds on a bun
50. jeweled skirt on a paper doll
51. use as a spider and paint a face on it with the legs behind it orwire for its legs
52. dots on a ladybug
53. as fillers
54. use as nails on wood (like haunted house windows)
55. Christmas Bulbs on a tree paper piecing
56. eye on a frog
57. use to embellish the corner of tags or
58. borders or
59. titles
60. Attach fabric, twistel or lace to paper
61. use star brads to replicate a night sky
62. ends of a hammock
63. use on butterfly wings
64. oval nail heads as Easter Eggs
65. Buttons on a dress
66. shoe buckle
67. dots on a clown suit doll or paper piecing
68. sprinkles on an ice cream cone
69. sprinkles on a cupcake
70. use seashell nail heads on torn sand paper to create a beachlook

In case you haven't already heard, we're blog-hopping again this Saturday, starting at 11 am EST. Please start on Pamela's gallery for the first post.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

I Only Have Eyes For You

2009-03-07T20:17:00.005-06:00

Hello Friends! I hope you are having a super weekend! The weather here has been gloriously springful, and I love it! :o)
I just adore slide mounts, don't you? It's been ages since I used them, though, so last night I pulled out my slide mount drawer, and this awesome eyes stamp from Firecracker Designs Teen Chat Set and made this sweet card! The sentiment came from FCD's Riley Raccoon Set, and worked just perfectly with these eyes! All 3 slide mounts are pop-dotted for extra depth. I hope your eyes like what they see! LOL

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

50 Ways to Love Your Brayer

2009-02-28T14:40:00.002-06:00

I found this list in my crafting archives on my computer. Someone posted this list in a group I was in back in 2003, and I saved it to my computer. Thought it might be fun to dig it out again! If you are one of those crafters who is afraid of your brayer, try one or more of these tips, and get inspired. :o)

