Sarah Stamper

Cards....

2011-06-02T20:31:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I have gotten to stamp :-( so I thought I would share some cards I never got around to sharing before.

Changes...

2011-05-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness!!! Time has just flown by since I posted last and our lives have gone with it...We have had so many changes happen since I posted last as well. Let's see....Eric has moved in with us and we are planning a fall wedding, his son Ethan has moved in with us as well so we are a bit of a full house at the moment. I have changed jobs, which is a great thing for us. All in all life is good ~ I have a man who loves me beyond belief and one I love even more than that. The kids are doing great for the most part ~ Kat has gotten her permit and is learning to drive with Eric...I so can't believe that someone I gave birth to is already 16 and learning to drive a car!!!! She has also set her sights on the Air Force Academy for college so we are gathering information and seeing what we need to do to make her dreams come true. Dan is a regular member of church with Eric and me. He went to Branson a few weeks ago with the church for a Youth Christian Weekend and had a blast! It is also hard for me to believe that my "baby" is 2 inches taller than me and already 13...where does the time go??? Ethan has had a few adjustment issues but we are trying to get all the bumps worked out. He loves to play the piano and is quite good. Praise the Lord ~ we have a good life here!!!

Just Because...

2011-01-20T10:30:00.000-06:00

I love this card!! These colors and style are just so me. The faux linen technique is one of my favorites to do and ties in with this set wonderfully.

On a more personal note I've had a great week with Eric and the kids. Today is a snow day for the kids and I am home as well due to the weather. We got about 3" last night and another 3 to 4" are expected to fall today. You have to love this time of year :) When Eric gets here after work we are talking about taking the kids sledding...

Happy Friday :)

2011-01-14T06:43:00.000-06:00

I am so glad its finally Friday ~ Eric will be back from his trip today!!! YEAH!!!! On to other things now...I have yet another Snow Swirled card to share...

I like the idea of this card, but am not sure about the execution...I plan on playing with this design a little more. I wouldn't say this is the worst I have ever done, just not the best.

More Christmas...

2011-01-13T18:42:00.000-06:00

This goes more towards my traditional Christmas color choices. I love the blues with snowflakes for some reason.

This is another Snow Swirled card and I so like how it turned out ~ I will say getting my mojo back feels wonderful!!!! I am getting to the point of wanting to stamp everyday and am a little frustrated that I don't have my space right now to do that...I will have to work on finding some time to create again.

Aged Christmas

2011-01-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

Here is another card I made with my snow swirled set...

I really do love this stamp set. I think I like this card alot more than the one I posted yesterday ~ part of that is due to the fact that I got to use my favorite technique. I used the same colors as the other card but just love the way it seems to pop.

Creations

2011-01-10T17:00:00.019-06:00

While I was struggling with my depression I had really lost my desire to create. Over the last few months it has slowly started coming back and I can't wait to share some of the cards I made...

This is one of my favorite sets, the swirls are just so me :) I usually love doing this stamp in blue and silver but decided to change it up a bit and pull in the traditional red and green. I have to say I do love how this turned out. It has a very traditional look to it while still being a little fun I think. Some days I feel so out of sync with all the beautiful creations I see from others and then other days I see that spark of my coming back in full force. I can't wait to get a better set up here so I can create and feed my soul on a more regular basis.

Reflections of 2010

2011-01-09T07:46:00.001-06:00

I am up early this morning making pumpkin bread for church. Last night Eric and I went to our late Christmas party for our Sunday school class and had a blast!! There is nothing better than being surrounded by good friends and having tons of great food :) There will be lots of great stories from that event for awhile... At one point I looked over for Eric to find him comfortably having a discussion with several of the men in our class and had to just smile :)

I almost can't believe how seamlessly Eric has fitted in with us ~ we are getting to do things I never thought possible in my old life. I have a partner who enjoys interacting with others and who loves to laugh. One who enjoys spending time with me and my kids ~ how wonderful is that?? One who loves to say out of the blue lets go out and explore our area ~ be it attractions around St Louis or to a movie or out to dinner ~ but always something fun!

I have been told many times that Eric is so good for me ~ most of my church family haven't seen me smile this much ever...that made me think and look back on the following year. 2010 was a year of big changes for us ~ moving, new schools, new friends, new lives...I am ever so grateful for all the changes we had both the good and the bad. The lessons we learned from those changes, be it pleasant or painful have stayed with us and encouraged us to look upon our lives and the lives of others much differently. I am oh so grateful for the people in my life and wish I could bless others around me with the love I feel for friends and family.

My wish this year is to follow Gods word and spread His love for us to everyone I meet.

New Year, New Start

2011-01-07T18:43:00.002-06:00

So far 2011 is off to a great start! Work is going well, kids and I are happy in our new home, and I have found the love of my life!! I'm not sure how I got so blessed to find Eric but I am so very happy I did :) The kids like him and he likes them as well (which is a huge plus...). Things couldn't be more different than they were this time last year and for that I am so very grateful!!!

Changes

2010-11-18T20:39:00.000-06:00

My goodness ~ so much has changed since I posted last. The seperation is going into full fledge divorce ~ the kids and I have moved twice and I had to give up selling Stampin' Up! but life is finally starting to settle down. I hope to start positing more cards here soon and finally being able to get into creating again. I hope everyone had a blessed day!!!

Sorrow

2010-01-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone, time got away from me yesterday and I completely forgot to post...

A few months ago my dear friend Cheryl's father passed away & this is the card I made for her. I know it seems very bright and cheerful, but these were the colors that called to me for his sympathy card. As you can tell I love using the scallop circles to create clouds in the sky. I know she greatly appreciated the card and of course the thought behind the card.

I hope everyone has a blessed day today.

Don't Put Off...

2010-01-22T09:40:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful and blessed day today! Things are great here, the family is good, my friends are great, I'm getting back into my stamping and finally teaching classes again...God is good and makes life great!!

I have done this card for two stamp camps now. At first I wasn't too sure of all these bright colors, but it has really grown on me :) I have started doing a stamp camp at my church once a month and this is one of the cards we are going to be making tonight. I think this makes a great all occassion card.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Hope Happens

Papers: Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Inks: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo

Blogger issues

2010-01-21T08:37:00.000-06:00

Hi all, I have a great card to share today, but blogger has other ideas about retrieving pictures...so I will have to post the card tomorrow :(

True Friend

2010-01-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

Good Morning everyone! What a beutiful day today!! I hope everyone is feeling God's blessings in their lives.

Today's card is a CASE of one I made a couple of years ago. I really do like the style of this, it is simple yet colorful. As I said a few posts ago ~ I love this set!!

Stamps: True Friend

Paper: Textured Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Ink: Crushed Curry, Bermunda Bay, Soft Suede
Accessories: Burmuda Bay polka dot ribbon

Thanks So Much

2010-01-19T10:00:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone - I hope everyone is well. Things are as well here as can be expected.

I was playing with the left overs on my table from my last few cards and this is what I came up with. It is another simple card, but I do like how it turned out.

Stamps: Kind & Caring Thoughts

Paper: Textured Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Glossy White

Inks: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Creamy Caramel, Soft Suede

Accessories: Sanding Block

Big Thanks

2010-01-18T09:00:00.003-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!!! 18 days and counting...how cool is that?? Today is my boss' first day back in a week...I bet there is part of her that wishes she was still on the cruise ship ;)

I am so loving how this card turned out!! This is great for a masculine card ~ which is something I really need to work on making more of. I used the faux linen technique to make my main image.

Stamps: True Friends, Full of Life

Papers: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, To the Nines DS, Glossy White CS

Inks: Creamy Caramel, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Phote Corners, Sanding Block

Honey of a Day!

2010-01-17T13:44:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone - Happy Sunday. Well today is the wedding show ~ so that means I will be going to church this evening instead of this morning and it also means that I will get to spend the day talking to upcoming brides showing off all of our great linens and beautiful china sets to make their days even more special...it is so weird to get excited for the brides as I'm working on my divore...so far I haven't told anyone to NOT get married :)

Today's card is another using the Just Buzzin' By set. I was so in love with this set when I got it ~ then I became a little puzzled over how to make it work for me. I have completed my 5 card challenge with this set, but I still plan on challenging myself to keep using this card and create more than picture type scenes with it...I also tried something new by fraying my ribbon a little ~ I'm not too sure if I like it on this card or not...

Stamps: Just Buzzin' By

Papers: Soft Suede, Ballet Blue, Summer Sun, Whisper White

Inks: Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Old Olive, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red

Accessories: Crystal Effects, Eyelet Border Punch, Circle Scallop Punch, Dimensionals, 5/8" Brocade Blue grossgrain ribbon

Bees & Flowers

2010-01-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I hope you all have a great Saturday!!

Today's card is a tent topper card and oh so fun to make. This is one of my favorite WOW type cards to make and beginners really like how easy it is to put together ~ especially if you are using our grid paper.

Stamps: Just Buzzin' By

Papers: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Whisper White

Inks: Basic Black, Ballet Blue, Old Olive, So Saffron, Lovely Lilac

Accessories: Circle Scallop Punch, Eyelet Border, Stickles, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon

Purple Daisy's

2010-01-15T13:06:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone & Happy Friday!! This is going to be a busy weekend for me...my boss is on a fabulous cruise and my co-worker and I are going to work a wedding show on Sunday, which means we will be doing alot of set up on Saturday (we hope!!)

Today's card is another simple card. I love purples so I was quite happy to make a card of all purples...here again I planned to make this card more complex but the simplicity of it won out.

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Fine Flourish

Papers: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Almost Amethyst

Inks: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch

Courage

2010-01-14T09:00:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone - I hope this will be a great & blessed day for everyone!

Today's card is another quite colorful one that I really like. This has been one of my favorite sets ever since it came out ~ it is so easy to use for kids or adults and most any occasions...I will be so sorry when this set retires...it has become my go to for most anything...

Stamps: True Friend, Hope Happens
Papers: Elegant Eggplant, Kraft, Razzleberry Lemonade, Whisper White
Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black
Accessories: Kraft Taffeta Ribbon

Simple Daisy's

2010-01-13T12:39:00.005-06:00

Hi all - 13 days and counting...my goodness ~ I didn't think I had it in me ~ I may actually get a card posted everyday this month...

Todays card is very simple ~ I challenged myself to use the cardstock I had leftover from yesterdays card & this is what I came up with...

My original goal was something a little more complex but as I was playing with this color combo I decided to just stamp the flowers on the DS paper to see how they would look ank I'm quite happy with it. This card took about three minutes to make which will make it a nice quick one to teach but also could be used for multiple occasions.

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Papers: Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade
Inks: Basic Black
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon

Flowers & Butterflies

2010-01-12T12:25:00.005-06:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I hope you have been blessed so far this new year. Things are going well here for us, we are faily healthy, happy and have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies ~ who could ask for more??

For todays card I was a little stumped. I knew I wanted something bright and cheerful and wanted to finish my 5 card challende using the Flight of the Butterfly so this is what I came up with. The stamped image isn't the main focal point but it does lend itself nicely to the card. These colors just scream spring to me ~ even though winter isn't even officially a month old yet...

