I like you.

Any Facebook users out there?

I use Facebook. Perhaps too much. I like it. A lot. So when I saw Alyssa Milano retweet an opportunity to get a free Like stamp, I jumped at it. Oh yes, I like Twitter too.

If you used to be my Facebook friend and now you're not, I apologize. I went through a phase where I thought I needed to delete my Facebook account and may have lost you in the silliness. But I'm over that now.

Have a nice weekend,

• Stamps: Like Stamp from 123print, Karen Foster snap stamps
• Paper: Hero Arts kraft, PTI white
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (the blue is from the self-inker Like stamp)
• Accessories: Staples, machine stitching

Clean & Simple?? ME??

Clean and simple is not a type of card design I am good at. Actually to be perfectly blunt - I suck at it. But I gave it a go anyway...


I just stamped these GORGEOUS poppies from Hero Arts' Delicate Blossoms on a white notecard and colored them with my Copics (note to self: next time use heavier white cardstock! Oops! I'll have to line the inside of the card...). Then I added a little black scallop border to the inside edge of the card, stamped a greeting a VOILA - a clean and simple card!!

I made this to play along with a Dare to Get Dirty challenge on Splitcoast. Actually I played two - another challenge inspired me to go crazy and add a little black Stickles to the flower centers. HA!


Since I was having to much fun with these poppies, I decided to make another one in blue. This one drifted slightly farther away from CAS...


I had been wanting to make blue poppies ever since noticing Charlotte's adorable maternity dress at her baby shower in the first Sex and the City movie. I love it - I tried to do a quick search for a photo but came up empty, darn it.

At any rate, these poppies make me very happy. And quite honestly, so do clean and simple cards!

Col du Tourmalet

Yes, another Tour de France inspired card for you today! But never fear, dear blog readers, le Tour ends on Sunday so I'm about done forcing it on you until next year when July rolls around once more. ;-) Here's the latest card:


It was inspired by Thursday's epic stage up the Col du Tourmalet, where Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador went head to head, climbing up an insanely huge mountain all the while braving the rain, the cold, the fog, the sheep.... what??? THE SHEEP!!??


In all my years of watching the Tour, this is a first for me. So shocking were the sheep that they lodged a card idea firmly into my brain. :-) I was compelled to create a little scene. I rarely create scenes on cards - it's not my strength. But I had fun with this one. The card uses a whole flock of Hero Arts stamps. Most notably, the little sheep are actually the cloud from the Precious Baby Boy set. I got the idea for turning clouds into sheep from this adorable card by swanlady21 on Flickr. The actual clouds on the card are die cut from felt. I stamped the message horrifically crooked, but since it was the very last thing I added, I was stuck with it.

There's another hazard along the mountaintop stages - hazardous for both the riders and for us poor innocent fans viewing the live TV coverage - flashers! streakers! mooners! Oh my. Even at the top of the Tourmalet, where all the mentally fit people are bundled up. You're sitting at home, minding your own business when BOOM next thing you know there's an ugly white butt on your TV. But I won't make a card about that - I'll leave that lovely subject matter for Joy. ;-)

Vive le Tour!

• Stamps: F5293 Bicycle, CL264 Precious Baby Boy (sheep), CL280 Elephants (grass), CL325 Paris (fleur-de-lis), CL184 Thoughtful Message - all from Hero Arts
• Paper: White & black cardstock
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, white gel pen, black Glaze pen
• Accessories: Liquid Applique, white felt, My Favorite Things cloud die, staples

Thor!

My friend Carole said she's going to write a book called "All I Need to Know About the Tour de France I Learned From Libby's Blog". Well, no book about the Tour would be complete without a chapter on the sprinters!! So this is for you Carole! (or in other words, it's all Carole's fault...) I present to you Thor - God of Thunder...


And here he is too...