RUBBER:
1. Stripes: using markers, make stripes on your brayer (this works best if you lay it on its back and turn the roller while holding the marker) all the way around until the beginning and ending stripe meet. Roll brayer across your paper in whatever direction you desire.
2. Squiggles (technical term): Repeat the same process as for Stripes but make wavy lines instead of straight ones.
3. Confetti/Dots/Raindrops: Randomly make marks on your brayer with your marker (you can use different colors) all over the entire roller. Then roll away.
4. Plaids: Same as with the markers for Stripes except criss-cross pattern.
5. Plaids: You could also outline the stripes for your plaids with the smaller tip of your marker to make the plaid/stripes stand out more.
6. Plaids: Rainbow/Kaliedacolor plaids are made with the brayer being rolled over a KC pad several times then brayering over your paper. Repeat as necessary for the desired depth of color and surface coverage. Then repeat the process in the opposite direction.
7. KC Backgrounds: Same as above just don't create a plaid design. This works great for those scenery/landscape cards.
8. Reverse/mirror Image: Color your stamp, rubber side up and roll the brayer over the image several times, then roll over your paper (works great with trees, flowers etc). You can also add this technique to the above KC backgrounds for a great scenic card.
9. Mirror Image: If you have an image that you want to face each other say the Pig from Farm Fun… you would brayer over the stamp like above and then roll onto your paper then stamp the original pig image nose to nose with the first.
10. Kissing: Brayer over a background stamp like Pindot Plaids then use your other stamps like the Seasonal Solid and stamp onto the background stamp then stamp onto your card stock - your solid stamp now has a design and you have just multiplied your uses of one set.
11. Ghosting: Stamp an image on your card (say the Snowflake from the "Snowflake" set) several times in clear embossing ink. (DO NOT EMBOSS) Then brayer over your invisible images with regular dye pad and your snowflakes will start to appear.
12. Resist: Works best with glossy paper. You will need to choose your resist medium; ink, wax or other. I tried with the metallic pens. You color on the glossy card stock with the pens in any way, or pattern you choose then you use the same technique as the ghosting by brayering over with a different color. The pattern that you drew or colored will not let the brayered ink absorb through the card stock therefore comes the "resist". (This category could actually count for about 10 different ways to love your brayer as you are only limited by your imagination on what you choose as your resist medium)
Others to try:
13. oil colored pencils (work best with regular matte finished papers);
14. crayons;
15. wax paper;
16. metallic pens;
17. ink;
18. resist ink;
19. emboss ink (try the emboss pens to write a hidden message);
20. rubber cement;
21. masking fluid;
22. white out/correction pen;
23. Gel pens;
24. wax resist sticks;
25. Deka paint (for fabric - much harder to do).
26. Another "Resist" able technique: crumple a piece of wax paper; iron (on hottest setting/no steam) wax paper onto white card stock (be sure to use an additional sheet of card stock between the wax paper and iron); press for only 2-3 seconds - this will transfer the wax to both sheets of card stock (if you iron too long the wax will be absorbed into the paper) Ink your brayer and then brayer over card stock. The brayer will resist laying color where the was paper has left its design (makes a great background paper)
27. Another variation to the above is to use your stylus tool and with the wax paper on the card stock use the tip of your stylus to write your own message or draw your own design - brayer over to reveal your design or message.
28. Use your brayer for those big background stamps to get an all over inking.
29. You could also use the same technique as above for those bigger solid images that you want to emboss. Brayer over the image with the emboss pad for an even/smoother finish.
30. Put a piece of cheesecloth down and brayer over the cheesecloth for a different effect.
31. Try the same as above with lace doilies.
32. Lace
33. Bubble wrap
34. Brayer over a leaf (two ways to do this: place card stock over leaf or other nature finds and bring out the textured surfaces below; or use the reverse/mirror image technique to pick up the pattern of your nature find.)
35. Joseph's Coat: Brayer with a KC pad and cover the entire area of your card (glossy works best). Emboss your image with clear embossing powder/ink on top of the area colored (this technique works best with the more solid image stamps like the tent from Roughin It or the Kids Prints). Then ink your brayer with Black or Navy (the darker the better) and cover the entire card again with this new color. Let the overcoat of ink dry, then buff the card with a paper towel to remove excess ink. What happens is that your KC color will then shine through. Just think of a great landscape card with stars in the sky and trees) WOW!!
36. Ink up your brayer with embossing ink and roll over the entire card then emboss with clear powder.
37. Brayer an intense/brilliant color on glossy card stock then use a speckle background stamp and clear emboss ink, stamp then emboss with Rainbow Razzle or other multi colored emboss powder. When you heat it will bring out the beautiful play in colors.
38. Watercolor brayer: Ink your brayer with a rainbow pad or markers, then spritz with a water bottle, then roll out for a very pretty watercolor look.

LUCITE/ACRYLIC:
39. Put rubber bands around your brayer for unique background
40. Wrap saran wrap around your brayer for another unique background
41. Try fabric netting or the netting from bags of oranges or as above.
42. Cheesecloth another unique background
43. Try string
44. Yarn
45. Crochet yarn
46. Try the new Encore pads and rolling it out onto liquid appliqué for a faux suede look.
47. Use your acrylic brayer to roll out paperclay
48. Use your acrylic brayer to make sharp creases in your card stock
49. Crinkle up a piece of Mulberry paper, ink up your brayer with the new Encore pads and give your Mulberry paper that guilded look.
50. Faux Suede - squeeze brown liquid appliqué on wax paper or aluminum foil. Roll the brayer until it is coated and smooth. Roll and even coat of the liquid appliqué on your cut out image (try the gingerbread man die cut) let it set for a minute then heat. This will give you a nice suede feel. Try it with different colors. But be sure to clean your brayer right away.
51. Use your acrylic brayer with pigment ink on glossy (takes a little while to dry) don't roll use a quick sliding motion to brush the inked brayer across the card stock, wiggle if you want (the brayer silly!) You can make some awesome plaids or sunbursts.
52. Try the same technique above but tap the brayer around in different areas for an all over colorburst.

