I've Been Tagged!!

Hey Everyone!! I've been tagged by a few people but if I missed you. . .I apologize. Whenever I get tagged, I don't play right away but when I'm finally ready to post the tag, I can't remember everyone who tagged me. I don't want the people who tagged me feel that I've dissed them by not recognizing their tag so I just don't play. I don't want anyone to feel bad.

But this time, I made note of who tagged me in the past few days.

Stephanie of Stephanie's Space , Jackielou of Bloggin' My Pink Artsie World and Margie of Oh Bumble is Me

Here are the rules...
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


Here are the 7 facts about me:

1. I sneeze a lot. I'll have a fit of the sneezes and sometimes sneeze 10 times in a row. I'll even wake up in the middle of the night with a sneezing fit! Drives me crazy.

2. My ex-husband (my daughter's father) was murdered by a random shooter when my daughter was 6 years old. It was a situation of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killer has never been prosecuted due to insufficient evidence to win the case. Hopefully, justice will be served one day. We're waiting patiently for that day to come.

3. I don't paint my nails or use acrylic nails because I'm an RN and wasn't allowed to use nail polish or acrylic nails while I was working. A study was done on nurses who cared for premature babies due to the high percentage of infections and the results showed that the nurses with the painted nails or acrylic nails had the highest level of bacteria under their nails. Since the results of that study, we couldn't use nail polish or acrylic nails at work.

3. My cat sometimes tries to sleep on my head. Disgusting. No wonder I sneeze a lot. There's nights when I would wake up and my cat is sleeping on my hair or at the side of my face. Should I kill my cat?

4. Linguistically, I have difficulities pronouncing "th" with certain words. . .like with the word "the", I pronounce it "da"; "thought" I pronouce it "tought", and "that", like "dat". it's from years of speaking "pidgin" - a type of language that people in Hawaii speaks. Basically, it's considered "broken English". Because in Hawaii, there's a mix of different cultures, it was developed for the different cultures to be able to communicate with one another in an abbreviated way. Ever heard a foreign person speak English? Well, Pidgin sound similar but with an American accent. LOL! My husband and kids make fun of me about it all the time.

5. I lose my cel phone all the time, forget to re-charge it, or forget to bring it along with me when I leave the house. As a matter of fact, I have 4 missed calls right nowfrom my husband because I left the house today without my phone and he was trying to contact me. It annoys my husband, kids and others because they're always trying to contact me but I never have my phone with me.

6. I always stick my credit card in the back of my pants pocket after I go shopping and end up washing and drying it. It's bent but it still works. It withstood washing and drying! Gotta love that!

7. I'm a SAHM right now and rely heavily on my husband's kind charity to supply me money for my crazy craft addiction. When we get into an argument, he makes up with me by sending me money via Paypal. He sends it to Paypal so I get a surprise email letting me know that I received money with his apologies. LOL!! Who said marital arguments are bad. . . not when you get money for it in the end. Bring it on!! Maybe I should start a fight. . .I'm low on cash right now.

Anyway, thank you ladies for the tag. I really had fun with this tag. Instead of tagging specific people, I'm tagging all of you who decides to read this.

Hope y'all have a fabulous Thursday!!

SCS Sketch Challenge - SC195 and Watercoloring with SU Markers and Pastels Tutorial

Hi Everyone!! I decided to participate in today's SCS challenge. Today's sketch challenge code is SC195. . .go check out all the fabulous challenge cards. I haven't participated in any SCS challenge for months. I just haven't had the time to play. I've been busy doing my own thing but I think I'm going to go back to participating in SCS and blog challenges at least once a week.

I really liked this sketch because. . it's easy. LOL! Nothing complicated about it. I decided to use a Fall/Thanksgiving theme this time. I just love the earthy colors of fall! The colors are so warm and cozy looking.

I decided to play with my Primas again and embellish it a bit. I'm having so much fun dressing up the Prima flowers.

The video tutorial above is on watercoloring with SU Markers and Pastels on watercolor paper. I posted this tutorial on my Stampin Inspirations Club Site last week but readers of this blog may not have visited that blog so I decided to post it here.

