it's my bailiwick...

Spooky Layout

2010-09-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

Terri - I used the new wide black ribbon you got me. It reminded me of a spider web so it went well with the Halloween layout.

Autumn 2009 Layout

2010-09-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

I'm getting caught up! This picture was from the Pumpkin Patch last year so I'm just about 11 months behind now.

Thatcher's Bed Head

2010-08-29T16:43:00.000-07:00

Kelly, I had to let you see this one. He's soooo cute with his crazy hair!

4th of July Layout and 2 Red Banana Split Sunday Challenge

2009-07-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

I got another layout done this week! And I can participate in this week's 2 Red Banana Split Sunday Challenge. It's an inspiration challenge this week and I used the colors of red, white and blue for my inspiration since this was taken during the 4th of July parade last year. I used Pop Star paper from Rusty Pickle and added some red and blue with glaze and stardust pens. I matted in red and blue and that was it! I love the pop star papers for quick layouts.

Baby Shower Layout

2009-07-03T07:01:00.001-07:00

I usually stay about a year behind but now I'm slipping farther behind. YIKES! This layout is from March of last year. I'm going to try to make an effort to do at least one layout a week to try to get caught up. We'll see how that goes :-) This layout is of my aunt's baby shower. Kelly, my aunt, is only 3 years older so she's more like a sister to me. We had her baby shower just 2 1/2 weeks prior to her giving birth. By the time we had her shower, she was ready to have Thatcher. She was to that uncomfortable last stage of pregnancy. Thatcher is 14 months old now and is an adorable little boy. Hope you enjoy the layout!

Houston Zoo Layout & 2 Red Bananas Split Sunday Challenge

2009-06-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

The 2 Red Bananas challenge for this week was Pattern Frenzy in which you had to use at least 3 pattern papers in your project. If using double-sided paper counts, I'm in the challenge! The background paper Bo-Bunny's Chocolate Dot and the zebra pattern is Sparrow Zebra by Glitz Design. The grunge-ish blue is the back side of the Sparrow Zebra paper. So if using both sides of that paper counts, I'm in the challenge. The cool woven ribbon and the suede leaves are from 2 Red Bananas and the flowers are from prima.

Rainforest Cafe Layout

2009-06-12T13:50:00.001-07:00

This is the most recent layout I've done. It's from a trip to visit Wendy and the girls in Beaumont, TX last May. The yellow background paper is from Black Market Paper Society. It has a really cool linen texture to it and the butterfly paper is from BasicGrey. The sticker letters are also from BasicGrey. Under the butterflies is a strip of silver ribbon. The palm tree was cut out on the cricut machine and the glittery stickers are from K&Co. Have a great weekend!

Crop 4 the Cure Layout

2009-06-09T18:14:00.001-07:00

We have a local Crop 4 the Cure Scrapbook group that meets every other month for a weekend crop. But once a year we have a Crop 4 the Cure convention with more vendors, prizes, etc. These photos were of the last convention in September. Like the layout I posted earlier this week, I did this one a while back and took pictures but never got it posted. I got several sheets of the My Mind's Eye papers from 2 Red Bananas and mixed about 4 patterns together plus used the coordinating punch outs. I used some little jewels to accent the punch outs and put some on pop dots. Sorry the picture isn't that great. I haven't mastered the double-page layout picture taking skills yet :-)

Circus Layout

2009-06-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well I know it's been a while since I've posted something! Since I'm not working on the 2 Red Bananas Design Team, I don't have blog deadlines so I've become a slacker :-) I was talking to a fellow scrap friend the other day and she made the comment that I haven't posted anything new so I'll see if she mentions seeing this one :-) Speaking of 2 Red Bananas, this week's Banana Split Challenge is pattern frenzy in which this layout would fit the criteria. You have to use at least three patterns on your project. Maybe I'll get some creative time to create something new so I can participate in the challenge this week. I did this layout a few months ago and took pictures of it but haven't posted it yet. I hope you enjoy it!

BasicGrey Challenge 32 with Chicken Dumpling

2009-04-27T07:47:00.001-07:00

This card was made for the BasicGrey Challenge 32 (Christine's Sketch) using the 2 Red Bananas Chicken Dumpling stamp set. For this card, I used papers from FIVE different BasicGrey collections (Two Scoops, Cupcake, Lily Kate, Ambrosia and Blush)! The image and sentiment were stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with black embossing powder. The chicken dumpling image was paper pieced. 2 Red Bananas released 5 different chicken stamp sets for April and you can see all of them here. They are fun and easy to paper piece!

Paper(s): BasicGrey

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Chicken Dumpling

Ink(s): VersaMark with black embossing powder and ColorBox creamy brown (around the edges of the papers)

Other: Prima flowers, brads, velvet ric rac

Banana Split Sunday Challenge and Hawaiian Chicken

2009-04-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

It's time for another Banana Split Sunday Challenge!

The theme of the this week's challenge is "wearing stripes". So I used striped paper with the 2 Red Bananas Hawaiian Chicken Stamp Set. The image was stamped, heat embossed and paper pieced together. The hibiscus shirt is part of the stamp so that was colored in using Stampin' Up markers. This is a really cute set with more phrases in the set. All of the chicken sets look cute paper pieced. You can see the full line of the chicken stamps in the April releases on the 2 Red Bananas site here.

Paper(s): BasicGrey citrus & butter pecan, Kelly Panacci patterned papers

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Hawaiian Chicken

Ink(s): VersaMark with black embossing powder, Tsukineko graphite black, Stampin' Up markers

Other: Prima flower

To join us in the challenge this week, simply submit your project(s) to Mr. Linky on the 2 Red Bananas Blog. This week there will be a prize given to one random participant!

On a sad note, this will be my last official 2 Red Bananas design team post. I've gone back to work which has taken a lot of my free, creative time away so I've stepped down from the design team. However, Deb Felts has accepted a permanent design team position with 2 Red Bananas. You can check out her blog and creative work here. Congrats, Deb!

BasicGrey Challenge 31 with Sgt. Chicken

2009-04-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

This card was made using the 2 Red Bananas new Sgt. Chicken stamp set for the BasicGrey Challenge 31- Paper Piecing. The image and sentiment were both heat embossed with black. I heat embossed the image onto BasicGrey Delicious for the chicken, BasicGrey Smoke for the beret and dogtag and BasicGrey Citrus for the nose and feet. Then I cut out the gray and orange parts and glued them onto the embossed image on main chicken. I used the Quickie Glue pen to attach the pieces and it worked GREAT! I used Tsukineko graphite black around the edges of the paper and some Chatterbox snaps on the edge of the gray.

Paper(s): BasicGrey Smoke, Citrus and Delicious

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Sgt. Chicken

Ink(s): VersaMark with black embossing powder, Tsukineko graphite black

Other: Chatterbox snaps

Banana Split Sunday Challenge

2009-04-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to another Banana Split Sunday by 2 Red Bananas!

This week's challenge is "you're an animal". You are to use an animal on your project (card, layout, altered item, etc.) and post your project(s) to Mr. Linky on the 2 Red Bananas Blog.

For my card, I used 2 Red Bananas The Early Bird stamp set and colored my image with Stampin' Up markers. It's hard to see but I went over the polka dots on his scarf with the clear stardust pen. To add a little shine to the flowers, I glued an iridescent sequin in the center of each one.

Paper(s): KaiserScrap and BasicGrey

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas The Early Birds

Ink(s): Tsukineko coffee bean

Other: Prima flowers, sequins, ribbon, brads, swirl hardware

This challenge is open all week, you can enter as many times as you would like and you can combine it with other challenges! All the details can be found on the 2 Red Bananas Blog.