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Papers: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Razzleberry Lemonade
Inks: Melon Mambo
Accessories: Pretties Kit large flower, Eyelet Border Punch, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon

Birthday Celebrations

2010-01-11T12:17:00.003-06:00

Good afternoon all! Day 11 ~ I'm shocked!! Things are going well here ~ work is great!! I am beyond thankful that God brought me to the job I have now ~ with all that is going on I wouldn't have been able to survive on my pay from Michael's ~ I have also made some great friends with my new boss and co-workers...

On to today's card ~ I'm going to be teaching card making classes at my church so I'm looking for some cards that are cute yet not quite so time consuming to make...this is one of those cards, just a few layers and a basic color theme and volia ~ cute and simple bithday card or change the sentiment and you have an all occasion card. I do think my mojo is slowly coming back to me...which feels great!!

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Papers: Taken with Teal, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Inks: Burmuda Bay
Accessories: Scallop Oval Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Burmuda Bay polka dot ribbon

Pastor Inspirations

2010-01-10T12:13:00.005-06:00

Good Afternoon! This card was inspired by one of the outfits my pastor wears. I knew as soon as I saw his tie, jacket and slacks I would have to make a card based on it...and I am totally loving how this came out!!

I was so upset when this DS retired ~ I so love paisleys!! I'm trying to figure out how to re-create this card using current colors and it is a little challenging to me right now, I guess I need to meditate on it a little and see what I can come up with...I was so inspired I also completely decorated the inside of the card as well, which is something I usually don't do to this degree.

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Papers: Cameo Coral, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, retired DS
Inks: Cameo Coral, Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: pop dots

Kind & Caring Thoughts

2010-01-09T10:04:00.001-06:00

Good Morning everyone!! I am hoping this new year is going well for everyone.

This was another just playing with this set and the new papers to see what I could come up with...not sure this is a favorite card, but it isn't despised either...

Stamps: Kind & Caring Thoughts (level 3 hostess)
Papers: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Whisper White
Inks: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango
Accessories: Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon

Thinking of You

2010-01-08T09:54:00.002-06:00

Good morning everyone! May the Lord bless each of you in a very special way.

I wasn't really planning anything when I made this, I just knew I wanted something that would pull in alot of the new colors. I don't think it came out too bad. I did the thumping technique on the main image to get the multi tone of the flower head ~ gotta love those In Color markers!!

Stamps: Kind & Caring Thoughts (level 3 hostess)
Papers: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Inks: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Garden Green
Accessories: Dust Durango polka dot ribbon

Upsy Daisy

2010-01-07T10:38:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a blessed day and week!

This is one of my favorite sets!! I love pairing this with the glossy cardstock to create this beautiful sunset look. To me sunset or sunrise is the most peaceful time of day and is the best time to see God's artwork in all its glory. When I was a young girl on my grandparents farm sunset was always my favorite time of day...this card kind of takes me back to that innocent time. There was nothing like laying in the fields with my cousins watching the sun slip behind the bluffs....those are memories I will never forget. I wish we lived in a more rural place so my kids could have some of those same experiences.

Baroque Motifs Flower Pot

2010-01-06T07:06:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone!! Todays card is one I did as a WOW project at a stamp camp for my new downline, Tabitha. I really like how this turned out. I think it is fun to look at my stamps in a different way. I thought the swirls looked really neat on my pot with the small flowers in a slightly darker tone to add some accent. The same swirl in green helps add a "leaf" look to the back of my punched flowers. To make the flowers I used the scalloped circle punch and just cut between the scallops partway to create petals. Before I cut I sponged the circles with a tone on tone ink to give some definition ~ I kinda wanted these to look like sunflowers.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs (p131)
Papers: More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Really Rust, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip textured
Inks: Summer Sun, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Eyelet Border, 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon Chocolate Chip

Best Friends...

2010-01-05T12:00:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone - 5 days straight...I wonder how long I can keep this up???

So how do you thank a friend for always being there for you? For over 11 years my best friend has been at my side and now that I am going through this divorce they are even more supportive for me. Now most people who will read this will and say that is what a best friend is for ~ the only difference for me is my best friend is a guy. I talk to him about everything and he always offers me a shoulder to cry on if needed and does his best to lift me up when I'm down. He was the main force behind my starting church almost a year ago and is working on helping me find my self confidence. I wanted to show him how important he was to me when he had his birthday so I picked two of my favorite quote from the bible and framed them for him...

The quote for this is Esslesiates 3:1-8

A Time for Everything
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The second one is 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I will say that he did appreciate both of these. It does make me feel good when I am able to make a gift from scratch and have some one enjoy it.

I used Inspired by Nature for both of these and various sizes of scalloped circle and a sponge dauber to create the skies. The sayings are printed on vellum and mounted over the backgrounds.

Happy Monday!!!!

2010-01-04T08:30:00.000-06:00

This doesn't really have anything to do with card making, but I want to show off the new floor I the kids and I laid in our living room. We have been walking on the sub floor for 3 or 4 years and I have been wanting to get this floor down since then. Ex-DH was having a hard time finding time so the kids and I started this on Thanksgiving 2009...and had it done and our tree up by the Saturday after. I am so proud of myself for doing this, I give all the credit to God for giving my the mental and physical strenght to lay this floor.

Desk Top Photo Book

2010-01-03T10:30:00.001-06:00

Hi all - 3 days of posting...Oh My!! First of all I hope everyone is having a blessed day! I'm so excited to go to church this morning and find out what our first sermon of the new year will be... I have scheduled this to post while I'm at church today, who knows what will be going on once I get home ;)

I made this a few months ago, I just never felt like publishing it. You will notice that the pictures displayed have my soon to be ex in them and i am talking about being happily married. I am still proud of the album.

Another Razzle Dazzle Card

2010-01-02T08:08:00.004-06:00

Hi all ~ now don't die of shock ~ I'm also going to try to update my blog on a more regular basis...

Here are two more cards I made using the Razzle Dazzle set...these cards also finish my 5 card challenge for this set...Woo Hoo!!

The first one didn't quite turn out how I expected but I don't think it is bad by any means...my stamp-a-ma-jig would have been very useful if I had remembered to use it ;)

I tried ghosting the image with Versamark and brayering color over it. I wanted to create a shadow look when I stamped it again but I got my main image off center...good reason to always use a stamp-a-ma-jig!!

Stamps: Razzle Dazzle (p94)
Papers: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade DS
Inks: Versamark, Crushed Curry
Accessories: Brayer, Brads, Modern Label Punch

For the second card I wanted something simle yet fun so this is what I came up with...
Stamps: Razzle Dazzle (p94), Hope Happens (p141)
Papers: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DS
Inks: Melon Mambo Marker, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon, Horizontal Slot Punch

Happy 2010!!

2010-01-01T16:46:00.004-06:00

My goodness how the time flies!! Seems like just yesterday we were ringing in 2009...alot has changed in this past year, some good and some bad. I know that everyone I know has gone through their ups and downs and mine are no different. The divorce seems to be going well, we still are able to be civil to each other. The kids are enjoying time with dad and time with me. I made two simple resolutions for this year first to find time every day to study my bible and two to work on being a better person all around be it as a mother, friend, employee, church member ~ what ever the case may be.

I have been getting back into my craft room and re-finding my mojo, so I hope to have some new cards to start posting again. Here is my first one for 2010...appropriately titled Hope Happens. This card is much more vibrant in real life. I am so loving these in colors (of course I tend to say that every year ;) like everyone else...) One of my favorite things that Stampin' Up! has offered us this year is the matching markers and who wouldn't love this polka dotted ribbon???

Stamps: Razzle Dazzle (p 94), Hope Happens (p141)

Papers: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DS

Inks: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Basic Black

Accessories: Crushed Curry Polka Dot ribbon

New Cards to Share...

2009-11-29T17:28:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone - I have slowly been working on stamping and creating new projects. I am in a great need to re-discover my mojo. These cards were all made using the set Razzle Dazzle and the coordinating paper Razzleberry Lemonade.

This was my first attempt using this stamp set. My base is Crushed Curry and a is accented with Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Mango. I also got to use my new In Color Stampin' Write markers. I do really like how this card came out.

I'll be back tomorrow to show some more cards from this same set.

Sorry for being MIA

2009-11-02T09:02:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone - I'm so sorry to have just dropped off the face of the earth for a few months. My husband & I decided to seperate just days after my last post and have since filed for divorce. Needless to say I haven't been crafting much or felt like doing anything really. I'm so very thankful for the Lord's guiding hand during this difficult time...there is no way I would have made it without Him or my dear friends. I hope to have some projects going and new pictures and ideas soon. I hope everyone has a blessed day!!

Totally Tools Challenge

2009-05-02T14:55:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! Things have been going really well here. Work is great - we are getting a little busier so I am having a little less time to play in my room.

This is a card I CASE'd entirely from the Spring/Summer book on page 47. When I first saw this card in the catty I knew I wanted this set. I love this specialty designer paper called To the Nines. This paper is just too yummy!

Kat made a card using the same papers and stamps and this is what she came up with...she placed her DS paper lower and put her image on the opposite side.

I really do think that both of these cards turned out very nice. This set is just too fun and perfect for masculine cards. I really love how the image and saying are far enough apart to be able to use them together or apart.

I hope everyone has a great day!!

Flutter-by Butterflies

2009-03-23T19:16:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone! I truly hope everyone has had a blessed day! We have spring moving through here and the temps and weather are quite nice (for now).

Kat and I did another card challenge the other day...this time we used up some supplies from a previous stamp camp.

My card is pretty balanced I think ~ I really try to follow some rules while card making. Sometimes I really think I need to become more loose like the kids are when they stamp with me, they really don't care if it comes out perfectly balanced or not as long as they are happy with the end results they are happy! That must be one of the reasons God created kids ~ to keep parents from becoming too serious ;)

Kat's card is typical Kat...she loves the grungy look of ink to paper and to tilt the panels on her cards every which direction. I really love how creative and free she is when gets to creating with me.

I hope everyone has a great evening!!

A Rose is A Rose...

2009-03-22T17:58:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone has been having a great time...I know I have. My new job is really fun ~ there is a ton of stuff to memorize and learn, but the customers and my fellow employees have been really patient with me.

I have some more cards to share with you ~ I haven't gotten to stamp as much as I would like lately, but I'm sure as soon as I have my job down a little more I will be able to take time in the evening to play in my room some more.

The cards I am going to share today are from a challenge I did with Kat ~ she got to pick the stamp set and I picked the papers. She really likes to challenge me in a literal way when we do these challenge cards...

This is what I came up with. As usual I made a pretty symmetrical card with everything matted properly...I even got a little anal lining my scallop borders up so the same amount of pink was showing on each strip of the Bella Rose paper and the scallops were actually across from each other...the fact that I stay so symmetrical really makes Kat laugh.

As you can see Kat really likes to have her cards asymmetrical, which usually turn out beautifully as well. If fact I plan on CASE-ing this card in the near future. She used her pink scalloped pieces inside the card to accent the personal message she added and of course had to add a little bling to the front of the card to make it stand out a little more ;)

I hope everyone is taking a little time to play with the wonderful stamp sets you own and trying to challenge yourself to see how many different cards you can make from one set.

