Blogging Break

Hi stampers!  I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  I'm going to be taking a blogging break until the new year.  I need a little time to recharge:-)  And I haven't had much stamping time so I'm OUT of things to share anyway and I've got a lot on my to do list for the next week or two.  Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I've not fallen off the face of the earth!  I'll be back before you know it!  I'll leave you with a picture from our Christmas!

Happy holidays!

HSS #99

Hi stampers.  Hope you are having a fabulous Tuesday!  It's time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week we have an inspiration photo for you and here it is:

Cupckaes!  As IF we need any more treats after Christmas huh?  :-)  I KNOW I don't but thankfully this week's challenge is calorie free, hehe!  So, break out the frosting...I mean paper and create something inspired by this picture!  But before you do that check out what I made!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Create a cupcake, bring on the cake
Paper:  Very vanilla, lucky limeade, pool party, calypso coral
Ink:  Pool party & calypso coral
Accessories:  Edgelits, cupcake punch, dazzling details, twitterpatted buttons, circle punches, lucky limeade organdy ribbon (SAB), polka dot embossing folder

How fun!!??  I just had to pull the fun cupcake punch out this week.  I love that little thing!  There are also a few sneak peeks from SAB and the Occasions Mini Catalog in there too!  How about a little twitterpatted button cupcake topper?  Or a little organdy ribbon bow?  I LOVE the DSP from the SAB catalog and thought this little striped piece was very festive and oh so yummy!  My last little sneaky peek is that coral scallop!  Isn't it cute?  It's a cool little "edgelit" and the scallops have scallops..oh my, just too cute!!!  Add some dazzling details "sprinkles" and my cupcake is ready to eat!!!

Now head on over to the HSS challenge blog and bake up your own project:-)

Happy stamping!

Merry Christmas!

Hoping everyone has a very merry Christmas!  Thanks so much for following my blog!  Your kind comments are just like Christmas presents...all year long!  Thank you for taking the time to leave me nice words, I read each and every one of them and you all make my day!  And thank you for letting me share my passion for paper with you:-)  Here's a Christmas card for you (click on it to get the full effect)!

Love ~ Mindy (and Jon:-)

Christmas cookies!

Hi stampers!  Happy Christmas Eve!  I know everyone's busy (so far I've run four miles, made a pumpkin pie cheesecake, pizza dip, cleaned the house and baked cookies, lol) but I just had to share what I made today!  I finally used my Sweet Pressed Cookie stamps and they turned out so well!  I used the sugar cookie recipe that came with the stamps and I didn't THINK I liked sugar cookies....well...guess who can't stop eating them, ha!

The cookie stamps are very cool!  My hubby even agreed when I let him make a couple!  You get a wooden handle and then three silicone cookie stamps!  They leave a raised image on your cookie that is just too cool!  You just make balls of dough and stamp away!  They do take a bit of practice to get the cookie pressed to the right thickness and evenly but it was easy! 

Check them out!

Now, I made some without sprinkles and some with.  For the ones without I know some people had trouble with the dough sticking a bit and had to dip the stamp in sugar but mine didn't seem to stick.  I did not refrigerate my dough either like some have said.  I think I'll try that next time just to see if there is a difference!  For the ones with the sprinkles I took the stamp and turned it upside down and poured the sugar over it then wiped the excess off with my (clean, hehe) finger.  I then took the dough to the stamp and pressed down with my hand until I had the stamp covered.  Then I flipped it over and finished pressing it on the cookie sheet!  Viola!  Sprinkles only on the raised images!

And you know me, as a stamper I can't just GIVE some cookies away.  I HAD to package them up all cute!  I used some retired ribbons I had laying around and a stamp from Grateful Greetings and our cello bags.  It was quick and easy and super cute...I need some kids to do this stuff with, hehe!

I hope everyone likes them!

Wishing you all a merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ!

Christmases Past

Hi stampers!  So stampy time has been limited around here lately thanks to work and the holidays!  Sadly, I can't find anything new lying around to share....at least from this year! 