Mojo Monday Challenge with Birthday Chicken

2009-04-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

My card today was made using the new 2 Red Bananas Birthday Chicken set for the Mojo Monday Week 82 Sketch Challenge. The image and sentiment were stamped with Tsukineko coffee bean ink and the image was colored with watercolor pencils and mineral spirits. After that dried, I went over a few spots with the clear stardust pen to add some shimmer. All the patterned papers used are from the Promenade White Out collection by We R Memory Keepers.

Paper(s): We R Memory Keepers Promenade White Out

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Birthday Chicken

Ink(s): Tsukineko coffee bean

Other: clear stardust pen, ric rac, metal "wish" plate, Martha Stewart decorative edge punch

Banana Split Sunday Challenge on a Saturday

2009-04-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

Our Banana Split Sunday Challenge for this week will start today since tomorrow is Easter.

This week's challenge is to use this sketch designed by Jami. For my project, I used the sketch to make a decorative piece to dress up a plain gift bag. I originally intended it to be a card but it kept getting bigger so I tried putting it on a gift bag and thought it worked out great there. For my sketch, I used the brand new April Journal Spot stamp set which was featured earlier this week by some of the other design team members. The flower petals are actually meant to be balloon journal spots or raindrop journal spots but I saw them as petals. There are other sayings included in this set as well. I heat embossed my images and Happy Birthday in black and did some doodle dots and lines in Sailor Writer warm cream. The papers are Daisy D's and BasicGrey and I used the Fiskars decorative edge punch for the scallops on the bottom.

Paper(s): Daisy D's Classroom Stripe and yellow unknown, Basic Grey red solid unknown, Bazzill yellow cardstock

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas April Journal Spot

Ink(s): VersaMark and black embossing ink, Sailor Writer Warm Cream

Other: Fiskars decorative-edged trimmer

If you would like to play along in this week's challenge, visit the 2 Red Bananas Blog to get full details and to upload your creations! Have a great Easter!

Also, don't forget that all the stamp sets featured this week by all the design team members will be available from 2 Red Bananas Monday, April 13th!

Day 5 of the 2 Red Bananas Sneak Peeks

2009-04-09T06:11:00.001-07:00

Today we are featuring the Chicken Impossible Stamp Set! This set includes Chicken Impossible with several sayings. The image and saying are both stamped in Tsukineko coffee bean ink and the image is colored with watercolor pencils and mineral spirits. I went to the scrap box to find some earth tone papers for this card. The stucco looking paper is from Daisy D's and the others are from BasicGrey Hang 10 collection. This was an easy and fun card to make. It would be great to use this set for a surprise birthday party.

Paper(s): BasicGrey and Daisy D's

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Chicken Impossible

Ink(s): Tsukineko coffee bean

Other: brads

Tomorrow is the last day of our Sneak Peeks AND we are having the weekly Banana Split Sunday Challenge since this Sunday is on Easter. Have great day and be sure to check out the other Banana Design Team members sites for their creations this week! All new stamp sets featured this week will be available on the 2 Red Bananas website Monday, April 13th.

Day 4 of the 2 Red Bananas Sneak Peeks!

2009-04-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

Today we are featuring the new and exclusive set called A Spring Thing. This set includes several Spring related images. For my card, I used the umbrella, rainbow and Spring word. The umbrella has raindrops with it but I saw this idea of poking holes and adding dewdrops in my latest issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. and thought it looked really cool. For the images, I used Tsukineko graphite black ink and colored them with watercolor pencils and mineral spirits. Once that was dry, I went over it with a Sakura clear stardust pen for some shimmer. After adhering all the pieces, I topped it off with some May Arts sheer dots ribbon.

Paper(s): Bazzill cardstocks

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas A Spring Thing

Ink(s): Tsukineko graphite black

Other: May Arts Ribbon and dew drops

Be sure to check out the other design team members' sites to see what they've been creating this week. All new stamp sets will be available online Monday, April 13th.

Day 1 of 2 Red Bananas Sneak Peeks

2009-04-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Sneak Peek Day 1 of the new and exclusive 2 Red Bananas Stamp sets!

The Week of Peeks will go through Sunday and then all the new stamp sets will be available to purchase on the website Monday, April 13th. Today I'm showing off the Cajun Chicken. This is a fun Mardi Gras chicken that comes with several sayings. For my card, I used the image only. The image was stamped with Tsukineko graphite black ink and colored with water color pencils and mineral spirits. I used a green glaze pen to color the mask and then a red stardust pen for some of the beads and feathers. If you don't have all the stardust colors you want to use, simply color the image and then go over it with the clear stardust pen. That's how I got the other feathers and beads to look like I used a stardust pen.

Be sure to visit the other design team blogs to see what they have posted for today and keep coming back to see what new stamps will be featured this week!

Paper(s): Rusty Pickle City Lights, maroon and purple cardstock
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Cajun Chicken
Ink(s): Tsukineko graphite black ink
Other: Sakura green glaze, clear stardust and red stardust pens

Banana Split Sunday Challenge for the Week

2009-04-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today starts a brand new Banana Split Sunday challenge!

This week's challenge is to make something except a card. It's that simple! So get your project(s) made and upload them to Mr. Linky on the 2 Red Bananas Blog. For the challenge, I altered a Prima flower can into an Easter candy dish. I used the Easter Surprise House Mouse image and colored it with watercolor pencils and mineral spirits. I curled the paper so I didn't have to use any adhesives inside the can. In order to see some of the candy in the bottom of the can and not have my paper slide all the way down, I attached the patterened papers to a piece of acetate. So the clear acetate allows the candy to show through the bottom.

Paper(s): Bo-Bunny Organic Snow Drop, Basic Grey Strawberry Smoothie, The Paper Company clear acetate
Stamp(s): House Mouse Easter Surprise
Other: Prima flower can, flowers, brads

Gypsy Girl Layout

2009-04-02T06:06:00.001-07:00

At a recent crop, I bought the new 7 Gypsies Vintage transparencies and thought this one went perfect for Lucky. It reads: Gypsy Girl -adventure around ever corner. And that describes our girl! I also got the new book turns from 7 Gypsies so I used it in the center of the flower to point towards the picture.

Paper(s): Pink Paislee Moonrakers & Hollow Moon, BasicGrey background (unknown), cream cardstock (behind transparency)

Other: 7 Gypsies gypsy transparency & book turn, Prima flowers, Tim Holtz ticket, May Art ribbon, brown Stardust pen, brad

The 2 Red Bananas Week of Peeks will begin next Monday. We've got NINE new sets to share this month!

Banana Split Sunday Challenge

2009-03-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

This week's Banana Spilt Sunday Challenge is "You're a Gem".

This means that the challenge is for you to use any type of gem such as dew drops, rhinestones, pearls, beads, etc. You can make a card, layout, altered item, etc. AND this week there is a prize for one lucky random participant!! All you have to do is load a new project to the 2 Red Bananas Blog using Mr. Linky. You can visit the Banana Blog for complete details.

For my card, I used the metallic red/gold/silver dewdrops on a piece of Heirloom by My Mind's Eye. The Bazzill cardstock was enhanced with some Angel Wings Shimmerz. The sentiment is from the Quotes stamp set by 2 Red Bananas.

Paper(s): Heirloom by My Mind's Eye, Bazzill cardstock

Ink(s): Tsukineko Rocket Red

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Quotes

Other: Dew drops, Angel Wings Shimmerz

Mojo Monday Week 79 with Gunther's Greetings

2009-03-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

This card was made using the 2 Red Bananas Gunther's Greeting Stamp Set for the Mojo Monday Challenge - Week 79. The image and sentiment were stamped in Tsukineko graphite black ink and Gunther was colored with watercolor pencils and mineral spirits. I'm not sure about the brand of flower paper. I got it at a convention and it was in a huge sheet rolled up. The design was silk screened onto the paper which give it some texture.