Thank You

2009-03-16T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hi again ~ I have another card to share with everyone for the 5 way challenge...and this card completes a second stamp set!! Woo Hoo!!

For this card I used the Urban Garden DSP and the coordinating colors. I really wanted to grunge up the papers just a little and I thought that the direct to paper technique would be perfect.

I truly love this stamp set and can't wait to complete a few more challenge cards done so I can keep playing with this set... ;)

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Papers: Urban Garden, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Inks: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray

Great News!!

2009-03-13T16:01:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to pop on real quick and let everyone know that I have a new job as of Monday!! Unfortunately that means my time at Michael's has come to an end, but I so loved it while I was there!! I want to send a big thank you to everyone who said a prayer for me - who would have thought that in such a short period of time I would have gone from upset about not getting the full time spot I wanted so bad to being so excited to be starting a new chapter in my life?? I have to say God is good!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Comfort

2009-03-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

Hi there! I have the final card for my 5 ways to use it challenge for the set Zoofari...

I think this card turned out just too cute!! The colors come from the DS paper that I used - Urban Garden. After I put this card together my DD pointed out that it would have been ultra cute to have this zebra surrounded by some normal zebras - so I may have to create another card to try her idea out.... :)

I really do like this saying from the set Hope Happens. I plan on using this set for a lot of my cards!! For some reason I have been really into multiple mats lately and most of my cards are turning out very symmetrical...I may have to start following my DD's lead and start putting things off kilter...

I hope everyone has a great day ~ Happy Stamping!!

Stamps:
Zoofari, Hope Happens
Inks:
StazOn Black, Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray, Urban Garden DSP
Accessories:
Pop Dots

I finally have cards to share - again!!

2009-03-12T12:54:00.006-05:00

Hello to everyone!! I know it has been quite awhile since I posted last - I have to say the past few months have been stressful and busy - the stressful part comes from work, a coveted full time spot became available and several people applied for it including me. It got down to me and another gal and earlier this week I found out that the other gal got the spot. I'm happy for her but a little frustrated at the same time. We were in limbo for about three months waiting to see who was going to get the spot and I thought I had a really good shot at it. I now believe God has other plans for me...I have started putting my resume out to several places and have had a promising interview - say a prayer if you would that I'm asked back next week for the second interview...I will keep everyone posted...

I have also (finally) gotten back into making cards!!! I decided I needed to be doing something for myself and I truly enjoy paper crafting. My kids have also been in the card making mood so we have been having lots of fun every evening. Our goal has been to create challenges for each other, one of them gets to pick the stamp set and the other the colors we use and we all create a card - some are goofy and some are more serious but all are original and bring us together doing some fun stuff and that is all that really counts I think. I will say some of the cards my DD has made really blow me away - she has done a couple that I plan on CASING!!!! I have also managed to complete some of my 5 way challenge cards!!

This is the card I made for this challenge with my kids - my DD picked the stamp set and my DS picked the colors. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to line up my birds and a punched out scallop circle punch to create the clouds.

Here is the card my DD created - she loves to put her papers on an angle and to distress her layers by running them over the stamp pad. She opted to not color her image for this card.

Here is the card my DS created - he got quite creative with his card I think...the tiger face in the bottom is actually a butterfly punch that he colored...after I took the picture he decided to color in his rhino...

I hope everyone has enjoyed a glimpse of our card making challenges - some of the challenge cards have only been done with DD and me or DS and me - as anyone who has kids knows they don't always want to do the same things at the same time...

Blog Candy Winner!!!

2009-01-02T18:20:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone! Today is the big day for the blog candy drawing and we have a winner!!! Thanks to DD.org for doing the official drawing.

Stampandweave also just won the Biggest Looser Challenge we did on the Flybaby side of SCS and in just 2 months she lost over 9% of her weight, how great is that!!!! So she has some extra craft money to spend and some new goodies to play with.

stampandweave from SCS said...

I've been thinking of goals for the year and don't have them all figured out yet. I want to have goals and work toward them, but I don't want to have so many I get overwhelmed and don't accomplish any of them. I want to lose 65-70 pounds and keep them off. I want to finish a basket I started some time ago. I want and need to start doing well at keeping up with correspondence and sending cards as needed. There are loads more things I would like to do and even need to do, but these are the things I MUST COMMIT to.

12 Month Card Organizer

2008-12-27T10:21:00.014-06:00

I was greatly inspired by Patty's Stamping Spot to create this project. It is so very easy to make and is a wonderful gift to give someone.

I used my Cricut Expressions to create the title, using the Calligraphy cartridge for the font, my DD picked out the colors and papers for the organizer so I'm giving it to her to be able to track and store the cards she makes for people's special occasions. We used the retired Bali Breeze DS and the coordinating card stock and ribbon.

The supply list is pretty short: 6 pieces 12 x 12 DS paper, the chipboard support piece from the pack of paper, BIA, large O rings (1" or larger), accent paper, embellishments.

Start by scoring your paper at 4" then turning and scoring it at 6". You want the score marks to cross on the paper. Fold at the 4" score mark first to create the pocket and then fold at the 6 " mark to create the two pages. Repeat for the remaining 5 pieces of DS paper.

This is what that stack should look like:

Next decorate your covers and punch your holes through all the pages and covers with the BIA. I chose to bind at the top and bottom of the book, but you could create the rings all the way down if you wanted.
I forgot to take a picture of the inside pages and the calender section, but you can go here and download the months from Splitcoast Stampers.

I hope everyone enjoyed my rambling first tutorial...I promise as I do more I will get better at it ;)

Blog Candy

2008-12-26T21:11:00.007-06:00

So apparently I don't know the days of the week very well...I know I said I would offer this last weekend, but time just got away from me...

First let me show you a card I created using this wonderful stamp called Santa Collage...I first saw it a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with the design, little did I know then it was a very rare, hard to get stamp...so that made me want it all the more...

The background is by another great company that I have come to love - Peddler's Pack the backgrounds they offer are wonderfully detailed. I thought the snowflakes matched well with the Santa image.

Now on to the blog candy...I was fortunate enough to come across a couple of the Santa Collage stamps and I thought I would share my good fortune with one of you...I'm offering a brand new Santa Collage stamp, winter embellishments, Halloween acrylic embellishments and a mini book made from the Bella Rose DS paper, complete with tags and mats inside, ready to be customized.

Between now and January 2 leave me a comment to this post telling me what you want to accomplish in the new year. I will use mykids.org to pick the winner.

My goals for 2009 are to keep loosing weight (down 28 pounds since August), getting our finances under control, getting back on the FlyLady routine and being the best wife and mother I can be...I think these are do-able goals...I would love to know what other people are planning for 2009. I will post the winners name on January 2nd in the evening...Good Luck!!

How Many of Me??

2008-12-17T19:33:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone!!

I came across this on someone's blog and I thought it was really neat!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
5
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Stay tuned ~ on Sat I will be posting my first ever blog candy, in honor of my and my DD's birthday which it today, Christmas and my upcoming blog-aversary...

Thanks Gift Card

2008-12-15T14:40:00.002-06:00

Good Afternoon everyone! I have yet another card to share with you. I hope everyone is enjoying seeing all these cards! I know that everyone enjoyed getting these as gifts and are already putting in requests for more ;)

This was such a fun card to make! I got to play with one of the sets from the Spanish catalog, Flores Suaves. I love this tulip and the script! I did a gatefold card to be able to showcase the tulip. I colored this with my Koh-i-noor pencils which are woodless colored pencils and blended the pencils with odorless mineral spirtits and blending stumps. I used yellow, orange and green on my tulip to get that wonderful multi-colored look and added a shadow at the bottom to help ground the image. I wrapped some cream sheer ribbon around both panels to add some interest. I dipped into my retired colors for this card ~ the base is Wild Wasabi and it is layered with River Rock and Very Vanilla.

Sunset Gift Card

2008-12-14T08:23:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I have another card to share from the gift cards I made for friends and family. I know I have said that I have a really hard time picking a favorite, but this one is in the top of my favorite cards! I catch myself just looking at it for no reason...

I call this one Sunset Flowers. I did this with my brayer and sponges. First I punched a 1.25" circle from a piece of post it note and brayered So Saffron onto a piece of Glossy card stock then I put the circle that I punched out over the sun I just created and sponged Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red and Night of Navy all around layering the colors a little to get a nice blend going. Then I lifted the post it note sun off and really like how I got the white shadow at the bottom of the sun. I stamped the flowers from Upsy Daisy in StazOn Black across the bottom of the paper, making sure to get the tall flower somewhere in the sun. I so love how this card turned out! It has such a peaceful look to it. The base of the card is Taken with Teal and it has a piece of Windsor Knot along the bottom 1/3 of the card. The main image is layered with So Saffron and Old Olive and I added a small piece of Tempting Turquoise ribbon to the side.

The inside turned out just as neat as the front I think. I used the same flowers as on the front except I stamped them in So Saffron and did my sentiment in Taken with Teal.

This is a card I can't wait to teach at one of my next classes ~ I'm sure my ladies will love creating this card as much as I did!!

Merry Christmas Gift Card

2008-12-13T13:38:00.000-06:00

I have another Christmas card gift to share with everyone. I totally cased this card from Beate ~ here is her card. I didn't change much on mine, mostly just the color of the sentiment. I did change the placement of the of the grommet up just a little. This was such a fun and easy card to make. The colors are a little more vibrant IRL. My DH says it looks like a very masculine Christmas card. I was surprised that I had someone order 10 of these from me while I was showing them to a group. That is the first card order I have ever had and I had a smile that just wouldn't stop!!

I hope everyone had a great day!!

Merci Gift Card

2008-12-12T08:30:00.002-06:00

Good Morning!! I have another gift card to share with everyone! I had so much fun making all these. I hope everyone is enjoying these as well.

This card is geared more towards Valentine's day, although it would work for an anniversary as well. I really like how this came out. The colors work really well together and the image is just too cute!! I painted the image using my twinkling H2O's so it really shimmers IRL.

The base of the card is Close to Cocoa, on top of that is Pretty in Pink that has been paper pierced in the corners. I also used Ballet Blue, Gable Green, Berry Bliss DS (retired) and Whisper White.

Fall Gift Card

2008-12-11T08:30:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone! I have more cards to share from the gifts we are giving. I am really hoping that everyone will like the cards I made for them and share them with others.

It is so hard for me to pick a favorite ~ I really like them all!! This is my favorite fall card...it uses the Joseph's Coat Technique kinda...I am calling this Faux Soot Stamping. I love to soot stamp, the only problem with it is that I tend to catch the paper on fire trying to get a good cover of soot so I thought this would give the same effect without all the singe marks. I brayered ink onto the background of the full sheet of glossy cardstock starting with More Mustard, then Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust and finishing with Ruby Red. I did overlap the colors and go in a random pattern. Once the 8.5 X 11 piece was brayered I cut it into smaller sections and embossed the leaves in clear in a random pattern. Then I brayered Basic Black over the entire piece of paper. I let the black dry a little before I buffed the ink off the embossing and let my fall image shine.

The inside of the card is just as festive as the outside I think. I stamped off once before stamping the inside of the card. I used Ruby Red as the base of the card and More Mustard, Really Rust and Whisper White as accent colors. I used the same ink colors and Chocolate Chip. I think this is a good Fall / Thanksgiving card to share with everyone.

