Mailable Monday...Just Kidding

Hi stampers!  It's Monday again, how does that keep happening?????  So the card I have today is pretty much the opposite of a mailable card :-)  Well you could mail it but it would take a bubble envelope....or do like I do with a lot of my "fancy" cards...I stick them in packages that I'm already mailing as an extra surprise then problem solved, ha!

Anyway, I'm totally obsessed with the pop-up posies kit for so many reasons!  First, the flowers of course are gorgeous.  And then there are those cute little embossed kraft colored tags!  We totally need an embosslit to cut these puppies out!  Third, the just for you stamp is just adorable!  And then finally, I love that you can totally do so many more things with the kit than just make tags out of it!  I'm loving making cards with it!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Pop-up posies kit
Ink:  Crumb cake, versamark
Paper:  Crumb cake, sycamore street DSP (SAB)
Accessories:  Pop-up posies kit, SAB ribbon & brad back, summer starfruit stitched satin ribbon, pool party embossing powder

It's just so yummy!  I LOVE these colors and the pool party embossing powder!!!!  And of course that's my favorite pattern from the SAB DSP!  And isn't that brad pretty in the center of the flower there?  It's in the kit!  And making the flower is super easy.  I just took 10 of the flowers and stacked them up then poked a hole and inserted the brad.  After that I just kind of fluffed up and bent up some of the petals.  Ta-da!

Make sure to pick up a couple of the kits today!  And don't forget it's the last week for Sale-A-Bration! Make sure to get your freebies by Friday because then they are gone FOR-EV-ER!  Gasp!!!!!

Happy stamping!

HSS 154

Hi stampers!  It's time for a new challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  It's a sketch this week!  I love sketches!  It's usually the hardest part for me when designing a card!

And I have to say that after a full birthday weekend of celebrating and also a lot of doing nothing at all I wasn't really excited to sit down and HAVE to stamp something for this challenge (sometimes I work ahead...sometimes I just wing it, lol) late Sunday night. I don't think I got started until after 8 which is rare for me.  Most of the time when I stamp it's earlier in the day or evening and I'm winding down by 8 or 9.  So, I was super surprised when this card came together really quick AND I kind of loved it:-)  Must be the fact that it's a GREAT sketch!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Patterned occasions (SAB)
Paper:  Whisper white, rich razzleberry, lucky limeade, calypso coral, sycamore street DSP (SAB)
Ink:  Rich razzleberry, lucky limeade, calypso coral
Accessories:  Window frames collection framelits, paper peircing pack, calypso coral ribbon & button pack (SAB), whisper white baker's twine, lattice border punch, basic rhinestones

I have to say I was going to use a circle for my elephant only to find that she wouldn't fit in the punch I wanted to use!  Whoops!  So onto plan B...which worked out and I like how I put the pearls in the corner!  So yay for plan B! :-)  And that is calypso coral.  I had to take the picture at night so the colors are a bit off.  In the picture I think it looks more tangerine...but it's not.  Oh and I did totally screw up and use elegant eggplant for the flower and sentiment instead of razzleberry but just pretend it's razzleberry, ok?  And please don't tell me I'm the only one who does that!!!  I thought it looked funny for a few minutes and then it dawned on me what I did...but I didn't feel like doing it over...close enough, right? LOL!

Ok, make sure to check out all the other design team samples and don't forget to play along!

Happy stamping!

Another year older

Hi stampers!  So I took a little blogging break over the weekend...because it was my birthday on Saturday:-)  It's rare that I have a day off for my birthday let alone a Saturday!  Usually I've got a silly basketball game to cover.  I thought I'd stamp but my parents were here and Jon and I went to the mall (and I didn't get ANYTHING....must be my old age, lol) and then I came home and didn't do much of anything until our Mexican dinner...which was A-ok with me!!!!  And then I didn't get too much stamping done yesterday either as I went out of town for a bridal expo with my BFF.  Fun stuff!!!!!

