Perfectly Purple

Hi stampers!  It's been a busy week/weekend for me!  I worked over 24 hours combined on Friday and Saturday!  I didn't get to stamp too much but I had to get at least one card done since it's time for a new challenge over on Hand Stamped Sentiments.  The challenge this week is a monochromatic card.

I really like the look of monochromatic cards and it's something I should try more often!  I also made a fairly clean and simple card this time around which is actually a lot harder for me than a fancy schmancy card with a lot of stuff on it:-)  Check it out:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  My friend, friendly phrases
Paper:  Whisper white, concord crush, wisteria wonder
Ink:  concord crush, perfect plum (craft)
Accessories:  Iridescent ice embossing powder, itty bitty punch pack, basic pearls, simply scored

I struggled with what to do for this challenge for a couple of weeks!  Sometimes I think of an idea right away...sometimes not!  I just couldn't decide what set I wanted to use or the direction I wanted to go.  Well, on the way to breakfast at Panera yesterday morning, inspiration struck (maybe we need to go to breakfast there more often like we used to, haha).  I guess inspiration can strike at any time!  Normally I get really great ideas while I'm going to sleep and then never remember them in the morning:-)

Anyway, I had seen a black and white card at convention using the my friend set where it was embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder and it was fab!  I also wanted to use my new friendly phrases set that I just got!  It's such a cute set, I don't know how I passed it up in the new catalog for so long!  So anyway, I used perfect plum craft ink and heat embossed with iridescent ice.  Here is a close up so you can see how pretty and sparkly it really is:

I thought about using some DSP but I really wanted the main image to stand out and to keep it clean and simple.  I ended up adding a few score lines which is also a new technique for me AND now that I have my Simply Scored scoring too it was SOOOOO easy!  It's funny how something SO simple can add so much to a project!  A couple of punched out flowers with some pearl centers and it was done!

Now pop on over to HSS and see what the other fab design team members have come up with and play along with us!  I dare ya!  :-)

Happy stamping!

More mustard

Hi stampers! Quick post while I'm waiting for some laundry and to digest dinner before I go for a run!  I skipped it this morning and then again when I got home from work because I was hungry and it was hot out!  I've got to start getting up early and getting it out of the way!!!!

Anyway, here's a card that I did last week.  I actually made two cards for the color lab challenge I did last week and decided on the first one to enter.  BUT I loved the color combo of pear pizazz, soft suede, pool party, and more mustard!  It's just so pretty for fall!  Lookie and see what I mean:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Day of gratitude, French foliage, netting
Paper:  Very vanilla, pear pizazz, pool party, more mustard, spice cake DSP
Ink:  soft suede, pear pizazz, more mustard
Accessories:  Distressing kit, crochet trim, decorative label punch, scallop trim border punch

See, so pretty!  I did a lot of distressing on this card where the other one was more clean and simple.  To dirty up the main panel I used the tea stain ink pad out of the distressing kit.  It's very easy, you just ink up the little rubber stamp in the kit and rub it over your paper.  You can also spritz your paper or the stamp with water to get an antiqued look as well but I used it dry here.  I also used my new netting background stamp on the card base, LOVE that thing!  Then I just took my ink pad directly to the cardstock! 

Time to run....literally!  Don't forget to come back tomorrow to check out this weeks Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge!!!!  Happy stamping!

And just a touch of mustard

Hi stampers!  I have needed to post this card for the longest time!!!  It's my entry for The Color Lab's #53 challenge where we are supposed to use just a touch of more mustard along with these colors:

Ohhhh!  Isn't it pretty and doesn't it just scream fall????  Not to mention that the colors are in the ever so pretty spice cake DSP from the upcoming Holiday Mini!  So, obviously I had to do a fall themed card.  I made two and this is the one I decided to enter (I'll share the other one later of course):

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Falling leaves
Paper:  Very vanilla, soft suede, pool party, pear pizazz, more mustard, spice cake DSP
Ink:  Pear pizazz, soft suede, more mustard
Accessories:  Modern label punch, basic pearls

I chose this one because it was more clean and simple looking and because it had more of a "touch" of mustard than my other one.  I like how the pool party stands out on this one too!  I just love that DSP and falling leaves is one of my all time favorite sets!

Now I'm hungry for a hot dog with all this mustard talk!  I love mustard on my hot dogs but keep the ketchup far away, blech!  Ketchup on fries and eggs is all good but keep it away from my frankfurter!!!  Hahah!  And now you know a random fact about me....probably means it's time for me to go:-)

Happy stamping!

Trick or Treat, Scary or Sweet?