That's Thor Hushovd of Norway, currently riding for Cervelo TestTeam and leading the Green jersey (aka Sprint) category in this year's Tour. The commentators on Versus cannot say his name Thor without adding "God of Thunder". Makes me laugh a little. And also inspires me to make a card! Thor is one of my favorite riders. You'd think to win the Sprint category you need to be the absolute fastest guy out there, right? Well not necessarily. Thor is certainly not the fastest. But he is HARD CORE! He can stick with the GC guys through the mountain stages when he really wants (needs!) to. GC - general classification - the guys like Lance (or these days, Schleck & Contador!) who are in it to win the whole shebang - they are generally great climbers. The sprinters, not so much - they usually squeak by in the mountains, barely making the time cutoff. Unless the sprinter happens to be the God of Thunder! heh heh

So... for my Thor inspired card, I decided I needed a Thor image! I found this Marvel image thanks to Google. The entire card was originally inspired by Taylor's latest sketch challenge:


When I saw that great big circle, right away I thought BICYCLE TIRE! I'm weird like that. Kinda scary, really, how one-track my brain is these days!! So again I found an image online, then doctored it up a bit with black Glaze pen on the tire to make it shine. It's not very easy to see, but the background paper is stamped with a bicycle image from Taylor's In the Park set in silver. I **had to** have this stamp set as soon as I saw it - the message on this card is also from the set, and it's a Lance Armstrong quote!! I KNOW!!! The stamp actually has his name on it too, but *gasp* I cut it off because it didn't quite fit on the card. I thought this message was fitting for my Thor card, though - when the stage ends in a bunch sprint, it's pure insanity! The guys all fight to come across the line so quick - if anyone falls over it's massive carnage. They can't possibly be afraid of falling or they'd never be able to do that.

Before I go I have to share a fun photo from today's stage. It's another one of my favorite sprinters, Robbie McEwen - he's an old-timer like me & Lance (don't tell him I said that!). He's had a horrible tour - been banged up and bruised more than any one guy deserves, so he's been struggling to just get through the mountains. Well this is how he crossed the finish line of their final mountain stage today. Awesome! :-) I'm thinking he's glad the mountains are over...


Thanks for indulging me!

• Stamps: In the Park from Taylored Expressions, Thor & tire images downloaded from internet
• Paper: Stampin' Up cardstock, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Vintage Photo Distress ink, silver ink, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, black Glaze pen, Sakura Stardust pen, white gel pen
• Accessories: PTI scallop edge die, Spellbinders circle die, machine stitching

Texas Tuesday meets Taylored Expressions!

Today's Texas Tuesday! And it's the Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop! I don't know about you, but all of this Tues-steppin' and blog-hoppin' is making me thirsty!


Ah yes, that's MUCH better! Mmmmargaritas - another of my favorite things about Texas. We definitely love our margaritas down here. Mmm hmm. *hiccup* When I saw that cute little margarita glass and most excellent sentiment in Taylor's Chillax set, I absolutely had to own it! Wait, does that make me sound like a lush?? I don't mean for me, I mean to make cards for my mother-in-law. Yah yah, that's it. ;-) (Actually... true story: I bought this set during my MIL's last visit to Austin, but she saw it and HAD TO have it. So then I ordered it again! I have now bought this set for myself twice because I love it so much! HA!)

Today's card played along with a fabby sketch from my sweet friend Sankari:


I stamped the green & blue lime-filled "background paper" and colored it with Copics. The margarita glass is coated with Glossy Accents to make it shine, and rimmed with some Stickles "salt".

I have a whole bunch of blogs to direct you to today! First you need to check out my Texas Tuesday buddies: Mark, Geeta, Tina, Betty & Jennifer.

And next you need to hop on through the Taylored Expressions hop!! There's going to be some fabby cards, I guarantee it!

Thanks for stopping by today,

• Stamps: Chillax from Taylored Expressions
• Paper: Kraft note card from Hero Arts, The Paper Studio DP, white cardstock
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: Diamond Stickles (Ranger), Glossy Accents (Ranger), circle & scalloped edge punches (Stampin' Up)

Christmas in July!

