2RB Sneak Peek - Day 5: Caring Critters

2RedBananas.com's Week of Peeks continues with a sneak peek at its exclusive stamp set "Caring Critters" designed by Jami Bova. I should give this card to my hubby, because today is our 10th anniversary, and I couldn't agree more with the sentiment. Too bad I used such girly paper...

This card was made using a white CS base, on which I adhered a large block of paper from the Paper Studio's Pink Armadillo matstack on the upper portion and a smaller block of Pink Armadillo paper on the bottom portion. I stamped a sentiment from the set onto a strip of Pink Armadillo paper and added an eyelet with a rhinestone glued on it to either end. This strip was adhered over the spot where to two different DS meet. I added three Prima flowers with brown brad centers to the lower left corner with pop dots.

I stamped the bird image onto yet another piece of Pink Armadillo paper with brown StazOn ink and colored it with Watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen. I also used Shimmerz opal and angel wings on the bird. I trimmed the image and matted it with... you guessed it - Pink Armadillo paper, and used a pop dot to adhere it to the card.

Keep checking the 2RedBananas blog and the DT member blogs for more peeks and the stamps to be released in March. Then be sure to go to 2RedBananas.com on March 2nd to see all of the new stamp sets. Also check out the inspiration challenge on the 2RedBananas blog. All the details are posted.

Leah's Birthday

Five of my friends (from grade school and high school) and I will all be celebrating (?) our 40th birthdays this year, so I've been making each of them a special card and handmade gift. I've already posted the card I made for my friend Cheryl. I made this card for one of my oldest friends, Leah. I've known her since the 6th grade. That's, what... 28... 29 years.

The card base is brown CS with a block of shiney magenta paper on top. Over that I adhered a block of Pink Armadillo paper from the Paper Studio. The image (Stampin' Up) is stamped on white CS with Staz On jet black ink, colored with watercolor pencils and Stickles. I also adhered a pink rhinestone at each corner of the image. This was circle punched and adhered on a brown CS scalloped circle and pop dotted onto a block of Pink Armadillo paper with rounded corners. The whole shebang was then adhered to the front of the card.

The sentiment (Making Memories) was stamped on a strip of Pink Armadillo paper and adhered to the card front, with a small dotted strip of paper above and below it. There are three rhinestones on the bottom right corner.

The sentiment on the inside is "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" by Satchel Page.

2RB Sneak Peek - Day 4: Just Ducky

Continuing with 2RedBananas.com's "Week of Peeks" this is a sneak peek of the 2RB stamp set "Just Ducky" designed by Abbey Westemeyer.

The card base is cream CS on top of which I adhered a block of Imaginisce Baby Powder/Oopsie Daisy paper. I used the tulip image from the set and stamped it multiple times in a row on a strip of cream CS using StazOn Jet Black ink. The flowers were filled in with a glue pen and sprinkled with Doodlebug Designs glitter, and the stems and leaves were colored with watercolor pencils. I adhered this to the front of the card and above the strip I added a piece of American Crafts shiny satin ribbon. I stamped the duck image onto cream CS with StazOn and colored it with watercolor pencils. I also used Judikins Diamond Glaze on the boots to make them look like shiny rubber, and used Stickles on the raindrops. I trimmed the image and matted it with the Imaginisce paper, which is pop dotted (1/8 inch) onto a piece of the reverse side of the Imaginisce paper and this was all pop dotted (1/2 inch) onto the front of the card.

I used a journaling pen to write "April Showers..." on the bottom right corner of the card, and, of course, on the inside it says "bring May flowers."

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog and the all of the design team member blogs all week for additional peeks of the new stamps being released.

2RB Sneak Peek: Day 3 - Gunther's Greetings

2RedBananas.com is celebrating the release of its new stamps for March with another Week of Peeks. I get to give a peek today of the stamp set "Gunther's Greetings" by Jami Bova, which features a cute little schnauzer. I made this card for my mom, because she has a black miniature German schnauzer named Buddy.

I used grey CS for the card base and randomly stamped it with the paw prints stamp from the set using Versamark ink. I then rubbed Perfect Pearls all over the paw prints to give them that pearlescent shine. I stamped the dog image on white CS with StazOn jet black ink (this is a good ink to use for watercoloring because it won't bleed or run when it gets wet) and colored it with watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen.

I stamped the bandanna on a separate piece of paper and used Autumn Leaves stamp family/scroll by Rhonna Farrer to add the pattern to the bandanna. It's colored with watercolor pencils and I used a Sakura Stardust pen for some sparkle. I then cut the bandanna out and adhered it to the dog image. I trimmed the image and rounded the upper corners with a Creative Memories corner rounder. I adhered it to a piece of K&Co. Beyond Postmarks embossed paper, which also has the upper corners rounded. The whole thing was then adhered to the front of the card.