Hi stampers!  This card is sweet for sure!  I've been wanting to use this little guy every since I got the set at convention!!!  It is a new hostess set from the upcoming holiday mini and we all got it for free as our last give away at convention!!!  And we all know I LOVE free stamps!  The great thing about this set besides the fact that it's just uber cute is that most of the images work well with our punches!  Take this little owl for example...he was easy to punch out with the owl punch:

 Isn't he cute????  You can see he's a bit sparkly too as I inked him up with back craft ink and then embossed him with some iridescent ice embossing powder.  He just needed to be sparkly!  I simply used my pumpkin pie ink pad and a blender pen to color in his beak and cute little trick or treat bag.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest of wishes (hostess), Out on a limb, grateful greetings
Paper:  Whisper white, basic black, pumpkin pie, daffodil delight
Ink:  basic black craft, basic black, pumpkin pie, daffodil delight, more mustard
Accessories:  Circle punch, decorative label punch, owl punch, scallop squares duo die, spider web embossing folder, silver smooch spray, basic black scalloped polka dot ribbon

The rest of the card is pretty straight forward and I thought this cute owl would be PERFECT with the out on a limb set also from the mini.  I just LOVE how our sets inter-mix so well....have I mentioned that?  LOL!  I also loved how the sentiment from grateful greetings worked too since the little guy has a trick or treat bag!  You'll note that I did use some of the scalloped polka dot ribbon, I love that stuff!  I also embossed the black panel with the spider web folder and then hit it with a good spray of the silver smooch!  Love that stuff too, it can add SO much to a card yet it's so simple!  The last note I'd like to make is about the moon.  I sponged the edges with some daffodil delight and then with some more mustard to make it spooky and give it a little depth!

Hope you liked it!  Don't forget that you can earn this cute set for FREE starting September 1!  That's only a week away!   Happy stamping!

Banner Day!

Hi stampers!  Well as the title of my post says, it's a banner day for me!  What is a banner day you ask?  Here's what google had to say:  "It refers to a day being noteworthy or of hanging a banner of announcement, usually of good news".

Well today is noteworthy and full of good news for me as I am happy to announce that I've been asked to join the design team over on Hand Stamped Sentiments!   To say that I'm excited and honored is an understatement.  I feel so privileged to be part of their fabulously creative team!  I really look forward to the challenges pushing my creativity further and making me step outside my comfort zone!  I'm also a bit nervous as it's now my busy time at work (oh, what's that you say?  I've mentioned that a couple hundred times now?  LOL) and I'm also on a DT over on Splitcoast but at least now I HAVE to stamp right?  I can totally tell my hubby that I can't do the dishes or sweep the floor because I have GOT to get these projects done, right? :-)

So on to the challenge at hand.  The challenge this week at HSS is a Banner Bash!  Banners and pennants are all the rage right now aren't they?  And I'm totally on the banner bandwagon!  I love them!

I've been thinking about the design of this card for a while, even before I knew about the challenge and thought this would be the perfect time to make it!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Pennant parade, broadsheet alphabet, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  Whisper white, cherry cobbler, old olive, cajun craze, basic black, frightful sight DSP
Ink:  old olive, cajun craze, basic black
Accessories:  pennant punch, circle punch, modern label punch, neutrals glimmer brads, basic rhinestones

Everyone knows I love Halloween so when I got my hands on this DSP I had to make a Halloween card!   Looking back maybe I should have sponged my sentiment and possibly the cajun craze pennants but I like how it turned out.  It's busy but I like busy:-)  This card actually went together pretty fast since I used so many punches.  Our punches make it so easy to make a great card quickly!  I had thought about cutting out the letters but that would have been a lot of fussy cutting and I wanted to mimic the polka dots in the background as well.

I hope you enjoyed all the cards as HSS today.  Now. head over there and play along with us!  You know you want to:-)

Quick cardz

Hi stampers!  I have a quick card and a quick post today!  It's been a busy weekend with my BFF's birthday party and now the state fair and Lady A concert with my parents tonight.  So not a lot of stamping happening around here...oh well.  But here is a cute card that I put together pretty quick a while back.  I wanted to use the Lighthearted set and cut into my frightful sight DSP:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Lighthearted (holiday mini)
Paper:  Basic black, whisper white, old olive, cherry cobbler, frightful sight DSP
Ink:  Basic black and cajun craze markers
Accessories:  Basic black scalloped polka dot ribbon

Very mailable too:-)  I really like the frightful sight paper and colors!  I wouldn't have put cherry cobbler in a Halloween combo but it works!  Hope you liked it, time to dash!

Chocolate cake card

Hi stampers!  I'm finally back with a video!  Now, I was not planning on doing a video when I started this card BUT I decided to do one in the middle of making it so: 1) my desk is a MESS and I didn't think to grab a clean sheet of grid paper so please excuse my mess and 2) I had not planned or rehearsed what I was going to do/say at all so excuse my scatterbrain-ness:-)  But a video is better than no video right?