So, I'll show you a card I made last year that I don't think I ever shared.  Now, I cased this card from somewhere but since I didn't show it, I didn't save who made it SO...if it's yours please let me know as I don't like casing without credit!  But I really wanted to share something today and I'm all keyed up after Christmas with my dad tonight!  Too busy thinking of ALL the things I have to do tomorrow since we stayed pretty late and I'm not going to get done tonight what I thought I was:-)  I hope the pumpkin pie cheese cake I'm going to bake will have enough time in the fridge before we eat it tonight.  I should really share the recipe with you too, it's SOOOO good and I don't even like pumpkin pie!  Maybe next week!

This is a card I made last year using the cute Santa set from the mini.  That set was so cute and vintage!  I sure wish it had made it back in the big catalog!  I wanted to play with it again this year but never had the chance to get it out!  But here's a pretty picture anyway!

Hope you all have a merry Christmas Eve!

Dreaming of a white Christmas...

 sadly, I don't think it will happen!  Hi stampers!  I don't normally like snow BUT I always like when it snows on Christmas Eve and Christmas:-)  Although, normally I want to wake up the day after Christmas and have it gone, hehe!  It snowed last year and was so pretty but it stuck around way too long:-)  But it looks like this year will be snow-free.  Guess we'll have to settle for this little guy instead:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Button buddies, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  Whisper white, bashful blue, real red
Ink:  Basic black, real red, pumpkin pie markers
Accessories:  Northern flurry embossing folder, neutrals buttons, baker's twine, white taffeta ribbon

I've had this little guy sitting around for a while and I guess it's the perfect time to share!  Button buddies has to be one of the cutest sets ev-ah!  How fun is he?  I love that it works with our buttons and tons of other embellishments like brads and the shaker frames!  The images are also totally cute on their own too!

Are you ready for Christmas?  I'm usually set by now but I feel like I'm playing catch up this year!  I think I've put off a few things since I know it's on Sunday and I'll have Saturday to do a FEW things (but I think I've put TOO much off to cram into a few hours).  I finished wrapping the gifts I have (still need a few more dangit) and made tags for them tonight.  Going to try to finish shopping before work tomorrow and then Saturday I need to fit my workout in AND deep clean the house all while making some cookies with our new cookies stamps and a pumpkin pie cheesecake!  I think I'll try to make the cheesecake Friday night so it has time to chill but we are doing Christmas with my dad that night so we'll see how that goes:-)  Why did I do this to myself????  And we don't even have kids....yeesh...what's it going to be like when we do???  I hope you're doing better than me!  And I hope we can both find some time to stamp over the holidays!!!

Happy stamping!

Fancy Folds!

Hi stampers and happy Tuesday again!  I can't believe another week has come and gone and CHRISTMAS is THIS WEEKEND!  Of course I'm still kind of in the Christmas stamping mode so I have yet another Christmas card, hehe....sometimes I make them even AFTER Christmas!  Anyway, we have a FUN challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Click the link to check out the FUN FOLDS!

I'm pretty much a traditionalist when it comes to card making but that's why a challenge like this is great!  It pushes you to do something different!  I'm really liking unique folds now!  So go ahead and check out what the rest of the design team did (they always make A-MAZ-ING stuff) and find a fold you like and play along!

Like I said, I'm still in full on Christmas mode (maybe because I'm STILL not done with my shopping...eek...let alone having anything wrapped and under the tree) so here is my easel card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Grateful greetings, many merry messages
Paper:  Very vanilla, lucky limeade, island indigo, calypso coral, pool party, blushing bride, silver glimmer
Ink:  Same as papers, tea stain distress ink
Accessories:  Stocking accents die, circles number 2 die, border punch, elastic cord (retired), fine glitters (retired)

I had some more ornaments laying around from my Shiny Brite inspired card I posted last week so I wanted to use them up...especially since I FOUND some Shiny Brite reproductions while Christmas shopping Saturday AND they were on sale!  I picked up a box for myself (hehe...another thing to collect) and one for my dad and step mom as they have a whole Christopher Radko tree and I think they'll like them!