Paper(s):Basic Grey Strawberry Smoothie, Bazzill black & metallic cardstock, unknown flower paper

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Gunther's Greetings

Ink(s): Tsukineko graphite black

Other: Fiskar decorative edge trimmer, ribbon

BasicGrey Challenge 27 Thank You Card

2009-03-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to the scrap table last night and got this card made using the Wrapped in His Love Stamp Set by 2 Red Bananas. I love the dogwood tree branch in this set! I'm using this card for the BasicGrey Challenge 27 using texture. Both patterned papers on the card are Basic Grey and my texture is the cool burlap ribbon from 2 Red Bananas. The dogwood flowers are colored in with a Signo white pen with the center dots in Sakura clear Stardust pen. The leaves are colored in Sakura clear glaze. The white ric rac is woven through the holes of the burlap ribbon.

Paper(s): BasicGrey Delicious & Rind
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Wrapped in His Love Set
Ink(s): Colorbox Dark Moss
Other: Sakura stardust pen & glaze pen, Signo white pen, ric rac, burlap ribbon

Banana Split Sunday Inspiration Challenge

2009-03-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Banana Split Challenge!

This week is an inspiration challenge from the Banana Bandit painting. Just take a look at the art for inspiration to create a card, layout, altered item, etc.

As you can tell in my card, the colors of orange and yellow inspired me. For my card, I used the Just Ducky stamps from 2 Red Bananas. The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and then accented with the Sakura stardust pen. The ribbon was tied in a knot and run through the center hole of the metal flower.

For the challenge, you can choose the colors, the layout of the art, the little bandit character, the fruit, etc. Just see what it inspires in you and get it submitted to the 2 Red Bananas blog using Mr. Linky. All the details can be found there too. If you submit to PCP or SCS, please use keyword 2rbbss03.

Paper(s): Bazzill black cardstock, BasicGrey play, other scraps

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Just Ducky

Ink(s): VersaMark & embossing powder, Tsukineko graphite black

Other: May Arts ribbon, Maya Road metal flower, Sakura Stardust pen

Banana Spilt Sunday & Caardvarks Challenges

2009-03-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

This week's Banana Spilt Challenge is to do something Spring related and the Caardvark Challenge is to include a critter in your project. SO, I made an Easter card to use in both challenges.
My Easter card is using the new Daisy Chain, Checking Out papers and Grow Accessory Sheet by My Mind's Eye. The bunny image is from the 2 Red Bananas Caring Critters Stamp Set and the sentiment is from the 2 Red Bananas Bunnies and Eggs Stamp Set. They were both stamped with Tsukineko Coffee Bean ink. The cool burlap woven ribbon is from May Arts. I ran a piece of green ric rac through it and adhered it with Glue Lines. The flowers are from Prima with a BasicGrey brad in the center.

Be sure to check out the 2 Red Bananas blog to see other Spring inspired creations and to join the fun! If you upload your images to PCP or SCS, use 2RBBSS02 as your keyword! This week there will be a prize for one random participant.

The Caardvarks Challenge will remain open until March 18th and they are offering a prize to one lucky winner as well.

On the Deck

2009-03-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well the Cruise album continues... This layout I made for the BasicGrey Challenge 25 - Sketch. I had already picked out these photos to go with the new Marrakech Collection. I LOVE the blue in this collection! I used 4 sheets of paper and the Elements stickers from the Marrakech collection and one sheet from the previous Ambrosia collection. The new ribbon is from May Arts and those are the cool new metallic dewdrops in the centers of the flowers.

Paper(s): BasicGrey African Nectar, Palace Blue, Smoke, Sencha, Green Tea

Ink(s): Tsukineko graphite black
Other: BasicGrey Marrackech Elements stickers, metallic dew drops, May Arts ribbon

Banana Split Sunday Challenge

2009-03-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Today is the first Banana Split Sunday Weekly Challenge!

Each Sunday a new challenge will be posted on the 2 Red Bananas Blog. You will have a week to get your project (layout, card, altered item, etc.) uploaded using Mr. Linky. Each Sunday there will be a different type of challenge posted such as a sketch, inspiration, product use, etc. A few times each month, there will be a prize awarded to one of the random participants. It's going to be something fun each week, so join us!

This week's challenge was a sketch provided by Jami Bova. If you post your project to Split Coast Stamper or Paper Craft Planet, please use the keyword 2RBBSS01. For any other details and to post your image, visit the 2 Red Bananas blog.

For this challenge, I used the new Louie Too Stamp Set from 2 Red Bananas. I colored him with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. The tiny gold beads are ProvoCraft microbeads. These were really popular a few years back so I have several colors. When I saw the heaps of gold in his hands, I thought about those microbeads so I used them. I first used the Quickie glue pen, then sprinkled the beads on. After that, I applied some MonoAqua (clear, wet glue) and poured on more beads. This made his heaps of gold higher! The little stars around his gold was colored with the Sakura stardust pen. The flowers are all from Prima and the May Arts ribbon is from 2 Red Bananas. I pulled the papers from my scraps, so I'm not sure what brands they are.

Paper(s): Black Cardstock, white cardstock, unknown patterned paper

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Louie Too

Ink(s): Tuskineko Graphite Black

Other: May Arts ribbon, ProvoCraft microbeads, Prima flowers, brads, Sakura stardust pen

In the Port of Progreso, Mexico

2009-03-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

I'm back! I know it's been a week since I've posted but it's been a really hectic week without much creative time in it. I did manage to get a single page layout done. Still working on the cruise album...

I'm enjoying working on the photos to this album. It's a work in progress but it's coming along. For this layout, I used mostly Kaiserscrapbook papers. I really wanted to use the postcards images which are a Flair paper. Originally they were big so I cut the images I liked from the On the Boardwalk paper, scanned them, shrunk the size and reprinted on cardstock. The new size worked well plus I still have the originals! I used two ribbons on this layout. Both are from May Arts and are available through 2 Red Bananas. I attached the thinner ribbon on top of the wider ribbon using Glue Lines. If you haven't started using Glue Lines for your ribbons, you should really consider getting a box! They are double sided, 1" perforated lines that make adhering ribbons easy.

Paper(s): Kaiserscrapbook Garden Party, Flair On the Boardwalk, BasicGrey Delicious
Other: May Arts Ribbons, Making Memories alpha stickers and pebble clip, K&Co. sticker, Prima and American Crafts flowers, brad, buttons, thread

We will begin hosting WEEKLY CHALLENGES on the 2 Red Bananas Blog. It will be called Banana Split Sunday. So that means every Sunday there will be a new challenge posted. We will have a variety of challenges for you and there will be prizes to random winners a few times a month! They are going to be fun so be sure to check it out!

Sneak Peek Day 7 Featuring Bunnies & Eggs Stamp Set

2009-02-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the final day of 2 Red Bananas March Release Sneak Peeks!

All NINE new and exclusive stamp sets will be available on the 2 Red Bananas site tomorrow.

Today we are featuring the Bunnies & Eggs stamp set. In the card below, I used one of the bunnies and the Happy Easter sentiment from the new set. I made this card to use in the BasicGrey Challenge 24- Pockets. The image and sentiment were both stamped with Tsukineko graphite black and colored with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. After coloring, I added a few dots and lines with the Sakura stardust pen on the egg and then coated it in angel wings Shimmerz. I got a new EK Success decorative edge trimmer this weekend so I used it on the bottom of the pocket. I nested an American Crafts flower in a Prima flower and topped it off with a clear daisy dewdrop.

Papers: BasicGrey waffle cone, strawberry smoothie; Crate Paper canopy

Stamps: 2 Red Bananas Bunnies & Eggs

Inks: Tsukineko graphite black

Other: Sakura dust pen, American Crafts and Prima flowers, dew drop, ribbon, decorative edge trimmer, Angel Wings Shimmerz

If you are participating in the Inspiration Challenge this week, visit the 2 Red Bananas Blog for all the details. We hope you've enjoyed this Week of Peeks! All new stamp sets will be available on the 2 Red Bananas site tomorrow!