The rich color effects are the result of using the SU Markers and Pastels. It's so fun because it's so easy to watercolor with markers. I absolutely LOVE it.




Here is my Prima all dressed up!! I used the "SU Hodge Podge Antique Bronze Hardware" which is sadly retired. Whaaa!!

I was looking at the hardware with the ribbon attached and doesn't it kinda look like a fish? LOL! That wasn't the effect I wanted but oh, well!







Here is the sketch if you want to try it out!!

Card Details:

Stamp set: SU Autumn Harvest, Wow Flowers
Paper: SU More Mustard, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango and Really Rust, Deja View Designer Paper, Watercolor Paper
Ink: SU Markers (More Mustard, Really Rust, Only Orange, Old Olive) Pastels (Sunny Yellow)
Accessories: SU Hodge Podge Hardware Antique Bronze, SU 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Prima Flower, Ticket Corner Punch, Making Memories Daisy Brad

Bling Bling Card & Little C's Weekly Challenge #10

Hey Everyone!! It's Little C's Weekly Challenge #10! Whoohoo! This week's challenge is to create a long card that fits into a #10 envelope (business size 9 1/4 x 4"). I had all these ideas swirling in my head on what to create and if I have the time in the next few days, maybe I'll create another card. Be sure to stop by Jen's at "Pieces of Me" for the details. There's a prize to be given out so I hope to see you playing along!!

I wanted to create an "elegant" card considering I don't do many of them. You can't see it in the picture but the sentiment sits under acetate or transparency sheet which I stamped with a flourish design using "SU Bravo Burgundy" ink. The front panel with the acetate is raised up so that the oval shape appears like a window looking into the sentiment. I used the "Three Bugs in a Rug" Caboodle kit "Color Me Pink" that you can find at Jen's online store "Little C's Stamp n' Things". Go check out the fabulous stamps and papers she sells in her store!!

Here is a design feature of my card. . .I attached Prima flowers with the SU Filigree brad on to the ribbon. I really love the SU designer brads. . .they are so pretty.

You can now buy it online. Stampin Up now has online shopping. Click Here to check it out

I used the an old retired Stampin Up set for the stamped image called "Gentler Times". I stamped the image on to "SU Pink Pirouette Cardstock" using "Bravo Burgundy Craft Ink" then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. The sentiment is from another SU set but I can't give you the set name right now.

Anyway, be sure to check out the other challenge cards by these fabulous and talented ladies:

Pieces of Me - Jen
Big Ideas From A Little Girl - Teri
Stamping Spot Studio - Jean
Adventures With Scrapbookmama - Ellie
Life's Simple Pleasures - Malieta

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Hey Everyone! Whoa. . .that's a lot of bling on your card, Maria!! LOL! Seriously!! Yeah, I think I went bling crazy but it was fun. I was digging through my "image" stash and I found the 3 flowers with glitter on it. I'm not sure who makes the stamp. . .I think it was CTMH. I have to remember to label my images when I color them so I know the brand when I use them in the future.

It looks like I had used acrylic paint when I stamped the images then covered them with clear glitter. I figured considering they were already blingy. . .to bling them up more by adding rhinestones. Ahhh, why not, right? I also added the Prima flowers. . .I have a lot of them so I decided that I needed to use them up.

Do you like playing with embellishments? I love embellishments on my card but at the same time I don't like to crowd my card with too many of them. But there are days, like today, when I decided to just let go and add as many as I can on one card. LOL! Besides, it's a change from my typical straight forward cards.

Do you ever get bored of making cards and stuff? To be honest, there are days when I do get bored of it. . .that's when I have to step away and do something else. Why? Because I start getting whiny and start talking crazy.

For example. . .I would tell my husband . . ."ummm, I think I'm bored with making cards and stuff, maybe I should start a new hobby. . .like maybe sewing".

My husband then has this "scared" look! LOL! He has invested in my crazy hobby in ways that you don't want to know so, yeah, I can understand why he starts to look frightened by my crazy thoughts. LOL!!