So, tonight we are going to dinner and then a surprise birthday part for my best friend who is finally turning 30 and catching up with the rest of us:-)  Her boyfriend has planned a surprise party for her and I'm excited.  He also really likes my cards so I needed to do something with a wow factor, lol!  Anyway, I thought I'd make a card that the adorable Carrie Cudney made on the main stage at convention.  She did a whole presentation with candy!!!!  Check out her CUTE card with a "chocolate cake" on the front:

HOW CUTE IS THAT????  Ok, ok I'll stop yelling but seriously, it's cute!  So, here is a video of how to put the cake together.  I did not film the whole card, that would have been LONG!  But you'll get the gist of it.  I also did some of the work before hand to cut down on the time.  If you're going to make this card you'll need to cut a few thin strips of CS in your colors of choice and punch out a strip of paper with the lace ribbon border punch.  These will make your candles and your cake stand.  The border punch will need to be cut down as you can see in the picture.  So here is the video and again, I'm sorry for the mess...I'll be neater in the next one, hehe.



And here is the finished card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Pennant parade, dot dot dot
Paper:  Whisper white, blushing bride, peach parfait (textured), wisteria wonder, daffodil delight, 2011-13 in colors DSP stack
Ink:  Peach parfait, blushing bride, wisteria wonder
Accessories:  circle punches, lace ribbon border punch, triple layer blossom punch, calypso coral and wisteria wonder ruffled ribbon, basic pearls, dazzling diamonds

Isn't it just so cute!  Here are some close ups of the details:

 I used the senitment from pennant parade and stamped it over a circle I'd stamped with dot dot dot in blushing bride which I stamped off once for a more subtle look.  I also sponged the edges with peach parfait.  The flower is from the triple layer blossom punch on the middle setting.  I also added our new dazzling details to each of the petals.  You can also see how I added some of our strips of pearls to the cake plate for a little something extra and glitzy.

And now the candles....these are from the blossom punch as well.  You need to punch out some daffodil card stock on the setting farthest to the right.  This will give you the little flames.  I carefully glued them down and then added more dazzling details.

Ok, that's it!  Hope you liked it and thanks Carrie for a fabulous idea!!!!!  Happy Stamping!

It rained...sort of..

Hi stampers!  Well in my post yesterday I said I wished it would rain!  So I slept in a bit this morning and when I went to let the dog out there were little sprinkles coming down!!!  Now, I know I said I wanted it to rain but I didn't want it to rain this morning....I needed to get my run in (um and I don't run in the rain....it would get my shoes dirty...why yes, I am a bit OCD thanks).  So, I went ahead and ate my oatmeal hoping that it would rain good and then I could run later.  Well, I don't think it rained much at all...so much for my plan and now I STILL have to get my four miles in before work tonight....guess what I'll be doing when I'm done here:-)  I have been working my butt off running and at the gym and NOTHING has changed because I can't stop eating....or stop eating junk!  Man, fitting in a wedding dress was sure more motivation than not having to fit in a wedding dress, lol!  Anyway...that's another post:-)

So, instead of snacking last night when my hubby went to bed, I should have been stamping right?  So let's pretend I made this card last night:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bright hopes
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, crumb cake, garden green, brights DSP stack
Ink:  Old olive, garden green
Accessories:  Circle dies, scallop circle die, holly berry bouquet buttons, old olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon

It's a pretty traditional Christmas card and uses some new fun stuff from the holiday mini.  The stamp set is called Bright Hopes and I was immediately drawn to it.  The force is strong with this one...I tried not to buy it but when I went to input my free merchandise on my holiday mini pre order, guess what snuck it's way onto my order!!!!;-)  And lookie at that button!  There are some new fun buttons in the mini as well!

Ok, enough chit chat....it's time for me to go pound the pavement and hopefully stamp something later too!  Happy stamping!

Raining Doilies

Hi stampers!  Well since it can't seem to rain...well....rain around here, it might as well rain doilies right?  :-)  I really don't remember the last day it rained here.  Now, it's cooled down a bit and the humidity has gone way down in the past week and thank goodness!  I would have never made it through foot ball two a day practices in that heat and humidity let alone the kids!  Although today was pretty warm in the 90's!  But the dryness has it's own problems, the poor practice field which isn't in the best shape to begin with is like a dust bowl!  There is no grass, just brown "straw" and dirt!  Boy do I ever need a shower when I get home since the dust really sticks to my legs with sticky sunblock on!  I'm hopeful to end the drought on Sunday since we are going to the fair and have tickets to the Lady A concert, lol!  Stuff like that always seems to happen to us...but we'll see. 

In the meantime I have a pretty card for you!  I cased this card directly out of our demo magazine that we get each month.  Hey, there's another reason to sign up, the great magazine which has tons of pretty pictures, ideas, and articles on products and the business aspect of SU!  I really like the magazine and it's just yet another perk (as if I really needed any...I'm so addicted, hehe) to being a demo!  Feel free to contact me if you think it may be something you're interested in!  If you're local we can head to Panera for a little chat and snack;-)  Ok, ok, on to the card right?