Always Gift Card

2008-12-10T12:00:00.001-06:00

This year we decided to make gifts for people ~ not only to help the pocketbook but to also share in the joy of giving hand crafted gifts to our friends and family. The kids are also getting in the handmade spirit by painting candle holders and making ornaments for everyone.

This is the first of the 10 card set I made for everyone. I know it seems weird to post all the details before Christmas ~ rest assured that the friends and family that are recieving these gifts will be getting them before this actually posts so all is safe ;)

I designed this card to be a birthday card. This is the first card I made using the set Always. I made a pocket card and used Close to Cocoa as my base and layered Gable Green and Pink Pirouette as my accent colors. I also pulled in Banbury DS. I used Certain Celery 5/8" ribbon to accent the card. The bird and saying are stamped in StazOn Black.

Here is the card with the tag pulled out. I tried to keep the stamping on the inside soft so it could be written over. I'm really liking how this card turned out.

Stampin' Up! Retired Stamp List

2008-12-09T07:51:00.005-06:00

Good Morning! I hope everyone is off to a wonderful start to this great day. I just got the info from Stampin' Up! regarding the retiring list and I think this is a first for them...SU! is offering 10% discount off all retiring sets from today, 12/9/08 thru Tue 12/23/08 and any order that is $70.00 or higher will also get free shipping, retiring sets or not...

Retiring List by Page Number
Retiring List Showing 10% Discount

Sunflower Wreath

2008-12-08T08:52:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone! I finally decided to re-do my fall wreath. Not that there was anything wrong with the wreath I made last year but I was just ready for a change...most of my friends know that I LOVE sunflowers so it should not be surprising that I went from fall flowers to fall sunflowers. To me there is nothing better than adding some great color to my door. Unfortunately this wreath is much too thick to put on the outside of my door ~ so we get to enjoy all this great fall color in the living room instead! Which is fine with me ;)

Goofy me forgot to take a picture of the before but it was similar to this wreath (which was our fall wreath from 3 years ago) Yes I change the design of our wreaths almost yearly, what else would I do with all the flowers I have in my room?? I also make floral arrangements and wreaths and give them as gifts to friends and family. Nothing like putting my floral schooling to good use and making my house look a little more seasonal at the same time.

I will be re-doing our Christmas wreath shortly and will post pictures of that as well, only this time I will remember to take a before picture as well as an after picture.

More Mini's

2008-12-07T09:34:00.001-06:00

I have been on a book making craze lately...it started with a MOPS group that had asked me to come and show them how to make my mini-books so I prep-ed about 25 books and then decided to go through my retired DS papers and make some extras in case anyone was interested in buying another little book...Unfortunately the MOPS night was canceled due to a Cub Scout Pack meeting and can't be rescheduled until late spring or early fall next year, so I have lots and lots of mini-books left - half completed I might add that I am slowly finishing and either going to give as gifts or sell...

Here is the book we were going to make for the MOPS night:And here is the basket full of "extras" I have...if anyone wants a book just let me know... :)

Camp Cards

2008-12-06T08:43:00.007-06:00

Hi there everyone!! I have some new cards to share with you today. I had a stamp camp a couple of weeks ago and just realized that I forgot to share the cards with everyone...

This first card is another gift card holder, I'm so loving making these things!! Be on the lookout for my first tutorial...I will show everyone how to make this cute little holder...

I finally used my level 2 set Deer Friends. Yeah!! Another new set finally inked up!!! The snowflakes come from the set Short & Sweet and the Merry Christmas is from Holiday's & Wishes. The base of the card is Glorious Green and it is accented with Ballet Blue, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White. I'm so loving this DS paper Frosty Day. I thought those little trees would match the theme perfectly and a little Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon finishes it off nicely!

The next card is one I cased from SandiMac - you can see her card here. I just loved the color combination she used and the simple yet elegant layout she had for the Holy Triptych set - which is beautiful but a little intimidating to me. I think the ladies had a really good time with this card. I opted to add a few more swirls to the bottom instead of putting a sentiment. I used Whisper White, Brushed Gold and Shimmery White Cardstock and Encore Gold ink. Very simple to put together and very elegant to give.

The next card is one that seemed to be a fan favorite - not just at the camp but to most people I have shown these cards to...it is another case card, this time from BarbaraJackson - here is her card. I did change a few things from the original. I didn't watercolor the image and instead of using Square Fire Brads I used half-back pearls from the Pretties Kit to accent the flower. I love how simple and uncluttered this card it. I used Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White cardstock and Always Artichoke ink for the tree.

The final Christmas card we made used the Snow Swirled stamp set and we got to play with the ink resist emossing technique which looks just awesome for this tree...I am such a fan on blue and silver for Christmas, to me it looks very elegant. We also got to play with the silver elastic cord, which is just too fun!! I used Ballet Blue as my base and accented with Night of Navy and Whisper White. All ink is Ballet Blue. I used a sponge dauber to color the tree. I have been asked to come to my DD art class and help the kids make Christmas cards for their families and this is the card my DD picked, so hopefully all the 8th graders will have a blast playing with this technique as well.

More Challenge Cards

2008-11-12T17:45:00.007-06:00

Hi there everyone! I'm finally getting around to posting some more of the cards I have done for the 5 card challenge I'm participating in and cards I made for a Stamp Camp I had in October. I'm curious if any of you are challenging yourselves to use your sets more than once??

This first project is a gift card holder and I thought it would make a wonderful masculine card Those are usually the hardest cards for me to come up with. The base is Going Gray and has Prestwick DS paper layered on the main part of the card and the image is matted with Garden Green. I used the Cheers to You set and water colored it to keep it from being too harsh. A few brads finish the card off nicely I think. This fits right into a standard envelope so it would be quite easy to mail off to that special someone...

This next card is one of my favorite techniques to do. You heat emboss on vellum and then ink the back side to create soft colors. I made my card look like a sunset but you could make your design look any way you want. I mounted the dried piece of vellum onto a strip of white paper with black brads to let the image really pop. This would make a good sympathy or masculine card. I used Lovely as a Tree for my image and Garden Green, Lovely Lilac, Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun as my ink colors. The card base is textured Basic Gray.

This card is a tent topper style card and I think it is quite elegant. I fell in love with the Illuminations set when it first came out and surprisingly this is the first time I have used it...I decided to break out some of my Juntos DS paper from the Spanish version of the Stampin' Up! catalog and really like how it turned out. I matched it with Always Artichoke and More Mustard papers and added Really Rust ink into the mix as well. I used the French Script background stamp to stamp over my DS paper and the large swirl from Baroque Motifs. A little Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon finishes it off nicely. I really do like how this card came out.

For this next card I decided to try something new, at least for me...I took my circle scallop punch and my snips and created petals instead of scalloped circles. I used scraps of Kiwi Kiss for the stems and used the Hostess Set, Punches Three for the sentiment. A little Creamy Caramel textured carstock finishes off the Pink Pirouette flowers nicely. I was so afraid this card would look too plain, but my ladies really like the look of it.

The final card was a quick and easy fall-ish card. I was really looking forward to playing with my new scallop edge punch and this card just seemed to call out for it! I always use the large flower from the Heartfelt Thanks set so I decided to use the cluster flower instead this time. I stamped the image a total of 3 times without reinking the stamp to add some distance and interest to the card.

I hope you have enjoyed this set of cards...be on the lookout for more to follow soon...have a great day and happy stamping!!

Remember to Vote today!!

2008-11-04T09:09:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone! Please remember today to go out and cast your vote! The lines are long in my neck of the woods, as they are across the country I'm sure...but it is a wonderful feeling to know that I got a chance to have a say in who will run our country for the next 4 years.

I made this card last year for a challenge on Splitcoast Stampers but I thought it would be a great card for today. The quote says: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

Gotta love technology...

2008-09-25T14:52:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, we had a lovely Trojan Virus break through and uninstall our anti-virus and wipe our main computer out...thankfully we had most of our files backed up and were able to re-load them onto our hard-drive once it was cleaned and re-formatted. However it takes time to get everything back up and running properly. I hope to be able to start posting new cards and projects soon.

Halloween is coming...

2008-09-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

Halloween has to be one of my favorite holidays! We always go all out on decorating the house and yard. As a family we have tons of fun setting up the cemetery, the fog machines, the black lights, the spider webs...you get the picture I'm sure. I'll post pics of our house decked out this year...

On to the cards now!! This first card is an updated version of a Halloween card I made last year, and it is cute and simple. I really do like this Ghostly Greetings DS paper, and I thought the bats would be perfect for this card. I also used a wider ribbon than last year for the embellishment and boy does it make a difference!!!

After doing the first card I wanted to step it up a notch - so this is what I came up with...I'm loving this kicked up version! I used the idea on page 27 of the Fall-Winter IBC 2008 to color my cat green and added a Kiwi Kiss triangle to the front of the card to help balance the colors out.

These are the first two cards for my 5 card challenge using Haunting Halloween...be on the look out for more to follow soon.

Cheers!!

2008-09-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

Hi there - I have another card done for the 5 card challenge. For this one I used the set Cheers to You. I have to apologize for the fuzzy picture, my camera was having a hard time focusing on the stripes ;)
This was going to be for a stamp camp I have soon, until I remembered that there would be minors at the camp and I wasn't too sure about having them make alcohol related cards, so I changed the card for the camp, but still think this turned out pretty cute. I does need a little work, but right now I'm not sure what...

I will definitely be playing with the rest of the stamps in this set in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out. I will have to do some research, being I don't really drink, to find out how some of these drinks are suppose to look... ;)

Upsy Daisy part 1

2008-09-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!! I have a few more cards to share with you for the 5 card challenge. I'm curious if any of you have decided to challenge yourselves as well? I can tell you it is quite fun to try to look at your stamps in a different way. Alot of the stamps I have I got because I saw "THE CARD" and wanted to just make it. Now I am trying to stretch my creative legs alittle to see what else I can make with all the wonderful stamps I have...

I was so excited to get this set and so far it seems justified!! I'm just loving the looks you can create with this bold, solid image.

My first card was inspired by pchefcindyw on SCS - here is her card. I changed a few things to help make it more mine. I flipped the card on it's side and changed the sentiment and the location of it. I stamped the image a total of four times without re-inking it to really give a look of depth to the image. I really love this monotone color pallete. I'm also loving the Prestwick DS paper. I am thinking of doing this same design in some other monotone colors.

The second card was what I came up with after seeing rohla's card on SCS - here is her card. I wanted to make it a little more me so I changed the direction of the card as well as the ribbon and sentiment. I also used my Sanded background stamp in Tangerine Tango on the card. Coloring on this stamp was loads of fun! I started with the Pumpking Pie marker and then used Always Artichoke for the stems and finished off with Really Rust for the tips. I also used the Thumping technique to add the Really Rust color.

Zoofari cards part 1

2008-09-15T09:00:00.007-05:00

Hi there! So my kids challeneged me to use the Zoofari set for my next 5 card challenge...I have gotten 2 cards done with this set so far and I think it is starting to grow on me...This was a set I pre-ordered last year and just never really played with.