Easel cards are by far my favorite fold I think!  They are super easy (you can find a tutorial on SCS) and they are cute!  Please excuse my crooked Christmas greetings...I don't know what happened!!!  I embellished my ornaments to look similar to Shiny Brites in fun retro colors using glimmer paper, fine glitters and sticky sheets.  I also added a bit of retired elastic cord.

Now head on over to HSS and play along!

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday - Tidings of Joy

Hi stampers!  Time for another Mailable Monday card!  I'm preparing my cards to send out today and I sure have to go through them to find ones that I can mail for no extra postage or a padded envelope, ha!  Looks like a lot of people may get hand delivered cards, hehe!  We just have too many fun accessories to pile on cards I guess! 

This card is a simple one I made a while back for a color challenge but I missed the entry date, hate when that happens!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Tidings of joy
Paper:  Very vanilla, river rock, early espresso, neutrals DSP stack
Ink:  Early espresso
Accessories:  smooch illuminate accent ink

I kept this one way simple!  I love this set but have put off doing much with it since it involves a LOT of coloring!  So, I thought I'd try a different way to use it by leaving it uncolored.  I think it turned out well!  I did cut out the star from river rock and then coated it with the illuminate smooch to make it shimmery.  It should go through the mail nicely:-)

Happy stamping!

Country Christmas Card

Hi stampers!  Sorry for not having more to share this week.  It's been a bit crazy with work and preparations for Christmas!  I'm trying to get my shopping done and failing!  I'm failing at stamping cards too...either I have a headache or just plain feel un-creative this week!  I made a few cards the other night and was not happy with many of them - HATE that!  Anyway I did manage to make a few that I liked.  I'm going to try to make some more Christmas cards this weekend and then try to get them all ready to be mailed by Monday.  Then I plan to keep stamping through Christmas and start my Valentine's too...we'll see how that goes.  Maybe I'm just Christmas carded out!  Maybe my fun Occasions Mini stuff will freshen my mojo up!  Anyway....

This card is a bit "country" which is not normally my taste but I think it's somewhat coming back into style as of late.  I made one like this a few years back as well after being inspired by a card I had seen at my upline's meeting!  I also need to get to work on using up that holly berry paper that I ordered late in the season...only a few more days to crank out the Christmas cards!!!!!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Pennant parade
Paper:  Very vanilla, wild wasabi, real red, early espresso
Ink:  Wild wasabi, early espresso
Accessories:  Heart trio and round tab punches, dotted scalloped border punch, dazzling details

Doesn't that heart trio punch just make the cutest little Christmas tree???  I sponged the edges for depth and dimension and added some dazzling details to make it really shine!  Half of the round top tab punch makes a perfect little tree stand/pot too.  I used glue dots to adhere the hearts, I highly recommend using them for small pieces like this!  A very simple very cute little card!

Happy stamping!

Shiny Brite

Hi stampers! I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.  I used to love putting up the Christmas tree at both of my grandma's houses!  They both had cool old ornaments...you know the ones I'm talking about....shiny brites!  I'm not sure if either one of my parents has any now but I remember them so well and the cool vintage looking boxes too!  My favorites were the ones that had the silver or gold middles that sloped inward and I like the bells too. I guess the ones with the indented parts were called reflectors. Remember these?

I love everything about shiny brites aside from the fact that they remind me of fond memories with my grandparents!  I love the shininess, the shapes, and the bright colors!  I did a little research and found some interesting history about them too (I'm geeky like that).  You can read it HERE.  I'm sure there is more info out there.   Christopher Radko now makes reproductions and I just may have to get some of those.  I should really should ask my parents if they have any as well!