What's a girl to do when it's 97 degrees outside? Why, make a Christmas card, of course! Or a Christmas-y card, anyway.


I made this to play along with the Wednesday Stamp Club challenge in the MFT forum on Splitcoastampers. This week the challenge is obviously to make a Christmas card! I don't own any truly Christmas-y stamps from MFT, so instead I thought about one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season - baking Christmas cookies! Yummy!! So I pulled out my favorite Lovin' from the Oven set and got to work. Isn't that greeting fabby? I'm thinking if everyone would just put aside their differences and bake cookies together there would be world peace. Dontcha think??

The main image is paper pieced - I dug out some fun paper to make her holiday apron, and the bowl is paper pieced as well. I was hoping to find some gingerbread cookie paper buried deep in my stash, but no such luck. Instead I found this little Dress It Up button! Yay!

And finally, I was able to cram **three** of the Splitcoast Dare to Get Dirty challenges into this one card! I included Amber, Sharon & Deb. Thanks ladies!!


And thank YOU for stopping by today. :)

• Stamps: Lovin' from the Oven from My Favorite Things
• Paper: Hero Arts note card, My Paper Studio DP, white cardstock
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Distress ink
• Accesssories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, PTI scallop edge die, Spellbinders die, Dress It Up button, embroidery floss

They'll never know if I don't tell them...

...but I can't help it, I'm going to tell you anyway! This is yet another card inspired by - you guessed it - the Tour de France!! No, really! It is!!


Anyone know how this could possibly be inspired by le Tour? Anyone see who won the stage on Saturday? It was none other than Alexander Vinokourov, or Vino as we like to call him (darn, just realized, I could have made a wine card too! hee hee). He's from Kazakhstan, which used to be part of the USSR back in the day - so I am making the assumption that they like these nesting dolls in Kazakstan as much as they do in Russia. I may be completely wrong, who knows. But I was inspired by Vino to break out these stamps nonetheless. The card is also done in Vino's current team colors. Vino used to be one of my favorites. Then he broke my heart (anyone been following my blog since wayyyy back in July 2007? LOL!). He did blood doping, the most popular of all the many ways to cheat at cycling. He served his two year suspension, apologized to the world and now he's back at le Tour. I wasn't sure if I could love him again after the heartache he caused me, but I've given it some thought and, well, I just can't help it. He has more heart and guts than most of the guys out there. He paid for what he did - a two year suspension at the height of his career - and he seems truly sorry. So what the heck. I'm pretty confident he won't be the last cyclist to break my heart. Sigh.

I saw a really great quote on this subject - making mistakes, having regret, starting over:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." -- Anonymous

So there ya have it. Vino was so emotional & happy about his win on Saturday, it was really great to see. I've read that this may be his last Tour, so if it is, it's nice that he goes out with a stage win.


And now... not that any of you stampers are still reading this... I'm sure I lost you at the first mention of the word Tour... but I will tell you about the card anyway. The stamp set is called Dolls from Hero Arts - love it so much! I played along with Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the layout:


I've also played with one of the Splitcoast Dare to Get Dirty challenges, if you're a fan club member you can view this challenge hosted by Bev HERE.

Thanks for stopping by,

• Stamps: CL289 Dolls from Hero Arts
• Paper: Cardstock from Stampin' Up, DP from The Paper Studio
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Black Glaze pen (on eyes), white gel pen
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, machine stitching, Michael's ribbon, embroidery floss, button from My Favorite Things

Well...

Today's card is yet another one inspired by the Tour de France. During tv coverage the other day I saw the cutest banners hanging between buildings in a sweet little French village. Instead of the normal triangular pennants, the banner was made of little jerseys. I wish I could find a photo of it to show you. I immediately thought "CARD!".