This was the first card I made, and by far one of my favorite cards to date! I played with the paper layering technique and am quite happy with how it turned out. I tried to watercolor a little on his body for shading, but am not quite happy with how his bottom turned out :(

Here is a close up of how the layers look together. I thought this would make a great kids birthday card of welcome baby card.

For this card I started with the CB'ed piece of Bravo Burgundy and build the rest of the card around it. I got the color combo from my Color Coach. This is Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, Mellow Moss and Apricot Appeal. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line all the birds up and watercolored them. It is hard to see in the picture, but the tag says "Time To".

Be on the look out for more cards to come as I keep playing with the 5 card challenge. I may not always make all five of one set at one time, but eventually they all will get done.

More Butterflies...

2008-09-14T11:02:00.003-05:00

Hi there! I made a couple more cards for the 5 card challenge, and completed all 5 for the Kind Thoughts set...WooHoo!!!

I think this one is going to be one of my new favorites!! I love how this image looks cut into thirds and then mounted on a darker piece of paper. I have seen many cards like this on SCS and finally decided to try one for myself. Of course I had to add my layered butterflies.

This card was me just playing with some scraps that I had laying around...It is kind of cute, I think. I did get to play with the scallop edge punch we now carry and who can resist the yummy Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon...I used my Trio Flower punch to create the small flowers in the circles and stamped on them with the small flower detail stamp from Kind Thoughts.

I'm so thrilled to have one set completed! I can't wait to get started on some other sets!! I let my kids pick the next set they want me to work on so be prepared to see a lot of Zoofari cards in the near future!!

Butterflies Galore!!

2008-09-10T14:49:00.006-05:00

How many times have you found a great stamp set that you just KNEW you had to have only to get it home and then nothing?? or even worse make the one project that inspired you to purchase the set and nothing else??? That has happened to me more times than I care to remember...because of that a bunch of my friends on Splitcoast Stampers and I have challenged ourselves to make at least 5 projects with each set we get, and the goal is to make those 5 projects BEFORE we purchase new sets to play with ;)

I did pretty good with the last catalog in making cards before I purchased new sets, but have slipped off the wagon a little with this AWESOME new catty...so I decided to get busy making cards with the great sets I have and try to postpone buying more sets until I have some great samples in my binder.

Here are 3 cards I created with Kind Thoughts (pg 122, #111095, $25.95):

This card was greatly inspired by PickleTree on SCS - you can see her card here, I changed a few details to make it more my own. This is also a bigger card than I usually make, this one is 4.5 x 7. I'm just loving Chocolate Chip lately so of course it had to make it's way into this card, and this is really the first time I've played with Baja Breeze, which is one of our new In Colors for 2009. I wasn't too sure of it at first, but it is so elegant with the Chocolate...I stamped my butterflies in Chocolate Chip and them stamped them again on a scrap piece of paper in Baja Breeze with Chocolate Chip around the edges, using the Rock-n-Roll technique. I cut out the wings and them covered them with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Once the CE was dried I adhered the wings to the Chocolate Chip butterflies and finished my layering. I also got to use the new Scallop Edge punch and to help pull the scallops in I used my Scallop Circle punch to create 2 circles and then quartered them and adhered them to the corners of the card.

Here is the second card I created with Kind Thoughts:

I wanted the butterflies to be a little more whimsical for this card so I punched the circles out of my Pacific Point first in a random pattern and them stamped my butterflies in Chocolate Chip on a Whisper White background. I wanted to make sure their wings would be poking out of the circles so I purposely stamped them off center. I created a great faux background sheet by tearing a scrap piece of paper and adhered it to my card base with repositionable adhesive. I sponged Kiwi Kiss all over the bottom of the card and used 2 more pieces of scraps with straight edges to created a striped effect. I sponged the stripes with Old Olive to have a little contrast. Here is a tutorial for the faux tearing from SCS. This isn't the exact way I did it, but pretty close. Again I stamped my butterflies on a scrap piece of paper in different colors and cut out the wings to attach them to the card. This time I used my fingers to bend the wings up a little and only adhered the wings right next to the body.

For the third card I also got to play with the Little Tee's from Gina K:

I used Pink Pirouette for my base and did a tone-on-tone image of the great flourish from Kind Thoughts and also did tone-on-tone for the butterfly. I added a Baja Breeze panel down the left side and did tone-on-tone butterflies on this as well. For the Little Tees I sponged Pink Pirouette and Pretty in Pink onto the shirt after I stamped and colored Eeyore with his butterfly. Then I cut the shirt out and mounted it with pop-dots. I made this card for a co-worker who had a rough day on Sunday, so I thought this would help cheer her up.

I hope you have enjoyed these 3 cards, hopefully I will have a couple more to show you in the next couple of days.

On-Line Ordering is Finally Here!!!

2008-09-09T20:37:00.004-05:00

I'm so very excited to be able to finally make this announcement! If you wake up in the middle of the night with the perfect plan for the perfect project, just pop on over and place your order! You need to make cards with no time for a workshop?? Head on over and order what ever you need!! You want to shop for the perfect gift for the crafty person in your life?? That's no problem either! Now you can order Stampin’ Up! ’s awesome products from me day or night from the convenience of your own home. All you have to do is visit my demonstrator’s web site http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampingsarah , click on the shop now button at the top right hand side of the page and order what ever you need.

I hope all of you are as excited about this great new feature as I am!!

Playing with Little Tee's

2008-08-29T18:34:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! I must apologize for the quality of this picture, my photoshop elements decided to stop working...so until I upgrade to the newest version my pics will be a little dark :(

I finally gave in and purchased this set from Gina K...I have been admiring it for quite awhile and doing my best to talk myself out of needing it until I saw this card on Hands, Head and Heart. I have made several little tee's lately, but this is the first one I turned into a card. For those of you who don't know Eeyore is my favorite character and I couldn't resist turning him into a cute shirt. I stamped the shirt in Pink Pirouette first then rocked & rolled it in Pretty in Pink to get some great shading on the sleeves and bottom of the shirt. I added the pink bling in the corners to help dress it up a little. I have a feeling this will be one of my new favorite non-Stampin' Up! sets.

More Cards

2008-08-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have a few random cards I have made recently that I would like to share with everyone...

This first one is a small scalloped note card that is about 3 x 3. I made it using my largest scallop circle nestie...I then used smaller circle nesties to make the layers. I used my brayer to dye my white taffeta ribbon Groovy Guava, but was not patient enough to let it dry conpletely before I added it to my card, so there is a little staining :( I got the idea for this card from Andrea Walford, if you have not checked out her blog you really should!!

The next card I have is this cute little gift card holder. For some reason the color got a little distorted, the base is Chocolate Chip, not Basic Gray...I will sorely miss the Berry Bliss DS paper as well as the Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon. If anyone is interested I will post the instructions for this holder in another post, it is so very easy to make.

Stamp Camp

2008-08-16T08:29:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone...I can't believe how long it has been since I posted anything fun or creative on here...

One of my friends from work wanted to have a camp last week that incorporated the mini book and some fun cards so these are the cards I came up with.

For the first card I wanted to use some of the new colors and stamp sets we were able to pre-order, so I went with this soft design. I so love how this card came out, we did the cracked glass technique on the main image. This card is a little vintage looking, a little romantic looking and a lot of ME!! I'm so loving these new in colors...every year I fall in love with the colors then get distressed that nothing will be able to replace those colors...first it was Marigold Morning / True Thyme, then it was Purely Pomegranate / Wild Wasabi and now it is Riding Hood Red / Pink Pirouette...

For the second card we did a faux metal technique that is ultra easy to do and gives such a nice "WOW" factor...This is so out of my normal zone, but it was so fun to do!! I asked Kat to help me pick out some colors that would go with my silver medallion, so we came up with Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Certain Celery and Barely Banana. I really like how the colors we picked work together with this card, and the small details like the paper piercing really help balance the card and add a little more interest to it. Of course I had to pull one of my favorite sets into this card, True Friend, I felt the large flower would make such a striking center piece and in real life it is just lovely!!

For the final card I wanted something quick and easy since the other projects were a little time consuming...so I went with the creamcicle card...I know it is far from new, but it was new to me and so quick and easy to do...it is hard to see in this picture but there is a white layer in the card that is punched a little shorter than the cover, so all the layers show and look like a bite has been taken from the frozen treat...these would be so easy to do with scratch-n-sniff...

I hope to have some more fun projects to share with you soon!!

More Puzzles

2008-08-07T11:24:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone...I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted last...The kids and I finished 2 more puzzles then took a break...so only one left to put together.

The first one is the penguins we did for Danny, this was one of the hardest ones to complete due to the colors were all very close...

Sorry for the reflection, I was just having the hardest time taking a nice picture with this one...

Here is the Jaguar puzzle that is now hanging in my bedroom...I'm just loving the colors in this one!! I think it took about 7 hours to put this puzzle together.

New Look!!

2008-07-23T22:01:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!! Kerianne found the greatest blog background site...The Cutest Blog on the Block, it has great FREE backgrounds for your blogs...so make sure you go check it out!!

Punch Book & Card

2008-07-17T20:45:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone!! I made this great little book a few days ago and haven't had a chance to share it with everyone. Tami White offered a Punch Fun Class where she shared with you 20 different paper art designs you can make with your SU! punches - like a horse, hamburgers, camera and popsicles. Along with the instructions came an On Board Art Journal. I decided I had to dress my journal up so this is what I came up with. I used my Spiral punch to punch the length of my Brilliant Blue card stock and matched it with Jersey Shore DS. I pulled out my Cricut Expressions to create the title using the Tear Drop cartridge. I made my shadow using Textured Basic Black and my letters using Wild Wasabi. The medallion on the bottom uses 6 different punches to create a flower. I also decorated the back of the book using the same layout, just with no lettering...

Since I had some leftover card stock I decided to make a card to match my book...my base is Brilliant Blue with the Jersey Shore DS layered on top. About half way down I added a ribbon holder from the Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware, which is retiring this year :( and some coordinating Jersey ribbon. I made a slip knot towards the edge of the card and left a little tail for some added interest. I used Heartfelt Thanks for my main image inked in Only Orange, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green and Old Olive and outlined in Basic Black. I inked the edges in Only Orange and mounted it on Brilliant Blue and then on Wild Wasabi, both of which have had the edges inked in tone on tone. The sentiment comes from Short & Sweet and is inked in Only Orange and has the edges inked in Brilliant Blue. All-in-all this is one of my favorite cards - and in a color family that I rarely use...guess I will need to break into those Bold Brights more often!!

Puzzles

2008-07-13T18:18:00.003-05:00

So the kids and I have been on a puzzle kick lately...here is the first puzzle we made and wouldn't you know that Kat laid claim to it before it was even out of the box...

We found a 4 pack of puzzles at Target that were all William Schimmel artwork, if your not familiar with Schimmel most of the artwork includes animals and the planet...we are big fans of his work...so needless to say we were quite thrilled to find these puzzles...we are working of some penguins now that I will post when we finish is as well...

An Award & A Big Thanks!!

