Stampin' in the Rain

Simple Friendship #6

2009-09-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last one for August Inspiration Class. I cased this card from Tessa Wise.
{True Friend}
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Versamark
Paper: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Delicate Dots DSP
Accessories: 1 3/4" circle punch, dimensionals

Simple Friendship #5

2009-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

{True Friend}
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Bali Breeze DSP
Accessories: dimensionals

Simple Friendship #4

2009-09-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

{Razzleberry Friend}
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Ink: Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry
Paper: White, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade
Accessories: 3/4" circle punch

Simple Friendship #3

2009-09-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

Card #3 for August Inspiration Class. I used the images from the Simple Friendship set to make my own designer paper. And I'm really loving these new colors. {Friend}
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot, embossing folder, circle punch

Simple Friendship #2

2009-09-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

Another card from August Inspiration class. I don't htink you can see it very well, but the edges of the flower have glitter on them. {True Friend}
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Ink: Cameo Coral, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst
Paper: White, Cameo Coral, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst, Tea Party DSP
Accessories: rhinestone brad, glitter glue, scallop edge punch, circle punch, celery ribbon

Simple Friendship #1

2009-09-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's the first card from August Inspiration Class. I CASEd this card from Tessa Wise. I love this Parisian Breeze DSP. Sure wish I had used it before it retired!!! {True Friend}
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand
Paper: White, Kraft, Parisian Breeze DSP
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note die, eyelet punch

July Stamp Club Card #3

2009-08-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Pretty new colors. My favorite new DSP is the Razzleberry Lemonade! {Thanks So Much}
Stamps: Kind and Caring Thoughts
Ink: Dusty Durango
Paper: PTI White, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade
Accessories: none

July Stamp Club Card #2

2009-08-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Loving this new color, Bermuda Bay! {For You}
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Ink: Bermuda Bay
Paper: Fresh Cut notes, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: large oval punch, oval scallop punch, small oval punch, clear rhinestone brade, Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon

July Stamp Club #1

2009-08-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I had one more card from the Retirement SAS, but the photo's gone missing, so I'm moving on to something else. Since new stamp clubs started in July, I made two sets of club cards. This little birdie card was cased from this card on Splitcoast. I was just getting around to using Pacific Point in June. Turns out I love the color, and now it's gone. {Good Friend}
Stamps: Good Friend
Ink: Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron
Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Kiwi Kiss, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Accessories: none

Retirement SAS #5

2009-08-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of my favorites from the Retirement Party back in June. I love the Heartfelt Thanks stamp set! This card was inspired by this card by Renee Van Stralen. {Gratitude}
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Define Your Life
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Pink Passion
Accessories: White satin ribbon

Retirement SAS #4

2009-08-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

{Doodle Birthday}
Stamps: Doodle This
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Stickles, SU! markers in Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, and Mellow Moss

Happy Birthday, Zan!

2009-08-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

You know how you have certain people in your life that you just utterly enjoy being around? My dear friend and former teaching colleague, Zandria, is one of those people. She's fun, smart, witty, creative, talented, and to put it simply...FABulous! A few weeks back, she came for a visit and we spent the weekend designing and assembling custom invitations for her 40th birthday bash. Here's what we made:

Happy Birthday, Zan!!! Sorry we can't be there for the big celebration, but we're looking forward to seeing you for a visit afterwards.

Retirement SAS #3

2009-07-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

This was one of my favorites from the retirement class. I love beach images. This card uses the shells from Seaside. To make each shell, I stamped them with Sahara Sand onto soft colors. After cutting out the shells, they are arranged and popped up on dimensionals. The sand in the background was made with the splatter stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. {Warm Wishes}
Stamps: Seaside, Hugs and Wishes
Ink: Sahara Sand, Basic Black
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Soft Sky, Blush Blossom, Sahara Sand
Accessories: twine

Retirement SAS #2

2009-07-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I think there was a sketch challenge of some sort with this layout because I saw several cards on Splitcoast with this layout when I was browsing through the Wild About You category. So, I took my turn to make a simliar card. This is a quick, simple, and cute card that you can whip up in no time when you need to. {Sweet Little One}
Stamps: Wild About You, Holidays and Wishes
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery
Paper: PTI White, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery DSP
Accessories: square punches

Retirement SAS #1

2009-07-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

The first set we said goodbye to at the Retirement Party was Seeing Spots. This set is great for making your own patterned paper like I did in this card. {Congratulations}
Stamps: Seeing Spots, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, PTI White
Accessories: none...really????

Wild About Penguins

2009-07-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Oops! I thought I'd scheduled more posts automatically, but apparently Monday was the last one. Sorry about that.

This card didn't make the cut for my Retirement Stamp-a-Stack class back in June, but I thought I'd post it anyway. The cards that did make the cut are coming up in the next few days. {Fabulous Penguin}
Stamps: Absolutely Fabulous, Wild About You, Seeing Spots
Ink: Summer Sun, Basic Black
Paper: PTI White, Summer Sun, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Basic Black and Summer Sun markers, square scallop punch (non-SU!)

June Stamp Club Card #3

2009-07-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

This was the third and final club card for June. Maybe you noticed that all of the stamp sets used for club cards this month were ones that were retiring from Stampin' Up'! We said goodbye to some more favorites at my Retirement Party Stamp-a-Stack at the end of last month. Those cards are coming up next. {Blooming with Love}
Stamps: Blooming with Love
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Sahara Sand, Basic Black
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Hawaii Papaya DSP
Accessories: circle punches, round scallop punch, 5/8" chocolate brads

June Club Card #2

2009-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

This one is a direct case of a card I saw on Julie Davison's blog. I love how the bright colors pop off of the kraft cardstock. Plus, it used the Pink Flamingo DSP, which is simply gorgeous! {Hi, Thanks}
Stamps: Say it with Scallops, Jumble Alphabet
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black, Pacific Point
Paper: Basic Black, Kraft, Whisper White, Pink Flamingo DSP, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Accessories: corner rounder, black gingham ribbon, square scallop punch, square punch

June Stamp Club Celebrates the Fourth!

2009-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

And here we are with another belated holiday. This was one of the cards we made for June Stamp Club. I cased this card on SCS moving things around just a bit. A stamp club member, Sharon, was very clever and thought of the idea to add these little rhinestones to the stars. I think it really adds to the card. So, I did what any respectable stamper would do. I copied her. {Happy Fourth}
Stamps: Independence Day
Ink: Craft White, Real Red, Brilliant Blue
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Brilliant Blue
Accessories: circle punches, self-stick rhinestones, cuttlebug folder - dots, sizzix machine

Belated First Father's Day

2009-07-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! It's been awhile since I've posted, and that's because I've been enjoying spending summer time with hubs and baby AND I've been stamping! Yesterday, I photographed and uploaded 20 cards/projects to be able to share with you.

To celebrate Keith's first Father's Day, I made him a card and a canvas. Here's the card. I really like how it turned out. Super simple and masculine. I realized that I NEVER make masculine cards...ever. My poor stampers. I'll have to make a point to at least make a few a year.

The BEST thing about this card (besides the fact that it signifies we are finally parents) is that it scored me a Big Byte (you know...the Crop-O-Dile's cousin). That's right. This is actually a $50 kind of card. I couldn't help it if my Crop-O-Dile just wouldn't reach in far enough to set those inner jumbo eyelets. And, of course, by then the whole card was finished except for those. So, it had to be done.
Confession...I did write on the inside before I photographed the card. Before I wrote on it, this IS what it looked like, but I had to cheat and make a temporary inside so I could take the picture without the writing.

Now I also made him a super simple canvas using a photo of Kate from when she was only 11 days old. I just love the way she's looking up at him. All I did to make the canvas was paint it cream colored and slap on the photo and these pre-made vinyl words. I was not up for being very creative with this project.

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Linda's May Club Card #3

2009-06-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here's the last of the May cards. I really like this one. I don't do many wedding themed cards. I don't know if you can tell, but the basic gray layer is stamped with the large flower stamp from the Ever After set. The chocolate strip is crimped. {Happily Ever After}
Stamps: Ever After
Ink: Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Going Gray
Paper: Going Gray, Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Whisper White
Accessories: circle punches (1 1/4" and 1 3/8"), ticket corner punch, white organza ribbon

I want to say thanks to Linda for creating the club cards for May. I really appreciated it. I was still so tired then, I couldn't have pulled off a stamp club without her. I am happy to say that little Miss Kate has been sleeping 6-7 hours a night lately. And you know what that means...I'm stamping again (well, whenever I can sneak a moment). Yay!

Linda's Father's Day Creation for May Club #2

2009-06-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another card designed by Linda K. for our May stamp club. I like how she strung the word windows together with linen thread. Actually, I think she used twine, but I didn't have any, so my sample is the thread. I also really like this tree set, which I don't have, so it was nice to play with hers. {Father's Day Trees}
Stamps: Trendy Trees, All Year Cheer II
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Brocade Blue
Paper: Kraft, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Brocade Blue, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: 1/4" chocolate grograin ribbon, linen thread, word window punch

May Stamp Club #1

2009-06-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

My downline Linda K. designed the cards for our clubs in the month of May. I just still didn't have it in me during those first few weeks to do anything creative. Thank you, Linda!