Do you know what the jerseys at the Tour are for? Yellow of course is the race leader. Green is the leader of the sprint category - those boys ride FAST at the finish on the flat stages, it's nuts. And that funny one with the red polka dots is King of the Mountains. There's also a white jersey for best young rider, but it wouldn't fit on my card. :-) I used the new Hero Arts set Kiss from the Sun for my jerseys. I thought the message from Anytime Messages was particularly fitting since if you aspire to ride 2200+ miles on a bike, climbing mountains along the way - you pretty much have to believe in your dreams. Those guys amaze me. Betcha didn't know that, did ya? heh heh

So it was a sad weekend for me and my boy Lance. He had nothing but bad luck yesterday, and his chances of winning the race this year are over. So sad. I didn't honestly ever think he'd win this year - I don't like to say he's OLD because I am a month OLDER than him, LOL - but he's not exactly in the prime of his cycling life anymore. But I at least wanted him to lose it fighting in the mountains, not getting flat tires and crashes and nothing but bad luck. Blah. However there are two weeks left in the tour and there's still things he can do to make this year's Tour interesting (supporting his teammate Levi (who I also happen to love!) and maybe even getting a stage win?) so you know I'm still excited to be watching!! Plus, another of my favorites is riding really well - Cadel Evans became the race leader yesterday and is now wearing the yellow jersey! Woohoo! Do you remember me talking about Cadel last summer?? He's my best twitter friend. HAHAHA Check out THIS POST and especially THIS POST. Yes, I am officially a dork, what can I say.

Ok, maybe this will be the last Tour-inspired card this summer. Maybe. I make no promises. This month cycling has been my muse, and we must always listen to our muse. :-) Happy Stamping!!

• Stamps: CL439 Kiss from the Sun, CL129 Anytime Messages & CG139 Cling Dots
• Paper: Bazzill cardstock, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Accessories: MFT clouds die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, linen thread, CTMH mini brads, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint (red dots)

Happiness...

...that's what it's really about, right?


I made this to play along with the Mojo Monday challenge - such a fun sketch!


And did you know one of the themes on the Hero Arts blog this month is "travel"? Have you made your travel card yet? There are great prizes up for grabs! Check it out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Paris and Essential Messages from Hero Arts
• Paper: Bazzill cardstock, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Accessories: Ric-rac, brads

Organic is the New Sexy

Since I had a couple sexy cards for you yesterday, I thought I'd continue that trend...


Oh yea baby, organic! I love this new WTG Goes Green set from MFT, and I especially love this sentiment. hee hee! Since the beginning of this year we've been doing a CSA, or "community supported agriculture" for our produce. Every other week we get a big box of locally grown fresh organic produce, like this:


Yumminess! I'm thinking I'll leave this card to say thank you to the farm. Hopefully they'd like it? I made the card to play along with the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge over in the forum on Splitcoast.


The colors are from the Color Throwdown challenge - the girls over there are celebrating their 100th challenge with a ton of prizes - check it out!


I paper-pieced the shirt using some Dear Lizzy fabric paper. My opinion: that stuff is probably better for die cutting then paper piecing with scissors, it frayed too much for my liking. Or maybe my scissors were just too dull, who knows. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today! And don't forget to eat your veggies!

• Stamps: WTG Goes Green from My Favorite Things
• Paper: SU Certainly Celery, Real Red, white; American Crafts Dear Lizzy fabric paper
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: ribbon, scallop edge punch, brads, button, hemp twine

Beer Friday!

Here's something you don't see very often on my sweet little blog - scantily clad women!! But it's Beer Friday, and this is what I have to share with you today. These are a couple of super quick & easy cards I made for my friend's store, Old Koenig Engraving & Gifts...


He gave me a couple of the pin-up girl coasters he uses for advertisting - see the pubglasses.com on the bottle and barrel? Nope, I didn't color those - I wish I could color like that!! I just attached the coasters to paper and added a little Hero Arts birthday message. Easy peasy! And guess what... my hubby's favorite cards I've ever made. Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Texas Tuesday!