FOAM:
53. Use your foam brayer for an all over airbrush effect.
54. Use your foam brayer with your stencils.
55. Use with the KC pads for rainbow effect.
56. Use your foam brayer with markers for an interesting look. I've heard that you can make some great tortoise shell, leopard or gemstone looks on glossy card stock.
57. You can also use the spritz technique with the foam brayer for a watercolor effect.

OK, so that's more than 50, isn't it? Looks like you got the Bonus Plan! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

FCD presents Die-normous fun! – A Modern Day Fairy Tale

2009-02-21T10:00:00.025-06:00

Hello fellow crafters! Have we got a treat in store for you today!

Unless you are new to crafting, or live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of die-cuts, right? Well, did you know there is one stamp vendor who sells die-cuts that are specially designed to fit with her stamps? That’s right, and that vendor is our very own Pamela from Firecracker Designs ! Talk about bringing out the MUSE; my goodness I had so much fun with these amazing, die-normously FUN, die-cuts! (The closed version of my stair-step creation is at right.)

The stamp set I used for this challenge was the fabulous fairytale fantasy set, She Dreams – a full 8.5x11 sheet of rubber with 2 dozen fun images! The coordinating die-cut set can be found here.

For me, it was important to jazz up the white background of the die-cuts before I inked the design in – I’m not that great at coloring “inside the lines” so by coloring first and then inking, I could be sure the lines would stay crisp after stamping. So I started my creating session by first painting several of the die-cuts with Shimmerz. The Shimmerz are also available at Firecracker Designs; be sure to pick up a few when you get your stamps and die-cuts. They make these pieces look so amazing!

For the dragon and princess I just eyeballed the placement of the colors, but the knight was much more detailed. In order to be sure the knight would be colored correctly (and not “mar” him with ink before I was ready to stamp), I lightly painted the knight rubber with water, and then pressed the die-cut into it. This allowed me to see the basic outlines of the details for coloring purposes, without permanently marking the piece. Smart, eh? LOL

For the dragon, I used Olive Green Shimmerz . I painted it on pretty heavy, and pounced around a bit to get some added texture. For the horns I used Royal Red Shimmerz [with a touch of Spiced Cider] and used a softer hand at the point where it met the green. I wanted to soften those lines and blend them a bit. After the dragon was colored, I set him aside to dry while I worked on the Princess.

For the Princess, I used Baby’s Breath Twinkling H2O’s (face), and the rest is all Shimmerz. Her dress is colored with a blend of colors, Periwinkle , December Sky , and Lilac. Her hair is colored with Golden Wheat, while her hat has highlights of the same Olive Green [used on the dragon] on top of a December Sky base.

After “watermarking” the knight, I painted his face with Baby’s Breath Twinks. His armor, and the horse’s armor, was done using the December Sky used on the princess, while the horse was painted with Spiced Cider to mimic a nice chestnut.

The moon was painted with Gold Glimmer, and the sash around the moon was painted with December Sky.

Once all of the painted pieces were dry, it was time to stamp. For a video tutorial of how to use Pamela’s coordinated die-cuts with her stamps, click here.

I used Versafine black ink to get good detail, and immediately embossed with clear embossing powder. After inking and embossing, I used some markers (CTMH) to add a few detail touches to the pieces to give them more depth.

I wanted to use my pieces on a stair-step card with a background of DCWV Fairytale paper – what could be better suited than a warm, distressed paper with a castle in the background?

This is the open image, with the "stair steps" open. Isn't that the coolest? LOL. (You can click on any of these to see more details, if needed.)