I tied a piece of American Crafts shimmery satin ribbon across the front and used a jump ring to attach a small tag made out of white CS and stamped with a sentiment from the "Gunther's Greetings" stamp set.

This is a fun stamp set, especially for dog lovers. I think my mom is really going to love this card.
Don't forget these and other new stamps exclusively available on 2RedBananas.com will be released on the website beginning March 2nd. Be sure to check out peeks of the other stamps on the 2RedBananas blog and the blogs of all of the 2RB design team members.

2RedBananas - http://2redbananas.blogspot.com/

Jeanette - http://jcfincher.blogspot.com/

Maraya - http://itsmybailiwick.blogspot.com/

Theresa - http://leftyscrapper.blogspot.com/

Jami - http://sgtstamper.com/blog

House Mouse Challenge #26

I made this card for the House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge (http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/), using a House Mouse image from 2RedBananas.com. 2RB has alot of really cute HM stamps and much, much more. The challenge was to use a House Mouse image on a Mother's Day card.

The card base is brown CS on top of which is a block of DP from the Pink Armadillo matstack by the Paper Studio. I adhered another block of Pink Armadillo paper wrapped with a pink ribbon on top of the first block, along with some flowers trimmed from a scrap and adhered with pop dots.

The House Mouse image is colored with Kimberly Watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen. I also added opal Shimmerz on the cup and used a Stardust pen by Sakura on the steam. I adhered three rhinestones in the upper right corner of the image. I used a piece of Scrapper's Floss to tie a small tag onto the handle of the cup, and matted the image on brown CS. I adhered the image with pop dots.

This was a fun challenge, and now I'm all set for Mother's Day in advance - for a change.

2RedBananas Week of Peeks

This week 2RedBananas.com will be having a Week of Peeks which will showcase a different set of the 2RB exclusive stamp sets that are being released in March. Each day there will be peeks posted on the 2RedBananas blog and the blogs of different members of the design team. There will also be a week long contest held with a prize awarded to one random participant. Be sure to visit the 2RedBananas blog (http://2redbananas./blogspot.com) for all the details.

Come back and visit me on February 25, 26 and 27, because those are my days for featuring a sneak peek.

All of the stamp sets will then be available at 2RedBananas.com on March 2nd, so go check them out!

House Mouse Challenge

2RedBananas.com is hosting a House Mouse Challenge. It's pretty simple - there's a sketch and you just have to use a House Mouse image. Go to the House Mouse blog (http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/) for more information.

I made this card for the challenge using red CS onto which I adhered a block of sei "Alpine Frost" patterned paper. I matted two additional blocks of sei patterned paper onto red CS and adhered them to the front of the card. The House Mouse image is stamped on white CS. I colored the image with watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen. I used Stickles on the snow and a black glaze pen for the bird's eyes. I cut the image in a circle and matted it on red CS, which I pop dotted onto the front of the card. I tied two pieces of white ribbon criss-crossed on the front and adhered three Dewdrops on the right-hand corner of the top block.

Happy Valentine's Day

I made this tiny Valentine for my husband, Matt. I used a House Mouse stamp called Lobster Claws (although it reminds me of a crawfish, which is why I ordered it from 2RedBananas.com - if you like House Mouse stamps, be sure to check out this site).

I used a mat from DCWV's matstack pad called The Sweet Stack. I folded it in half with the patterned side on the outside. I stamped the image on cream CS with StazOn Jet Black ink and colored it with watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen. (Has anyone noticed this is my only coloring method? I really need to branch out, but these pencils are the only thing I have.) I cut the image out and adhered it to the front of the card. I stamped the "Be Mine" sentiment from 2RedBananas.com's stamp set called Snowman Love in red ink on cream CS and cut it out and adhered it to the front of the card. I also added three red rhinestones to the upper right corner.

The reason I used this particular image for a Valentine's card is because of a reference from the TV show "Friends" where Phoebe referred to Ross as Rachel's lobster because lobsters mate for life. And I like to think of Matt as my lobster. Kind of corny, but I know he'll get it.