Anyway, sorry for the long trip down memory lane but those ornaments inspired this card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Grateful greetings, Tree trimmings, music notes (wheel)
Paper:  Very vanilla, pool party, calypso coral, blushing bride, silver glimmer
Ink:  Pool party, calypso coral, blushing bride, more mustard, versamark, tea stain distressing ink
Accessories:  Stocking accents die, circle punches, blushing bride pleated satin ribbon (occasions mini sneak peek), pewter embossing powder

I used the stocking accents die since the ornament reminded me of the shiny brites.  On the coral ornament I sponged my glimmer paper with more mustard ink to make it gold!  How cool is that?  I also sponged each ornament in it's respective color and then tea stain over that.  I even distressed the ribbon with the tea stain ink.  I thought the muisc wheel would make the background nicely vintage as well.  The card base is also sponged with pool party and tea stain and the vanilla panel is tea stained as well.  I did goof up the spacing of my ornaments and hangers a bit on the blushing bride one but maybe you'd never have noticed if I didn't just tell on myself, no?  Oh well, that's what makes a hand made card one of a kind right? :-)

Shiny brites just may inspire many more cards!!!!  I wished I had thought of this earlier in the Christmas card making season, ha!  I'm off to go look at more pictures of them and reminisce!

Happy stamping!

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Hi stampers!  It's time for another challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week the challenge is "An old fashioned Christmas".

I love vintage, especially for Christmas so this was right up my alley.  I did have trouble deciding what to use though!  We have so many great old fashioned sets both current and retired!  I just may have to do a few more projects with this theme!!!!  I finally settled on Bells & Boughs and the Christmas Collage background stamp.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Christmas collage, grateful greetings
Paper:  Crumb cake, cherry cobbler, watercolor
Ink:  Stazon, versamark, various for watercoloring, crumb cake, river rock, cherry cobbler, tea stain
Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, waffle paper, crochet trim ribbon, circle and designer label punch, cherry cobbler dazzling details (occasions mini sneak peek)

I think the waffle paper looks very old fashioned so I pulled it out to make some ruffles around my main image.  That stuff is really easy to use and mold into about any shape you need.  The card is also sponged with crumb cake ink and then I sponged some river rock over that.  I also rubbed the tea stain ink from the distressing kit over the crochet trim to dirty it up a bit.  Did you know we now carry ink refills for those now?  Yup, we do!  My final detail is another little sneak peek into the occasions mini catalog.  I put some CHERRY COBBLER dazzling details there on the holly berries!

Now, head on over to HSS and check out the challenge and all the other samples from our fabulous design team then play along!  And have a happy old fashioned Christmas!

Happy stamping!

A Valentine SMOOCH

Hi stampers!  I've got another sneak peek from the Occasions Mini Catalog and a big smooch for you!  Well, smooch spray anyway, lol!  We now have smooch in blushing bride and it's sooo pretty and sparkly and perfectly pink!  Remember though, to spray LIGHTLY.  This card looks pretty good but I was a bit heavy handed on it's mate....oopsy!  You can also get a better look at the new pleated satin ribbon (have I mentioned how cute it is????). 

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  P.S. I love you (occasions mini), Grateful greetings
Paper:  Crumb cake, whisper white, blushing bride (textured), Everyday enchantment (SAB)
Ink:  Crumb cake, calypso coral
Accessories:  Everyday enchantment ribbon & brad pack, blushing bride satin pleated ribbon, blushing bride smooch spritz (occasions min), full heart punch, Illuminate smooch accent ink

Isn't that paper scrumptious????  It's from this year's Sale-A-Bration offerings meaning you can get a pack of it FREE (along with other fab items) for every $50 spent between January 24 and March 31!  It's probably the prettiest DSP I've ever seen SU offer!  And FREE!  Squeeeeeee!  The little brad on the heart is also a SAB item and they are adorable too!  A bit hard to see but I highlighted a few of the hearts in the big heart with some of the illuminate smooch accent ink.  A super simple but super cute V-day card...and how cute is that little cupid image from the PS I love you set????

Hope you enjoyed the little sneak peek!