2008-07-13T17:56:00.003-05:00

I recieved this special award from my friend Suzanne and am greatly honored by that! If you haven't been to check out her blog yet make sure you stop by!! Her cards and quilts are BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Reading her blog truly makes me want to learn to sew! Of course this award goes right back to her as well : )

Now the hard part...who to pass this on to...there are so many different blogs that have such wonderful creations...here are a few of my favorites:

One that I like to visit is Diane's Designs. Diane always posts very nice cards and gives wonderful instructions for being able to create them yourself. She is doing a great series showcasing the soon to retire sets that really make me want to go buy them all...

Another great blog is My Reality...It's All Good by Lee...who can resist her great attitute and love of BLING?? Her cards are beautiful...mark my words...she will be on a design team someday...

One more must read is Mom of Five...Diane makes some wonderful cards that have very clean lines and great details! I love the colors she uses in her cards!

There are loads of other blogs that deserve this, but I'll stop here.

I hope everyone has a great day...I will have new projects to load in the next few days, so keep a look out!!

Priceless Memories

2008-07-11T18:58:00.009-05:00

I decided to make another mini book today patially becaues they are so easy to do and partially because they are adictive!! Instead of a book of tags, this one is a mini scrapbook...it has been a long time since I worked on my scrapbook and this has really given me a kick start to work on them some more...

Danny got to pick out the paper color and pattern that I used so he went with Blue Bayou Prints Designer Series paper and I picked Priceless for the main stamp set. I pretty much stayed with 3 colors for the whole book, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Whisper White, with just a touch of Basic Black.

I added a good mix of my favorite pictures. I think this is a perfect size to tuck into my purse and be able to pull out quickly and easily to show my loved ones off...

I had to include a picture of our Davidson Puppy...even though we lost her over a year ago, she is still a part of the family and greatly missed. I kinda feel bad that my puppies Bonnie and Clyde didn't make it into this book, so I guess that means I'll just have to make another one...

I'm thinking this is going to be a great little gift I can make for people. I'm guessing the next few I make will be for grandparents and family members.

Supplies:

Paper - Blue Bayou DS, Sofk Sky, Whisper White, Basic Black

Stamps - Priceless, Baroque Motifs, That's Nice

Inks - Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou

Accessories - Bind-It-All, Step Corner Punch, Ribbons, Ticket Corner Punch, Tag Corner Punch, Photo Corners Punch

Mini book for Hubby...

2008-07-10T07:41:00.015-05:00

Yesterday my DH came home from work quite a bit earlier than usual. While we were thrilled to see him at dinner time, I was curious as to what had happened at work. He told me he had a really bad day, some of the higher ups were in his shop most of the day, his co-worker was not getting as much done as he needed to, trucks were needing more parts than they had on hand...the list just kept going, all-in-all just a yucky day. He was feeling a little depleated so I wanted to make him a little something to be able to keep with him, so when work starts to bring him down he has something from us to help lift him back up.

I have been seeing these great mini-books using the Bind-It-All and of course wanted to make one...I found a great tutorial on Barb Mullikin's blog Stampin' IS my job (how cool of a title is that??) on how to make one so off I went to my room to try to make hubby feel better...

I started with a peice of Brilliant Blue 12 x 12 Prints Designer Series Paper and layered a piece of 3 1/2 x 2 1/4" textured Basic Black cardstock with a piece of 3 1/4 x 2" piece of Whisper White. I used Baroque Motifs for my main image, the large swirl was inked with Bashful Blue and the small flower was inked in Soft Sky, both images were stamed off one time before being stamped onto my cardstock. On top of the background I used a stamp from Smarty Pants inked in Brilliant Blue.

All the inserts are Whisper White cut to 3 1/2 x 2 1/4" . I followed the same stamping pattern as I did on the front of the book. I used the stamps from Smarty Pants to add the tone for each tab. On the back of each card I wrote a personal message for DH that related to the stamp. On the final tab I used a stamp from the Occassions Mini Full of Life, just to help keep things in perspective. I can say that he was very happy with it and tucked it into his work shirt for today so he can keep it close incase today is as bad as yesterday. I think I will be making similar books for each of the kids to take to school with them next year...

Summer Challenge Done!!

2008-07-06T17:15:00.013-05:00

I was able to complete my summer challege cards today from Susan Daly...and these are what I came up with using the goods supplied and a little from my stash...

First I made this 6 x 6 double page layout. I sponged the outer 1/4 inch edge of the Pixie Pink cardstock with Pink Passion to add the look of another layer. Then I stamped with my Embrace Life in tone on tone for the pink and green layers. I cut the Ginger Blossom DS 1/2 inch smaller than the background to keep my border visible. I layered some River Rock Double Stitched ribbon on the Old Olive rectangles to help add some interest.

The next project I made was this Believe card. I started with a 5 x 4 1/2 inch card base of Pixie Pink and layered a piece of Old Olive wrapped with Linen Thread. I stamped the ribbon from Hope Is in White Craft ink on Basic Black and colored it with my Prismacolor Pencils in shades of pink when it dried. I heat embossed the word Believe in clear on Whisper White cardstock and sponged Pretty in Pink over it. I also sponged Rose Red on the mini clothes pins to try to keep the pink theme going. I added a small pink silk rose to the corner to finish it off. I'm very happy with how this card turned out.

The next project I did was the little gift box. I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in Blush Blossom amd the small blossom in Perfect Plum, stamping it 3 times before I re-inked it to get a nice faded look to the flowers. I stamped Cherish in Elegant Eggplant and finished the whole thing off with some thin organza ribbon.

My next card was the So Saffron Z fold card. It had a few swirls stamped in tone on tone so I added some more swirls and Rose Red butterflies from Priceless. I stamped an extra butterfly on Very Vanilla and cut it out an mounted it on a bit of coiled wire to give it a little bounce. I stamped the sentiment in Old Olive and finished it off with some Old Olive Poly-Twill ribbon.

The final card I made was this one. I started with a Rose Red base and stamped some swirls from Priceless and then layered some Ginger Blossom DS and covered the seam with River Rock Double Stitched ribbon. I stamped the sentiment on Confetti Cream in Rose Red and layered it on a piece of Basic Black. I wrapped the ends with Linen Thread and added a small Library Clip with more Linen Thread tied to it. The main image is from a soda can that was colored, embossed and stamped. I finished off the card by piercing the upper right corner.

The final project was a 6 x 6 piece of desk art. I started with 6 x 6 piece of Going Gray and layered a piece of 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 textured Basic Black cardstock. On that I layerd 2 1/2 inch squares of Pixie Pink and Ginger Blossom papers. I stamped the swirl from Priceless on the pink squares and them used a black rub-on from the SAB set with swirls and flowers onto the squares. In the lower right corner I added another rub-on that says "You make me happy."

I'm very happy with all of the projects I was able to make from this kit. Susan thank you so much for letting me join. I hope everyone like what I was able to come up with.

Michael's Challenge

2008-07-03T18:50:00.004-05:00

Hi again, as most of you know I work part time at Michael's Crafts (to help support my habit...) and a few weeks ago there was a board posted by the break room that's white with a question in the middle that says "How do you define Michael's?" The goal is for everyone to put up something that we feel defines what Michael's means to us...there were jokes about pay stubs and work schedules going up, but the point was to put up something that you would go to Michael's for...so I got out my Cricut Expression last night and combined my 2 loves...flowers and paper crafts and came up with this... it is about 15 inches high and was made using the Walk in my Garden cartridge. I mounted it onto a piece of clear acetate to help give it some stability and then trimmed it once the adhesive dried. I also added a tag to the ribbon that said "Michael's allows me to express my creativity!" I also put up a few cards to help add some color to the board. So far the reaction to my flowers has been pretty good. I can't wait to see what you think of it!!

Summer Challenge

2008-07-03T18:34:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!! Things have been slightly crazy since I got back from Kansas City, (more info to follow later...) Before I left I entered into a summer challenge on Susan Daly's blog, http://www.stampindaly.com/. She challenged people to email your snail mail address and she would send you one card she made along with a bunch of goodies to for you to create something to share back with her blog. Well today I got a great package from her stuffed with all kinds of goodies and this very cute card:

You can check here: Always and Forever to see how Susan made this. I love the color combo that is used and how cute is that to tuck a lacy heart under the main image??

Here is a picture of all the goodies she send for me to play with...

I can hardly wait to start creating with all this!! I love the heart that is cut out from a sheet of metal and painted...I will definately share all my creations before I send them back to Susan.

Retired and Dormant Lists are Here...

2008-06-15T18:15:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone...Stampin' Up! released it's famous retired stamp list today...if there is any thing you just can't live without, make sure to get it ordered before August 10, 2008...'cause after that these stamps will be gone forever...

Retired List (alphabetical)
Retired List (numerical)

Stampin' Up! also released its dormant lists...these stamps are still available to order, they just may not be featured in the new catalog (which will be active on August 11, 2008...57 days & counting!!)

Spring/Summer Collection 2008 Dormant List
Fall/Winter Collection 2008 Dormant List

If you see anything on these lists that you want, just let me know and I will get it ordered for you...until then, Happy Stamping!!

Gatefold Card Challenge

2008-06-13T20:26:00.007-05:00

So I finally created an "Official" newsletter to send out to all my customers, and in it I offered a challenge...create a gatefold card and I want to challenge my few readers to the same thing...and on a side note, if you are interested in getting my "official" newsletter just send me an email and I will gladly send it to you.

I think the gatefold style card is one of my new favorite folding techniques.

Instead of folding your cardstock in half you score a line at 2 1/8” inches and 6 3/8”. Cut two pieces of Designer Series Paper at 5 3/8” x 2” and layer on each flap. Create your main image and mat as you would like. Just make sure when you attach this image to the card you only put adhesive on half of your image so your card will still open.

You can get very creative with the stamps you use with this folding technique. You don’t have to use one main image, you can use many smaller images and adhere them to the smaller flaps.
I have a challenge to issue to each of you...I want you to make a gatefold card and email me a picture of it. I will post all the pictures on my blog and everyone will be able to vote for the one that is the most creative. Please get your pictures to me by June 30, 2008. The voting will end on July 7th and I will notify the winner who will get a great surprise from me...I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!!

I've attached a few samples to help get you started...but please get creative and more importantly have fun!!

Challege Cards with Kat

2008-06-11T09:30:00.004-05:00

Every so often Kat & I will do mini challenges in my craft room. We will agree on the papers we want to use and the stamp set and both create some great cards. We decided to do that last weekend and these are the cards we came up with...for this challege we used Elegant Eggplant, Lovely Lilac Prints Designer Series Paper, Brushed Silver and Shimmer White papers and the Magical & Mystical stamp set.

This is Kat's card. She cut out an extra dragonfly and added it to the background using dementionals to give it a little extra interest. Kat colored her image in with colored pencils and used twinkling h2o's to color in the fairy dust. She used dark purple wide organza ribbon and light blue narrow organza ribbon layered together and knoted to add a little something to the bottom of her card. I think her card came out great!!!!

This is what I came up with. I chose to do a gatefold card. I heat embossed my image and colored the entire thing with twinkling h2o's. Instead of using ribbon I went with sugar coated brads to help add to the whole glitter affect I had going. I also used the ticket corner punch to add interest to the corners of the main image.

Kat & I both really enjoy doing these little challenges and are looking forward to doing more!