So, I've had this card sitting on my desktop for a while.  It's a case of a case but with some different colors.  I really need to use this SAB suite more since there's only about a month left with it!  I really love it!  And I'm going to be in need of some thank yous for my presents:-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Madison avenue (SAB), wishes your way
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, pool party, sycamore street DSP (SAB)
Ink:  Sahara sand, rich razzleberry, summer starfruit
Accessories:  Paper peircing pack, basic rhinestones & pearls, SAB ribbon & brad pack, whisper white baker's twine

Well, I'm off for a LONG day of work!  I need a bumper sticker that says I'd rather be stamping like the I'd rather be fishing ones, ha!

Happy stamping!

Play on words

Hi stampers!  Ok, I'm kinda sorta proud of myself about this one, hehe!  I wouldn't say that I'm very clever sometimes (just ask my hubby....some of the stuff that comes out of my mouth is just plain dumb, lol) but this card is just genius!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Patterned occasions (SAB), wishes your way, lovely little labels
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, lucky limeade, sycamore street DSP (SAB)
Ink:  Rich razzleberry, tangerine tango, island indigo
Accessories:  Paper peircing tool, scallop circle punch, circle punch, whisper white baker's twine, sycamore street ribbon & button pack (SAB)

Get it?  Blowing wishes your way and an elephant??  Hehe!!!!!  Ok, maybe I'm not that smart but the play on words made me giggle a little:-)  And I seriously love this elephant so I was excited to use him in another way than just the thanks a ton sentiment that's on the stamp.  I also omitted the little flower he holds in favor of the little heart from lovely little labels.  Lots of SAB love going on here!  Don't you just love this paper?????

Speaking of elephants I recently watched the movie Water For Elephants.  I had read the book long ago and loved it.  The movie was ok.  I'm not a fan of Rob Pat but I got over that since there was a cute little doggie, lol!  Jon worked some deal with the cable company after we had some trouble so we have some movie channels now and I'm not sure it's a good thing!  It's kind of eating into my stamp time, lol!   I love watching movies and now with the new comfy couch it's much easier to sit on my rump and stare at the TV than getting up to stamp!  Eep!!!!!  I think I've watched about everything on there that I want to though so hopefully I can stamp away!  And hopefully this silly winter storm doesn't delay the shipment I'm supposed to get today!!!!  Oh, even though the thing I wanted MOST in the order (the bottle caps I forgot to order last time) are backordered!  Grrrrrr!  Everyone must love them!!!!!

Oh, and one more thing!  I've had some questions about how I edit my photos so I've done a video of how I do that.  It's not such a big deal with what camera you use to take photos but the editing is KEY! I just use my iPhone to take my pictures honestly but the editing can make them look way more real and professional too.  I also recommend a watermark so people can't just steal your photos AND it directs them back to you and your blog or gallery when they find them on Pinterest or other sites!  Plus, edited photos are just prettier to look at, lol!  Now, I'm NOT an expert or anything so I'm sure there are better videos out there but this is a quick and dirty way to get it done!  I use GIMP and it's free and easy!  Any questions just let me know and if YOU have any tips for ME please let me know:-)  Especially how to make a permanent watermark in GIMP on a Mac!!!

Thanks for sticking with me and the chattieness today!  Ha!

Happy stamping!

Woe-is-me Wednesday

Hi stampers!  So I just found out that there isn't a new episode of Nashville tonight!  What the heck???  What is the point of Wednesday if I don't get to watch my favorite show?????  Well I guess that means I don't have any excuse for not working out for at least an hour, stamping, and getting some laundry done, right? :-)

Anyway to cheer myself up I think I'll post a cute card!  I cased this from a card I saw on Pinterest made by Penny Smiley.  I love how she used the elements in this set.  I added a few things here and there but the design is the same idea!

