Good Afternoon everyone! Today starts the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges on Splitcoast. If you are a Fan Club Member I will see you in the Challenges – if you aren’t a Fan Club Member, there is still time to sign up and take part in the week long challenges. Yep week long challenges! We are celebrating the Three Year Anniversary of the Splitcoast Fan Club this week!

This is the sample card I made for TexasJodyLynn’s challenge.

I made this card using some scraps from BasicGrey Infuse paper and fibers. The card is 5 ½ x 5 1/4 (mainly cause I measured wrong). There is a 1″ hinge on the left side of the card, with the top panel fastened to the hinge with the brads. The edges of the Infuse paper were distressed and sponged with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink. All layers of the DP are sewn to the background layers. The main floral image stamp was colored with markers, misted and then stamped off three times on another scrap of the DP. The sides of this layer were also sponged with the distress ink. This layer does not have a hinge, but does have a 3/4″ flap folded over and fastened with the brads.

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Small Sayings

Paper: River Rock, Basic Grey Infuse

Ink: Old Olive, Pixie Pink, Pretty in Pink, Ranger Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Accessories: Brads, Sewing Machine, Mounting Tape, BasicGrey Infuse Fibers, Daubers

Good Morning! Well it’s Wednesday, and that means that it is Sketch Challenge Day on Splitcoast. Dare to Get Dirty also starts today, and since I have given myself the entire day to stamp, I thought I would warm up this morning with the Sketch Challenge. I will be back later today with more on the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges! I’m planning on participating as much as possible and being around to comment and chat with all you Fan Clubbers. The DTGD Challenges start today at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time, so that’s 12 Noon for all of us on Eastern time!

But first, here’s my card for today’s Sketch Challenge.

I stamped the butterfly from Lizzie Anne Designs au Naturale on Whisper White and colored with Prismacolor Pencils and Turpenoid. The background paper is the Brunch Collection from Crate Paper that I picked up at Jacksonbelle Embellishments. I stitched the paper onto a background panel of Wild Wasabi, which I also used as my card base. The ribbon is some of the new in-color double stitched ribbon from Stampin’ Up!

I have finally got myself caught up with things around the house. Well for the most part anyway – laundry still needs to be done (but that is an everyday thing around here). The major things are caught up with – ya know the book work, etc. I’m going to take a few minutes this morning and try to figure out the tagging that has been going on. Who has tagged me, etc. I’ve been tagged quite a few times the last couple of weeks and I let it all slide by in my mad rush to get some stamping projects done.

I think I’ve got!

Both my good friend Julie Buhler and Michelle Sturgeon gave me the Rockin’ Girl Blogger Tag. WOO HOO – I’m a

Both Fran Sabad and Becky Givans have tagged me for the 7 Things About Me. I’ve done this one before and don’t know if I can add anything to that list right now, but here’s where I answered before.

Thank you ladies for tagging me! I’m not going to tag anyone new – cause I just can’t think of anyone that hasn’t already been tagged during the time it took me to get to this. What I will do, however, is let you pick one of the fabulous blogs listed in my blogroll. I add new ones all the time that inspire me - so click on one you haven’t visited yet. You will find some new and awesome stuff!

I’ll be back later today with some stamping – it’s still early here!

Good Morning! I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far. I know that I’ve gotten some much needed stamping done and am getting ready for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges on Splitcoast next week. Speaking of which, if you are a Fan Club Member, I look forward to chatting with you during the challenges and to see your creations. If you aren’t a Fan Club Member and want to participate in the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges follow this link to the Fan Club Page. Not only would you be able to participate in some fabulous challenges hosted by the Dirty Dozen, both present and alumni, you would be helping to support a fabulous site!

I told you Friday that I stand to stamp and only sit when I color. To clarify, I NEED and WANT to stand when I stamp. My studio is organized and set up for me to stand. I have to stand over what I am stamping and when I layout my card. When I sit to stamp it just feels very uncomfortable for me. I have a friend that sits to stamp and when I am at her house working on a project, I have to kick my chair back and stand up. It’s that thing of standing over my project so I can eyeball what I’m doing. Perhaps it all goes back to being a legal secretary for so many years and feeling the need to sit up and over my keyboard when I type. I still do – I raise the chair to a very high level and then the kids get upset when they sit down and lower the chair. Then I sit in the chair and I’m too low – so I raise it again. Kinda reminds me of the horse on the carousel that goes up and down! I do have a drafting chair in my studio that goes from desk height to counter height. I had a desk set up in there with my computer and all the necessary office crap, but ran out of room. So now my office is located at a built-in desk adjoining my family room and kitchen (part of the breakfast bar) and I set up a table to hold all my paper trimmers and sewing machine. I raised the table to counter top height, so now, I’m actually standing when I sew on a card. Now that feels a little weird, but I am getting the hang of it.

This morning I had Mallory pick a number from 1 to 24. She chose 17. Congratulations Kim (stampingkim), you are the winner of the Tawdry Treat. Here’s what you will be receiving:

Thanks to everyone who played along and your comments of how you stamp. It never ceases to amaze me the varied answers you get. I LOVE it and totally enjoy reading all about what makes everyone their own special person. I have already fired off an email to Kim asking her to send me an email with her mailing address.

Happy Friday! It’s been rather a long week for me. At least it feels like it anyway. For some reason I’m just not sleeping longer than a few hours each night and then I crash and burn in the afternoons. Maybe if I could keep from falling asleep at 4:00 every afternoon it might help! I generally leave the studio about 3:00 or 3:30, head to the sofa, a fresh cup of coffee in hand to settle down to watch Reba and WHAM I wake up and it’s already 5ish. My daughters tell me I need to go take a walk instead of watching reruns of Reba – I tell them I’ve been on my feet all day, I need to sit down instead. Which leads to a question? How do you guys stamp – are you sitters or are you standers? I’m a stander and a mover! I need to walk from one end of the counter to the other, turn here, turn there. The only time I actually sit is when I’m coloring. There might be a little Tawdry Treat for someone who answers the question!

The first thing I did this morning, other than dog duty, was check the Limited Supply Challenge on Splitcoast. Wow this was a toughy. Monochromatic (which wasn’t so hard) but NO EMBELLISHMENTS! For me, this is a challenge. I did a little faux stitching and made some scallops, but to me no ribbon, no brads – well someone in my family will love it, they can mail it in a regular envelope with no extra postage. Instead of using the Matt Pack for the faux stitching, I took the thread and bobbin out of my sewing machine and just ran a line of no stitching down the top of one of the panels. Then I went back and drew in the stitching lines with a white gel pen. In my eyes, real stitches would be embellishments.

Stamps: Priceless

Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou

Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou

Accessories: Fiskars Scalloped Edged Scissors, Signo White Gel Pen, Mounting Tape, Sewing Machine

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and for all you girls at CHA (and I’m not) here’s hoping you have a fabulous time!