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!

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!

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!

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!

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!