 It's true I don't case much anymore but sometimes if I'm feeling less than creative it's a good way to get the creativity flowing!  That way you know you're going to create something cute and aren't mad when it turns out badly...which sometimes happens if I'm struggling, lol!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Madison avenue (SAB),  petite pairs
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, Sycamore street DSP
Ink:  Sahara sand, tangerine tango, island indigo
Accessories:  Large rhinestones, basic pearls, baker's twine (whisper white), bitty butterfly punch, apothecary accents framelits, sycamore street ribbon & button pack (SAB)

This is one of those stamp sets I'm kind of sad that it's an SAB set because I love it!  The paper too!  I better get to using it more since there's about a month left of SAB!  So, if you want it or any of the SAB items you better get your order in!!!  :-)

Happy stamping...and no Nashville watching.....

Retro butterflies

Hi stampers!  I LOVED the Retro Sketches sketch this week!

Eeep!  It's so cute and you could go so many different directions with it!  I chose to keep it really simple with the hectic week I'd had last week and I have to say that it worked out well:-)  I'll probably use it time and again!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Pop-up posies kit
Paper:  Whisper white, rich razzleberry, island indigo, summer starfruit, Sycamore street DSP (SAB)
Ink:  Rich razzleberry
Accessories:  Butterfly punch, bitty butterfly punch,  vine street embossing folder (SAB), basic rhinestones

I just got the bigger butterfly punch with my SAB order to go with the smaller one I had gotten from the Occasions catalog and they go together so well!  I also used the stamp from the pop-up posies kit...I LOVE that our products work so seamlessly together!  While the stamp might come with the flower kit it looks terrific on this card all by itself!  Don't be afraid to mix up stamp sets and kits and elements that you may not think of putting together immediately!

I pulled the colors from the DSP which I love.  And a couple of little tips.....

1) The rhinestones are actually the strips of jewels.  I took my paper snips and carefully sniped them apart in groups of three which was way easier than trying to line up the rhinestones individually.

2) I used glue dots to adhere the butterflies so that their wings stand up.  I gently fold them in half a little then put a glue dot on the back and stick it down.  You can then "fluff" up the wings to make them look like they are flying away:-)

Artisan inspired

Hi stampers!  I wanted to stamp and post over the weekend but with my grandmas passing it just didn't happen.  Add in the fact that Saturday night we found out that my in-laws had to put down one of their Boston's unexpectedly I just didn't have much time to stamp or blog by the time we spent some time with them and then with my family.  I had planned to stamp Sunday night after my grandmas visitation but my family has a tradition of eating at a local pizza place called Monical's.  If you are ever in Illinois you should totally try it, it's sooo good and we ALWAYS have to go when my Indiana cousins are here.  And let me tell you...I thought we ate a lot of pizza when we were growing up!  Yikes!!!!  Now there are grand kids in the mix...we went through an insane amount of food, lol!  Well I ate way too much pizza of course and was too full to stamp, lol!  Anyone else ever too stuffed to stamp?  LOL!  It happens often to me when we go out to eat:-)  Anyway hopefully things are a little less hectic this week although I do have a meeting this afternoon and a game tonight, boo!

The card I'm sharing today is a card that I made after making another card the other day that I decided to save for the Artisan contest.  Now, don't think you're getting too much of a sneak peek because while I was inspired by the colors and some of the elements the other card is totally different.  And honestly I don't like this one much, lol!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Madison Avenue (SAB), everything Eleanor, pursuit of happiness, alahambra wheel
Paper:  Whisper white, crumb cake, Sycamore street DSP
Ink:  Versamark, crumb cake, pool party, island indigo
Accessories:  Large scallop edgelit, paper peircing pack, pool party embossing powder, summer starfruit stitched satin ribbon, flower trim, in color polka dot brads, vintage faceted buttons, linen thread

But I do love these colors together!!!!  And there is a LOT going on and a lot of accessories!  If you don't have the pool party embossing powder you need to get it like NOW!  I looooove it!