She used one of my favorite stamps sets for this card, Always. Don't you just love that set? It's so versatile. I'm glad it's not retiring yet. All layers are stamped tone on tone, except the main image.{Your So Thoughtful}

Stamps: Always, Absolutely Fabulous

Ink: Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Accessories: 1/8" hole punch, 1/4" apricot grosgrain ribbon

Good baby news!!! Kate has been consistently sleeping about six hours a night for the last week and a half. Life is good!!! She's 10 weeks old today. This picture of her was taken for Faces of Bellingham about a week or so ago. So cute! Her eyes are actually still blue, but you can't tell in the picture. Everyone (except my mom) says she looks like her daddy.

Shoebox Swap Cards by Kathy

2009-06-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to share these swap cards were made by another gal in one of my clubs for our April meeting. I love the way she used the Parisian Breeze Specialty papers for her beach cards. I wouldn't have thought of it by looking at those papers, but I love it. After we made these cards, I ordered that paper because I liked it so well.

I've still got May and June club cards to share. Plus, I'm doing a Retiring Stamps Stamp-a-Stack, and I've got cards for that to share too. I'm on a roll!!!

April Club Shoebox Swap by Terri

2009-06-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Since Kate was due in April, I moved all of my clubs to either March or May. I do have one club that meets monthly though, so we scheduled it for the very end of April and members made shoebox swaps. Only two gals came, but we had a lot of fun. This first card was designed by Terri J. I love the color combination she used and the way the stars just pop off the card. The DSP is an old retired SU! one, I think from back in the day before they were double-sided. The stamp set is also a retired SU! one that coordinated with the large star punch.

March Stamp Club #3

2009-06-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

This card was stolen directly from the Sale-a-Bration mini-catalog. The only thing I changed was the accessory. I used a flower instead of buttons. {Be Kind}
Stamps: Botanical Blooms
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Versamark
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Accessories: white embossing powder, paper piercing tool and template, flower fusion two, yellow brad

March Stamp Club #2

2009-06-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another super simple, monochromatic card. The butterflies are cut out and folded upwards so it looks dimensional. I rolled up a glue dot to place along the body and adhere to the card front. The big butterfly is stamped on the card base and then covered with a cut out butterfly. To make this card even faster, you could just stamp all the butterflies directly on the card base. In order to get the two-tone effect using one ink color, I stamped off the image onto scrap paper first, then onto my cardstock to get the lighter shade. I just stamped regularly to get the darker shade.{Butterflies}
Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Baja Breeze
Paper: PTI white
Accessories: striped Baja Breeze ribbon

March Stamp Club #1

2009-06-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

We made this card for March stamp club. I actually made it for Lauren's Saturday Sketch, but I never got it posted. Speaking of Lauren's Saturday Sketch, I had to bow out of being on the design team. I just wasn't getting cards made for the posts, and I didn't feel it was right for me to continue as a design team member. She's changed up the Saturday Sketches to have other challenges too. I'm enjoying following what she and the gals are doing each week.

I didn't get any of the new cute Stampin' Up! Easter sets from the Occasions Mini-Catalog, so I had to scrounge a bit. I used Loads of Love and its Accessories sets to make this card. The images are colored with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I was reminded of why I never use the watercolor pencils. I never like the way the images turn out. Maybe it's just me and my bad technique, but I don't feel as though it looks as watercolored as when I just use the classic ink pads. The purple piece is embossed using the dots texture plate and Big Shot. The black trim is made using the eyelet trim punch.
{Easter Wishes}
Stamps: Load of Love, Loads of Love Accessories
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: PTI White, Pretty in Pink, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Basic Black
Accessories: Coluzzle circle templates, eyelet trim punch, watercolor pencils, blender pen, texturz plate, big shot

February Stamp Club

2009-05-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

These are the cards we made back in February for stamp club. So, if anyone from club is reading this and you were absent, now you can finally put the stamped pieces together! Yay!

{Loads of Love}

Stamps: Loads of Love, Priceless

Ink: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: SU! markers real red, basic black, going gray, pretty in pink, regal rose, and close to cocoa, silver brads, stickles, circle punches (1 1/4 and 1 3/8)

The image is colored with markers with stickles on the hearts. Here's a hint...Wait for the markers to dry a bit before adding the stickles. Otherwise the markers will bleed. Guess how I know this??? Not only have I done it before, but I also forgot to tell the stamp club members that before we made this card. Theirs bled. Oops!

{Valentine Fish}

Stamps: Holidays and Wishes, retired heart wheel

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze

Paper: Basic Black, Naturals White, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze

Accessories: red tafetta ribon, punches: scalloped edge, 1 3/4 circle, five-petal, 1/4 circle, boho blossoms, heart to heart (at the time I made the card, I didn't have this punch so I had to hand cut it)

I cased this card from an issue of Stampin' Success. One of my club members just happened to have googly eyes in her car. How convenient is that? Girl scout mom. So that club added adorable googly eyes to the fish instead of the punched and colored ones. Increases the cuteness factor by 110%.
{Monochromatic Thanks}

Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks

Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive

Paper: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: Kiwi Kiss striped ribbon

The more solid images were stamped multiple times...maybe three...to get the different shades. The outline stamp was stamped full-strength over each blossom. I used Old Olive ink to stamp the Thanks, but we found out it didn't really matter if you used that or Kiwi Kiss. The greeting turned out pretty much the same each time. Thanks is popped up on dimensionals. This is a quick, simple card you can create in less than 10 minutes in any color scheme. Gotta have a few of those in your tool box for times when you need a quick card.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll leave you with one last image. Kate started smiling almost three weeks ago, and it's happening more and more these days. Keith (DH) is very good at getting smiles out of her. We took this picture last weekend when she was six and a half weeks.

I'm a Mommy!

2009-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Remember me? Some of you have probably forgotten that you used to even read my blog. I have been quite absent from the stamping and blogging world...obviously. But, I'm back! I've promised my club members that I'm going to post the cards from our stamp clubs these past few months. I'm getting on it this weekend, girls! My goal is to upload those cards and schedule a couple of weeks worth of posts.

First though, I thought I should start out with the most important business...our sweet Kate. Katherine Elisabeth was born on April 7. It's hard to believe that she's seven weeks old already. How time flies! We are blessed, happy, and utterly sleep deprived!

These are some pictures we had taken of her when she was just 11 days old. Those of you on our email list have already seen these. I'll make an effort to post some more recent photos soon.

Isn't she adorable? Okay, maybe I'm a bit biased though. I just love her! Sigh.

Valentine's Day Saturday Sketch

2009-02-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Do you have special plans with your sweetie? We are going to afternoon tea together. Yes, he will actually do this with me, AND he'll enjoy it! I'm so LUCKY! I told my hubby that I didn't want a gift (preparing to be poor...relatively speaking), I just wanted an organized garage. We have so much junk (read: he keeps so much junk that just piles up), and we (he) never seems to go through it or at least doesn't make much of a dent. He did put together some Costco shelves a few weeks back, and today we threweverything into a box and onto a shelf. At some point, we (mostly he) will actually have to go through the boxes, but in the meantime, it feels much more organized. I have several other organizing tasks on my to do list. All this is leading up to clearing out a bunch of stuff from the baby room so that we actually can put together the nursery. Is this what they call "nesting" perhaps? Well, onto today's sketch...

For this card, I used Karen Lockhart's beautiful rosebud cupcake stamp. I colored the image with my Copics, ran a glaze gel pen over the rosebuds, and also added a few stickles. You can't really see the glaze or stickles in this photo though. The sentiment and little hearts are from a Stampendous clear stamp Cupcake set. Belatedly, I realized that I won't be giving this valentine to my cupcake. It's really just too girly to make a good valentine for a boy! Oh well!
{For You Cupcake recipe}
Stamps: Karen Lockhart rosebud cupcake, Stampendous
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whiper White, some random double-sided pattern paper from my stash
Accessories: paper flowers, Build-a-Brad, Marvy square scallop punch

Be sure to check out the other designs for today's sketch:
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman
Kendra

Thanks for stopping by!

January Stamp Club Card #3

2009-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

A whole week of regular blog posting. Can you even believe it??? This card is made with one of my all time favorite SU! stamp sets, Always. The hearts are stamped in craft ink and clear embossed. The background is stamped tone on tone with Pink Pirouette. {Always recipe}
Stamps: Always
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie craft, Regal Rose craft
Paper: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, and Sweet Always DSP
Accessories: chocolate chip grograin ribbon, clear embossing powder

January Stamp Club Card #2

2009-02-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

I love this little latte image. Going for coffee is one of my all time favorite activities...not that I drink coffee, I don't. I just love hanging out in coffee places. This quick, simple card can easily be turned into a gift card holder for a coffee gift card. I love the patterned paper on this one. It comes from the Fall/Winter catalog level three hostess set with the Seasonal Icons stamp set. {Love You a Latte}
Stamps: Pun Fun, Seasonal Icons
Ink: Basic Black, Pink Pirouette
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, DSP from Seasonal Icons hostess bundle
Accessories: blender pen

January Stamp Club Card #1

2009-02-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Remember how I said I was sick of winter? I wasn't kidding. All of my January club cards were Valentine's Day cards, starting with this little guy. Isn't he cute? Since I wasn't quite with it enough to order any new Stampin' Up! stuff over the holidays (and still haven't yet), I had to make due with my current stash. Okay, it's not like I'm lacking in the stamp department, but new stuff is just so much fun. This elephant is from last year's Valentine Bundle set called Happy Heart Day. I used markers to color in the grass, stems, hearts and ear, then used a blender pen and gray ink to color in the elephant. Stickles on the hearts makes for a little sparkle. {Unforgettable Friend recipe}
Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Ink: Basic Black, Going Gray
Paper: PTI white, Real Red, Basic Black
Accessories: black gingham ribbon, black brad, stickles, blender pen, markers in Garden Green, Real Red, and Pretty in Pink

Saturday Sketch

2009-01-31T18:38:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday! I'm delighted to say I managed to do the Saturday Sketch this week. I really miss stamping these days. It's rare that I find time to do any. I have to say those pregnancy hormones have destroyed most of my creative juices! I even cheated with this card. The main image is an old one from the set Meet Me at the Cafe by My Favorite Things. I've had the main panel stamped, colored, and even mounted on the olive cardstock for probably a year now. The awning is stamped on a scrap of patterned paper, cut out, and mounted over the main image with dimensionals. The coloring is done with my SU! markers (before I had my Copics). Even if I cheated, it felt good to get something put together last night. It was just about the only time I've been vertical this week. I've been home sick with a terrible cold since Tuesday afternoon. I don't remember the last time I had such a bad cold. Did me in, I tell ya! I'm still recovering. Hope you all are faring better against the germs!