Live Your Dream Duos

2008-06-09T19:20:00.005-05:00

So I'm back to my double cards...I was inspired by this card by Rachel Stamps on SCS. I really wanted to use a current set with it, so I turned to my new favorite set Live Your Dream.

I really wanted to use as many of the In Colors as I could, especially since they will no longer be available after August...I really like how this card came out...the colors are nice and vibrant and the stamped image came out great if I do say so...the more I use this set the more I love it...I can't believe I waited so long to get this set, but am very glad I got it when I did.

For the "matching" card I used the ticket corner punch on the background paper as well instead of using brads. Other than that these cards do match. They both went together so fast.

Stamps: Live Your Dream

Paper: Soft Sky Blue, Afternoon Tea Designer Series, Groovy Guava, Whisper White

Inks: Pretty in Pink, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Garden Green, Close to Cocoa

Accessories: Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon, Antique Brass HPH

My silly animals...

2008-06-09T18:50:00.009-05:00

I know this doesn't have anything to do with stamping, but I had to share some of these silly pics from my furry babies...This would be Clyde, Bonnie and Harley spread out on the couch...believe it or not Harley the cat weighs more than Bonnie the dog...

This other picture would be Bonnie on the couch with Danny & Kat...

This would be Clyde telling me I've been on the computer long enough and now need to play with him...he will take his favorite toy and balance it on the keyboard tray and then nose me until I pick his toy up...which leads to his favorite game...tug-o-war...I love the look on his face in this picture...

Pop Up Card

2008-06-04T09:30:00.002-05:00

I fell in love with this card when I saw it and couldn't wait to try it for myself. I did change the colors and the stamp set I used and am quite proud of how this turned out! I added an extra layer to my top slider and used a sugar coated brad to hold everything together. I colored my image using the same colors as the paper and decided to leave the main part of the flower white to keep it from getting too busy. I did take the picture before I added the yellow stickles to the staymens.

Here is the card opened...the sentiment says "time spent with Friends is time well spent." As you can see there will be pleanty of room to write a personalized message.

I didn't take a picture of the second card I made like this because it is just like this one, I didn't change it like I did on the others.

Stamps: Time Well Spent
Papers: Wild Wasabi, Sky Blue, So Saffron, Whisper White
Inks: Stazon Black, So Saffron, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Sugar Coated Brad, Wild Wasabi Striped Ribbon, Staple

from the heart

2008-06-03T09:30:00.005-05:00

I was overjoyed when Stampin' Up! sent the set Time Well Spent out to every active demo in December of 2007, I instantly fell in love with the images and sayings, yet I find that I rarely reach for it when I'm creating so I decided to change that...I was looking through the gallery at Splitcoast when I came across this lovely card and was inspired to create these 2 cards...

This first card is the card for my samples, so I stayed with mostly all Stampin' Up! product. I did use some stickes on the flower and the leaves to just add some interest. I watercolored the flower and leaves using my aqua painter and my ink pads. I added a large flower brad from the Styled Silver HPH. I really do like the looks of this card.

Here is the version I'm going to send out to someone...I used some verigated sheer ribbon I got at Michael's in place of the blue stripe ribbon and only used the green stickles in the ends of the leaves instead of all around them. I used a different brad for the center of this card, it has a small flower and says genuine.

Stamps: Time Well Spent, Holidays & Wishes
Papers: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Always Artichoke
Inks: Stazon Black, Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive
Accessories: Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Dark Blue Stickles, Lime Green Stickles, ribbons

My Dear Friend...

2008-06-02T09:30:00.006-05:00

This is the first set of cards I made that were semi-doubles. I was looking on Splitcoast Stampers and came across this beautiful card & knew I had to make it...here is the card I did first.

I did change a few details from the original card, I used black as my accent instead of Chocolate Chip and I used a different version of the DS paper. Since I don't have the same background stamp she used I left my background white and I opted to not do faux stitching along the edge. This card went together so quick and easy and really has a nice look to it. I think this will be one of the cards offered at my next camp.

Here is version 2, which I also really like...I added an extra flower bunch and made my black layer into an 1/8" border instead of a 1/4" border. I'm wishing I would have used Chocolate Chip paper to match the ribbon, but the black paper still has a nice look to it.

Stamps: Blossoms Abound (pg 99), All Holidays (pg 146)

Papers: Rose Red, Whisper White, Rose Red DS, Basic Black

Inks: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (Theater Ribbon Originals)

I like this flower in pink, yet hardly use it that way, so I'm challenging myself to grab any color combo that is not purple for the next few cards I make with this set, which will probably be alot, being this is one of my favorite sets!

Double Cards

2008-06-01T15:00:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was all about cardmaking at my house...I wanted to re-create the card I made for my aunt Camilla to be able to show at classes. As I was making this I decided to change it up a little so I added ribbon across the bottom to anchor the knots and used the sentiment that came with this set (Blossoms Abound, page 99, $23.95) and my stamp-a-ma-jig to make it fit in the Styled Silver frame. I used the same faux linen paper on my tag as I did on my main image. Please see here for the original card & how to...

While I was making this I decided to make sets of cards, one to keep for a sample and one to send off. The cards stayed mostly the same but not identical. Stay tuned for pics of each set and the how to.

Live Your Dreams...

2008-05-27T17:21:00.006-05:00

Hi all...we had a really great time for our anniversary. We got rained out of taking the bike to the Botanical Gardens, so we went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don't want to give alot away so I'll just say if you are an Indy fan you will enjoy it.

I got to work on making some cards the past few days and really wanted to share them with you. I was inspired by this card on Lesly Adams' BLOG Stamp Yourself Silly to create this card. I did change a few things from her card, I took the ribbon away and added some embossed butterflies around my main image. I really do like how this card turned out. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the main image again in Versamark and embossed the flowers and butterflies with Iridescent Ice EP. My main image is attached to the right side of the card.

Stamps: Live Your Dreams
Inks: Cameo Coral, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Papers: Afternoon Tea DP, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Iridescent Ice EP

I have been thinking this set would look great aged so today I came up with this card. I crumpled the background paper up them ran my Creamy Caramel ink pad over it to make it look aged. I also sponged some of the same Caramel ink around the edges. I inked my flowers ups with Pretty in Pink and then sponged Groovy Guava around the outsides of the petals to try to mimic the way the flowers look on the paper. I inked the edges of my mats and did the Crackled Glass technique to age the main image. I did the Rock & Roll technique on the butterfly. I really do like how this card looks. I layered my ribbon between the Chocolate Chip and Groovy Guava mats to add a little interest.

Stamps: Live Your Dreams
Inks: Pretty in Pink, Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa, Garden Green, Versamark
Papers: Afternoon Tea DP, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Ultra Thick EP, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Ribbon

Card Fun

2008-05-24T10:10:00.007-05:00

Hi everyone! I've been working hard the past few days and haven't gotten to post any cards...so to make up for that I have cards to post. I was inspired by the card on page 106 of the 2008 Spring/Summer Collection. I did change a few details from the original card. I used Wild Wasabi as my card base, I added an extra layer to the main image and changed the ribbon color. I do really like how this card turned out.

This card was made using the level 2 Hostess set Spring Solitude listed on page 22 of the 2008 Spring/Summer Collection. When I saw this set I instantly thought of the Partridge Family (even though that show was WELL before my time) I knew it would make a fun thank you card.

Today is our 13th anniversary...so in honor of that my SIL is taking the kids for the night so we can have a calm relaxed day and evening. We are planning to visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens today and then have a nice relaxing dinner. I hope everyone has a great weekend and wonderful Memorial Day!

Lilac Gruffies 2

2008-05-18T14:39:00.004-05:00

So my first Gruffies card was cute, but I think this one is even better! I changed a few elements and now it has the "umph" I was looking for...I kept the colors the same, but changed the layout a little. I reversed the colors of the mat to make the main image stand out a little more, and made the main image a little smaller so more of the background showed. I punched a scallop out of Pale Plum and lightly sponged Elegant Eggplant onto it to add depth. I also inked Elegant Eggplant around the saying in the middle to make it stand out a little more. The whole scallop is raised with dimentionals. I moved the ribbon down so the knot wouldn't compete with the saying and used my word window punch to add the rest of the saying behind the CB'ed panel. A mini sugar brad finishes it off nicely I think. I really like this re-vamped card and can't wait to see what you think!!

Lilac Gruffies

2008-05-15T17:12:00.003-05:00

So I finally broke down and purchased my first 2 Gruffies stamps from House Mouse. I have been looking at all the great cards Lee makes with her mousies and just couldn't resist any longer. I got the Lavender Bouquet and Bit of Honey. I'm not sure why this is called Lavender Bouquet being these are lilac blossoms, but whatever...I am participating in a swap on SCS where we are all using these types of stamps and this is the card I came up with.

I really like how the colors came together on this. The base is Garden Green stamped in tone on tone with a paisley stamp from Hero Arts and has a Pale Plum layer that has been run through the Cuttlebug using the paisley folder and then brayered with Elegant Eggplant to bring out debossed images. I colored in the main image using my Prismacolor pencils and then blended the colors using the Gamsol Technique. I added some lilac stickles to the blossoms to help add definition to them. The lilac ribbon helps finish off this card.

I like how this came out, but still feel it is missing something...if only I could put my finger on it. I would love any imput you have on what this card is missing.

Watercolor Card

2008-05-12T15:25:00.003-05:00

I came across an awsome card made by Julie Buhler a few months ago and have been playing with replicating her technique. I don't think I have it down completely yet, but it is oh so fun to do. Here is her great card along with the instructions. Here is my humble attempt...I used a retired set called And Everything Nice stamped in Stazon Black and colored with Stampin' Write Markers. I created the clouds in the sky by sponging Soft Sky ink over a scalloped punch. I did light shading on the sky with Blue Bayou. The card base is Blue Bayou and I used a non-SU! corner punch to hold the main image in place. I am going to have to keep practicing this technique until I am able to get a card as nice as Julie's...Thanks for looking!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2008-05-12T15:09:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone!! Happy belated Mother's Day!! I had a great Mother's Day weekend...on Sat we took the family to see Iron Man, went to Lowe's to get our annual Mother's Day flowers and went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner...the company was great and the food was alright I guess...on Sunday I got to have a quite relaxing day. I wanted to share the Mother's Day cards I made this year...both cards were made using the same colors, papers, inks, stamps & accessories. I love how they look similar yet different. The card on the left is the one I sent to my mom for Mother's Day and the one on the right went into my sample stash...

Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Papers: So Saffron, Ruby Red, So Saffron DS
Inks: Ruby Red, Summer Sun
Accessories: Pretties Kit

Family Weekend

2008-05-01T17:51:00.005-05:00

Hi there! We had a really fun-filled weekend, we got to visit with my mom, who lives in South Carolina, go to a wedding and travel to Meta MO to visit my great-great aunt. I think I put more miles on my car this past weekend than I have in the past 2 months...

My mom and her husband haven't been up from SC in a couple of years so we did have a good time getting to catch up with them. They came up for her step-son's wedding which was last Saturday. We had a good time there. It was an outdoor wedding and the trees and flowers were in full bloom and the temperature was great! Then on Sunday we traveled to Meta, which is about 30 min from Jefferson City. It was a 2 - 3 hour ride in each direction. We had such a good time visiting with Aunt Camilla, you would never guess she was almost 90 by the way she acts. She is still very active on her property and in her church. We went looking for mushrooms, but didn't find any...Danny found lots of turkey feathers and a turtle shell that he got to take to school for show and tell. Here is a picture of all of us...