After assembling my pieces, I added some fiber and title pieces for added interest. Since my fairytale is a modern version, my princess doesn’t require rescuing, but instead is using her magic wand to help her knight slay the dragon. By changing the “we” sentiment to “you, this would be perfect to give as a wedding or anniversary card! I’m sticking with the "we", though, and am going to give this to my husband for our anny. :o)

This scan at left is not a very good one- the color is all washed out - but I placed it here anyway because it's the only one that gives some indication of the lovely shimmer the pieces have from the Shimmerz products. In real life, this piece is warm and shimmers with lovely light and life.

Thanks for following our blog-hop today. Be sure you follow all the way through and leave a comment on Pam’s blog for a chance to win a set of coordinated stamps & die-cuts of your own! If you started at Pam’s (she's the first stop, too), then I should be the last stop on your way back to her blog. Bummer - that means the hop is over. Too bad; I love these blog hops so much- aren't they just the coolest? All that's left for you to do now, is go back to Pam's and leave a comment. Go! Go now, and leave a comment for your chance to WIN!!! :o)

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

A General Rant

2009-02-12T10:49:00.005-06:00

OK, so I know this has nothing whatsoever to do with stamping or scrapping, but I just need to vent this somewhere. Lucky you. :o)

You know those polls that come out occasionally about what Americans fear most? Some fear terrorism, some fear the sinking economy, some fear rising health care costs, etc. Well, I have come to realize my biggest fear is the US Government!! The more I read about this so-called stimulus plan, the more fearful I become.. I don't know if we will be able to recover from the mess they are determined to create.. Having a society where all are financially equal might sound noble, but it's impossible - no matter how much you might wish it to be so. Eventually, you run out of money to steal, I mean redistribute.. Money is afterall a finite resource, no matter how fervently the Federal Reserve wants you to believe otherwise.

Just a few juicy tidbits I have read this week:
State governments who are fiscally responsible will now be called upon to bail out those that are not. Doesn't seem hardly fair, does it? I wonder if that's even legal? Can the federal government take money from individual states simply because the states have it to spare, and give it to other states who can't manage their budgets? How long do you think it will take those “responsible states” to spend the extra bucks in their coffers to keep from giving it away? Hmm, maybe I can finally get that pothole down the street from me repaired.
You can read more about this here; It's towards the bottom, in the section titled, "Rewarding State Irresponsibility":

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjcyODIyZGM2MGU1ZDdkNDgxZDc3OTNjYjM4ZDY1ODI

Another mind boggling bit comes from this week's Monday edition of the Patriot Post, http://PatriotPost.US
In the section I am referring to, they are talking about section 9201 of the stimulus package. According to the Patriot Post, this section establishes something called the 'Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research.' Say what? That's a mouthful, huh? And what exactly does this gem do? According to Tom Daschle, as described in the Patriot Post, this organization aims "to cut health care costs by preventing Americans from getting treatments that the government decides don't meet their standards for cost effectiveness." In a nut shell, the government thinks they are better equipped to decide what the best course of treatment is for all patients, and if your doctor's prescription or surgery, etc doesn't meet the guidelines for what they think is "cost effective" they won't pay for it. Your doctor's medically guided decision's about your treatments will no longer be the deciding factor or even relevant as far as the government is concerned. Hmm, doesn't take much of a genius to figure out this plan won't work... SO, while they refuse to pay for your drug that's not on their "cheap" list, will they still pay for your doctor visits? I bet yes - but how many "extra" visits will you have to make to this doctor because the "cheap list" drug isn't working? Bet those visits cost a lot more than the drug they refuse to pay for. Let’s just hope no one will become incapacitated from the lack of proper treatment; there’s no telling what that might cost! And these Einstein's think this will bring down the cost of health care? Yeah, and I have a bridge in Alaska I can sell them...

Well, this little rant turned out longer than I expected. I get so irate when I read about the antics of the US Government, I could go on for hours, but that wouldn’t be much fun to read.. I’m just passionate, I guess. :o)

Thanks for letting me rant!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

New Sets at FCD!!