{Bon Amie recipe}

Stamps: Meet Me at the Cafe by MFT

Ink: Palette Noir

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Basic Black, patterned paper ?

Accessories: gold brads, kiwi buttons, 1" and 1 1/8" circle punches, nestabilities, SU! markers

Check out what the other girls did with Lauren's sketch this week:

I actually felt good enough today that I've photographed my January Stamp Club cards from a few weeks back and have set up posts for this week. Yay!

Now, I have to get busy with February's cards. I just realized that I have clubs again starting later this week! I love having all the gals over, but where does the time go? I can't even fathom how I was doing this and card classes and working in my real life before pregancy!!!! Will my mojo ever come back????

December Stamp Club Cards

2009-01-18T21:17:00.000-08:00

These are the cards we made last month at December's stamp club. Looking at them now...I'm so sick of winter weather. Usually we make a token snowman or snowflake card in January, but I did all Valentine cards for January's club. Couldn't stand to make anymore winter cards.{Christmas Trio recipe}
Stamps: Big on Christmas
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: PTI white, whisper white
Accessories: SU! markers, stickles, 5/8" grograin ribbon in real red, brocade blue, and certainly celery

{Holiday Wishes recipe}
Stamps: Just Celebrate
Ink: Basic Black, Baja Breeze
Paper: PTI white, basic black
Accessories: Snow Flurries, paper piercer, blender pen, designer brad, pumpkin pie marker

Look What I Found!

2009-01-04T21:43:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! As I was going through my photos, I discovered my November Stamp Club cards, which I apparently never posted. I also have my December Club cards that I need to post too. So, here are the cards we made at our November club.

This first is actually a gift card holder. I found very good directions on Dawn Olchefske's blog. I can't find the direct link now, but you can email me (kkgasper@comcast.net) if you want the directions. I have them in a Word document. {Santa Gift Card Holder recipe}

Stamps: Deer Friends, Polka Dot

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White Craft

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: circle punches, scallop circle punch

This Thanksgiving type card is a case of Sharon Johnson. I would link you to the original card, hers was way cuter, but apparently Splitcoast has changed their format slightly. When I print out cards I want to case, I simply include the stamper's name. If I case their card, I go to the gallery for the particular stamp set and search for their name. I guess I can't search that way any longer.

I like this card because it's a pocket card. This one uses a 5.5" x 8.5" piece of cardstock, which is then scored and folded to create the pocket. If you change the dimensions on this card, you can create a smaller version that would also make a cute gift card holder.

{Thankful Thoughts recipe}
Stamps: Thankful Thoughts
Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories: black brads, aqua painter, round tab punch, Classic inks for watercoloring

I cased this next card from Jenn Diercks. I like this one because it's simple and easy to mass produce. Think Christmas cards for next year. Jenn's card had some paper piercing, and I thought another way to dress it up would be to add some glitter.
{Merry Christmas recipe}
Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, All Holidays
Ink: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgandy
Paper: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke
Accessories: 5/8" burgandy ribbon

I will make my best effort to get back on track with blogging here in the new year! :-)

It's a Girl!

2008-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I've done a Saturday Sketch, or posted anything for that matter. It's amazing how time just gets away from me (and probably you too). Isn't this week's sketch a fun one? This is Saturday Sketch 15, and you can play along and upload to Splitcoaststampers using keyword mytimess15.

Several of you have asked if we found out the gender of the baby. Our ultrasound showed that it's a girl! We haven't named her yet (and we figure we better come up with a boy name too, just in case she turns out to be a he). So, in her honor...
{It's a Girl! recipe}
Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes, Polka Dot Background, Nursery Necessities (sentiment)
Ink: Pirouette Pink, Going Gray, White Craft, Basic Black
Paper: Pirouette Pink, Going Gray, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: scalloped edge punch, pink taffeta ribbon, 2" circle punch

Visit the other girls to see their take on this week's Saturday Sketch.
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

Holiday Card Class #5

2008-11-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't get this one up earlier this week. It's been a busy one! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. We still have company. I've snuck down to the computer to quickly post this last card from my Holiday Card Class in October. Enjoy! {Wishing You Cheer recipe}
Stamps: Wishing You Cheer
Ink: Basic Black, White Craft
Paper: Brocade Blue, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: stickles, markers in real red, certainly celery, yoyo yellow, brocade blue, basic black, and only orange

Holiday Card Class #4

2008-11-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

This card is also stolen from Splitcoaststampers (I told you I needed a lot of help for this class). I think a black Christmas card is kind of unusual, but this one was so striking. I think this one would be extra special with some sparkle on the poinsettias. Of course, in our mass production class, we bypassed that option, but it would be a great way to dress it up a little.{Merry Christmas recipe}
Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Dashing DSP
Accessories: scalloped-edge punch, black brad

Holiday Card Class #3

2008-11-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Another card stolen directly from Splitcoaststampers. Okay, maybe this one's my favorite...I think the original card had ribbon on it, which I didn't do for the sake of trying to keep the cards fairly flat for mailing. I love this color combination and the little penguin image from Punch Pals. And don't you love the Top Note created with the Big Shot??? I used Bashful Blue craft ink to ink the edges of the sentiment flag. {Happy Holidays recipe}
Stamps: Punch Pals, Many Merry Messages
Ink: White Craft, Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Bashful Blue Craft
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Basic Gray
Accessories: Top Note die cut, Big Shot machine, Marvy scallop punch, circle punch, 3/4" square punch, markers in Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, and Pumpkin Pie

Holiday Card Class #2

2008-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

I think this card is my favorite from the Holiday Card Class. I saw several versions of this card on Splitcoast, so it's CASED from many people. I used a the 1/8" punch for the reindeer's nose. Since people were mass producing for the class, I left it at that, but I think it would be super cute to add a little more dimension and shine with some Crystal Effects. {Merry & Bright recipe}
Stamps: Merry & Bright
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Riding Hood Red DSP
Accessories: 1/8" hand-held punch, creamy caramel marker

Holiday Card Class #1

2008-11-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

Stolen from a design I saw on Splitcoast (as were several of the designs for this class), this card uses the snowflake from Punch Pals and the tree from Merry & Bright. The tree is stamped on very vanilla, and then stamped again on certainly celery, cut out and mounted with a dimensional. The sentiment is from Many Merry Messages. {Merry Christmas recipe}
Stamps: PunchPals, Merry & Bright, Many Merry Messages
Ink: Basic Black, Certainly Celery
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Certainly Celery
Accessories: none (gasp!), unless you count dimensionals

Still hoping to round up a card from Saturday's sketch. Until then, I have some more holiday cards from the class to post this week.

Late Saturday Sketch

2008-11-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! I actually did Lauren's Saturday Sketch on Sunday, but I haven't had time to photograph and post it. When I first saw this sketch, I was thinking snowflakes, but I ended up with something completely different, a fall card.

I watercolored the images using SU! Classic Inks and an aqua painter (water brush). The little leaves are Sizzix die cuts. To create the texture, I used a stylus to make the "veins" on the leaves.

{Thankful Thoughts recipe}
Stamps: Thoroughly Thankful
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive
Paper: PTI White, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Sizzix leaf die cuts, stylus, aqua painters

I did a Holiday Card Class a couple of weeks ago and need to post those cards still. Plus, I have this month's stamp club to post. I will try to spend some time this weekend scheduling some posts because it seems I just get get to it during the week!

Thank you for all the well wishes and inquiries about how I'm doing these days. I'm feeling much better. Still constantly tired, but at least not so utterly exhausted I can't function. Half-way is quickly approaching. We'll be 20 weeks along in just over a week. We have an ultrasound scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving. If little one cooperates, we hope to find out the gender.

Saturday Sketch

2008-11-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

Time for another Saturday Sketch. I used an old stamp set from Pink Cat Studio. First time it's seen ink though. The snowflakes are punched with a Paper Shapers punch. The silver glitter one is actually a silver glitter paper by Die Cuts With A View, and the patterned paper is by Memory Box. QT Owl is colored with Copics. Makes me almost ready for winter... {Warm Hoooliday Wishes recipe}
Stamps: QT Owl by Pink Cat Studios
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Memory Box, Die Cuts With A View
Accessories: Paper Shapers snowflake punch, silver brad, gray taffeta ribbon, circle punch, Coluzzle

Here are the other takes on Lauren's sketch:
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

One of my stamp club members just started her own blog. You can see Susan's first design at Lil' Bit of Ink.