Sneak Peek Day 6 Featuring Louie Stamp Set

2009-02-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day 6 of the 2 Red Bananas Sneak Peeks Featuring Louie Stamp Set

Today we are showing off Louie Stamp Set which is a group of whimsical leprechauns and the clover that says "Happy St. Patrick's Day". For this card, I used the Mojo Monday Sketch Week 75 Sketch. They've really got some great sketches over there!

The dot (Henry) and striped (Charles) papers are from the Night Light Collection by October Afternoon. This collection is so bright and fun to use! The cute leprechaun and the shamrock are from the 2 Red Bananas Louie Set that will be available Monday, March 2nd! They were both stamped in VersaMagic and heat embossed with black. The leprechaun was colored with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. There's ALSO a Louie 2 set that has more leprechauns! Check out the other design team blogs to see what set they used.

Papers: Night Light Collection, black cardstock, white cardstock, BasicGrey Zest
Stamps: 2 Red Bananas Louie
Inks: VersaMagic and black embossing powder
Other: Prima flowers, BasicGrey brads, Fiskars decorative edge trimmer

If you are participating in the Inspiration Challenge this week, visit the 2 Red Bananas blog for all the details! All new stamp sets featured this week will be available Monday, March 2nd!

Sneak Peek Day 5 Featuring Caring Critters Stamp Set

2009-02-26T07:41:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the 5th day of the 2 Red Bananas March stamp set Sneak Peeks!

Today we are showing off Caring Critters. This set has not only the bird and butterflies I used but also a cute bunny along with several quotes. To participate in this week's BasicGrey Challenge 23, I used the color scheme of pink and green using some BasicGrey papers. For the images and quote I stamped them in VersaMark and heat embossed them in black. The bird on the branch was colored with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and the butterflies have been painted with pink Shimmerz. This set along with all other EIGHT new sets will be available on the 2 Red Bananas site Monday, March 2nd.

Paper(s): Basic Grey Fandango, Patina and Fashionable
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Caring Critters
Ink(s): VersaMark and Black Embossing Powder, Tsukineko Graphite Black
Other: Prima flowers and black brads

If you are participating in the Inspiration Challenge this week or need more details, please visit the 2 Red Bananas blog. You can enter as many project as you want so that increases your chances to win one of the new March release stamp sets!

Thanks for stopping by. The Sneak Peeks will continue through the weekend so keep checking back!

Day 2 of Sneak Peeks featuring March Journal Spot & Quotes Stamp Sets

2009-02-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day 2 of the 2 Red Bananas Sneak Peek Week!

Today I'm showing projects from 2 new, exclusive 2 Red Bananas stamp sets. The first stamp I've used is the March Journaling Spot. Each month, I use the Journal Spot set to make a birthday card. It's great because it gets me ahead! The kite actually has cute swirls on the the sides of it that matches the swirl on the top but I wasn't able to cut my paper so that you can see it. The word March is included in the set as well!

For this card, I used some Daisy D's paper with a piece of black ric rac between them. The kite image is heat embossed in black and the celebrate and 7th are American Crafts stickers which I outlined with a Sakura stardust pen. I used the Fiskars decorative edge trimmer on the red polka dot paper and added black sequins where the holes were. The word March was stamped with ColorBox warm red ink.

Paper(s): Daisy D's scraps

Ink(s): VersaMark with black embossing powder, ColorBox warm red

Other: 2 Red Bananas March Journal Spot Stamp Set, Sakura stardust pen, ric rac, black sequins, American Crafts stickers

The second set I've used is the Quotes set. There are 4 quotes in this set. I used one I thought was appropriate for this layout of my cute cousin. I painted the chipboard pieces with Tsukineko Graphite Black and then stamped the quote and date in white. The red star on the black star was cut out of the background paper and glued onto the chipboard then layered with a bling star. The date chipboard is tied onto May Art black wrinkled ribbon with a piece of May Art sheer polka dot ribbon.

Paper(s): Prima Star Quality BasicGrey Clown Nose and Citron
Ink(s): Tsukineko Graphite Black, Tsukineko Cloud White
Other: Chipboard pieces, Me and My Big Ideas star bling, May Arts ribbons

Along with the Week of Peeks, we are hosting an inspiration challenge. Here’s what you do… during the week, you stop by our blogs and check out the sneak peeks. Then you choose any three things from any three projects and create your own. It can be a card, a layout, an altered item…whatever. For example, you may use a layout from one persons card, colors from another, and a certain embellishment from another. Just post your project to your blog or SCS and tell us in your description where you pulled your three inspirations from. (for example: Jami’s Wrapped in Love layout…Deb’s Wrapped in Love cracked glass technique…Jeanette’s Wrapped in Love color combo) Then come back to the 2RedBananas blog and give us a link to your project. (If you upload to SCS, be sure to add 2RedBananas as a keyword) And the best part? You can enter as many times as you like!! Then on Monday March 1st at 4:00 pm EST/3pm CST the challenge will close and we will choose 2 winners. Both winners can take their pick from the new releases. Of course…if you guys blow us away with entries, we might just have to offer more than two, so feel free to share the news of the challenge on your blogs!

Don't forget ALL new stamp sets will be available March 2nd at 2 Red Bananas site and there are LOTS of new thing added just this week so go check it out! Thanks for stopping by!

Week of Peeks Featuring 2 Red Bananas March Releases

2009-02-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

Today begins another fun Week of Peeks for the 2 Red Bananas March stamp releases. There are NINE new exclusive sets for 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 blog hop and inspiration challenge held with a new stamp set awarded to two (maybe more) random participants.
Here’s what you do… during the week, you stop by our blogs and check out the sneak peeks. Then you choose any three things from any three projects and create your own. It can be a card, a layout, an altered item…whatever. For example, you may use a layout from one persons card, colors from another, and a certain embellishment from another.
Just post your project to your blog or SCS and tell us in your description where you pulled your three inspirations from. (for example: Jami’s Wrapped in Love layout…Deb’s Wrapped in Love cracked glass technique…Jeanette’s Wrapped in Love color combo) Then come back to the 2RedBananas blog and give us a link to your project. (If you upload to SCS, be sure to add 2RedBananas as a keyword)
And the best part? You can enter as many times as you like!! Then on Monday March 1st at 4:00 pm EST/3pm CST the challenge will close and we will choose 2 winners. Both winners can take their pick from the new releases. Of course…if you guys blow us away with entries, we might just have to offer more than two, so feel free to share the news of the challenge on your blogs!
All NINE new stamp sets will be available on the 2 Red Bananas site on March 2nd, so be sure to check them out!

It's a Boy

2009-02-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

I usually stay behind on my scrapbooking so I'm just now getting to the birth of our new cousin. He was born last March. It's hard to believe that we will be celebrating his 1st birthday next month. Time flies too quickly.

The background paper is Paper Clever by Autumn Leaves. This paper is shimmery which doesn't show up in the photos too well but it's really cool. The green paper on each side is Organic Laurell from Bo-Bunny Press. The rubons are from Making Memories and the cool chipboard journal tag is new from K&Company. I ran an ink pad over the edges and used the Sakura stardust pen to highlight the dots. The letter "t" is from a BasicGrey undressed chipboard set and the stamp used on top is from Paper Salon. The chipboard star was painted with December Sky Blingz paint.

Paper(s): Autumn Leaves Paper Clever, Bo-Bunny Press Organic Laurell
Ink(s): ColorBox creamy brown and lime pastel
Other: December Sky Blingz paint, Sakura stardust pen, Making Memories rubons, ribbon, K&Co tag, chipboard star and letter t, American crafts stickers

Beginning next Monday, we'll be posting sneak peeks for the 2 Red Bananas March stamp sets! There will be more blog hops and prizes so be sure to check back. Also, there are lots of new products in store at 2 Red Bananas so go check it out.