He'll try to bring me down to Earth and try to talk me out of my crazy thoughts. .LOL! My husband says that I have "chronic boredom syndrome". I think he made that diagnosis up.

Honestly, I do owe it to him to stick to this hobby. I just have days when I need to step away and do something else . . .like clean the house! Too funny!

Card Details:

Stamps: CTMH (I think), Fiskar Clear Stamps (sentiment), Autumn Leaves Swirls

Paper: Bazzil textured cardstock, SU Pink Pirouette, Always Artichoke

Ink: Pink Acrylic Paint, SU Bravo Burgundy
Accessories: Darice Rhinestones, Marvy Oval punch, Prima Flowers, Making Memories Ribbon

Ageless Tulip

Hi Everyone!! Darn it. . .my sentiment is crooked. I only noticed it after I looked at the pictures. I was too lazy to fix it and take another picture of it. I'll fix it later. Don't you hate that? The problem with fixing the sentiment on this card is the metal framing is already attached to the card base. Hmmm. . .this one will be tricky to fix.

No matter. . .it's handmade. . .it's not suppose to be perfect. LOL!! Well, the tulip image is another image that I must have colored in dim lighting because again, it's a strange color combo. I actually like it but I could not find a designer paper with a similar color combo.

What did I do to fix this problem? Do you see the little flowers on the designer paper. . .originally, they were white. . .I went and colored them yellow with my Copic Markers. LOL! Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Anyway. . .it was fun making this card. I added a bit of embellishment to my Prima flower by layering it with embellishments. I'm really liking layering my primas. . .it's just fun.

I colored the image with my Copic Markers and basically, that's it. Nothing much else to this card again.

Card Details:

Stamps: SU Ageless Adornment, Fiskar Clear Stamps

Paper: DCWV Glitter Stack, SU So Saffron, Lavender Lace (I think)

Accessories: JoAnn Metal embellishment, Prima flower, Grosgrain ribbon, JoAnn silver brads

Ageless Butterfly Card

Hey Everyone!! I know. . .it's a weird color combo but it's growing on me. LOL! I had colored this image a while ago but I must have done it in dim light because when I looked at it today, I was like. . . .ummm, okay! Luckily I found a designer paper that actually had the same color combo. Yipee! In the end it all worked out.


I colored the image with Copic Markers and added rhinestones to the butterfly. Nothing much else to the card.

For the next few days, I'm going to work on cards that are non-holiday related just to break the monotony of making holiday cards.

Not to change the subject. . .are you most creative when you are stressed and need a break by creating something or you're at your best when you are happy?

I found an interesting change about myself in the last year or two. Prior to that, crafting helped me to relax and when I was stressed or upset, I was better focused . . .it was sort of an escape from whatever was stressing me out or upsetting me. I think my best work at that time came about when I was stressed out.

Interestingly, in the past year or so. . .I noticed a change . . .I don't do well, crafting wise, when I'm stressed. I now enjoy the process when I'm at my happiest and when I'm not, I don't want to craft or even step into my craft room. Now, rather than as an escape, crafting is a reflection of when I'm at my happiest or at least in a good mood. I guess that's a good thing, huh!

Anyway. . .just a close up of my card. As you can see, I added the rhinestones to the butterfly. I like adding large primas to my card and layering it with the sentiment.

Hope y'all are enjoying your weekend!!

Card Details:

Stamp: SU Ageless Adornement, Fiskar Clear Stamps

Paper: TAC designer paper, Cardstock (not sure)

Ink: Copic Markers, SU Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Prima flower, Darice Rhinestones, Basic Basic Ribbon, Fiskar border punch

Fall - Thanksgiving Card

Hello Everyone!! I love Fall colors. . .they are so earthy and pretty. Wow, the holidays are right around the corner! I can't believe how fast time has flown. It's almost a new year again! I still remember posting my new year resolutions - which by the way, I broke everyone of them! Oh, well!