Better get ready for my meeting!

Happy stamping!

When it rains it pours

Hi stampers!  With the title of my blog post I wish I had a card made with the new umbrella set but I don't.  Haven't had a chance to play with that one yet! I was hoping to tonight but we got some bad news while out at dinner.  My in laws had to put their boy dog down tonight as he was showing symptoms of a brain tumor.  We are a very animal loving family and quite frankly I think most of us love our dogs and cats more than people:-)  They are always happy to see you and are never rude or yell at you and they keep all your secrets!:-)  I also lost my grandma on Friday so it's been a sad week around here. She was 91 and had a good life and I have so many great memories of her though so I'm not sad.  I'm happy she's not suffering after getting pneumonia last week and can be reunited with my grandpa.  But, hopefully things look up soon and I can get some stamp time in!

Good thing I have a few pretty things stored up to share!  This is one I came up with the other night using the little pop-up posies kit which is super cute and my new favorite thing...pool party embossing powder.  It also uses my maybe ALL TIME fave color combo....crumb cake, pool party and summer starfruit!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Pop-up posies kit
Paper:  Crumb cake, pool party, sycamore street DSP (SAB), pop-up posies kit
Ink:  Crumb cake, versa mark
Accessories:  Pop-up posies kit, in color polka dot brads, pool party embossing powder, dotted scalloped punch, sycamore street ribbon & button kit (SAB)

I just LOVE the colors together and I love that ribbon, so pretty! And I love that DSP and the embossing powder!  Seriously it's all wonderful!  The kit comes with those cute embossed labels, three different flowers and brads to use in the center (which I swapped out in this case).  It's really for little tags but I love that you can take our kits and make other things with them!  There are so many possibilities here!

Just looking at the pretty picture cheers me up a bit!  I hope it brightens your day as well...or evening by the time I'm getting to this:-)  Best laid plans...you know....

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday - Bonus Edition

Hi stampers!  I'm finally getting into the swing of stamping again and I'm going to TRY to blog more often now that I'll hopefully have more to share...except I've started working on my Artisan entires and I can't share those, whoops!  :-)  I did get one done the other night...at least I think I'll enter it.  Last year I kind of made cards for that specific reason (as it was much later) but this year I think I'll just maybe enter cards that I end up thinking I like.  The one I made Friday started out as just a regular card to share with you all but I kept adding things and ended up impressing myself, lol!  I'll be working on more of them now that I'm getting a bunch of fun stuff tonight from the UPS man!

I am a bit worried what possibly putting our house on the market this spring and finding a new house might do to my stamp time though.  We looked at a house yesterday and it just goes to show we have a LOT to do to our house to get it ready to sell, eek!  It kind of overwhelms me...so maybe I'll just ignore all the stuff and stamp!  LOL!  Sounds like a plan right?  Oh...and don't go to open houses when it's freezing rain out...the drive at this house was totally steep but we managed to make it up ok....but as soon as we left I put one foot on the step outside and down I went taking the hubs with me!  Oops! Of course the first thing I said wasn't are you ok or I'm ok, it was "did anyone see that?"  LOL!!!!  Anyway, I don't feel like this was the house for us....but of course hubby loved it and wants to put an offer in!  I think there will be a lot of that in our search.  Anyone else relate to that out there? :-)  But more about this in another post....

Ok, onto my card....or cards!  I have two today!  I loved the color challenge at Splitcoast this week!  I actually made this card (the mailable one) second but I'm going to show you it first.  I actually did the dessert option too which was to make a Valentine's card with these non-traditional colors!  I don't usually even READ that far into the challenge after I see the colors, lol!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Patterned occasions (SAB), make a cake, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  Whisper white, soft suede, pool party, calypso coral, in-color 2011-2013 DSP stack
Ink:  Soft suede, pool party, calypso coral
Accessories:  Circle punch, perfect pennants die, basic pearls, argyle embossing folder