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday Mittens

Hi stampers!  Happy Monday!  I'm going to try to start a little theme here on Mondays called "Mailable Monday".  If you know me or follow my blog you know I like to pile lots of embellishments on my cards.  And while it makes them super cute it also makes them a pain in the you know what to mail:-)  And I always have a hard time finding a card I can easily mail when I need one....so, I'm hoping this little feature each week will help me to up my stash of simple and mailable cards...now, if I can just remember to make a few each week, haha! 

This week I have a take on another card I featured last week using the sketch I liked from Freshly Made Sketches.  I've been wanting to pair together real red, pool party, and whisper white for a while.  I love the combo with the bright winter white. 

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Christmas greetings, jolly bingo bits
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, pool party, in color (2011-2012) DSP stack
Ink:  Real red, pool party
Accessories:  circle punches, dazzling details

I just love these mittens, I think they are so cute!  I added a touch of dazzling details to the little star on each one although you can't see it well in the picture.  I also love the greeting from Christmas greetings, it's such a fun font.  I used pool party here but I also think baja breeze would look great.  Sometimes I need cards like this to remind me that less can be more!

Happy stamping!

An early Christmas present....SNEAK PEEK!

Hi stampers!  I have an early Christmas present for you!  A sneak peek from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog!  The catalog has some really fabulous stuff in it as they always do!  Now, while it's mainly themed for spring holidays I managed to use some of the goodies I got to crank out another Christmas card!  It just goes to show that you can use just about anything SU offers for whatever occasion you need! 

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Heard from the heart, Bells & Boughs
Paper:  Crumb cake, real red, wild wasabi, pear pizzazz, blushing bride & Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Ink:  Real red
Accessories:  Pleated satin ribbon, Hearts collection framelits dies, Fashionable hearts embosslit (all sneak peeks), dazzling details, illuminate smooch accent ink

It's hard to see in the photo but I did stamp the poinsettias from bells & boughs on the heart in real red.  I also adhered the new pleated satin ribbon (OMG, it's SO cute) behind the heart with glue dots.  Also hard to see is that I put some accents on the little embossed hearts with dazzling details and smooch accent ink.  I think all this Valentine's stuff made a super cute Christmas card and heard from the heart had the perfect sentiment!

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks and Merry Christmas a bit early:-)  There will be more peeks to come!

Happy stamping!

Bright Christmas Favor and a bonus

Hi stampers!  I've been busy in the craft room so there may be lots-o-posts this weekend:-)  I loved the challenge this week over at The Colour Q.  I've been especially into all things fun, funky, and bright for Christmas so this challenge was right up my alley.....

....and then I got to the part where it said that the challenge this week is for something other than a card....say what????  Well, I have to say that cards are my first love BUT I did manage to come up with this cute and simple little treat holder using the pillow box die (which holds three Hershey's miniature candy bars perfectly....although I don't have any to fill it with since my hubby regularly eats my stash, hehe):

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest of wishes (hostess)
Paper:  Crumb cake, pear pizzazz textured, whisper white
Ink:  Poppy parade
Accessories:  Scalloped square and designer label punch, whisper white taffeta & pool party ruffled ribbon, basic pearls, pillow box die

Isn't it cute?  And these could be made up pretty quick if you need a lot of them too!  I may make them for my friends at work!  I did sub pool party for Caribbean (because it's retired of course and I didn't feel like digging it out as I keep them hidden away) and pear pizazz for celery (simply because I like it better, hehe).  BUT since I'm me and I really liked this color combo I HAD to make a card too so you get a bonus project.  I should have made them coordinate but each project kind of took on a life of their own!  And yes, I'm currently obsessed with Polar Party...buy it NOW, you NEEEEED those cute critters and trees!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, four the holidays
Paper:  Crumb cake, pear pizzazz, pool party, poppy parade, watercolor
Ink:  Pool party, staz on, various for watercoloring
Accessories:  Stripes embossing folder, scalloped squares duo die, scalloped dotted punch, pool party ruffled ribbon, in color glimmer brads

Isn't it cute?  Now, the line art and cutesy/country style of this stamp is not normally my thing BUT this one really grew on me and I think I'm liking the style more.  It seemed outdated to me at first but you know how things are and what was popular once always comes back around!  I wish I had kept all the leg warmers I'd had as a kid since they are back in now, ha!  Back to crafting my weekend away!