This is another of the "stock" images that I had stored. Two years ago it seems I loved coloring with pastels and using SU "Crystal Effects" on my images. I also have a pile of watercolored images and images colored with Copics. I'm not sure why I color the images and not use them. Actually, I do know why. . . whenever I watched television with my family, I would bring down images into the family room and while watching a movie, I would color them because I have a tendency to fall asleep whenever we watch a movie. To keep myself alert and awake, I would color. I later put them away and forget that I had colored the images.


Anyway, here is a close up of the image. Can you see the "Crystal Effects" on the image?

If you don't mind, I won't give the dets on the card. . .I have a project I need to post on Card Inspired and I want to do it before I go to bed.

Hope y'all have a fabulous Friday!!

Random Thinking of You Card

Hey Everyone! Just a random card I made today! What do I consider a "random card"? Well, it's a card with no goals in mind, no technique to talk about, just a "whatever card". The image is actually one of those "stock" images I have that I had colored about 2 years ago and never used. Can you believe it? I have soooooooooo many of them. For most of them, I don't like how I colored them and when I see one that I feel can be "fixed" or "modified", I create a card with the image. This is was one of them. I don't even know who made this stamp. It's a pretty image though.

Before I talk about anything else. . .stop by my "Stampin Inspirations Club Site" when you have a chance. . .I've been posting tutorials on that blog to sort of "build up" that site because it's a new blog where I post all of my projects using "current" Stampin Up products. I posted a tutorial on water coloring with SU markers and pastels on watercolor paper yesterday: Click Here to check it out!

I haven't been able to establish a good rhythm for my three blog sites. . .until I do, most of my "tutorials" will be posted on the "Stampin Inspirations Club Site" for now. I think at the beginning of next year, I'm going to merge "Card Inspired" with this blog site. I wanted to keep the stamping projects separate from the non-stamping projects but it's sort of hard to manage all three blog sites.

Anyway, just a little info on this card . . .I had colored the image with pastels on "glossy cardstock" and shaded the image with markers. I added a bit of SU "Crystal Effects" to the raspberries. You can't really see it in the picture but you can see it better in the picture above.

Click Here for the tutorial

Here is a close up of the card.

Card Details:

Stamps: unknown

Paper: DCWV Fall stack, SU Cranberry Crisp, CTMH Topiary, Glossy cardstock

Ink: SU Pastels, Markers. Sakura Opaque pen

Accessories: SU 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punch, SU Scallop circle punch, SU Crystal Effects, CTMH metal corner hardware, Satin ribbon (unknown)

Little C's Weekly Challenge #9

Hey Everyone! Wow, the week has gone by so quickly. . .it's Jen's Little C's Weekly Challenge again! We're now on challenge #9. Holy!! That means it's been over 2 months since Jen started her challenges. Have any of you participated? Come on. . .play along! All you have to do is create a card using the sketch below and incorporate buttons to your card. How hard is that? Not too hard, huh? Well, I hope you'll make it a great challenge week by participating!! You have a chance to win prize! Who doesn't want to win a prize?

When I created this card, I actually forgot that I needed to incorporate buttons on to the card. I was like. . .crap, . .now where am I going to put the buttons? Anyway, this is what I came up with after the fact.

I love buttons! They are such fun embellishments to decorate your cards with. They're also cheaper than any other type of embellishments so you can put a whole bunch of them on your card and not feel like your card is so expensive. LOL!

Anyway, I used the "Three Bugs in a Rub Caboodle Kit - "Color Me Pink" that Jen sells in her online store "Little C's Stamp n' Things". Be sure to stop by her store to check out what she has to offer. . .

For the details of this challenge, stop by Jen's blog site "Pieces of Me".

Card Details:

Stamps: Bo Bunny Aloha, Heidi Grace

Paper: Three Bugs in a Rug - Color Me Pink

Ink: SU Rose Red, Cranberry Crisp, Green Galore marker

Accessories: Buttons (unknown), Prima Flowers, Basic Basic Ribbon, Embroidery Floss, Colorbok Metal tag

Check out the other fabulous challenge cards by these talented ladies:

Teri - Big Ideas From A Little Girl

Ellie - Adventures With Scrapbookmama

Jen - Pieces of Me

Malieta - Life's Simple Pleasures

Jean - Stamping Spot Studio