October Stamp Club #3 and GSG2 Swap Card

2008-10-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

This was the third card we made this month at stamp club, and it was also the card I designed for a Great Swaps Girls 2 swap last month. This uses the Season of Friendship stamp set from the Holiday Mini. The leaf stamp consists of the set of three leaves, which were individually colored with Really Rust, Sage Shadow, and More Mustard markers. The yummy ribbon is the chocolate felt ribbon, also from the mini. {Season of Friendship recipe}
Stamps: Season of Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Whisper White
Accessories: chocolate felt ribbon, gold brads, markers in Sage Shadow, Really Rust, More Mustard

October Stamp Club #2

2008-10-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

What's an October stamp club without a token Halloween card? I saw a card similar to this on Splitcoaststampers, and it looked cute and easy. I'm all about easy these days. Apparently, my photography skills are lacking because this photo and my last one are blurry. That means the next club card will probably be blurry too. Sorry about that. This card uses the Halloween Frights set from the mini-catalog and the new SU! Halloween DSP. {Halloween recipe}
Stamps: Halloween Frights
Ink: Basic Black, White Craft
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, Whisper White, Ghostly Greetings DSP
Accessories: 1" circle punch, tangerine striped ribbon

Literally, as I'm typing this, I've just realized that it's Saturday Sketch time. Uh, oh! I completely forgot. I was busy this week preparing for my Holiday Card Class that met today, and the whole Saturday Sketch thing completely slipped my mind. Hmmm....guess you should go check out the design team member's submissions since I've got nothin' for ya! Bygones!
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

October Stamp Club #1

2008-10-22T20:47:00.001-07:00

This is one of our stamp club cards for October, stolen directly from one of my favorite stampers, Angie Tieman. Thanks, Angie. I needed a little help this month. Or a lot of help is more like it. The card is cut with the Big Shot Top Note die. Snowman Santa is colored in with a blender pen and white craft ink, then punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. The edges are inked with white craft. {Merry & Bright recipe}
Stamps: Merry & Bright
Ink: White Craft, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red (for envelope)
Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Riding Hood Red striped ribbon, 1 3/4" circle punch, Big Shot, Top Note die

2008-10-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love this week's sketch! Lauren made a snowflake card with it last week sometime, and that's what inspired my version today. By the way, did you read Lauren's big news last week? If you missed it, you can read all about it right here. I'm so excited about this...another opportunity to get even more amazing ideas from the stamping queen herself.

For this week's sketch, I used my new SU! Little Flurries felt snowflakes. I like the simplicity of this one.
{Peace recipe}
Stamps: Glad Tidings, PTI's Square Borders & Corners
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Basic Black
Paper: PTI White
Accessories: Little Flurries, rhinestone brads

You can see the rest of the team's creations here:
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

Happy weekend! Oh, and Happy Anniversary to me (and hubby...six years)!

October Inspiration #4,#5, and #6

2008-10-17T22:04:00.001-07:00

I decided to just plop the rest of the Inspiration card photos up here all together since I can't seem to manage to create a post during the week these days. {Mr. & Mrs. recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Pirouette Pink, vellum cardstock, Parisian Summer DSP
Accessories: chocolate grosgrain ribbon, word window punch, silver brad{For You recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Ink: Sage Shadow, More Mustard
Paper: Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Autumn Vine DSP, vellum cardstock
Accessories: circle punches, chocolate chip marker
{Thank You Tulip recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Short & Sweet
Ink: Real Red, YoYo Yellow, Basic Black
Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Garden Green marker

Come back tomorrow for the Saturday Sketch. I've got it all ready to go in the morning!

October Inspiration #3

2008-10-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lauren didn't do a Saturday Sketch this weekend, but she was working on something BIG to share with you. You can find out what she's been working on at her blog.

I almost forgot that I haven't shared the rest of my Pick a Petal Inspiration class cards with you. I saw something similar to this on Splitcoast, so I decided to see what I could do. I used my new Big Shot and Bigz scallop die to create the card base from Summer Sun. Then I stamped one of the Pick a Petal centers and added twelve petals around it, cut out the image in one piece, and adhered it to the card base. The top layer is twelve petals individually cut out and glued at the tips on top of the other petals. I used the round scallop punch and a hand held 1/8" punch to create the chocolate center of the sunflower, and punched out a 1 3/8" yellow circle to mount behind the chocolate center piece. The center is popped up on dimensionals. {Sunflower recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Paper: Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Accessories: round scallop punch, 1/8" punch, and 1 3/8" circle punch

Saturday Sketch and The Truth

2008-10-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another edition of Lauren's Saturday Sketch. Yes, I am on time this week! I know I've spent a lot of time neglecting my blog, and probably even more time complaining about being exhausted. It's true that every year, back to school time is so busy and so tiring. It really is the busiest time of the year for both of us (hubby is also a teacher). Moving just kinda makes it worse. This has without a doubt been the most challenging start of my career (and I thought last year was it). I come home and can't do ANYTHING, except eat dinner, veg out, and go to bed early. But, the truth...the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth, is this...We are finally (after many years and a miscarriage) on our way to (hopefully) having a baby. I've just made it through my first trimester. Turns out the whole pregnancy thing, while working full-time, is utterly exhausting! Nature's way of preparing you for motherhood, I suppose. Due date is early to mid April. Anyway, I've been very eager to let you all know WHY I've been such a slug with the whole stamping and blogging thing, but we really tried not to make a big deal of it until we got through the first trimester. I hear the second trimester is supposed to get better. I'm looking forward to THAT! And now, of course, we are happily anticipating being parents (so we can at least be exhausted together).

Visit the sketch girls, have a great weekend, and thanks for being loyal readers despite my absence from the blogging world.

October Inspiration #2

2008-09-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

I saw someone on Splitcoast (sorry, can't remember who) use the solid petal from Pick-a-Petal to create a snowman's nose. Seriously cute! The eyes are made with the solid center. And that fantastic ribbon is from the Holiday mini that starts October 1. I have a thing for snowmen! Isn't he just adorable? {Snowman Christmas recipe}
Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Only Orange
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Accessories: Bold Snowflakes wheel, candy cane striped grograin ribbon, riding hood red buttons, Coluzzle circle and oval

October Inspiration #1

2008-09-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

This month's Inspiration Class uses the Pick-a-Petal stamp set. This is one of my favorite sets, and it's SO versatile. I tried to make cards for this class that show the versatility and offer ideas beyond the basic flower.

This card uses the petals as surfboards. On the green surfboard, I added white gel pen designs so it was similar to the other petals with white markings. The sand is made from torn and layered pieces of kraft cardstock stamped with the random splatter stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. I embossed the waves with a Cuttlebug folder and trimmed layers of cardstock in a wave pattern. The sun was created with the round scallop punch (punched once, then turned slightly and punched again to created the little wedges).{Birthday Hugs & Wishes recipe}
Stamps: Pick A Petal, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Green Galore, Only Orange, Pixie Pink, So Saffron, Sahara Sand
Paper: Bashful Blue, Kraft, Pacific Point, So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories: round scallop punch, cuttlebug folder, SU! markers

Better late than never...

2008-09-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here it is, Lauren's Saturday Sketch! See, I told you I made it. It was so nice to stamp on Friday night. This is all I made, but it it was relaxing nonetheless. I ordered this Stampendous Tiers of Treats stamp at my local stamp store this summer, and it just came in a week ago. I forgot all about it. It was fun to color. I used my Copics for this one. See my bright blue mistake? Yep, I was too lazy to start over. It was one of the last things I colored. Totally out of place, but oh well. The sentiment is from the Stampendous clear cupcakes set, can't remember the name. This card makes me want a sweet treat!

{How Sweet recipe}
Stamps: Stampendous
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black
Paper: Certainly Celery, Groovy Guava, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White, Crate Paper
Accessories: Groovy Guava ribon, dew drops, coluzzle (oval), circle punches, Copics

Life at school is still quite busy. I went in this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday to try to catch up. I unpacked about half of the boxes I still had left to do. I also rearranged my room so it's a little more functional. Parent Night is this week, and I anticipate things to ease up a little after that.

I made the card!

2008-09-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

I promise...I made Lauren's Saturday Sketch card for this week (and still hope to make one for last week)! Unfortunately, I realized that I took my digital camera to school yesterday, and left it there. Which means, no card. Again. But, I plan to go up to school today and work, so I will bring it home, have a photo shoot, and upload the card tonight! While you're waiting, go on and see what all those clever girls did with the sketch.
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

September Stamp Club #3

2008-09-26T21:50:00.001-07:00

This club card comes directly from the 2008-2009 Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog, page 27. I needed a little help, already had this stamp set on hand, and I thought this card was adorable. It's the first time I've ever cased a card from the catalog just as is. {Halloween recipe}
Stamps: Hauting Halloween, All Holidays
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango, Garden Green Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Accessories: black gingham ribbon, black brad, word window punch, 3/4" circle punch

September Stamp Club #2

2008-09-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is my first card using the Fresh Cuts stamp set and the coordinating Fresh Cuts Notes. Yes, I've had it since June. This card doesn't really seem seasonally appropriate, but what I like about it is it's flexibility. It can be used for a wedding, baby (girl), birthday, thank you, sympathy, whatever. I kept it all monochromatic using Pink Pirouette ink, paper, and ribbon. The flower in the center is from Flower Fusion 2. {For You recipe}
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Ink: Pink Pirouette
Paper: Fresh Cuts Notes, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Flower Fusion 2, pink striped ribbon, silver brad

Keepin' it short. Still barely staying afloat at school...