Happy stamping!

Pinspiration

Hi stampers!  Say what?   Did I mean perspiration???  No, I mean pinspiration....so what the heck is that you ask?  Well it's what I call it when I see something on Pintrest that inspires me to make a card:-)  Lately, I've seen a LOT of things there that get my creative mojo going.  Right now there are a ton of holiday pictures posted and they can provide lots of ideas. I'm mainly drawing great color combos from them at the moment. 

Take this one for instance:  crumb cake, garden green, & pool party.  I just LOVE it!  It's so wintery and fresh!  It makes a great card, see:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, pennant parade
Paper:  Crumb cake, garden green, in color (2011-2012) DSP stack, watercolor
Ink:  Crumb cake, garden green, pool party, white craft
Accessories:  Silver smooch accent ink, circle punch, pool party ruffled ribbon, houndstooth & stripes embossing folder, basic pearls, modern label punch, white embossing powder

I had a hard time deciding which embossing folder to use here!  I was going to go with the snow burst folder or the linen one but in the end I thought the houndstooth was more "woodsy" and fitting with my inspiration picture and color combo.  I did know I wanted to use the stripes folder for the main panel in crumb cake.  I also sponged it lightly for added depth.  I colored in the stars lightly with the smooch accent ink.  I wanted to make them yellow but I didn't want to add any more colors and I thought the silver would be more with my theme.  I think I like it! 

Polar party is a fun set to color so it might be popping back up on the blog again!  I just love those trees!  It's kind of a style that I don't normally like and is outdated but I think it's coming back and I kind of like it:-)  Funny how things come and go and tastes change!

Now go find your own pinspiration!

Happy stamping (and pinning, hehe)!

Deck the halls!

Hi stampers!  Still in denial over here that it's creeping ever closer to Christmas!  I think I've mentioned before that I'm way behind on my Christmas stamping.  Sometimes I have to work, sometimes I don't feel well and others I just plain feel lazy and instead of stamping I lay on the couch:-)  I need to get a move on!  Not to mention I need to like buy some gifts, hehe!

Anyway, I've had this card made for a while now as I seemed to be in more of a Christmas mood a few months ago than I am now!  I made it using an expired challenge sketch...they are fun to play along even if they are over:-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Merry & Type
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, pear pizzazz, island indigo
Ink:  Markers - real red, pear pizzazz, island indigo
Accessories:  Circle and scalloped circle punch, polka dots embossing folder

I kept this one simple so I could easily mail it and because I used a bright and bold color pallete!  I thought this set would be perfect for a bold color scheme.

Happy stamping!

Stuck in a color rut!

Hi stampers!  I told you right, that I've been stuck on a certain color combo as of late?  Well you saw my card this week from the color challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments....it was my color combo and I'm totally obsessed with it!  It makes such fun and fresh holiday cards!  Again, they seem to have that retro feel.  I guess I shouldn't say I'm in a rut because I really like these colors and the cards I'm making with them but I do need to branch out...someday:-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Stitched stockings, jolly jingles wheel
Paper:  Whisper white, pear pizzazz, blushing bride, real red, pool party, red glimmer
Ink:  Pool party, real red, blushing bride
Accessories:  Stocking punch, circle punch and die, real red taffeta ribbon (retired), polka dots embossing folder

I used some fun stuff here!  The pink circle is stamped with the jolly jingles wheel.  I tend to forget about my wheels but they make such fun accents!  I also love the stocking punch and it looks so cute with the glimmer paper!  I'm also really liking white right now.  Design wise a large expanse of white can be super pleasing to the eye!  The Sale-A-Bration catalog will be coming out soon and it has great use of white space!