My Crafty 4 Year Old

My 4-year-old daughter and I were making Valentine's Day cards this week. This first one I made using 2RedBananas.com's stamp set, "Heartfelt Friends." I used a pre-made gate-fold card from DCWV and on each flap I adhered a block of DP from DCWV The Sweet Stack. I tied a ribbon around the left-hand flap. On the right hand flap I used a pop dot to adhere a piece of CS stamped with a sentiment from Inkadinkado and three rhinestones. I stamped the 2RedBananas.com snake on white CS with StazOn ink and colored it with watercolors and a Tombow blender pen. I accented the snake with a white pen and some Shimmerz. I also added googly eyes. I cut out the image and matted it on another piece of DP from The Sweet Stack. I then adhered it on the left-hand flap with pop dots.

The second card was "made" by my daugher, Olivia. It has a cream CS base with a block of The Sweet Stack DP adhered to the front. The same 2RedBananas.com snake stamp was stamped in StazOn on white CS. Olivia colored the snake with colored pencils from IKEA and added eyelashes with a black journaling pen and googly eyes. It was matted on pink CS that was trimmed with a scalloped border punch along the bottom. This was then adhered to the front of the card with pop dots. The sentiment was stamped directly on the DP and has a rhinestone period.

We had a lot of fun making these. She actually colored 16 snakes for her friends at school and some relatives. She loves to make things. When she's crafting she says she is "doing her work."

Happy Birthday, Cheryl

I created this card for my friend Cheryl's birthday, which is coming up soon. I don't think she follows my blog, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a surprise when she receives it.

I made the card base using cream CS, then adhered a block from the DCWV "The Glitter Sweet Stack" matstack. I love getting these matstack pads - they are the perfect size for using with cards and you can get really great glittered, flocked, velvet, etc. paper much cheaper than full-size scrapbook paper.

I stamped the cake image (by Stampin' Up) onto cream CS, then stamped the two bunnies from the 2RedBananas.com stamp set "The Gift." I colored the images using watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen. I also used a glue pen and glitter, Stickles and a Stardust pen (Sakura) to add accents. I trimmed it and inked the edges with Chestnut Roan chalk ink, then added three pink rhinestones. I matted the image on pink CS and used pop dots to adhere it to another block of cream CS with a matstack block on it. I used pop dots to adhere all of them onto the front of the card. I also tied a pink ribbon around the card front.

2RedBananas Stamp Release

I wanted to let everyone know (in case you haven't been following this blog for the past week) that 2RedBananas.com has released its new line of exclusive stamp sets today on the website. Be sure to go there and check them out.

There are also lots of other great products available on the site, with new stuff being added all the time. So be sure to check back.

With All My Heart Card

This is a card I made using the 2009 House Mouse Stamp of the Month Collection stamp called "With All My Heart." These stamps are available, along with many others and an exclusive line of stamps, at 2RedBananas.com.

I made the card base with kraft paper (suddenly a favorite of mine) which I stamped randomly with hearts using a Glue Pad. I then sprinkled on Martha Stewart garnet glitter. I adhered a strip of red CS along the bottom. On top of that I adhered a strip of white CS on which I stamped the sentiment. I cut the bottom of the strip with scallop scissors and adhered a red rhinestone (Michael's) in each scallop. I also glittered the heart in the sentiment.

The image of the mice was stamped on white CS and I punched each mouse out with a circle punch. (The stamp is actually one image of both mice together.) The images were colored using watercolor pencils and a Tombow blender pen. I used a white Souffle pen on the words in each heart. On the smaller circle I punched three holes along the edge and knotted ribbon through them. I adhered each circle on the front of the card.

Day 7: Sneak Peek - February Journaling Spot

This is the last sneak peek of 2RedBananas.com's new line of stamps that will be released on the website on February 2nd. This project is from the set called "February Journaling Spot."

I made the card base from white CS with a block of Basic Grey patterned paper. that has been cut along the bottom with scalloped scissors, adhered on top, with ribbon wrapped around it near the bottom. I stamped the heart image onto red fun foam that was first heated with a heat gun, and cut it out. I stamped the "love" sentiment (from the set "Snowman Love") on the journaling lines and hand wrote the "2" and "U" with a glaze pen. I also used a white pen to add dots around the heart, and adhered some pearls on the swirls. The heart was adhered to the card front with glue dots.

The second photo shows the fun foam a little bit better.

BLOG HOP: If you are participating in the blog hop, be sure to go to each design team member's blog and leave a comment. Even if you aren't participating, it's worth going just to see the great jobs they've all been doing with their sneak peek projects. After visiting each one be sure to stop at the 2RedBananas blog and answer the question posted there.

I hope everyone has enjoyed seeing the sneak peeks of this new line of stamps. Be sure to visit 2RedBananas.com on Monday to see all of these great stamp sets, not to mention all the other awesome products available on the site.