September Stamp Club #1

2008-09-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

I just love the new SU! owl set. For this first stamp club card, I used a bunch of leftover Hawaii Papaya scraps from the POM notecard set. I saw a card with a similar layout on SCS and used that for inspiration. The little owl is stamped in chocolate chip and colored in with blender pens and ink pads, except the little feet where I used the Going Gray marker. That little square scallop is one of SU!'s new punches. {Hoot-hoot hooray! recipe}
Stamps: Owl Together Now
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Hawaii Papaya
Accessories: 1 1/4" square punch, square scallop punch, blender pens, tangerine striped ribbon

I haven't yet made a card for Lauren's Saturday Sketch, but don't give up on me. Her sketch this week is so darn cute that I'm determined to play eventually! In the meantime, be sure to visit the rest of her design team to see the creations they came up with.
Lauren Meader
Tamara Harder
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weiman

Oh, and I have to give out a great big thanks to Ashley over at Heart Hugs Designs. A couple of weeks ago, she gave me an award, but I've been so busy that I haven't posted it until now. The rules...

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog
2. Link the person you received your award from
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours

5.Leave a message on the blogs of the blogs you’ve nominated

It so sad, but as I've said before, I haven't had time to visit my favorite blogs lately, and I think I've given almost everyone I know an award. SO, I want to pass this on to two of my newest blogging buddies.

1. Martha, she sends me nice emails and has recently started her own blog. Her work is so cute.

2. Katie, my new blogger and real life friend. Very talented girl!
3. YOU (that's right, you who's reading this right now), consider yourself awarded!

Stay tuned...

2008-09-20T00:54:00.000-07:00

Good news! I have a few stamp club cards to share and some swaps over the next week or so. Woo-hoo! Plus, I'm working on some more cards this weekend for the next Inspiration class. So, it's safe to say, I should be back to posting a few times a week, starting this weekend. I had to finish a swap last night, so I was up late doing that instead of working on the Saturday Sketch, but I plan to make a card and get that posted today or tomorrow. Just wanted you to know that I'm still alive and well (mostly, anyway). Thanks again for hanging in there with me. Back soon!

Saturday Sketch Time Again

2008-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Well, a week has come and gone since my last post. I guess it's just that time of the year when all my energy goes towards school and the kiddos. This too shall pass. And hopefully soon, because I have this month's Stamp Club and an Inspiraton Class to get ready for. Plus, I have a bunch of swaps to get in the mail on Monday. That means soon I hope to be posting again at least a few times a week. Thanks for bearing with me. I miss all of you! I haven't even had much of a chance to visit any of my blogging friends, so I don't know what anyone's up to these days. I do appreciate all the comments I've been getting. All of my comments get sent to my email address, so I get to read each and every one. Makes my day it does!

Just in time for Lauren's Saturday Sketch and a little fall holiday action. I had these Karen Lockhart images I colored this summer. A good friend of mine (Hi, Beth!) was lucky enough to attend a Karen Lockhart class when she was teaching in Bellingham, but I couldn't go because I was scoring the state writing assessment for fourth graders. Lucky, lucky girl! Anyway, we ended up stamping and coloring a bunch of Lockhart images that day. So, I dug these out to go with our sketch and some patterned paper I've had in my stash forever. Belatedly, I realized I should have used the matching sentiment for these stamps, but it's late and I forgot until it was too late. It says this: witchie, witchie, screamie, screamie, happy, happy halloweenie. Is that cute, or what? Oh, well!{Happy Halloween recipe}
Stamps: Karen Lockhart, sentiment from SU! All Holidays set
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, Solar White, Pebbles Inc.
Accessories: prismacolor pencils, black brads, giant black brad by American Craft, silk flower, white taffeta ribbon

With any luck, I'll be back later next week with Stamp Club samples. Have a great weekend!

Off you go now to visit the other Saturday Sketch samples:

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/
Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday Sketch

2008-09-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

I survived my first week (well, three days) of school. It was CRAZY, but it actually went better than I expected for my level of preparedness (which was: NOT prepared). Magically, my body and brain knew what to do, and everything seemed to run fairly smoothly. I am seriously looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning. In fact, as you're reading this, I'm probably doing just that!

For last week's Saturday Sketch, I had school on the brain. After this week, I'm ready for another vacation! I love all of Rubber Soul's stick figure images. This one is from the clear Vacation Collection set. I used some Crate paper and paired it with two of my favorite past In Colors from SU!, Cool Caribbean and Groovy Guava. I miss these colors! I just wish SU! would keep them around a bit longer. Don't get me wrong, I really like the new ones too. {Vacation recipe}
Stamps: Rubber Soul's Vacation Collection
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Cool Caribbean, Groovy Guava
Paper: PTI White, Groovy Guava, Cool Caribbean, Crate Paper
Accessories: Copic markers, paper flowers, dew drops, double-stitched guava ribbon

Stop by and see what the other gals came up with for this week's sketch:

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/
Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

If you have time to try out the sketch, either upload your card to Splitcoast using keyword mytimess04 or link it to Lauren's comments for today's sketch. Have fun!

September POM Close-ups

2008-09-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hi! Remember me? I'm the one who used to blog here...

It's been a crazy week moving into a new school and getting the first couple of days going. My classroom is mostly unpacked. I still have several boxes floating around and nothing on the walls. Gotta get the kids to do some art to put up. The first two days have gone well. As usual, I'm still mourning the loss of last year's class, especially because I was supposed to loop up with them. I'm sure in no time, I'll be loving my new group just as much. Happens every year. I'm SO tired and ready for the weekend. I haven't even had time to read any blogs this week.

I wanted to do a quick post with the close-ups and recipes of those cards for September's Project of the Month class. All eight cards and envelopes are held together in this little faux tote that I borrowed from Katie Renz. Custom envelopes are courtesy of Cindy Lawrence. Go back a couple of posts, too tired to link...pathetic, I know.

{Notes & Tote recipe}
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, PTI White, Hawaii Papaya
Accessories: A2 envelopes (medium from SU!), word window punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, marvy scallop punch, wide oval punch, slot punch, 5/8" striped ribbon in tangerine tango and kiwi kiss, 5/8 chocolate grosgrain ribbon, white taffeta ribbon, vanilla/kiwi satin ribbon, wide chocolate double-stitched ribbon

I'm hoping my order arrives before the class. If not, I'll be using some of the new Haiku paper for this class too.

I'll see you this weekend for Lauren's Saturday Sketch.

It's Saturday Sketch Time!

2008-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday was day one in the new building. I cried. All morning. Then I just stared at all the boxes and junk in my room and wandered the halls aimlessly in the afternoon until finally I mustered up enough energy and mindfulness to start moving furniture. Luckily, that was all it took for the overwhelming feeling to pass (mind you...SIX moves in six years...I was so not ready to do it again). Friday was much better. I finally started unpacking boxes, and feel like things will hopefully go smoothly this weekend. Hopefully, I can get the classroom all unpacked and set up before Monday. It would be nice to spend some time planning for the kiddos! We start school Wednesday. Sure hope the new building is ready for students by then.

Do you think there's stamping time in the midst of all of this? Well, normally, I would say no, but this time, it's a yes! I had to. It's Lauren's Saturday Sketch time! Can't skip out on that kind of fun! One of the great things about being on her design team that I was really looking forward to was exactly this...forced participation! So, tonight I created a card about, what else? School. First time inking up these Kim Hughes Making the Grade stamps and two backgrounders from Cornish Heritage Farms. More stamps suffering from time to purchase, but no time to stamp syndrome. I just went off to find you a link to my backgrounders at CHF, but couldn't find them. Ellen Hutson also sells them at her online store. I used markers to stamp the images and I colored in the tree by using inks and an aquapainter. The little apples have Sakura Glaze gel pen on them. Can't see it too well. Crystal Effects might have been a better choice.

I also set up my new light tent in a matter of minutes to snap this photo. Seriously, no time to bother with directions. Not the best, but probably better than I would have gotten otherwise. Thank you, Ebay! I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity to test out the tent as time goes on. Anyway, ramble, ramble...Enjoy!
{School recipe}
Stamps: Kim Hughes' Making the Grade from Cornish Heritage Farms, AlphaNumber backgrounder, Lined Paper backgrounder
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Accessories: Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, SU! markers in Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Real Red, Summer Sun, and Bashful Blue

Okay, things might get quiet over here. I will post those POM class close-up photos and recipes just as soon as I can come up for air.

September POM Class

2008-08-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

So often, I'm blog browsing and I see something just so inspiring. I always think to myself...I've got to try that. Then, life continues on and I never get around to it. Well, I'm forcing myself to take the opportunity by offering a Project of the Month Class (POM). This is a chance for me to try out some of the great projects I see others doing. Well, just a few days ago, I was looking at my new friend, Katie's blog. Katie is a wonderful papercrafter who lives in my town. Just recently we met up. It was fun to meet a fellow blogger, and one who's local at that. We hope to stamp together sometime soon. If you haven't browsed through her blog, off you go now to Katie's Paper Haven. Such cute things! Anyway, I saw an adorable set of owl notecards with a little faux tote. I was inspired to use that idea as my first Project of the Month. Here's a quick peek at the sampling of my cards, which use the new and yummy Hawaii Papaya paper and the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I created a set of eight 4x4 cards and custom matching envelopes using this tutorial by Cindy Lawrence. I will post close-ups of all the cards and envelopes this weekend along with the recipe.