So, do you recognize the sentiment????  Hmmmmm???  It's from the jolly jingles wheel too!  I bought a second wheel and cut it up *GASP, I know* and used our new cling mount foam to make regular stamps out of them.  HOW cool is that?  If I have any interest I could do a video on how to do this. 

Happy stamping!

Shake shake shake

Hi stampers! My card today was inspired by the challenge over at The Friday Mashup.  The challenge for this week is to make a shaker card and we all know I love me a shaker card!  I also love the new mica flakes and shaker frames since they make it easy to make a shaker card!  You get a HUGE tub of the flakes too, so those things are a good value!  I also used a new stamp set (new to me anyway) called Polar Party.  The card is inspired by a card from the Holiday mini but I just switched out the stamp sets.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, distressed dots
Paper:  Watercolor, pool party, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder (textured)
Ink:  Stazon, pool party, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder
Accessories:  Circle punches, window sheets, polka dot printed brads, dazzling details, shaker frames

Thanks for visiting!  Now go shake it up yourself:-)

Happy stamping!

Retro

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday!  It's time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  This week is a fun color challenge!  I'm totally obsessed with this color combo right now:

I think it's totally fun and trendy and it's fun and bright too!  It's kind of got a retro 60's and 70's feel to it too.  I've seen a lot of holiday decor at Target and other places in these hues as well.  So, I've been making Christmas cards with these colors of course.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Pennant parade, Bright Christmas, distressed dots
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, blushing bride (smooth & textured), pear pizzazz, pool party
Ink:  Real red, pear pizzazz
Accessories:  Candy Cane Buttons (retired), circle and scalloped circle dies, basic pearls & rhinestones, crochet thread, pennant builder punch

I have a bunch of the candy cane buttons left over from last year so I had to stick one on here!  I love that little pennant punch too, it makes such fun Christmas trees!

Now, click that link up there and head on over to see what the rest of the design team came up with and then play along with us and link up your card!

Happy stamping!

Feeling Fresh!

Hi stampers!  Happy Monday!  I can't believe another one's here already:-)  The weekends are NEVER long enough are they?  And I still can't believe it's coming up on Christmas!  I don't have many gifts bought yet, I haven't finished decorating the house inside OR out, and I'm way behind of Christmas card making!  I better get busy, especially on the gift buying since a lot of things I can only find online and on the card making since I have a lot of un-inked stamps!  :-) 

Although I had fun in Chicago I'm always a bit sad when I can't stamp on the weekend.  I WISH I could take everything I own in the car since I had a three hour trip there and back.  I could have done some serious crafting in 6 hours:-)  So, after all the unpacking, laundry, cleaning my studio (it was OUT of control in here) I got down to business.

I loved the simple yet cute sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  This is another one I'll have to file away for future use.  I already have ideas for it!  Too bad I probably won't have time to enter the oodles of other cards I plan on making with it:-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Jolly bingo bits, Polar party
Paper:  Very vanilla, real red, wild wasabi, lucky limeade, Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Ink:  Real red, basic black
Accessories:  Circle punches, dazzling details

I kept the card simple because....well...just because I liked it that way!  I finally cut into the Holly Berry paper I just got too.  See...lots of stuff that needs to be used over here!  And I'm pretty predictable...I used Jolly Bingo Bits here as it's just perfect for the three little shapes.  I love that set and need to use it a lot more.  It's great with OR without the bingo card.  I also inked up the sentiment from Polar Party which I also just got, tee-hee.  Finally, I couldn't decide whether to use wasabi or limeade so I made one of each.  I must have spent too much time with my ever-indecisive mom this weekend, lol!  I LOVE her but she is way more indecisive than even me!!!!  Let me know which one you like better.  I think I'm leaning toward the limeade a teensy bit more than wasabi.  

I think I should start a new thing on my blog and call it Mailable Monday since I'm forever in need of cards I can throw in an envelop and mail without extra postage or a special envie or anything:-)  I have a bad habit of piling lots of stuff on my cards!  Maybe I'll do it...if I can get organized AND if I can remember to NOT pile everything in sight on my cards, lol!

Happy stamping!

