J's 2nd Birthday Cake

i think i said last year that i'd never star tip a cake again... and yet here i am doing it all over... and it was even MY idea! (it hides a multitude of sins)

this year, i found the inspiration for the birthday cake and the fabulous Ms. M came by to keep me company and be my gentle (read: mocking) guide through birthday cake land once again... yes, it did take me almost an hour to make the first round of icing, but otherwise, the cake came together in less time than last year's caterpillar... more importantly, i did almost all the work myself, with the fabulous Ms. M piping the reeds on the sides and making the fly (did you know that adding gel food colouring to Wilton Candy Melts causes a weird chemical reaction?)...

Recipe:
Inspiration: this picture i found while searching Google...
Materials: milk chocolate cake mix, vanilla cake mix, shortening (which i shall still affectionately call lard), icing sugar, butter, Wilton White Candy Melts, Wilton gel food colouring in Moss Green, Sky Blue and Black, strawberry-flavoured Fruit by the Foot...
Tools: offset spatula, piping bag, star tip, round tip, fine round tip, 14x10" pan, 6" round ball pans, 2 cupcakes, skewers...

One Gift Card Holder, Two Looks

in the past month, i've missed baby showers for two work friends due to illness... i still wanted to give them a little something and was inspired by this gift card holder by Jennifer... for the most part, i'm very pleased with how the cards turned out... kind of questioning my colour choices on the watercolouring, but i figured i'm the only one who would have been really bothered by it...

Recipe:
Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Summer Picnic DSP, watercolour paper
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black & Timber Brown, Crayola markers
Stamp Set: Sock Monkey & Sock Monkey Accessories, Tart & Tangy © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: "A Perfect Day" rub-ons by Stampin' Up, sheer red ribbon, watercolour pencils
Tools: Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punches, Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch, Aqua Painter, Glue Dots, dimensionals, tape runner, paper trimmer, craft knife

Recipe:
Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Windsor Know DSP, watercolour paper
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black & Timber Brown, Barely Banana, Crayola markers
Stamp Set: Sock Monkey & Sock Monkey Accessories © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: "A Perfect Day" rub-ons by Stampin' Up, Basic Grey buttons in Wassail, hemp twine, watercolour pencils
Tools: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Aqua Painter, Glue Dots, dimensionals, tape runner, paper trimmer, craft knife

Baby Shower Card for J

i've had a lot of friends have babies in the last 6 months... as a result, i've made variations on this beautiful card by Beate four or five times... my Punches Three baby buggy stamp has gotten a lot of action...

this card is for my friend J, who is expecting twins any time now... a boy and a girl... so i wanted to mash both genders up into one card with the light pink contrasting the starker grey... the peekaboo layer behind the doily lace punch is Pink Pirouette overlaying Baja Breeze and the Urban Garden DSP...

Recipe:
Inspiration: this card by Beate
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Urban Garden DSP
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze
Stamp Set: Punches Three © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: pink sheer ribbon
Tools: wide oval punch, Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch, paper piercer, Glue Dots, dimensionals, paper trimmer, tape roller

The Fabulous Ms. M's Baby Shower Card

here's a card i made for the fabulous Ms. M's baby shower... i absolutely love this card and drew my inspiration from some beautiful wrapping paper i found (see below)... a very simple card...

in other news, you may have noticed the new Twitter box in the right hand column... find me at MsCraftyIYNasty...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Hallmark double-sided wrapping paper
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White, Baja Breeze
Ink: Chocolate Chip craft ink
Stamp Set: In the Stars © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: clear embossing powder, green/brown satin ribbon
Tools: circle punches (1/2", 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8", 1 3/4"), heat gun, paper piercer, Glue Dots, Zig 2 Way Glue pen, paper trimmer

KW Colour Inspiration Challenge 42

while i've been a devoted follower of Kristina's blog and videos for quite some time, i've yet to take part in any of her colour inspiration challenges... this morning, the mood hit me and this is what i came up with... love the card, slightly annoyed i couldn't get the ribbon straighter...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration Challenge 42
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Really Rust, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink: Really Rust
Stamp Set: Artfully Asian © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Kiwi Kiss 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon, Thickers white foam stickers
Tools: Nestabilities circle dies, 1/2" circle punch, paper trimmer, tape roller, Glue Dots, dimensionals

Twin Congrats

one of my friends is expecting twins... this is the card i made for her when she first found out... the little image below is what i stamped on the inside of the card...

Recipe:
Paper: Gable Green, patterned paper from a Costco block
Ink: Gable Green, VersaMark, Black Staz-On
Stamp Sets: A Little Love, Short & Sweet, Define Your Life © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Perfect Pearl Pigments in gold, sheer sheer polka ribbon, green 1/4" satin ribbon, safety pins
Tools: ticket corner punch, 1/4" rectangle hand punch, tape roller, paper trimmer

it's been a long time...

and i can't promise that i won't flake out again, but i've missed my crafty pursuits...

since i've gone back to work, i've had less and less time to do any cards... and scrapbooking hasn't been touched in over a year (having said that, i did just order a crapload of stuff from SU for scrapbooking)... i did force myself to make a Blurb book to chronicle my boy's first year recently... too bad he'll be two in less than two months...

anyway, when it came time to keep the domain name or let it go, i could just let it fall into someone else's hands... so, i'm back... tentatively...