August Stamp Club #3

2008-08-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

This was the third project we made for August Stamp Clubs. Simple, but I think pretty. I love that it uses my new favorite color, Baja Breeze and the new Upsy Daisy stamp set, currently on special for 15% off. One of the things I like about this stamp set is its versatility. It comes with thank you, birthday, and thinking of you type greetings, and there's so many techniques you can try with the silhouette image. The butterflies are from Flight of the Butterfly. They are cut out and glued onto the top note with the wings bent upwards for some dimension. Don't you just love this top note die cut? It's made exclusively for Stampin' Up! to use with the Sizzix Big Shot die cut machine, now carried by Stampin' Up! The new wide double-stitched ribbon is wonderful too.{Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Accessories: wide double-stitched ribbon in Baja Breeze, Big Shot, Top Note die cut

August Stamp Club #2

2008-08-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of the August Stamp Club projects. This one showcases the Eastern Eclectic Style Watch. I used the Eastern Blooms stamp set that I got for FREE at convention. I was inspired by this card made by Ashley Van Camp. I just loved the color combination and overall design. I ended up changing the layout a bit, but I kept her colors and main image idea. I pierced little holes in the scalloped edge and popped up the flowers on dimensionals. I can hardly believe I made a card without ribbon! {Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Thank You Kindly
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Accessories: scalloped edge punch, paper piercer

Three more days of freedom...

We're supposed to have access to our new classrooms (the district moved us to a new building for the time being) on Thursday. Usually I look forward to the school year starting. This year, not so much. Last year felt hard (loved my students though), and I'm just not quite ready to start again. Partly because I have the daunting task of setting up a classroom from scratch and preparing lesson plans, all within a five-day time span. I know once I get there, I'll get excited and be glad to see the kids again, but for now, I'm dreading it a bit. On the upside, I have a job, and for that I am grateful!

Saturday Sketch

2008-08-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's my take on Lauren's Saturday Sketch. I used my Unity stamps again. I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but this set was July's Kit of the Month. This close-up shows the glitter on the owl belly and tree leaves.
{Friend recipe}
Stamps: Unity Stamp Co.
Ink: Basic Brown, Mellow Moss
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Crate Paper
Accessories: moss taffeta ribbon, stickles, Copic markers, SU! markers, Hero Arts gemstones, oval punch

I gotta run. Have eight gals here working on their Recipe Box class. Thanks for stopping by. Remember to go check out what the other girls did for Lauren's sketch. Also, you can upload your creation to Splitcoast using keyword mytimess02.

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/

Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/

Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/

Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/

Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/

MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/

Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday Sketch Coming Soon...

2008-08-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

So...I do have the Saturday Sketch for you. But...I just finished it (it's 1:00 a.m. as I'm typing this) and I couldn't get a decent photo (can't wait for that light tent). If...you come back later, I should have it posted. I've got a stamping class here all day tomorrow, so I'll sneak off and get it posted ASAP. See ya soon!

August Stamp Club #1 and Another Award

2008-08-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, I didn't come back yesterday. That's because I had nothin' for ya! I finally finished my Stamp Club projects around 1:00 a.m. and had to go to bed. I was slow moving, out of my stamping groove. The good news is that I now have today's project, plus two other cards, and Saturday's Sketch (not started yet). So, there will be blog posts a-plenty for the next few days.

Anyway, I'm back and I want to share with you a project that all of my club members will make at their first meeting, some this month, others next. I decided that I would showcase each of the three Style Watches from the new IB&C. Actually, I decided this after two of my cards already did that by accident. Such a good planner I am. For those of you who don't know, Style Watches are collections of coordinated products that emphasize a current trend. The three current Style Watches are Sweet Bella (a vintage, country type collection), Eastern Eclectic (floral theme with an Asian twist), and Silhouette (keeping with the current trend of silhouette prints and patterns).

The first project showcases the Sweet Bella Style Watch. This is a little notebook club members can use for their wishlists, to do lists, notes, whatever. Many of my gals have notebooks from last year that they may want to continue to use, so I thought I'd leave this one flexible. They can give it whatever title they want or stamp their name on it. The main image is embossed and watercolored with blender pens and classic inks. You can barely see it, but there are butterflies on the pink background. The words are stamped with Simple Serif alphabet in Riding Hood Red, and it's all tied up with that yummy new Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon. The club members will make this with 1/4-inch pink grosgrain though, since 10 yards won't be enough for all my club members, but I wanted to show off the new ribbon so I used it on the sample. The ribbon is attached with Sticky Strip. That adorable checkered paper is from the Bella Rose Designer Series Paper.

When you open up the notebook, there's a small pad of lined paper inside. It's the perfect size to record a Stampin' Up! wishlist on, use for a grocery list, or a to do list.
The notebook is from a 5x8-inch pad of paper purchased Office Max or Office Depot. They usually come in packs of 6 or 12. The store has a machine that will cut the pads in half to create little 2.5x8-inch pad of paper, perfect for making lists, lists, and more lists. Office Max has cut these for me at no charge. Yesterday, at Office Depot, they charged me, but it was super cheap, $1.50 to cut 12 pads in half.
Now, as much as I would like to think I'm brilliant enough to come up with this on my own...of course, I didn't. I first saw these little notebooks ages ago on Michelle Wooderson's blog. You may remember I made myself a handy one to keep all my internet logins and passwords on. You can see that one here. Sadly, those logins and passwords are still located on a stack of sticky notes next to my computer because I haven't made up the labels for them yet. Someday. At least my photography has improved slightly. Speaking of which, I just order a light tent off of Ebay. Now that school is resuming and the typical rainy, overcast days are looming, I figured I needed a way to take those late night photos.

{Sweet Bella Notebook recipe}

Stamps: Dreams du Jour, Simple Serif

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP

Accessories: Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, black embossing powder, blender pens, sticky strip

Onto other news...While I was in California, Lynn Put left me an award on her blog. This is a fun trend. It just so happens, that every time I've gotten an award, I've been out of town. If that continues to be the case, I guess my next award should come around Christmas time.

I love the little logo for the award. It's so cute! Thanks, Lynn, for giving me this award. I {heart} your blog too. Have you visited Lynn's blog, The Queen's Scene? If not, what are you waiting for? She's got such fun ideas and makes the cutest cards, and I'm so excited she just joined the Great Swaps Girls 2 because now we get to swap together!

Here are the rules for playing:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog

2. Link the person you received your award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Put links of those blogs on yours

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

Since I've had a several awards in the last few months, I've nominated so many of the blogs I love already, so it's fun to be able to pick out blogs I haven't given other awards to yet. Here are my picks:

1. Jenn at Stamp Your Heart Out

2. Charmaine at Oodabugalley

3. Beate at Fresh & Fun

4. Cindy at The Creative Closet

5. Jen at I{heart}2Stamp

6. Julie at PoeticArtistry

7. Wendy at WeeBeeStampin'

Well, I guess I've made my blog quota for the day. Thanks to listening to my rambling.

Wow Thanks

2008-08-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! We got back yesterday from California, and we're minus one puppy now. Sigh. I haven't done any stamping since I got back, but I'd better get busy because my new stamp clubs start this week. The card I'm posting today is a quick, simple card I made that was going to be for my Stampin' Up! new catalog Open House. I didn't end up using it, but I thought I'd share it with you since I don't have anything else. Tomorrow, I should have something for you using new SU! stuff. My order came yesterday. Yay! {Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Wow Flowers
Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Pirouette Pink, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Three for You flower punch, black brad

Saturday Sketch

2008-08-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's time for another Saturday Sketch! Lauren always comes up with fun sketches, and I love to play with them. Starting this week, Lauren is inviting everyone to play along as usual and then upload your creations to Splitcoaststampers. You'll need to check Lauren's blog for the keyword to use when you upload. Now we'll be able to see everyone's creations all in one spot. I can't wait to come home and browse the gallery to see what you all come up with.

This week I decided to use some of my Unity stamps and combine it with some American Crafts patterned paper that I've been wanting to use. This set is called Butterfly Beauty. Aren't the butterfly images just gorgeous! I added a lot of bling to this card in the way of gems and stickles. I should have taken a close-up shot, so you can see the stickles better. Darn! The sentiment is from Verve Visual's Here for You. This card didn't come together easily for me, and I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but it's really grown on me now.{Butterfly Possiblities recipe}
Stamps: Butterfly Beauty by Unity Stamp Co., Here for You by Verve Visual
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: PTI White, Old Olive, Whisper White, American Crafts
Accessories: gems by Hero Arts, brads by American Crafts, black craft wire, Cuttlebug's Floral Fantasy embossing folder

Be sure to visit the other sketch girls' blogs to see their takes on the sketch. Then go make your own and upload it to Splitcoast (remember to check Lauren's blog for the keyword you need to use). I can't wait to see what you do!

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/
Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

Inspired By Nature

2008-08-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is a super fast, super simple card using a new SU! set that I got for FREE at convention. It's called Inspired by Nature. This is the kind of card you can whip out in five minutes when you need a last minute birthday or thank you card, just change out the sentiment. The grass is stamped in Versamark, and the greeting and flowers are stamped in Chocolate Chip Craft ink. Then the whole thing is embossed with clear embossing powder. I actually only meant to emboss the flower, but I forgot I stamped the grass in Versamark, so when I dumped my embossing powder on, it stuck to the grass too. A happy mistake. I have to tell you, I made another card with this set that I just LOVE! But I'm not going to post it quite yet, because I think I'll be using it for my September Technique Class. Once I have both cards made for that class, then I'll post. {Live with Passion recipe}
Stamps: Inspired by Nature
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip Craft
Paper: Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Clear embossing powder

Thanks for stopping by!