As a side note I am aware that my blog background is making it a bit difficult to read my blog and I'm sorry.  My idea did not turn out quite like I had intended but making a background takes a fair amount of time and I've been short on that lately and then out of town over the weekend.  I'll change it when I get a chance to work on it so please be patient.

Guest designer!

Hi stampers!  I have a "guest designer" for you today!  My MOM!!!!  Now, this is kind of a big deal because I didn't think she had ANY interest in stamping.  She LOVES my cards and I often give her cards to send to friends and family but she didn't really "get" my obsession...er...I mean, hobby!  Well, she was at our house Friday night before our annual Christmas trip to Chicago and I was showing her things I had made and I asked her if she wanted to make a card....and she said YES!  :-)  I was so excited and we had a lot of fun working on her cards. 

I found her a sketch and a color combo to use and she chose Tidings of Joy as her stamp set.  I did tell her we'd keep it simple and not color it since it was already late and we had to be up really early to leave for Chi.  I knew she'd like that stamp set as it was religious, cute, and had some barnyard animals in it.  You'll notice one of the cards has a circle....well, we had to revamp the second one because her favorite animal the chicken got cut off, hahaha!  Now that she's retired and moved to our farm I'm really surprised she doesn't have some chickens already!!!  Anyway I helped her but she did everything herself and they turned out totally cute and she really liked stamping!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp sets:  Tidings of joy
Paper:  Whisper white, river rock, early espresso, island indigo
Ink:  Versamark, early espresso
Accessories:  Linen embossing folder, circle punch and die, gold embossing powder

Please excuse the poor picture but it was late and dark and my pictures don't turn out so well at night.  And I had to photograph it before she took them with her, lol!  I had her emboss the main image and she thought that was  like the coolest thing ev-ah!  I should have recorded it as I'm sure we were pretty funny.  I think she thought "what the heck" when she stamped in versamark and when she lifted it up and she couldn't see it, lol!

It was fun stamping with my momma...it may be the first and last or maybe not, who knows.  She surprises me now and then, hehe.  I do think she "gets" it now, the creativity of it and the fun of it.  She was really proud of what she made and I was proud of her too!  She even knows who she is going to send her two cards too:-)  Now, how can I get her to really get into it and buy lots of stuff from me????  LOL!

We had a good time in Chicago like always!  We got up there pretty early for us but it seems like the day was over faster than ever.  How does that happen?  And it finally didn't rain (much) or snow on us either!  It actually feels kind of strange because it's usually FREEZING when we go and it was in the 50's yesterday!  Doesn't feel like Christmas time to us, lol! 

Happy stamping!

Still got the blues

Hi stampers!  I know I haven't been posting as often lately...it's that time of year....busy time that is:-)  I'll try to do better.  And I don't actually have the blues but my card sure does:-)

I haven't stamped all week for no good reason other than I've just been plain lazy!  But I wanted to get some challenges in so I made myself sit down last night at NINE and work on a card.  I don't usually start stamping that late but I was determined to get something started AND finished!  So, I combined the Sweet Sunday sketch which was adorable this week and the pretty color challenge over at the Colour Q.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Delicate doilies, Christmas greetings
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, night of navy, marina mist, subtles DSP stack
Ink:  Night of navy, marina mist, bashful blue, versamark
Accessories:  3" circle die, scallop circles die, snow burst embossing folder, northern flurry strip, whisper white taffeta ribbon, marina mist polka dot scalloped ribbon, pewter embossing powder, dazzling details, regals buttons, frost white shimmer paint

I just loved how it turned out!  I've been wanting to use the doily set for winter for a while and this was perfect.  My favorite part is the embossed panel.  I took a sponge wedge (I cut my stampin' sponges into 8ths...my very frugal momma would be proud, lol) and got it damp and then dipped it in the lid of my frost white shimmer paint.  I then dabbed it on some scratch paper first to remove the excess and lightly tapped it all over the paper.  That snowflake pattern looks FAB with this technique!

Happy stamping!