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Raining flowers, hello, doily,  pursuit of happiness
Paper:  Very vanilla, pink pirouette, lucky limeade, crumb cake, daffodil delight
Ink:  Pink pirouette, lucky limeade
Accessories:  Circle punch, decorative label punch, triple layer doily punch, dotted scallop border punch

So simple but so pretty!  The only thing I changed was the sentiment as I didn't have the one they featured in the catalog (um, of course that has since changed in the past week, hehe).  They used friendly phrases.  You know, I didn't give that set a second look and then I saw it on this card and then I started seeing it pop up everywhere....well I HAD to have it, right?:-)

That big flower from raining flowers is super easy to cut out too so if you're not a fussy cutter you can still do this!  This card has so many things I love: the doily background, the doily punch, lucky limeade!  Now, the center of the flower is actually one of the doilies punched out and then then center punched out from that with a circle punch!  Genius! 

Ok, I'll wrap it up now as I should probably be heading to bed!  I'll try to be back tomorrow but my Friday nights under the lights start up tomorrow (no more Buffalo Wild Wing Friday date nights with my hubby....sad) so I'll be getting busy and then I have a full schedule of FUN stuff for the weekend!  BUT make sure you check back on Tuesday next week for some very exciting stuff!!!!  Ok?  Remember, Tuesday!!!!

Easy Peasy!

So I never would have gotten this set if it were not a convention set but it is SO CUTE!  And you know how we had the little chat a while back about how I don't do much in the way of other sizes of cards?  Well, I started doing some 3 x 3's with Easy Events the other night and before you know it my desk was COVERED in them!  I made it my personal mission in life to do a card with each of the eight images, lol!  Check these little babies out!

See, aren't they cute????  I tried to showcase our new in colors with them although I did use some other colors here and there!  I kept the layout the same on all the cards for ease of stamping and I'm really liking the Borderlines set that I also got at convention with my plus fun class.  That's where all those polka dots came from.  I actually took the idea from one of the squares in my shadow box for that class (and I'm working on it SLOWLY so one day I WILL have a finished project to show you, hehe).  The images were also fun to color with my classic inks and blender pen.

After I had them all done though, I needed SOMETHING to corral some of them so I put together this cute little box:

Look familiar?  That's because it's actually made with the scallop envelope die!  You just cut out two and lop off the bottoms so that they fit together.  Bend the front envelope flap down and use some sticky strip to stick it down and tie a ribbon on (oh I guess I did stamp it before I assembled it) and you're done!  You could add a tag or embellishment which I probably will do at some point if I end up gifting this to someone.  These would make a great little gift for sure!  Of course they don't all fit in there so I better go make some more;-)

Happy stamping!

And PS:  I'm not listing all the colors and supplies I used since there were so many, please forgive me but I'm working a TON of hours right now and I'd rather stamp than type:-D  If you have questions please feel free to ask!

Hello, my friends

Hi stampers!  I have two cards for you today.  Why two?  Well because I couldn't decide exactly what I wanted to do with my design so I made one of each:-)  If you know me then you know I'm very indecisive sometimes (ask my hubby when it's time for me to make a decision about where to go for dinner....hehe) so I really couldn't decide how I wanted to make this card.

What I DID know was the color combo I wanted to use.  A good friend of mine on SCS mentioned that one of her new favorite combos was pool party, island indigo, and wild wasabi and I thought it sounded PRETTY!  I also really wanted to use the My Friend stamp set that I just got.  It's just a great set!  I LOVE the floral image, it's great to use on the corner of your project and works great for a lot of techniques.  It's great for embossing and emboss resist, direct to rubber with water color crayons, and two tone stamping which I did on my card.

What I couldn't decide was wether I wanted to use the netting background stamp that I also just got or the borderlines polka dots (that I got FREE at convention in my plus fun class).  So, I'll show you both and you can tell me which you like best!  I think I like the one with the polka dots if I HAD to pick!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  My friend, netting, borderlines
Paper:  Whisper white, pool party, island indigo, wild wasabi
Ink:  Pool party, island indigo
Accessories:  Beautiful wings embosslit, lace border punch, island indigo ribbon, dazzling details

Well, whatcha think?  I told you the color combo was fab!  I also thought the butterflies would work well with this stamp.  The largest one has the new dazzling details glitter glue on each of the polka dots.  Next time you can't decide on a design why not make one of each and see what happens?:-)  Happy stamping!

Pretty in Pink

Hi stampers!  So this color challenge over at the Paper Players was just made for me! 

I love pink, it's my favorite color!  And normally my go to pink is mambo melon (hello, that was the main color at my wedding last summer remember?) so I thought this challenge would be good for me to step outside my comfort zone and use rose red which is a color that I really don't utilize often. 

And speaking of Pretty in Pink, this challenge is quite fitting as I JUST finished reading a book today that referenced PIP and a bunch of other 80's John Hughes movies including my fave, Sixteen Candles.  Jen Lancaster is one of my fave authors and this is her first fiction book.  It is basically about her buying Jake Ryan's house from the movie and it turns out to be a huge money pit.  As usual, she is freaking hilarious (if you're easily offended or don't get or like sarcasm then you might want to skip her) and draws from her own life a lot even in fiction.  Anyway, that's just a shameless plug for one of my favorite authors and I just thought it was rather fitting that I finished this book TODAY (I've been working on it all summer..just couldn't get into reading this summer) as I was going to enter this challenge...oh, I guess I should tell you the name, huh?  The book is Wish You Were Here:-)

So back to the stamping right...one of my MANY hobbies, lol!  I have also been dying to use the little pennant stamp from Warmest of Wishes that we got at convention.  It's the hostess set in the upcoming Holiday Mini and it's a-freaking-dorable!  So, yet again I'm all over the gamete of themes and holidays and what better for pink than Valentine's right?