2009-01-21T18:44:00.008-06:00

Hey gang! Have I got a treat for you!!
2 new sets have just arrived at Firecracker Designs By Pamela and they are PERFECT for cards for ANY occasion!! Both sets are clear photoploymer, pretrimmed, and sticky backed! The word set features 19 words, about 1/4 inch high, with the longest word being 1.75 " long (With Sympathy) Get it HERE

The second clear set features a calendar grid, 4 phrases, 3 years, tiny numbers, and a 6 fun images to dress them all up with! (This set co ordinates with the red rubber set called "Calendar Frame")Get it here!

SPECIAL!! Order the bundle and save!!Bundle includes both these new clear sets above, AND a the red rubber set below: Calendar Frame BUT HURRY!! this special will only last thru SUNDAY Jan. 25th! CLick here!

Don't like clicking on links? Just go to http://www.firecrackerdesignsbypamela.com/ and click on the NEW button on the left!Thanks for tuning in!

Happy Stampin'!
Ursula

Coffee Filters!

2009-01-18T16:17:00.004-06:00

I got these tips in my e-mail - you know, one of those forwarded message things? I thought many of these were great, so thought I'd share them here! How fun! I love finding new ways to use old stuff! :o)

Hints and uses for Coffee filters ..who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing.

Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
Protect China. Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.
Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters instead!
Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. Soaks out all the grease.
And of course, for you crafters out there, you can ink them and make cool backgrounds for cards & layouts, too! (I added this one to the list; this is afterall the Rubber Raft! There has to be something craft related here. LOL)

You know, I'm sure I saved another great e-mail about uses for dryer sheets! I'll have to dig that out if I can find it, and post it soon, too! Feel free to share any other great uses for Coffee Filters in your comments!

Happy Stampin'!

Ursula

Winged Things ATC's

2009-01-18T15:16:00.006-06:00

Here's a few ATC's I made a while back using some cool wings & images from Firecracker Designs. I just love these; especially the child walking away with his angel wings. I believe there are Angels among us, don't you? :o)

The background was inked using the ink release background tutorial from FCD.

click on the photo for larger image

Stamps used (all Firecracker Designs By Pamela) Dragon Wings (singles), Sally Says, Sweet Child of mine, Ladies in Character, Italiano, Journaling Jammers

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy stampin'
Ursula

Lessons Learned From My Cats, Part 4

2009-01-14T00:01:00.001-06:00

Here's today's cat lesson # 4: No fancy or funny stories today - just a reminder to be helpful to others; you never know what kind of heartache is on another's mind! Your help may be just what they need to brighten their day. :o)

click on the photo for larger image

Stamps used (all Firecracker Designs By Pamela) Scatter Joy, Inspire me, Foo Font

That's all the lessons for this week. I'm out on travel, but will post again this weekend; probably something else though, like an ATC set. Happy stampin'
Ursula

Lessons Learned From My Cats, Part 3

2009-01-13T00:01:00.001-06:00

Here's today's cat lesson # 3: Keep in touch with your family, and do things together to keep each other "sharp"! I rememeber when my sisters and I were kids, we used to "touch" each other just to be irritating. Invariably, one of us would shout, "Mommmmm! She's touching meee!" he he. Well, we're best friends today, no harm no foul. But we learned a lot from those pestering days - we learned how to relate to others and keep the peace even amongst less-than-peaceful persons! It's all good! :o)

click on the photo for larger image

Stamps used (all Firecracker Designs By Pamela) Doodles: Inspire me, Innies & outies Those were The Days,You Whoo!, Forgive me?, Clear ATC set, Hello Friend

Hope you'll check back for the next lesson, coming soon (ok, coming tomorrow)! Happy stampin'
Ursula