On the Beach in Texas

2009-02-18T17:58:00.001-08:00

While Mackenzie and I visited Wendy and her family last summer in Texas, we went to the beach for the day. We had a great time and took lots of photos. This is the first one I've scrapped so far...

This layout was a lot of fun because I LOVE this paper by Rusty Pickle and all I did was color it with Sakura gel pens and add some bling. Real easy and relaxing!

Paper(s): Rusty Pickle Pop Star, Bazzill cardstocks for picture mats
Ink(s): Sakura glaze pens and stardust pen
Other: various rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a House Mouse Challenge!

2009-02-16T16:49:00.001-08:00

This week 2 Red Bananas is sponsoring the weekly House Mouse Challenge! Jami designed the sketch for us to use. It's a fun sketch so play along with us.

For my card, I used a white cardstock base along with some BasicGrey patterned scraps from the Mellow collection. The green paper is from Daisy D's and the orange circle is from Bo-Bunny Press. The image is Lip Smakin' Relaxin' which just happens to be the giveaway to one random lucky participant! The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. The ribbon is May Arts brown wrinkle. I'm loving that ribbon! The steam was accented with the Sakura stardust pen and the mug was accented in Angel Wings Shimmerz.

Thanks for stopping by and if you get a chance, play along!

Paper(s): BasicGrey Ebb & unknown, Bo-Bunny Press, Daisy D's Sage

Ink(s): Black & ColorBox chestnut roan

Other: May Art ribbon, Angel Wings Shimmerz, buttons, thread

Mackenzie's 7th Birthday

2009-02-15T10:51:00.001-08:00

These are just a few of several pictures taken at Mackenzie's 7th birthday party. She got Lucky her puppy at this party so it was a very special day for her. All the papers used for this layout are double-sided October Afternoon Night Light Collection. All the papers in this collection are bright which are fun to use for a birthday party layout.

Paper(s): October Afternoon Night Light Collection

Ink(s): ColorBox charcoal chalk ink around the edges of the papers

Other: Prima and Lil Davis Design flowers, Lil Davis Design chipboard letters, Kaiser rubons

Beware of the Dog

2009-02-11T19:12:00.001-08:00

I decided to take a challenge with the BasicGrey challenge blog this week. It's for Challenge 21 - Mix it Up. All you have to do is mix up some of the different BasicGrey collections. I've got a good selection of BasicGrey products to choose from, so I did the challenge! The papers are Rind from the Ambrosia collection, Loved from the Sugared collection, and Ancient from the Archaic collection. The brad is from BasicGrey too but I took those out of the original package so I'm not sure which collection they were with. The challenge is open until Friday night and there is prize for a random winner.

Paper(s): BasicGrey, Making Memories Journaling Book Mocha Paperie
Ink(s): Brillance Coffee Bean, ColorBox Creamy Brown Chalk Ink
Other: Chipboard arrow, BasicGrey brad

Explore Layout

2009-02-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

My daughter got Lucky the puppy as a surprise birthday present last May. These photos were taken shortly after she came home. She has grown SO much and SO fast. I was excited to get the 2 Red Bananas Value of Joy stamp set designed by Jami Bova because it has a lab puppy in the set.

I got these cool papers at a crop a few weekends ago and have been wanting to use them. It's My Mind's Eye Laundry Line Collection. They all have some shimmer in the papers. Very Cool! So to keep with the shimmery paper, I colored my chipboard letters in December Sky Blingz paint. Blingz is awesome on chipboard! I also used Brilance Pearlescent Sky Blue around my inked up tag to add some more shimmer. A cool new trick I learned from Jeanette that I've used twice already is to cut the suede leaf ribbon and use it under flowers.

Paper(s): My Mind's Eye Laundry Line Collection

Ink(s): ColorBox Olive Pastel and Creamy Brown, Brillance Pearlescent Sky Blue, VersaMagic with black embossing powder

Other: Value of Joy Stamp Set, Making Memories label holder, Making Memories rubons, Prima flowers and Say it with Crystals, chipboard letters with Blingz, May Art suede ribbon, Sakura gel pens, shipping tag, fabric scrap

Port of New Orleans Layout

2009-02-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

This turned out to be a Blingz-y (if that's a word) layout! All the patterned papers are from the Bo-Bunny Beachy Keen collection. The cardstocks are Bazzill. I used a bunch of the Spiced Cider Blingz on this layout. I used it around the edges of the layout and on the chipboard flowers. It soaks in the chipboard nicely and dries pretty quick. On top of the big Blingz-y flower, I layered some Prima flowers and on top of the smaller Blingz-y flower, I added an eyelet from Imaginisce and some brown wrinkled May Art ribbon. The Hip Hip Hooray stamp is from Studio G and was stamped on the brown cardstock using VersaMagic Cloud White ink.

Paper(s): Bo-Bunny Press Beachy Keen Collection, blue & green Bazzill cardstock

Ink(s): VersaMagic Cloud White & ColorBox dark brown chalk ink

Other: Magistical Memories Mod Leaf Open Flowers (chipboard), Prima flowers, May Art Ribbon, Making Memories pebble clips, American Traditional alpha stickers, Kaiser rubons

The cruise album is a work in progress so I'll be showing more layout in between the 2 Red Bananas featured products. Thanks for stopping by!

On the Deck Layout

2009-02-08T06:42:00.001-08:00

This was taken on the deck of the ship after the Captain's supper. The love definition was developed onto the photo using Scrapbookpictures.com. The cool swirly chipboard is from Technique Tuesday. I've been saving it for one of the cruise layouts. I painted it with some Tim Holtz crackle paint and embellished it with clear dew drops. After it dried, I inked the edges with ColorBox dark brown chalk ink. The brown background paper is from Paper Loft and the patterned paper is from BasicGrey.

Paper(s): Paper Loft & BasicGrey

Ink(s): ColorBox dark brown chalk in'

Other: Technique Tuesday chipboard, clear dewdrops, Tim Holtz crackle paint

Small Beginnings Layout

2009-02-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken when Mackenzie met her cousin, Thatcher, for the first time. He spent several weeks in the hospital after he was born so she was not able to visit him there. She was very excited to meet her new little cousin.

For the layout, I used 2 sheets of the double-sided Country Library by October Afternoon. I love double-sided coordinating papers! The photo was matted in cream cardstock and inked around the edges with Brillance Graphite Black ink. The green scalloped cardstock was a scrap that I inked and used the February journal stamp to allow for the quote and date. I used the Sakura stardust pen around the heart, on the journal lines and around the chipboard letters. The Prima flowers have a BasicGrey glazed brad in the center and are accented with the cool new suede leaf ribbon.

Paper(s): October Afternoon Country Library, Cream cardstock, scalloped green cardstock

Ink(s): Brillance Graphite Black

Other: 2 Red Bananas February Journal Spot stamp, Prima flowers, May Art Ribbon, American Crafts chipboard letters

Beautiful Sunset Layout

2009-02-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken off the balcony of the ship one evening. The 6X6 photo was developed with the polka dot border and the word Beautiful on it by scrapbookpictures.com. I matted the photo in white and inked around the edges in ColorBox charcoal ink. Then put it on the Office Lingo paper and then on Olive Branch by BasicGrey. The title sunset is Making Memories chipboard letters which are accented with some Prima flowers and Doodlebug jewels. The bling to the left of the picture is a Say it With Crystals by Prima.