I totally wanted to use this cutie when I saw these colors and I had just used the heart from make a cake on another card and thought it would replace the flower he is holding in the stamp.  Isn't it cute?????  There is a teeny tiny pearl on the heart but it should go through the mail just fine:-)

And then here is a non-as-mailable card:-)  I love the Madison Avenue stamp set...even more because it's FREE!  But the images are modern and fun.  I'm trying to use it with more than the coordinating SAB paper too.  I tend to get in a rut when I only use certain things with other certain things, kwim?  I did kind of base this off a card I showed you the other day...it's fun to case yourself sometimes, ha!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Madison Avenue, friendly phrases
Paper:  Whisper white, soft suede, pool party, calypso coral
Ink:  Soft suede, pool party, calypso coral
Accessories:  Soft suede polka dot ribbon (retired), large scallop framelit, paper peircing pack, basic pearls

Ok, how's that for a two for one?  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy stamping!

Sale-A-Brate Good Times!

Hi stampers!  It's here!  Woo-hoo!  Sale-A-Bration started today!  It's our favorite time of year!  For every $50 you spend you get a SAB item FREE!  There are a bunch of exclusive items (including an embossing folder, ribbons & buttons, stamps, DSP, a punch) and some regular catalog items also!

I'm still kind of in a stamping slump although I'm hoping the hoards of stuff I ordered this morning (hehe) will help that when it gets here:-)  So, I did manage to stamp a few things on Sunday.  To start, I took a gander at pictures from samples at Leadership.  My artisan friends were lucky enough to get to design them all so while I don't know exactly who made the card that inspired mine...it was one of them:-)  I changed it up slightly by using two flowers and switching the side they were stamped on.  This color combo is a bit out of my comfort zone as I'm not a huge tangerine fan but for some reason I really liked it!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Madison avenue (SAB), friendly phrases
Paper:  Whisper white, Sahara sand, pool party, Sycamore street DSP (SAB)
Ink:  Sahara sand, tangerine tango, pool party
Accessories:  Pool party baker's twine, color spritzer, large scallop framelit, rhinestones, paper peircing pack

I have to say (and I think I've said it already, oops) that this DSP is really making me love Sahara sand! I need to use it more often!  It's the new crumb cake I think, ha!

Don't forget to click the shop 24/7 button over the right and get your FREE SAB items!!!!

Happy stamping!

Sitting down to stamp

Hi stampers!  I'm just NOW sitting down to stamp!  Wow it's been a long day!  I lazed around a bit this morning and then ran for all of 3 minutes outside...I didn't realize how drizzly it was and ICK!  No way was I dressed to get all wet!  So the Y I went:-)  Hoping it's dry tomorrow morning!

Then by the time I got cleaned up and had lunch it was time for work....which was delayed, oh joy!  Sure, I can sit here for hours....I have nothing else I need to be doing:-)  THEN, hubby got a new Durango while I was working (yay for another car payment, NOT, lol) so of course I wanted to go for a ride immediately!  Then dinner and grocery shopping...and then cookie baking and laundry.  Phew!  Maybe I should go to bed instead of stamp!  Nahhhhh!  And speaking of the cookies, I'll have to share them on here soon!  They are so cute and yummy!

But, before I get inky I wanted to share something I made the other night with some new goodies!  I just LOVE this little elephant stamp!  And the patterns on the SAB DSP are fun and funky!  They are neat color combos too!  This is totally reminding me to use sahara sand!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Patterned occasions (SAB)
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, island indigo, Sycamore street (SAB)
Ink:  Sahara sand, tangerine tango, lucky limeade, island indigo (markers)
Accessories:  Circle punch, honeycomb embossing folder

It's a totally simple card but totally fresh and fun and bright!

And now it's time to stamp!  Maybe I should have saved my peppermint mocha and my diet cokes from dinner at BWW for right now!!!!!  Caffeine!!!!!!  LOL!

Happy stamping!