Howdy! Welcome to another edition of Texas Tuesday! Today, this week, this month - the main Texas-y thing on my brain is my favorite cycling Texan - LANCE ARMSTRONG!! It's Tour de France month! WOOHOO!! Well, if you saw my card a few days ago, you already knew that I'm obsessed. LOL! I couldn't help myself, I had to make another Tour-inspired card for Texas Tuesday!


The cute bike and clouds are from Hero Arts. I had all kinds of fun with this card, adding sequin flowers to the basket, liquid applique to the clouds and a fun little banner telling Lance to allez, as the French would say...


Ahhh Lance, how I love him so. Sadly this year is (once again!) his final Tour. So sad! And the way the first few days have gone, I sure hope he survives until the end. It's been brutal - lots of carnage on the Belgian & French countryside so far.


At any rate - most of you couldn't give three hoots about Lance or the Tour (*gasp!*), so I will get you on your merry way. Make sure to check out my Texas Tuesday buddies, I know so far Mark, Tina, Jennifer and Betty have created cards, so swing by and tell them hi. And until next time - happy trails (and cobbles and mountain passes...) to you!

• Stamps: F5293 Bicycle and S5215 Clouds from Hero Arts, alphabet from Stampin Up
• Paper: Kraft, green, white, yellow
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Ink in Barn Door and Tumbled Glass
• Accessories: Liquid Applique, twine, Sakura Glaze pens (clear & black), Martha Stewart scissors, flower sequins (old Hero Arts)

Inspired by...

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend - and a happy Independence Day if you're here in the US! Last night I made this card:


I was inspired by this:


We watched a beautiful fireworks display in Cedar Park, Texas. I was inspired by the big bursts of red and blue to create something. I realize the Hero Arts Starburst stamp doesn't exactly look like a firework, but still... it fit the bill close enough. I stamped the "celebrate" message repeatedly in black ink, ending with one lone red "celebrate" at the end. The Starburst was stamped six times - 3 in Barn Door Distress ink, 3 in Faded Jeans - then paper pieced using dimensional tape.

We celebrated yesterday with a kiddie parade in the neighborhood, a cookout with family and then the fireworks. It was a very nice day! The weather even cooperated - 86 in Austin for fireworks is soooo much better than 96, let me tell ya! Those 10 degrees make a big difference! Here's a couple more photos - first my little Yankee Doodle Cuties at the parade:


And all of us at the fireworks:


Have a wonderful week!

• Stamps: Starburst and All Occasion Messages from Hero Arts
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft, white cardstock
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Ink (Barn Door, Faded Jeans)
• Accessories: Nailhead metal stickers, dimensional tape

Le Tour!

Oh how I love July! I get to spend my summer in France, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the French countryside, climbing steep mountains... all from the comfort of my living room as I watch the Tour de France! It starts today, yay!! Since I have Le Tour on the le brain, I decided to make a little card to celebrate...


I printed out a map of the Tour route I found on the web and distressed it by wadding it up and then inking it up. The yellow background panel is something I made as a class assignment - I'm taking the @ Home with Claudine Hellmuth online class! (It just started - if you want to join me you have until July 7 to sign up!)


To make this piece, I covered a piece of cardstock with gesso, and while it was still dry I wrote "ride" over and over with a toothpick. Once that dried, I painted it with some of Claudine's wonderful Studio Paint, then rubbed it off with a paper towel so that the words would have darker paint. I used the Eiffel Tower from the Hero Arts Paris set, stamping it in Distress ink and then heat setting. The "enjoy the ride" message was printed on the computer.

Ok time to get this posted so I can go plop down in front of the TV for the next couple hours. GO LANCE!!!

Happy stamping!

• Stamps: Paris from Hero Arts
• Paper: Black & white cardstock
• Ink: Distress Ink in Vintage Photo & Tea Dye
• Accessories: Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint (Dab of Yellow, Painterly Pink), Gesso, machine stitching, fleur-de-lis brad, ribbon (velvet scallop and sheer polka dot), image & message printed from computer