Paper(s): BasicGrey Olive Branch, Pink Paislee Outside the Box, white cardstock

Ink(s): ColorBox charcoal chalk ink

Other: Making Memories chipboard letters, Prima flowers and Say it with Crystals, Doodlebug jewels

Let the Fun Begin Layout

2009-02-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

My husband and I celebrated 10 years last summer so we took a cruise to Mexico to celebrate! At a recent crop, I stared working on the pictures from that vacation. Since we were so busy posting all the new stamps from 2 Red Bananas last week, I didn't get any layouts that I done at the crop posted. So I'll be posting those layouts for a few days.

This layout is "Let the Fun Begin". Joe Bob took this picture out the window of the port before we left. This layout was pretty easy and came together quickly. The travel definition was printed on the picture. I had it developed at Scrapbookpictures.com. They can do your photos in different sizes AND add cool borders and definitions onto your photos. The photo in this layout is a 6X6. The ticket that has the date on it is a Tim Holtz ticket. I got that as a Christmas goodie from a scrap friend. The bling is from a "say it with crystals" set from Prima. The sticker letters and the polka dot border were both done with a white pen.

Paper(s): BasicGrey Mantle, K&Co. ship labels, other unknown
Ink(s): ColorBox creamy brown around the edges of the papers
Other: Prima flowers and bling, BasicGrey sticker letters, Tim Holtz ticket

Final Sneak Peek featuring February Journaling Spots

2009-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

WOW! What a busy and fun week. Today is the final sneak peek day of featuring the new 2 Red Bananas stamp sets. Tomorrow all new exclusive sets will all be available to purchase here. I hope you've made your list! Be sure to check out the papers, inks, bling and more on the site as well.

OK for our last Sneak Peek, we are featuring the February Journaling Spot set. This set includes a heart journaling block and the word February. For my birthday card, I heat embossed the heart in white. The stamp has journal lines inside the stamp but I carefully inked the heart only with VersaMagic so that I could emboss it. Then I stamped the word February included in the February Journaling Spot set in Tsukineko Pearlescent Sky Blue. I used a variety of other stamps for all the other pieces to make "Happy 1st" and used the same ink. The cool, mesh ribbon is from May Arts. The flowers are from Prima and the jewels are from Me & My Big Ideas.

Paper(s): White cardstock base, black cardstock, doodlebug (I think) patterned paper

Ink(s): VersaMagic and embossing powder, Tsukineko Pearlescent Sky Blue

Other: May Art ribbon, Prima flowers, Me & My Big Ideas jewels

If you are participating in the Blog Hop, you will need to visit each DT member site, leave a comment and hop to the 2 Red Bananas blog and answer an easy question. We hope you have enjoyed all the new stamp sets featured this week. We will have more to come soon... Until then, I will be posting other projects. Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek Day 6 Featuring Heartfelt Friends Stamp Set

2009-01-31T05:10:00.000-08:00

Today is Day 6 of our 2 Red Bananas Week of Peeks and we are showing off the Heartfelt Friends stamp set today. This set contains several heartfelt friends but I chose to use the flamingos because I have recently begun to love these pretty birds. And no, I don't have any in my yard yet! All stamp sets shown off this week on the Design Team blogs will be available at the online store Monday, February 2nd!

This was a fun layout! I bought the BasicGrey background paper a while back because I thought it was cute and loved the flamingos. Then I received the Heartfelt Friends set, I saw the flamingos stamp and thought it would look good with the paper. So here it is. I stamped the flamingos in brown and colored their bodies with a Sakura Stardust pen and accented with a white pen. I colored their beaks and legs with a clear glaze pen. The sticker letters are from October Afternoon. I used the Sakura Stardust pen again (I LOVE that pen) to go around the edges of the letters. For the transparency, I typed the definition of a flamingo, printed it out, ran some pink paint on the back side so it would show up better and adhered with double-sided tape. This set has several animals in it, so be sure to hop around to the other DT member blogs to see which animal they used!

Paper(s): BasicGrey Beloved, Paper Loft Fern, other BasicGrey scrap

Ink(s): ColorBox Dark Brown

Other: Chip Chatter chipboard letter F, October Afternoon alpha stickers, Prima flowers, Me & My Big Ideas gems, pink ribbon, Sakura glaze pen and stardust pen

If you are participating in today's BLOG HOP, you will need to go to each DT member's site, leave a comment and hop to the 2 Red Bananas blog and answer the question for the day. The question will be: Where do you 'hang out' to get inspiration - can you be found most often on SplitCoastStampers, PaperCraftPlanet, TwoPeasinaBucket, Blog hopping, or reading papercrafting magazines (if so, what is your favorite magazine)?

Remember to come back tomorrow to see projects posted with the last new set for this release! Thanks for joining in on the fun.

Sneak Peek Day 5 featuring Value of Joy stamp set

2009-01-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day 5 of our Sneak Peek week! Today we are featuring the Value of Joy stamp set- another set designed by fellow DT member, Jami Bova. I used the Mojo Monday Sketch as my card layout.

I had read in one of Jami's earlier blog submissions this week that she designed her stamp images with paper piecing in mind. So for the dog in the butterfly bush image, I paper pieced it. I first colored the butterfly bush with Stampin' Up markers and stamped it. Then on a separate sheet I stamped the full image in black and cut out the dog and butterfly. For the dog, I used Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and a pink Stampin' Up marker for his bandanna. For the butterfly I used a black Prismacolor pencil and the same pink Stampin' Up marker. Then I attached the dog and butterfly onto the white piece that has the butterfly bush on it. The sentiment was colored with Stampin' Up markers too.

Paper(s): white and black cardstock, purple pattern (not sure), green butterflies from SEI

Ink(s): Stampin' Up markers, VersaMagic black ink

Other: May Arts Ribbon from 2 Red Bananas

If you are participating in today's BLOG HOP, you will need to visit all design team member sties, leave a message and then hop over to the 2 Red Bananas Blog and leave your answer to to following question: What theme of stamps do you feel there are not enough of on the market (i.e. boys, sympathy, spring, etc.)? Thanks so much for joining in on the fun! Remember we will be featuring new products through Sunday. All new stamp sets featured this week will be available Monday, February 2nd on the 2 Red Bananas website!

Sneak Peek Day 4 featuring Snowman Love

2009-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

It's the 4th day of Sneak Peeks of the new exclusive 2 Red Bananas stamps. They will all be available for purchase February 2nd online here. The store also carries a variety of papers, ribbons, embellishments, inks and more.

Today we are featuring the Snowman Love set which includes several pieces that allows you to make it "snow themed" or "love themed". I chose to use the love theme with the snowflakes that have hearts in the center of them and the "love" sentiment. This is the first time I've used my glue pad. I stamped the images with the glue pad and sprinkled glitter on it. Once they dried, I colored in parts of the images with a white pen and used a brown glaze pen on the stick arms. All the pieces were then cut and assembled with the top hat and the mittens being adhered with popdots. That cool ribbon is from May Arts and it's stock now at 2 Red Bananas here for only .40 a yard! The snowflakes on the base cardstock and "love" were stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed in white. The hearts in the center of the snowflakes were colored in using the Sakura Stardust pen.

If you are participating in the BLOG HOP, please visit the 2 Red Bananas Blog first to get full directions and be sure to visit the rest of the design team sites to see their creations. We still have 3 more sets to post so be sure to come back again tomorrow!

Sneak Peek Day 3 featuring Come Home Soon Stamp set

2009-01-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Today is Day 3 in the unveiling of the new exclusive stamps offered by 2 Red Bananas. All stamp sets featured this week will be available for purchase Monday, February 2nd at the online store here.

We are featuring another set designed by Jami Bova today. It's called Come Home Soon. There are many stamps included in this set. I used 4 stamps in my project: soldier hugging the child, Come Home Soon sentiment, Land of the Free/Home of the Brave circle, and HERO. I inked the images and edged the cards with black. The colored areas and tracing around the soldier was done with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.