Lessons Learned From My Cats, Part 2

2009-01-12T00:01:00.003-06:00

Here's today's cat lesson # 2: My Highschool Counselor once told a group of us, "Don't let Ursula's innocent eyes fool you!" He was kidding, of course, but years later I still look back on that memory with a smile. I think these 2 photos express that sentiment exactly! Chances are, no one will believe you, but a well practiced look of innocence should be cultivated, I think! Not that I'm advocating being naughty and covering it up, mind you! LOL

click on the photo for larger image

Stamps used (all Firecracker Designs By Pamela) Doodles: Tattoo You. Clear Journal set

Hope you'll check back for the next lesson, coming soon (ok, coming tomorrow)! Happy stampin'
Ursula

Lessons Learned From My Cats, Part 1

2009-01-11T00:01:00.001-06:00

I have so many cute kitty photos that still aren't scrapped yet! I decided to make a book about "Lessons Learned From my cats!" You may be wondering what one could possibly learn from an animal - well, LOTS of things! :o)
Lesson 1 is below. It shows my 3 cats looking out the window with a "think BIG" quote. The bottom has a "Today is Tomorrow's Yesterday" phrase, implying you should do whatever it takes today to make your dreams come true, for today quickly becomes yesterday! I'll post other lessons in the coming days/weeks, as time and inspiration strikes.
Hope you Enjoy!

click on the photo for larger image

Stamps used (all Firecracker Designs By Pamela) Doodles: Crazy 4 Pasiley, Tattoo You, Inspire me. Primrose, Cat-a-Tude

Thanks for sharing with me today! Happy stampin'
Ursula

New Blog!

2009-01-10T13:44:00.000-06:00

OK, this is spur of the moment since Paper Craft Planet won't let non-members view my blog anymore (apparently, anyway)! I know this is really BORING, but stay with me, and I promise to add some Zing to the pages in the coming weeks! :o)

In case you're wondering about my blog title - I decided to use it as a way to either tie in a "jump on board" subtitle, or a "Rubber saved my Life" kind of thing.

Pam from Firecracker designs will help me create a banner for the title. Isn't she sweet? (Family does have it's privledges, you know? wink, wink)

So, for now, pardon the mess! Thanks for finding me!

Ursula

Firecracker Designs Blog Hop: ABC - Anything But a Card

2009-01-10T13:36:00.001-06:00

Howdy Friends! :o)It's time for another blog hop! Hope you've got your hopping shoes on and are ready to join in the fun today!Today's challenge was to create an ABC item (anything but a Card) that featured FCD stamps and could be used as a Valentine's Day gift. COOL!

I decided to make something for my hubby. He's been pretty good lately - heck he even fixed our broken toilet in the master bath (LOL). That deserves chocolate in my book, and what better way to present it than a homemade (or at least home decorated) candy dish!
I found this dish at our local Wal-Mart. Here's a pic of the "before" dish. (OK, yes, it's really a flower vase, but I think it makes a coolio candy dish!)

I first colored it with 3 colors of Alcohol Inks (latte, espresso, & raisin). Then I measured and cut 4 panels to fit along the top edge. To be sure the paper edge blended well with the glass, I tore the bottom of each panel and inked all the edges with Distress Walnut Ink.Next it was time to stamp! I used two Sally stamps from Sally Says, the "love your sexy tu-lips" phrase from the Tulip plate, and a few word stamps from a few other sets. I stamped and colored all 4 panels.Then, using Matte Medium, I painted the glass and the backside of the panels (one at a time), and affixed them to the dish. Once all 4 panels were attached, I painted over the upper section with the Medium, making sure no edges were loose.Once that dried, I tied a ribbon to the bottom, hung some charms from the bow, and filled it with Kisses. Isn't it SWEET??

Be sure you hop on over to Karyn's" Blog to continue on the FCD hop today! There will be a treat at the end of today's journey, but you have to find your way there, first!
Happy Hoppin and Stampin! :o)

Thanks for stopping by today!Ursi