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest of wishes, pennant parade, grateful greetings
Paper:  Whisper white, rose red, regal rose, subtles DSP stack
Ink:  Regal rose, rose red, pretty in pink
Accessories:  basic pearls and rhinestones, crystal effects, dazzling details, smooch illuminate top coat, small heart punch, pennant punch

Squeeee!  Isn't it cute????  Now, each of the hearts has a little something going on but I just could NOT get my camera to cooperate today and get a good detailed shot so you'll have to take my word that:
one has smooch illuminate top coat
one has a pearl
one has love from the Pennant Parade set
one has crystal effects
one has a popped up heart of DSP
one has a rhinestone
and one has dazzling details

Now, some of them you can see, the others not to much but it makes it totally cute and interesting.  I kept the greeting simple and it's from Grateful Greetings (one of my faves).  I wanted to sew the banners on but I'm still not seeing eye to eye with my sewing machine and I thought it looked cute enough as is (ie without a bunch of random holes from when my machine would eat it).  A bonus is that it's pretty flat and mail-able...that's something I'm working on...to make actual mail-able cards that I can ACTUALLY MAIL to people, lol!

Ok, had enough of my rambling yet?  Time for me to wrap it up and do something with my life...like stamp;-)


Happy stamping!

They say it's your birthday, nah nah nah nah nah nah

Anyone else hearing the geeky kid (Anthony Michael Hall) on Sixteen Candles singing to Samantha right now?  Ok, maybe it's just me:-)  Anyway, the card I have today makes me think of that scene.  I TRIED really hard not to like the hostess sets in the new catalog as they aren't very smart purchases on my part since they retire after one year no matter what....well...I got the words set of course but I kept eying the Ain't Love Grand set.

After I saw some super cute samples at convention, I knew I'd have to have it.  So, with my last order I caved;-)  It really is super cute with a vintage type twist.  So why does it make me think of that song you ask?  Well because of this:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Ain't love grand (hostess)
Paper:  Watercolor, newsprint DSP (retired), marina mist, night of navy, real red
Ink:  Stazon, real red, marina mist, night of navy
Accessories:  Modern label punch, aquapainter

So, it's not exactly the words but close enough for me I guess:-)  Isn't he cute?  Now, you'll have to forgive me here for using some retired DSP but I've got a TON and I need to use it and it just seemed to fit here!  I really do wish the newsprint DSP would have stuck around and I kind of thought it would with the first edition DSP but they didn't ask me now did they?  Anyway, I wanted to use some bright colors here and I liked the combo of marina mist, night of navy, real red, and black.  There was good contrast with the bright and dark colors.  I'm still trying to get better about making different sized cards and this seems like a good set for that!
For the finishing touch, I just cut the punched shape in two and adhered it to the back of my image!

Happy stamping!

All over the place...again

Hi stampers!  I told you that you won't know what to expect as far as posting from me for a while.  I'm all over the place...fun and summery, spooky and Halloween-y, fall themes, even Christmas!  Today I think it will be bright and fun!  I NEED bright and fun after my night last night.  I ended up with a horrible migraine.  Around 2am I couldn't stand it anymore and woke Jon to take me to the ER...well while I was getting ready to go I got sick, yuck!  BUT, I felt somewhat better after and was able to go to sleep and am feeling ok now, just tired!  I guess the one good thing out of it was that I've been having trouble staying out of these five alarm chipotle peanuts that Jon got....well I had some after dinner last night....I do NOT want them any longer;-)  Problem solved, lol!  So enough of my gross sob story:-)

I saw this cute little card on Pintrest (which I'm totally addicted to now so if I don't do any stamping you'll know why...I'm busy pinning, lol).  I thought it was totally cute and lo and behold it was from my demo website!!!!  I tend to forget that SU puts uber cute projects up there!  I should check it out more often!  You can take a look at the ideas there AND place a nice little order to make said projects by clicking the shop 24/7 to the right!  :-)  Anyway, at the time, I didn't have the netting background so I improvised with the small dot dot dot background (you'll be happy to know I've since placed not one but TWO orders and have the netting background stamp now, lol) and it turned out totally cute, see:

Stampin' Supplies: 
Stamps:  Sweetly said
Paper:  Whisper white, pool party, calypso coral, wisteria wonder, lucky limeade
Ink:  Island indigo, calypso coral, wisteria wonder, lucky limeade
Accessories:  In color polka dot brads, island indigo ruffled ribbon, mat pack and paper piercer, triple layer blossom punch

See, too cute!  I love how simple it is!  Of course I could also love it because it has those super cute polka dot brads as well.  It also does a great job at showcasing all 5 of the new in colors.  Anyway, I'm off to get some more stamping in hopefully before bed since I have a long day of work ahead of me tomorrow....and busy I will be as it's the first day of full pads and hitting drills!  I gotta stamp then rest up!!!  Happy stamping!