Deer Friends Convention Swap

2008-08-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this card when I got back from Convention. I made this card for a small swap with some of the Great Swaps Girls 2 who were attending convention also. I love this little Deer Friends stamp set. It's a new level 2 hostess set in the SU! Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog. You can't see it in the photo, but I added some crystal effects on the reindeer nose and stickles on the star topper and carrot nose. On my swaps, I had added stickles to my Santa. BIG mistake! He bled. The red ink just sort of spread out. I felt really bad that I had ruined my swaps. I couldn't even fix them because I was working from my hotel room the night before the swap. In this sample, I also popped up the red layer off of the white piece with the images. {Deer Friends Christmas recipe}

Stamps: Deer Friends, Heard from the Heart, Polka Dot

Ink: White Craft, Chocolate Chip Craft, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip,

Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Accessories: circle punch, chocolate taffeta ribbon, clear embossing powder, crystal effects, stickles, SU! markers in basic black, pumpkin pie, brocade blue, real red, old olive, summer sun, chocolate chip

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Santa Rosa, California to turn-in Addy, our fifth service puppy in training for Canine Companions for Independence. She's almost 17 months and ready to go off to "puppy college" so she can learn more about how to be a good service dog. It's always SO hard to let go of these dogs. We raised Addy's mom, who became a CCI breeder. We also raised Addy's half-sister (from our breeder's first litter), who decided the working life wasn't for her and is now our family pet. It's particularly hard to say goodbye to Addy. We feel like she's part of our family, especially since Tanith is her sister. At least we adopted Georgia, so Tanith won't be too lonely. Aren't they cute all snuggled up together?

I've scheduled a couple of posts for while I'm gone, including one for Lauren's Saturday Sketch Challenge.

We Have a Winner!

2008-08-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

I used www.random.org to generate the winner of the blog candy.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:31
Timestamp: 2008-08-13 17:44:38 UTC

stamp2embellish said...
I love the name of your blog because rainy days are my most productive and enjoyable days to stamp. My goal is to have my own blog soon. I'm learning. I check your blog every day for inspiration! Keep up the good work!Sonya Addington
August 11, 2008 11:36 AM

Congratulations, Sonja! Send me an email at kkgasper@comcast.net with your snail mail address, and I'll get these goodies off to you as soon as I get back from our trip on Monday.

I'll be back later with a card! :-) And I'll be sure to schedule a couple of posts while I'm gone.

Anniversary Birds

2008-08-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

First, I really want to tell you how much I'm enjoying reading all of your comments from the previous Blog Candy post. Blogging feels a lot like talking to myself, so it's just amazing to realize so many of you are out there listening (or reading, to be exact).

I'm hearing you say that you're wanting some tutorials. I've gotten a few requests before too. I am going to give it a try at some point. Not sure if it'll be photos and text or video, but I'll figure something out. I certainly appreciate the little push outside of my comfort zone. Character building, I tell ya! If you have any specific tutorial requests, let me know. I know coloring has been requested, so I'll be sure to address a few different coloring techniques at some point, although I hardly feel like an expert. As you make requests, I'll either try to create a tutorial or I'll point you in the direction of a good one I've seen.

Now onto the card. I got this Anniversary Birds set quite a few months back, and just got around to inking it up last month. All of the patterned paper on this card is from Stampin' Up!'s new Bella Rose designer series paper. The two hearts are chipboard pieces covered with Bella Rose paper. This little birds have stickles outlining their wings. The green ribbon is actually the white taffeta ribbon colored with Kiwi Kiss. To color the white ribbon, I used a blender pen and squeezed a few drops of Kiwi Kiss reinker onto the tip of the pen and used the pen to color the ribbon. It's super fast, simple, and not as messy as running it over your ink pad or using a water and reinker bath. Oh, and see that cute little button? It's a new SU! button. It's got faux thread in it. Just a thin strip of Pirouette Pink cardstock. I saw that on another blog awhile back, but I can't remember whose. Clever though, right? This layout is one of Laura's or Kazan's from 2 Sketches 4 You. {So Happy Together recipe}
Stamps: Anniversary Birds by Verve Visual
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Pirouette Pink, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: SU! button, nestabilities, SU! chipboard, chocolate satin ribbon, white taffeta ribbon, blender pen filled with Kiwi Kiss reinker

There's still time to make a comment on the previous post to win the blog candy! Good luck!

Blog Candy

2008-08-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, while I was at the Stampin' Up! Convention, my counter hit 10,000, so I wanted to give away some blog candy to celebrate and thank you for reading my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling what you enjoy about my blog and/or what you would like to see on my blog in the future. Entries will be accepted through Tuesday. A winner will be drawn and announced on Wednesday.

Here's what you can win:

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Saturday Sketch Time

2008-08-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

It's time for Lauren's Saturday Sketch. I really enjoyed using this sketch and if I have time, I'm going to make a couple of more cards using this sketch. I used one of my new MFT stamps again. I use the word "new" loosely. I so often buy stamps and don't get around to using them for months. Shopping doesn't take quite as much concentration for me!

Here's my submission for the sketch challenge. I already had the image colored (used my Copics), so I just had to dig up some paper and supplies that matched. I don't think it shows up too well in the photo, but the flower centers have stickles on them for a little sparkle. The ribbon is an old retired ribbon originals from last year's SU! catalog. {Chamomile recipe}
Stamps: Chamomile by MFT Annie LaPoint image
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black
Paper: Conqueror White, Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal DSP
Accessories: retired ribbon originals, Hero Arts flower gems, stickles, Copic markers

Be sure to check out the creations from all the other Saturday Sketch Team.

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/
Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

I'll be back later today with some blog candy for you.

Retirement Party Stamp-A-Stack Class

2008-08-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

Earlier I left you with this set of cards. As promised, this post includes close-ups and recipes for the cards. I am having a Retirement Party to say goodbye to some favorite Stampin' Up! sets. Each attendee will make two each of all six cards and stamp envelopes to match.

As much as I love the new In Colors, I will defintely miss this past year's colors, particularly Soft Sky. Goodbye, In Colors!

{Happy Birthday recipe}

Stamps: Bud Basics, It's Your Birthay

Ink: Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Bayou Blue

Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Groovy Guava, Bayou Blue

Accessories: rhinestone brads

{Find Joy recipe}
Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Ink: Green Galore, Pixie Pink, Pink Passion
Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Green Galore, Pink Passion
Accessories: SU! markers in Green Galore and Pink Passion, rhinestone brads
{Thank You Memo recipe}
Stamps: Office Accoutrement, Much Appreciated
Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa

Accessories: celery brads, SU! ribbon originals, horizontal slot punch, Three for You punch{Hello recipe}

Stamps: Office Accoutrement, Much Appreciated

Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: circle and scallop circle punches, stickles

{Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Artfully Asian
Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Ruby Red, Old Olive
Accessories: chocolate brads by American Crafts, 5/8" chocolate grosgrain ribbon{Smile & Enjoy recipe}
Stamps: Be Happy
Ink: Orchid Opulence, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: pewter jumbo eyelet, rhinestone brad, double-stitched ribbon

It's out with old and in with the new...

An Award & A Card Class

2008-08-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we were supposed to come home from Salt Lake on Sunday, but we gave up our seats in exchange for airline vouchers. Never done that before but excited for the opportunity to get free airline tickets! We're already talking about maybe going back to convention next year...

When I was gone, my blog passed 10,000 hits! Wow! I just put the counter in back in April or May, so that's awesome. I'm going to have to get together some blog candy this week! Stay tuned.

I also received an award while I was gone too. Julia over at Create With Julia gave me this

BFF Gold Card. Isn't that sweet? Thanks Julia! What a nice surprise to come home to!

Here are the rules for receiving and passing on this award:

1. Only 5 people allowed.

2. Four of them have to be dedicated followers of your blog

3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

Four dedicated followers (not really sure if I have that many, but here are some very talented women who always take the time to say nice things about my cards...)

1. Denise at The Paper Landscaper has been leaving me such sweet comments since I started blogging regularly, and I always look forward to hearing from her. Plus, now she's famous, being a Dirty Dozen Girl and all, so I'll definitely have to keep her as a blogging BFF!!! ;-)

2. LeAnne at Wee Inklings was one of the first people to leave a comment on my blog and she gave me an award..twice. Love that woman!

3. Wendy at WeeBeeStampin often stops in with a nice comment. She also makes very pretty cards, so I like to visit her blog regularly too.

4. Pam at Paper Askew Studio always has something positive to say and she's so stinkin' talented! Love her Friday Card Flicks.

Somewhat new to my blog is Angie at Schwooo! We've leaving comments on each other's blogs the last couple of weeks or so. She's a sweetheart and makes such adorable cards! She lives in Texas, which isn't another part of the world, but it sure is different compared to where I live in Washington!

I will leave you with the set of cards we'll be making at Thursday's Retirement Party Stamp-a-Stack. I'll include close-ups and recipes later tonight or tomorrow.