Paper(s): cream & kraft cardstock, Rusty Pickle's Primitive Hearts (an old favorite!), Paper Loft's Spring Fever

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Come Home Soon

Other: twill ribbon

To participate in the BLOG HOP today, you will need to visit the 2 Red Bananas Blog to get instructions. Be sure to hop around to each DT's site and leave a comment on the post for today. Thanks for hopping by. Be sure to visit each day to see what's new!

Sneak Peek Day 2 featuring the January Journaling Spots

2009-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Sneak Peak Day 2 featuring the January Journaling Spots. We have 2 different January Journaling Spot Sets that will be available in the 2RedBananas store Monday, February 2nd!

Living in Louisiana, we RARELY get snow so I had to pull out some OLD photos for these layouts. Which it worked out well since I didn't see me getting around to doing layouts of 1998 anytime soon :-)

This first layout is using Bo-Bunny Holiday Cheer Plaid paper as the background. The snowflake clusters scattered on the page and the large journaling snowflake are from the 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot Stamp Set. All the snowflakes were heat embossed and I added some sparkle stickers in the center of the cluster snowflakes and the centers of the black flowers for some bling. The large journal snowflake is embellished with the stickers as well as some Doodlebug jewels. The "winter" transparency is from Daisy D's. It's hard to see in the photo but I used the Sakura Stardust pen to color in the large snowflake and edge around the swirls on the background paper to add some shimmer. The snowflakes were easy to use the embossing technique with because the image stamped so well.

Paper(s): Bo-Bunny Holiday Cheer Plaid, Black & White Cardstock
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Journaling Spot snowflake clusters and large snow flake journal spot
Other: Sakura Stardust Pen, white embossing powder with VersaMagic ink, Stampendous Class A 'Peel Stickers, Doodlebug jewels, Prima and Target flowers, Winter Daisy D's transparency

For the 2nd layout, I used Pink Paislee for the background as well as some BasicGrey Shiver (with the snowmen) and scraps I had in my box. This layout features the 2 Red Bananas January Journal Spot 2 Stamp Set, which will be available February 2nd! The mitten is stamped in black ink and colored with Sakura glaze pens. The sentiment "Cold Hands Warm Heart" is heat embossed in white. The mitten and sentiment are both in the featured stamp set. I used a stencil and white pen to do the swirls around the flower cluster. The ribbon used is May Arts and available now at 2 Red Bananas.

Paper(s): Pink Paislee Rain Showers, BasicGrey Shiver, various scraps
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot 2, black ink, white embossing powder with VersaMagic ink
Other: Crafter's Workshop Swirl Stencil, Signo white pen, Prima flowers, Sakura glaze pens, May Arts ribbon

And, I made this card using the 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot Stamp Set. It is a birthday card for next year. (That is if I can remember where I store it :-) The January stamp is from 2 Red Bananas and the celebrate stamp is from Paper Salon. I used the Sakura Stardust pen to edge around the word January and the swirls next to it. I also edged around the embossed edges of the nestie. The "1st" glitter stickers are Making Memories Paperie. I also used a Fiskars decorative edge trimmer on the bottom of the patterned paper and topped the card off with a sheer polka dot ribbon.

Paper(s): white cardstock (base & nestie), BasicGrey patterned, pink shimmer cardstock (Nestie)

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot and Paper Salon Small Talk

Ink(s): ColorBox Lime Pastel and Pink Pastel

Other: Sakura Stardust pen, Making Memories Paperie stickers, Fiskars decorative edge punch, sheer polka dot ribbon

If you are participating in the Blog Hop today to be entered in the random drawing for BOTH January Journaling Spots sets plus some new ribbon, the answer to my question is the new May Arts crinkle ribbons. Be sure to visit the other DT sites to leave a comment to their post for today and to get all the answers to post back at the 2 Red Bananas Blog. If you are just starting here and want to play along, visit Jami Bova's blog and get the full instructions.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek Day 1 featuring "The Gift"

2009-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

Jami Bova on our design team will be designing some of the exclusive stamps carried by 2 Red Bananas. Today we are featuring her design called "The Gift". This is just a sneak peek of what the set has in it. This card displays the cross, bunnies and Easter sentiment from the set. Be sure to check out the other DT member sites to see if they used some of the different elements from the set.

Papers: Santa's Beard (Carolee's Creations), Kraft and purple cardstock

Ink(s): Brown and black inks

Other: Images colored using Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, pop dots under the bunnies

If you are participating in the blog hop, my question is: What is your favorite type of "bling"? Please answer by posting a message to this post and be sure to continue on to the other DT sites to see their creations and answer their questions. To get full instructions on the blog hop, see previous post explaining the blog hop.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Week of Peeks and Blog Hop Starts Monday the 26th!

2009-01-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a busy and exciting week! Tomorrow kicks off our "Week of Peeks" for the new exclusive 2 Red Bananas stamp sets. Each day (Monday, January 26th - Sunday, February 1st) we will be showing a project made using one of the new sets. All stamp sets will be available to purchase on the 2RedBananas site Monday, February 2nd!

Beginning Monday the 2 Red Bananas Design Team will be hosting a Blog Hop with blog candy as a prize! To participate, you will start at the 2 Red Bananas Blog Monday morning. From there you will see "Meet the Bananas" which is the Design Team. Go to each blog alphabetically and view her project featuring "The Gift" stamp set. In her post she will have a question that you will need to answer by posting a comment to her project. Visit each DT member's blog, answer each question but be sure to end on Jami Bova's blog to be entered for the blog candy drawing. The order of blogs to visit will be 2RedBananas, Jeanette, Maraya, Theresa, Wendy and then Jami! Be sure to visit the blogs each day to check out the daily featured stamp set! We hope you enjoy them!

Save These Dates...

2009-01-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

Important Date #1: February 2nd - all the new stamps sets and there are EIGHT of them will be available in the 2RedBananas store.

Important Date #2: January 26th - February 1st - The other Design Team members and I will be doing a "Week of Peeks" starting January 26th and will show peeks of a different set each day until the release. You can check out everyone's creations on the 2RedBananas Design Team blogs listed on the left of my page.

2 Red Bananas Ribbon Challenge!

2009-01-18T18:49:00.001-08:00

Today is the last chance to participate in the 2 Red Bananas Ribbon Challenge. All you have to do is make a project using ribbon creatively and post it as a comment here by midnight tonight!

For my card, I started with a kraft cardstock and inked the edges with VersaMagic Cloud White ink and Brilliance Rocket Red ink. Then I cut a heart shape out of red cardstock,inked the edge in the Cloud White and tied ribbon all around the edge. To add a little shimmer I used the Sakura Stardust Pen to add some sparkly polka dots on the red heart. I used the new With All My Heart from the House Mouse 2009 February Stamp of the Month Collection and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.

Lovin' Mousefull

2009-01-09T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is my first Valentine's card this year. This is an early start for me! This card is 6X6 made with lavender Bazzil cardstock base, scrap patterned papers and the Lovin' Mousefull House Mouse stamped image. I used the Angel Wings Shimmerz along the edges of the purple cardstock base to add some shine as well as on the candy dish. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. This was my first time to use those and I really liked them! I accented the card with Prima flowers, decorative brads, a ribbon and heart charm. Now I have to figure out which Valentine to give this to...

SciPort Layout

2009-01-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

I recently received my October Afternoon papers from 2RedBananas and put together a 2-page 12X12 layout using papers from the Night Light Collection. All the papers are double-sided so each side coordinates. This layout is of my daughter at the SciPort Museum in Shreveport, LA.

I used Henry, Charles and Jack papers from the Night Light Collection and some of the Daydream and Night Light Cardstock Stickers for the title on Raven Bazzil cardstock. The white dots around the arrow were made with a Signo white pen and the journaling card is from the Making Memories Mocha Paperie Journaling Book. I made the paper airplane using a scrap of the Charles paper. Gotta love the double-sided papers!