WARMEST wishes

Hi stampers!  So I should have posted this card a week or two ago when it was HOT HOT HOT here! Why you ask, should I post a Christmas card when it was the dog days of summer?  Well because the name of this here cute little set is "Warmest Wishes" and it's the new hostess set in the upcoming holiday mini and it's just the CUTEST!!!  We all got it FREE as our last give away at convention!  If you'd like to get your mitts on this adorable little set then all you have to do is hostess a workshop or place a qualifying order with me starting September first!  It's that easy and not to mention FUN!  Have a fun night out stamping with friends and earning FREE stuff!!

So....do you want to see my super cute card????

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest wishes (holiday mini 2011 hostess set)
Paper:  Wild wasabi, pool party, real red, whisper white
Ink:  Real red
Accessories:  Modern label and wide oval punches, basic pearls, polka dot embossing folder

Squeeeee!  It's just so cute!  And this is only ONE of the images!  You will find something for fall/thanksgiving, Halloween, and Valentine's day as well!  AND they work perfectly with our punches!  So fun!

I love my color combo here too!  You wouldn't really think of Christmas when you see pool party but it works and I love non-trad Christmas combos!  I kept it pretty simple since the color were bright!

Don't you want to make your own card just like this????  Book a workshop or card class with me and you CAN!  Shoot me an email today!!!!  Happy stamping!

Are you ready for some football?

Hi stampers, I'm not....but too bad, it's here....high school football season.  We had our first practice today and it wasn't half bad.  It was amazing out today, NOTHING like the oppressive heat and humidity we've had all summer.  I'm so happy about that (more for myself than the kids, is that bad? LOL)!  No one had any major issues today either!  A bored athletic trainer is a happy athletic trainer:-)  Sooooo, I hope I can still find some time to stamp in between all the foozball! 

I started a card before practice today but didn't get very far.  I'll probably be up pretty late tonight since I didn't get home until late but I'm just not sure I'll be focused enough to stamp!  Good thing I have some pretties saved up to share just in case, huh?  Take this little gem for example:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Best friends forever, tiny tags
Paper:  Very vanilla, elegant eggplant, wisteria wonder, first edition DSP
Ink:  marina mist, island indigo, pool party, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder, and elegant eggplant
Accessories:  island indigo ruffled ribbon, hemp twine, jewelry tag punch

Ohhh, isn't it just pretty???  I came up with the color combination from something I picked up at Momento Mall at Convention.  We could buy these cute little ribbon sampler keychains and I just love the colors!  The one I used as inspiration here has marina mist, island indigo, pool party, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder, and elegant eggplant.  That's a lot of colors!  But it was so pretty...I got my momma one too as those colors are right up her alley.  I doubt she'll ever actually USE it for fear of getting it dirty or anything (she's so funny like that) but it's the thought that counts right?

Anywho, I wanted to make a card using these colors and also wanted to use the BFF set I got at convention.  I stamped the hearts on the DSP and also cut them out of very vanilla card stock.  I wanted to stitch them down but we all know how (not) well me and my sewing machine get along:-)  I think it turned out nicely anyway. 

I'm going to try to get something done around here before I go to bed....we'll see how it goes and if I can make it back to post tomorrow!  Happy stamping and happy football if that's your thing:-)

Switching Gears

Hi stampers!  So I've been making a lot of bright, fun, summery cards lately since of course it IS summer.  Well, it WAS summer for me or at least it is until tomorrow.  Football starts tomorrow so for me, summer is over:-(  I'll be working late hours and weekends, booooo!  At least it's a bit cooler here....or at least less humid!  So, since it's now "fall" to me AND because I got my Holiday Mini pre-order last night, I have a fall inspired card to share today!

This time of year is always a conundrum for me...stamping wise anyway.  It's at this point in the year that I'm really IN to the fun and summery cards BUT I get new fall geared stuff and I have a bit of an identity crisis....what to stamp?  Summer or fall?  Or Christmas even????  So, forgive me if I waffle back and forth a bit as far as themes and color combos.  I'm not yet ready to give up the fun summer stuff (not to mention the fact that I just bought a bunch of summer type stuff, lol) but I'm excited for the holiday mini and everything fall and Christmas!  I guess I'll have to have a split personality for a while!  I want to make sure I make good use of my new catalog purchases AND my holiday purchases so I need to do a LOT of stamping!  We won't even talk about how neglected my summer mini stuff is!  I need to learn to cut back there since I get so excited about the new big catalog....