A Change of Pace

Hi stampers!  I'm still in Christmas card mode although I haven't gotten many done this week.  But today I have a change of pace and a card I made last week after I got my mini and SAB preview order. You can get another DSP for SAB this year and while it's not AS pretty as last year's (and no paper EV-ER will be) it's still really pretty!  And it has sahara sand in it which I tend to forget about and it's already inspired me to use more of, yay!

Anyway I can't say that I'm in love with this card but it's springy for sure!  Which seems totally bizarre to me at this time of year, ha!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Madison avenue, fabulous phrases
Paper:  Whisper white, rich razzleberry, pool party, sycamore street DSP
Ink:  Rich razzleberry, pool party summer starfruit
Accessories:  Honeycomb embossing folder, circle punch, mini brads, large basic rhinestones, 7/8" scallop punch, bitty butterfly punch

I used a few different new items here.  The small scallop punch makes a cute flower!  I just punched a bunch, scrunched them and used a mini brad to hold it all together.  I also added a butterfly using the new punch on one card and one of the new big rhinestones in the center!

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks and the change of pace....now back to your regularly scheduled holidays:-)

Happy stamping!

The most wonderful time of the year....

Hi stampers!  For once I'm not talking about Christmas...which we all know I love...but I'm talking about Sale-A-Bration!!!  It's coming next month from January 22-March 22!  And I just happened to get a big box of goodies yesterday from SAB and the upcoming spring seasonal catalog.

BUT I've been SICK!  I came down with some kind of cold or flu virus on Friday and didn't even go to work.  Felt better Saturday for our trip to Chicago (which was awesome) but then crummy again on Sunday and maybe even worse Monday!  I don't think I've been down this long with anything for quite a while!  My hubby was worried, he's not used to seeing me sick!!!  You know I'm sick if I was home for two whole days and didn't even walk into my stamp room!  I was finally able to do some stamping last night so I can't wait to share everything with you and hopefully keep the samples coming (although I'll have to revert back to full on Christmas mode after a day or two)! Of course I have to work late the next three nights and work on Saturday too...perfect timing for new stamping supplies, right? :-)  I'm just hoping I can make it 12+ hours for the next three days!  This has really wiped me out!  I had every intention of going to work on Monday but after I got up and showered and got ready and made breakfast I was spent!  I had to go back to bed!  Anyone else suffering from this awful virus out there???  I hope not!

I got some Valentine's stuff and some SAB stuff but there is a lot I held off on because I won't have much time to use it since I'm still in Christmas mode and I'm trying to save most of what I want for SAB so I can earn FREE stuff:-)  But I did get a few things......So, here is a simple card I made using one of the new SAB sets. It's SO cute!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Patterned occasions (SAB)
Paper:  Whisper white, rich razzleberry, summer starfruit
Ink:  Rich razzleberry, pool party, summer starfruit
Accessories:  Window frames framelits, paper peircing pack, basic pearls

Isn't that little elephant just so cute?  I used my markers to color him/her and the flower and I finally used the peircing pack around an image.  I hadn't done that yet and I need to do it more!  I really like the look!

Oh, and I wanted to say I'm glad to see so many of you also like the show Nashville!  I forgot about having to work late tonight so now I'm sad I'll have to watch it on the DVR!  Hope I'm not too tired when I get home from wrestling (yuck, my least fave sport to cover....).  I'm so excited for the winter finale!  Scarlett and Gunnar are my favorites!  They are so cute and I love their songs, I've downloaded them all!  I just love how all the actors sing their own songs!  I have to admit I like Sean the football player too....he's rather attractive, lol!  I haven't liked a TV show this much in a long time (probably since Buffy The Vampire Slayer, lol) so it's nice to have something to look forward to one night a week!  You just learn all sorts of stuff about me here don't you? :-)

Hope everyone stays healthy out there!  I wouldn't wish what I had/have on my worst enemy!!!!

Happy stamping!