House Mouse Challenge #19 - Embossing

2009-01-03T19:51:00.001-08:00

Did you know that there is a House Mouse Challenge Blog that hosts weekly challenges? The challenge this week is embossing. You can create whatever project you would like using a House Mouse or Friends image along with any type of embossing (dry, heat, pre-embossed papers, etc.). So to meet the challenge requirements I made this Friendship Warms My Heart Card.

The card starts with Bazzill Lagoon cardstock as the base (5.75" X 5.75"). I heat embossed a stamped image using VersaMark and white embossing powder on the left edge of the card. I stitched around a square piece of Pink Paislee Lunch Hour paper and added my colored image of Warmth for Winter and the sentiment with a piece of brown wrinkled ribbon between them. The image was colored with watercolor pencils and a little Angel Wings Shimmerz was added to the yarn in the image for some sparke. I inked with Color Box pink pastel chalk ink around the edges of the card, stamped image and sentiment.

The challenge goes until January 5th so join in!

Bloomin' Beauty Layout

2009-01-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I sat with my grandparents, got old stories and scanned some of their photos. My intentions were to make a heritage 8X8 album with all the photos. I've done a few layouts but haven't worked on it in a long time since I seem to stay behind on current layouts. When I received the Bloomin' Beauty and the Orange You Beautiful papers from Webster's Pages, I knew it would be great for a heritage layout. So I pulled out the photos that I've tucked away and got another one done for the heritage album. Yay!

I used the Bloomin' Beauty as the background and cut out the pieces on Orange You Beautiful to accent the layout. The journaling box was cut out of the Orange you Beautiful as well. I did add a Maya Road Chipboard "love" accent with some green ink and ribbon on it. The blue flower has a dew drop in the center.

Sweet Moments

2008-12-31T03:57:00.000-08:00

Our daughter is a 100% daddy's girl! She wants to be with her daddy no matter what he's doing. I got these photos one evening while they were watching TV together.

This layout was really easy and fun. The background paper is Hello Beautiful from Webster's Pages and all the chipboard pieces are from Maya Road. The May Arts brown ribbon is really cool and there are a few dew drops as accents on the flowers and the bird's eye. I trimmed one piece of Bazzill cardstock in the scollop shape to fit along the bottom of the photos and used a scroll rubon from a Paper Studio Christmas rubon pack. The chipboard pieces were inked with ColorBox chalk inks (dark moss, chestnut roan, and warm red) and Versa Magic Cloud White. The white dots on the chipboard flowers were made using the Signo white pen and the date was made using a green glaze pen.

Webster's Pages paper, Maya Road chipboard, dew drops and May Arts ribon used on this layout are available at 2RedBananas.

Cousins Layout

2008-12-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

We were blessed with an adorable cousin in March of this year. We are fortunate to be able to babysit him often. I try to capture photos of him each time he visits us. He's still not used to the flash as you can tell in one of the photos on the second page. I'm sure he'll get used to it one day :-) This is the first layout I've done with him and my daughter together.

The papers and letter sticker in the layout were all from the Wassail collection from Basic Grey. The birdie stamp was from Imaginisce and the Sweet stamp was from Oriental Trading. The blessings and family were Maya Road chipboard that I painted with a cream acrylic paint and then coated in Spiced Cider Blingz. Each chipboard has a Prima flower with a dewdrop in the center. The journaling card is from Webster's Pages. The edges of the red were punched using the Martha Stewart Stars edge punch.

The Maya Road Chipboard, Spiced Cider Blingz, Dewdrops and Webster's Pages Journaling Cards are all available at 2RedBananas.

Have a very mice day!

2008-12-29T18:17:00.000-08:00

This stamped image is called Morning Kick Start. This little mouse is so cute! Both the image and the sentiment "Have a very mice day" are from House Mouse. To add a little shimmer to the coffee cup and around the white card and sentiment, I used Royal Red Shimmerz. This was the first time I used Shimmerz and it was fun! I applied it with a fine paint brush. I colored the mouse with water color pencils and used my Stardust pen to trace over the steam from the cup. I layered the stamped image onto a piece of black cardstock and then onto the patterned paper. The Prima flowers are nested and held together with a brad that came from a kit. The House Mouse stamps and Shimmerz are available at 2RedBananas now.
If you would like to chance to win some FREE shimmerz, enter the challenge posted on the 2RedBananas blog! You still have a few days.

A Day Spent Pampering...

2008-12-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

Doesn't he look so relaxed floating in a mug of hot chocolate? The stamped image Lip Smakin' Relaxin and the Day Spent Pampering sentiment are from the January 2009 House Mouse Stamp of the Month Collection.

For this card, the image and sentiment were stamped onto white and colored in using watercolor pencils. To add a little sparkle, I used the Sakura Stardust pen on the steam, a little on the mug and in some of the dots around the sentiment. The stripe paper is from the Mellow collection from Basic Grey and the ribbon is May Arts.

The stamps and ribbon used on this card are available now at 2RedBananas. Soon they will have the Stardust pens too.

2RedBananas Challenge!

2008-12-28T12:40:00.001-08:00

Join in on the fun! 2RedBananas is hosting the first challenge and offering some bling as a prize for the randomly selected winner. All you have to do is create something new using either your all time favorite stamp or your favorite "right now" stamp. Then post it on http://www.2redbananas.blogspot.com/ as a comment to the "It's Challenge Time with Blog Candy" post. Have your project posted by midnight CST Friday, January 2, 2009. The lucky winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, January 3rd and get to choose any 2 Shimmerz or Blingz that 2RedBananas carries. So take the challenge and try to win some bling!

For the challenge, I pulled out a favorite stamp set, Heart Flowers by Limited Edition. Using Tsukineko Rocket Red, I stamped the large flower and "my heart belongs 2U" sentiment onto kraft cardstock and cut them out. I colored the flower using Sakura red gel pen, Signo white pen and the clear Stardust pen. In the center of the flower, I added a clear dew drop. I also used the Stardust pen to trace over the sentiment to add a little sparkle. I adhered the May Arts red hearts/white ribbon as a stem and tied a sheer white polka dot ribbon to it. Then I glued the cut out and colored flower to the top of the "stem" and attached the sentiment with a popdot. It was an easy card and fun using the pens to color the flower!

LOVE Layout

2008-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is my first time to submit a project so I'm playing around with it. This layout was created using Making Memories, Basic Grey and Black Market Society papers, Prima flowers, Crafts, Etc. flower sequin brad and Portafolia chipboard alphabet.

2RedBananas.com is open!

2008-12-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

2RedBananas.com is now open and ready for orders! What's so exciting is that they will have an exclusive line of stamps plus carry the 2009 House-Mouse Stamp of the Month collection! And I get to be on the stamp design team! This is the first time I've been on a design team so it will be a fun challenge for me. The exclusive stamps will be available soon and I'll get some projects posted using them as soon as we get the go-ahead! Right now, the online store has in stock a variety of House Mouse stamps, embellishments, bling, ribbons cut by the yard, inks, papers, etc. They are getting lots of new products in each week. Plus, if you spend $50, you order ships FREE; otherwise it's only $5. Check the 2RedBananas.com site often for new products and the blog for project postings!

2RedBananas design team will inlcude:

Jeanette Fincher (owner and desginer): http://www.jcfincher.blogspot.com/
Teresa Grau: http://www.leftyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kastner: http://www.nowherebayou.blogspot.com/
Jami Bova (co-designer): http://www.westamphappy.blogspot.com/
and myself

The Beginning

2008-12-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked to join a design team and was informed that I would need a blog. So here it is… It’s simple now but I will be adding more to it as I learn more about it. When we get to play with our new products, I will begin posting images of what I created using the new products. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to have some images featuring some cool new products next time you visit!