Ok, enough of my issues (lol)!  Here is a little sneek peek from the new Holiday Mini:

Stampin' Supplies (I had to go back and edit as I forgot...so sorry:-):
Stamps:  Out on a limb, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  whisper white, rich razzleberry, lucky limeade, crumb cake
Ink:  rich razzleberry, more mustard, lucky limeade, early espresso
Accessories:  spider web embossing folder, scallop squares duo die, basic rhinestones, basic black scalloped polka dot ribbon

EEK!  Isn't it CAAA-YOOT?  The set is called "out on a limb" and I think it's my favorite set in the mini!  And yea me, I didn't get too many sets out of the Holiday mini (so far....) but I HAD to have this one!  It's so cute and fun!  As you can see from my sample and probably tell from the name, there are various Halloween images that can sit or hang on the limb!  Too cute!  I'm also loving the scalloped polka dot ribbon in black for Halloween!   This card is semi-cased from the Holiday Mini itself.  I really also love the color combo of more mustard, lucky limeade, and rich razzleberry!  And of COURSE I had to dig out the spider web embossing folder!

Ok, that's it for me, I've got to rest up for football practice tomorrow....ok, actually I need to rest up so I can get up and go for a RUN in the morning so I get that out of the way since I don't have to work until the afternoon, hehe!  I think I should start a program of no stamping if I don't work out....I need SOMETHING to motivate me:-)  Happy stamping!

Sweet Sunday!

Hi stampers, I told ya I'd be back.  I have another challenge card and it's also the first time I've played along with this one too!  I really liked the sketch at Sweet Sunday today!  I'm trying to go outside of my comfort zone sometimes lately and one is different sized cards!  I tend to make only standard A2 cards so I loved the narrow card here.  I need to make more of them!

I broke out the Little Additions set for this card...now I need someone to have a baby so I can give it to them, lol!  I found my color combo on my color coach!  It's so handy.  If you don't have one you should just click the little order 24/7 button over to the right and get one today!!!!!  :-)  So here is my "addition":

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Little additions, Sweetly said
Paper:  Whisper white, baja breeze (smooth and textured), pink pirouette, early espresso
Ink:  baja breeze, pink pirouette, early espresso
Accessories:  Pretty in pink ribbon, basic pearls, triple heart punch, dazzling details, subtles glimmer brads, tasteful trim die

Isn't is just cute?  I haven't made many cards lately that I've been pleased with so I was happy to have this one come out so well...and like I'd pictured in my head!  There really is a lot going on in a small space.  I cut out the items sitting on the shelf and then popped one up on a dimensional.  The pink heart frame has dazzling diamonds on it for some shimmer.  I also punched a heart out and adhered it over the little heart that's on the crib as the card needed another pop of pink.  The little pearl in the corner makes it stand out a bit more as well.  I also made one of those little bows with a brad in the center that I used to adhere the sentiment.

Speaking of the sentiment, isn't it cute?  It's from Sweetly Said which is a totally cute greeting set!  I got it FREE with my hostess benefits!!!!  I popped it on a little banner and that's it!

Happy stamping!

Experimenting!

Hi stampers...I'll have a couple of quick posts tonight as I've been busy with a couple of challenges today!  The first is at the Color Lab.  I recently found this challenge blog and don't know how I could have missed it, I love it!  The colors this week are really pretty!

 See, isn't it pretty?  I used it to make this purty card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Hello, Doily, Pursuit of happiness
Paper:  Whisper white, so saffron, pool party, not quite navy
Ink:  Not quite navy
Accessories:  Basic pearls, modern label punch, punch pack, pool party ribbon

I've been wanting to do some emboss resist with the doily stamp so I dove in.  I sponged it with not quite navy ink.  I love layering the label punches this way too.  A couple of little pearls and it was done!  It's pretty mailable too!  Hope you liked it!  Happy stamping!

Text me!

Hi stampers!  I have a quick post today of a card I made last week.  I won the Sweet Floral background stamp at convention and needed to use it!  I was so excited to win it since it was a stamp I had on my original order but took it off to "save money" :-)  Usually with my luck IF I win something it would be something I already had...so, needless to say I was ecstatic to win something I wanted on the VERY FIRST NIGHT!  So I think it was about time I ink it up!

I love the First edition DSP as you well know and the theme for one of the June Dirty Dozen challenges over on SCS was to use text so that inspired me for this card.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Sweet floral, kindness matters
Paper:  River rock, soft suede, very vanilla, first edition DSP
Ink:  Soft suede, river rock
Accessories:  Modern label punch, punch pack, basic rhinestones, smooch spray, smooch ink (gold & pearlized top coat), crochet trim

It's a pretty simple card but there actually is quite a lot going on!  The background was stamped in soft suede and then I hit it with not only vanilla smooch spray but the gold and log cabin as well.  The focal image is outlined in the gold smooch ink.  That was a technique that I learned in my plus fun class at convention.  You just take the applicator and run it around the edge of your cardstock.  It's hard to see on the photo, but I also covered the little punched flower in the iridescent smooch ink.  It's called the pearlized top coat I think.   It's very pretty in real life and just adds that extra something.  Other than that I just did some sponging and distressing.