Camilla has the most wonderful lilac and wisteria growing around her property so I made her a lilac thank you card for the great visit.

I did the Faux Linen technique for this card to give it a wonderful aged look...I love this swirled pattern from the Prints Designer Series Paper from SU! and decided to use the Always Artichoke to mat my image and Certain Celery to accent the card. I stamped my image first onto the glossy cardstock then sanded vertically and horizontally. I took alot of color off as well adding my linen look. After I wiped the dust away I ran my Creamy Caramel inkpad all over the image and then buffed it with a paper towel. I really like how this Styled Silver Hodgepodge Harware looks and really wanted to incorporate it into my card, so I went looking through my retired sets and came across this from the Designer Label set, that originally came with the label punch. I didn't like the look of just brads holding the label on so I punched a hole in the middle of my ribbon and put the brad through it. Then I attached the brads to the card and finally tied my knots. I'm really liking how this card came out! I hope Camilla likes it as much as I do!!

Stamps: Blossoms Abound, Designer Label
Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel
Papers: Pale Plum, Glossy White, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke DS, Certain Celery DS
Accessories: Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Mellow Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Sanding Blocks

New Room!!

2008-04-22T18:50:00.019-05:00

So I finally got my room how I want it! My room is around 10' x 13' and I have tried to squeeze as much in as I possibly can...at one point this area was actually my kids playroom, but as they have gotten older it has become mom's playroom. They still have some space in here, but everytime I re-arange the room they get less and less...

This first picture is from the doorway to my room, some of my stamps are to the right, and I reclaimed one shelf to put my papers back on.

My desk is a HUGE, heavy desk we got at Costo last year and I really love it!! It has tons of work space and lets me keep my most used items close at hand!

The next picture is of my main stamp storage rack...current stamps are on the top 2 shelves, papers are next followed by retired, hodgepodge hardware, pretties kit and my scissors. The black hard case to the side is my Tech club files. I really like having my stamps so close to my work area and the extra chair is nice for being able to ponder my choices before I start a project.

This is one of my new shelving units I got to help with the storage issues in my area. This stores my brads (which are stored in a tackle box...) eyelets, cards, label maker, embossing powders, pearl-ex powders, twinkling h2o's, scrap ribbons, and my 12 x 12 papers. I still want to get a better paper storage system going, but to quote Flylady...babysteps!! I also keep my paper towels and supplies for messy projects on this.

To the left is my floral storage and my business supplies. The huge blue binder is the largest binder they make and is full of all my SU! images. I will have to take a few pics of it for a later post...I am quite proud of how it turned out. I also have my card folder and technique journal over there. The bottom shelf has my cross-stitch books and several years worth of Stampin' Up! idea books and Close to My Heart catalogs. My sewing stand is next to that, right now it is mostly being used as a display area (albeit a cluttered display area...)

Next comes the closet, which big surprise here, is full of shelves and (more) craft supplies!! I moved my wreath storage into the closet and this is also where I store my yarn and cross-stitch fabric. On the other side of the closet is the kids crafts supplies. Has anyone guessed yet that I LOVE shelves?? I would make this room nothing but shelves and storage if I could...at least I'm on the right track for it...LOL!!

This would be where the rest of my retired stamps are along with my Cricut cartridges...I do try to keep the stamps organized by theme, but that is hard to do sometimes...for the most part this system work alright for me, but Suzanne's post about unmounting her stamps really has me thinking...the first thought is "Do you know how many more stamps I could get in this area??!!??" I would have to venture a guess that thought would not be the first my DH would have...

Next to the retired stamps and cartridges is my ribbon storage along with my cutter storage and scrapbooks. If you look closely you can see the only shelf my kids have in this room, all the board games are stored on the bottom of this shelving unit. The wooden ribbon holder was hand made by my DH...If you ask me I need LOTS and LOTS MORE of them. The ribbons are semi-grouped into like colors/themes...I have found that I could buy ribbon all the time, in fact when we get new shipments of ribbon in at Michael's I have to make myself not look at it or I will take most of it home...The pink and black binders hold my Cuttlebug shapes, one binder is mostly embossing plates and the other is dies. I need to look into storage for my Nestablities, right now they are stored on top of my scrap ribbon bin...

Here is underneath my desk, I have 2 giant drawers stacked for scraps, the top one is SU! only and the bottom is everything else. The paper holders down here hold most of my non-SU! papers. The purple drawers hold my non-SU! stamps (which I need more space for...) and various tools that I want close, heat gun, stamp cleaning pads, non-SU! inks and markers.

I use the keyboard tray to hold my coloring supplies. This is a great way to have them close but keep them out of the way when I'm not using them. I'm kinda wanting to put my Prismacolor pencils in cups and have them on my desk, but I'm pretty anal about keeping them color coordinated, so I guess they will stay in the tin they came in. I also store my rulers here, so they are easy to get to.

This is what I call my inspiration wall...here I keep cards that have been sent to me mostly by my friends on SCS, when I'm feeling blue or un-inspired I like to look at them and it makes me feel better! This is also the area I store all my current SU! ribbons, and of course my Cricut Expressions.

This last picture is of the inside of the hutch part of my desk, right now it is holding most of my punches, different hardback books, my xyron and all my paints, glitters, stickles, primas and other stuff that I'm not sure what to do with...

I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of my room, I love having people come over and play with me...if only I could find more to do that!! My best customer loves telling me I need a 12-step program...and after all this typing and picture taking I'm likely to agree with her...Suzanne - feel free to show your hubby there are other people with loads of supplies...

Now if I could only get the rest of my house as neat and organized as my craft room...I'd have it made :)

Sneek Peek

2008-04-21T20:01:00.008-05:00

So I finally got my craft room organized the way I wanted...or so I thought...until Mother Nature decided we needed rain every other day for a couple of months and my basement started to seep, then mildly flood...since my craft room is in my basement that lead to a problem...here are some pics of how my room looked when I re-did it about a year ago. It stayed looking mostly like this until about a week ago...

This is my main stamping/crafting area...no matter what that desk will stay in that spot until we move, it weighs a ton and is too big to fit anywhere else...in front of it is my stamp shelf (yea right...the paper packs are long gone from this shelving unit...stamps have way over-run it...)

This is how my stamp shelf looked about a year ago, notice how bare it looks and remember that for the after picture...all the white stickers say retired so I can easily locate the proper stamps for classes and camps. It would not be a good thing to take a retired set and have a customer fall in love with it so I figured glaring white labels would work great! I really liked having my paper in that area, it made it easy to find what I was looking for at a glance. The container next to the paper holds my various brushes.

This is my flower storage and ribbon storage area mostly. I also kept some of my counted cross stitch materials on this shelving unit. The middle shelf was for my DH & DH's model cars and the bottom shelf was the kids games.

This was my ingenious idea for how to store my wreathes...the white bar is a tension shower rod with bent hangers being used as hooks to use some of that wasted space. This was also the shelf that held my embossing powders, pearl powders and twinkling h2o's as well as eyelets, brads and magazines and idea books. The brown thing to the left is my sewing machine (that I barely know how to use...)

Stay tuned and in the next few days I should have my room to my liking (again) and will post new pics of it...it has changed quite a bit from these pictures...

Double Pocket Fold

2008-04-21T18:54:00.004-05:00

This card was for the Try a New Technique challenge on SCS TLC164 - Double Pocket Fold the instructions for this striking card can be found here. I knew right away I wanted to use some of the Ginger Blossom DP I have and was totaly thrilled with how this card came out until I realized I didn't have a stamp that matched :( I made due with A Beautiful Thing, but am a little sad that I didn't have anything close to a hibiscus to be able to use...Oh well, life goes on!! I also used my circle nestablities for the first time on this card...I was worried about it but they look really nice and were uber easy to use!! I really like how the laced ribbon turned out on the sides and how cool is it that the narrow satin ribbon I have had for years matches the Groovy Guava?? I love the look of laced ribbon (thank goodness for floss threaders!!) I used Groovy Guava and River Rock as my coordinating colors and stamped in Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava for the flowers. This is another card my DD has laid claim to, so I guess I will be making another, next time I will be checking my stamps first ;)

Triangle Fold Card

2008-04-21T18:42:00.005-05:00

Hi again! This is one of the card designs I decided against for the showbox swap. I really like how it turned out, I just didn't have enough of the patterened paper to make 13 cards with...this was my first attempt at a Triangle Fold card and it was soo easy to do...I've had this paper for ages and haven't been wanting to cut into it cause then I wouldn't have it anymore (true sign of a paper hoarder...) I thought it matched a stamp set CiCi510 sent me awhile back, so I took the plunge and cut into it and am so glad I did! I used Elegant Eggplant as my base and this beautiful PP from Making Memories as the accent paper. I also love this reversible purple ribbon that I got at Michael's a few months ago (and I have to mention that I have been hoarding that as well...) Inside has the same PP with Whisper White over it and another paisley stamp in the corner. My DD has claimed this card to give to her art teacher, so I think I will have to make more...good thing the PP was 12 x 12 :)

p.s. The finished size for this card is 3 x 3, the next one I make will be 4 x 4. I will have to custome make any envies for these and due to them being square, the postage will be higher :(

Acetate Card

2008-04-21T14:38:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! I got to go to a shoebox swap with a bunch of wonderful ladies I met on SCS who are in the St. Louis area on Sat and had a wonderful time!! This is the second time in about a year I have got to go to one of these and am really looking forward to attending many more. It is so nice to be able to learn new techniques and make new friends while getting good and inky!!

I really racked my brain for a card to make that would be fairly easy, yet still offer a "WOW" moment. I threw out about 4 designs before I settled on this card...I have been really wanting to try my hand at an acetate card for awhile, and shocking-ly enough I had about 50 sheets of acetate in my scrap room, so I decided to take the plunge and try this card...I was also inspired by one of the challenges on SCS LCS159 - Tool Free. That challenge was to make a card using no special tools, which can be a challenge in and of itself for me sometimes...I really love my tools!!

I discovered that pigment ink never dries on acetate...so thankfully I stocked up on colored Stazon onetime when it was on sale at Michaels... ;) I used Royal Purple and Blazing Red to add the swirls on the top piece of acetate only. I would have never guessed that Blazing Red would be so close in color to Rose Red...who knew?? I picked the set Priceless for this card, as I seem to have fallen in love with it lately!! I hope the ladies at the swap had as much making this as I did...I will also attach a photo of all the cards we made...

There were a total of 14 of us and I think I missed making one card... :( Each card was beautiful and fairly easy to do. I got to play with Copics for the first time (lighthouse card) and got to use some FABULOUS paper that came over from Florence, Italy (that would be the purple scalloped looking paper...that card will be staying on my inspiration board). We also learned a new folding technique that is a great size to put a gift card in (graduation card) and made a seed packet holder card (large flower card at the bottom). All in all I had a wonderful time and enjoyed some great company!! Here is a link to all of the cards so you can see bigger pictures...

I can't wait for the next go round!!