Hope you like it!  Happy stamping!

Medallion x 2

Hi stampers!  I had so much fun making my flower medallion the other day that I decided to make another one! This time for the Colour Q Challenge number 96!  I really loved the color combo again this week and of course the inspiration picture!

I WANT that comforter!!!  Isn't it a pretty combo?  I struggled yet again this week though to come up with something.  So, I thought I'd try out the medallion in another color combo but this time I'd go less vintage and more clean and simple.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Happy Greetings
Paper:  Whisper white, tempting turquoise, basic gray, lucky limeade, subtles DSP stack
Ink:  Bashful blue, tempting turquoise, basic gray, lucky limeade (markers)
Accessories:  Polka dot embossing folder, lucky limeade ruffled ribbon, polka dot brads, punches - decorative label, large and small scallop, blossom triple layer

I haven't used many of my summer mini sets lately so I wanted to dig out Happy Greetings for this card!!  We all know I'm a sucker for words!  I liked the way this bold font went with my bold medallion.  It also worked perfectly with the four colors on this card since there were four parts to that greeting.  And I told you I have LOTS of polka dot brads in all the colors except for coral so I just had to use one here!  Making the medallion is easy, just punch out all the parts and crumple them up.  Then just pop a brad through the center!  I thought about adding some pearls or something but I stopped because sometimes less is more!!!

I love this card but it wasn't where I thought I was going in the beginning when I saw this card so I may try again with the combo...I want to try to use the BFF set with it...funny how a set that I wasn't excited about getting for free has becoming a fave....figures, right? :-)

Anyway that's all I got for now, I need to go running although I'd rather be stamping.....so happy running or stamping...whichever you decide to do, lol!

Wisteria WONDERFUL

Hi stampers!  I'm in love with one of our new colors Wisteria Wonder!  Ok, well I love all of them BUT wisteria wonder is so pretty!  I'm not a big user of purple in my stamping but this color has upped my purple usage by about 100%, lol!  I'm also not a big eggplant user but this color looks fantastic with elegant eggplant.  Just look at this fancy-schmantzy card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Best friends forever, you're a gem
Paper: first edition DSP, lucky limeade, elegant eggplant, wisteria wonder
Ink:  Elegant eggplant, wisteria wonder, lucky limeade
Accessories:  basic rhinestones, oval and modern label punch, wisteria wonder ribbon, antique brads, scallop circle punches, blossom triple layer punch

It's gor-jus isn't it?  Yes, I'm channeling Jan Tink and YILM!  I haven't been very excited about any of the cards I have made lately but I really love this one!  I really thought I'd have trouble with the BFF set I got at convention as it was one I had passed over in the catalog many time but I'm finding a lot of uses for it.  It's great for backgrounds and accents!

The color combo used here is actually from the color coach.  I hadn't been using it much lately and have been kid of stumped for combos, duh!  Open up the color coach Mindy!  I LOVE the bright pop of lucky limeade here! 

 The flower medallion as I like to call it was super easy to make. I should make more cards with big, fancy stuff on them.  Yes, they are a pain to mail but it's not like I actually MAIL many of the cards I make anyway, right?  LOL!  Gotta get better at that!  Anyway it was just punched out, balled up, and sponged.  Poke a hole in all of them and then put the brad through.  Then I just glued some ribbon on the back!  Stamping on the first edition paper is also one of my favorite things to do! 

I think that about does it for this card!  Time for me to go run 3 or 4 miles...or try at least.  I waited until later since it's so hot out and now I want to stamp instead, haha!  Hopefully I'll get some stamp time afterward...wish me luck on BOTH!  Happy stamping!

Debbie Downer

Hi stampers!  I've been feeling kind of down for the past few days for a number of reasons so I haven't done much stamping.  Good thing I did a lot on Saturday I guess.  So, I won't be too chatty...all of my SCS friends are probably wondering what's wrong with me:-)  But I have a cute card to share...

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Button buddies, pursuit of happiness
Paper:  Whisper white, basic gray, calypso coral, lucky limeade
Ink:  Calypso coral, basic gray
Accessories:  Scallop square duo die, polka dot brads

This color combo is a little out of my comfort zone but I think I like it....and I think it's some of the colors in our berry blossom DSP which I'm not a fan of either so yay me for trying something different.  I waffled back and forth over basic black and basic gray....looks like the gray won out.  It was a bit softer.  This flower from button buddies just NEEDS to be in funky color combos though!  I also love the funky fonts in Pursuit of Happiness but you know that already, lol!  And you know I love the polka dot brads.  I'll be using them on a LOT of projects I would imagine since I had to buy three packs to just use the coral ones for my convention swap!  Lots of blues, greens, and purples left over!!!  I also hadn't used my scallop square die in a while so I pulled that out too.

Ok, back to moping around for me....maybe I'll stamp something tomorrow night....AFTER I work out that is...MUST WORK OUT!!!!  If I keep telling myself that then maybe I'll actually do it, right?????  :-)