More New SU! Goodies

2008-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

This card uses lots of new Stampin' Up! goodies that will be available in the new catalog. This card seems totally different than my usual style with a bit of collage and busyness, but it came together quickly and I kinda like it. It uses some of the yummy new colors, new paper, and a pretty new stamp set. {Bella Dreams recipe}
Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Conqueror White, Riding Hood Red, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: nestabilities, silver brads, riding hood red button, pink taffeta ribbon, blender pens loaded with In Color reinkers

Technically, as I am typing, I haven't seen the new Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog yet, so I can honestly say that I'm so anxious to see it!!! I'm sure it won't disappoint! However, in reality, by the time you read this, I'll have already seen it and have my own copy!!! Wahoo! Oh, I'm not trying to rub it in, I've just forgotten my manners during a moment of extreme eagerness. But, wouldn't you?

Looking foward to being home and blog browsing all the good things I missed while I was gone!

Saturday Sketch

2008-08-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday! Lauren Meader, who as you probably know is one of my stamping idols, and she has assembled some gals to come up with some creations for her Weekly Saturday Sketch Challenge. I'm thrilled to be part of that group! On Tuesday, I was madly trying to get my card done before I left for convention, and I ended up with two. It was overcast out and I'm not an expert with photo editing, so I apologize for the poor lighting and the colors being a bit off. Here's the matching pair of cards I made for her sketch.

I really like these Annie LaPoint images from MFT. Just looking at them makes me happy!

{Take a Break recipe}

Stamps: Annie LaPoint by MFT, sentiment by Verve Visual

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Black, Lovely Lilac, Baja Breeze

Paper: Conqueror White, Basic Grey, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White

Accessories: white taffeta ribbon (dyed Baja Breeze), Hero Arts flower gems, Stickles, Copics
{Be Calm recipe}

Stamps: Annie LaPoint by MFT

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Paper: Baja Breeze, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Basic Grey

Accessories: white taffeta ribbon, Hero Arts gemstones, paper flowers, Stickles, Copics

I hope this inspires you to stamp today. For more inspiration, check out the creations of the other Saturday Sketch Girls. Then, go stamp something!

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Tamara Harder http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com/
Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque http://www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com/
Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com/
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/

Alicia Weiman http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com/

Live from Convention!

2008-07-31T20:10:00.001-07:00

Quick post from the Stampin' Up! Convention...Having a great time! New catalog is amazing! You'll love it! I wish I had thought to bring my catalog to the hotel computer with me so I could give a thorough update.

Several items from the last two minis made it in, including Tart & Tangy and Summer Picnic DSP, the pumpkin set, snowflake set, and mini library clips from the last Holiday mini. The Style Watch Collections are very pretty. Several cool silhouette images. There's a new square scallop punch, large 1 3/4" circle punch, and large oval punch. No ribbon originals, but some really cool additions include Riding Hood Red taffeta, 7/8" wide So Saffron twill, 1 1/4" Pirouette Pink grosgrain, 1/4" grosgrain in Rose Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, and maybe another color or two. The In Color ribbons have two white stripes down the middle. The old striped ribbon in Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, and Real Red stayed. New Styled hardware in silver (from mini) and vanilla. The new "punch box" is not a box, just the punch and stamp set, no inks. Nice because it lowers the price to around $33. The punch is a label (the bracket kind similar to the new nestibilities that are coming out). Nice selection of new silver brads in different shapes. Flower Fusion stayed, and Flower Fusion Two came out in Chocolate Chip, Pirouette Pink, and...dang it, can't remember, I think it might be Baja Breeze, but don't hold me to it. There are coordinating stamps sets for all the new punches.

This list is totally random, clearly disorganized and based on only a couple of looks through the new catalog and not much sleep. I'm sure there's a ton more information posted on Splitcoast somewhere. Hope you're all doing well.

Oh, and I met Kristina Werner! I was totally starstruck and a little out of it, but still...I met her!

Embrace Life

2008-07-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello from Salt Lake City! Not really...it's Tuesday night as I'm typing this post for you. But, I'm certain that as you are reading it today on Thursday, I am having a grand 'ole Stampin' Up! kind of time.

I created this card for Kazan's sketch from the 2 Sketches 4 You site. If you haven't visited this site yet, what are you waiting for? The site always has a collection of fun and diverse cards. New sketches are posted on Mondays. Go check it out!

This is not my favorite card. I was feeling rushed and stuck. Not a good combination. Does that ever happen to you? I guess sometimes we all have those moments, and we just need to move on. I do LOVE the Bali Breeze paper though. The colors and designs are just beautiful. I may have to order some more before it's gone for good.

Maybe some ribbon would help. Or a main stamped image. I actually made a stamped image, but didn't end up using it. Maybe it's just because it's not the best photograph. I really need to get one of those light tents for when I don't have daylight to work with. Okay, that's not what I call moving on exactly, but oh well! {Embrace Life recipe}
Stamps: Embrace Life
Ink: Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Conqueror White, Pumpkin Pie, Bali Breeze DSP
Accessories: scalloped edge punch, paper piercer, flower fusion, brads

Wow Birthday

2008-07-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

Phew! What a crazy day! I just spent most of my day at my school with 11 amazing kids (my students) who volunteered to work hard for pizza. We had to pack up our classroom because we are moving to a new school and just found out earlier this month. It was a long day, but it's done!

This is another card I made for a Great Swaps Girls 2 preview swap. All new stuff on this card. Not sure if you can see it, but the flowers are sparkly!{Birthday Wishes recipe}
Stamps: Wow Flowers
Ink: Pirouette Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Versamark
Paper: Pirouette Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Accessories: pink brads, circle punches, iridescent ice embossing powder, white taffeta ribbon, blender pen filled with Baja Breeze reinker

Gotta keep this short! The clock is ticking! I must get to bed because I have a million things to do before I leave for Convention. I have at least two automatic posts scheduled for while I'm away, maybe three. If you are a subscriber to my blog, I've had some problems with Feedblitz not automatically sending out emails unless I go in there and send them manually, which I don't think I'll be able to do while I'm away. But, maybe we'll get lucky!

I'll catch up with you all when I get back! Thanks for stopping by.

GSG2 Hostess Preview Swap Card

2008-07-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

I made this card a few weeks ago as a Hostess Preview Swap for the Great Swaps Girls 2. I just received my swaps back today, so I figure it's safe to post this now. This card uses a fun new level 3 hostess set called Window Dressing. It comes with a window image and several images to put in the window. I chose the little girl, the cat, and the bird. I think there's also a pumpkin, some flowers, and snowmen. There are three sentiments that curve so you can place them over the window. The chocolate polka dot paper is the new Bella Rose paper. Thank you is from Short & Sweet. Here's a close-up of the window. I stamped the window image and cut out the main panel (wish I had cut the top parts of the window too). Then I attached a piece of acetate (a transparency) behind it to make a "window". I used SU! markers to color in the window and shutters. I stamped the bird image in Staz-On directly onto the window sheet, then I stamped another bird on whisper white, colored and cut it out, and adhered it with a dimensional. The sentiment is stamped on Riding Hood Red, cut out, and popped up on dimensionals. That entire piece is layered onto a smaller piece of whisper white using dimenionals. The smaller piece of whisper white, which is in the background, is stamped with the window image. I stamped the cat directly in the window of that piece. The girl is stamped on a scrap paper, cut out and glued in on top of the cat. The curtains are made with Bella Rose paper. The panels are thin strips of paper. The valance is made with the new SU! scalloped edge punch. The DSP is adhered with Tombo Liquid Glue.
Here's a tilted photo that lets you see how the outside window is popped up off of the inside portion. I thought this would make it feel more like the girl and cat are inside, while the bird is outside.
{Window Thanks recipe}
Stamps: Window Dressing, Short & Sweet
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: acetate, 5/8" chocolate grosgrain ribbon, scalloped edge punch, SU! markers for coloring, blender pens loaded with reinkers from the new In Colors

Hope your weekend is going well. The Punch Class was a big hit. Everyone seemed to really enjoy making the cards and punch templates. They loved the handouts that I gave them. They're ones I found on this thread on Splitcoast made by Lorri Reibin (Cre8tingMemories).

Punch Class Card #5

2008-07-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

The last card we'll be making for Punch Class tomorrow is this little 3x3 card. This card uses the rounded tab punch to make the cupcake! I scored the bottom portion to look more like paper cupcake cups. Fun, eh? The cupcake top is embossed with iridescent ice.

At the class, we'll make the previous four cards, then this card will be made at a station where attendees will get a chance to play with some of the fun punch ideas on their handouts. They'll make the cupcake for this card, plus they some of the other shapes on their handout like flowers, butterflies, purses, baskets, pumpkins, and a whole lot of others to choose from. We'll also be making a punch template at that station to use when looking through the catalog or stamping and trying to decide which images work with each punch. {Birthday Wishes recipe}

Stamps: Wow Flowers (sentiment)

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Versamark

Paper: Wild Wasabi, More Mustard, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, East Coast Prep DSP

Accessories: Stickles, staples, iridescent ice ep, round tab punch, circle and scallop punches

Here's the first card I made using the cupcake idea. We are NOT making this one at the class. I like the way this turned out, but I don't have a spot for a sentiment, so I may squeeze one in somewhere. The cupcake tops use homemade patterned paper (the dot from the Three For You punch box set) and are embossed with iridescent ice. The inspiration for the dots comes from SU!'s new Bella Rose DSP that I used on the card.

{3 Cupcakes recipe}

Stamps: Three For You

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink

Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Pirouette Pink, Bella Rose DSP

Accessories: Stickles, 5/8' chocolate grosgrain ribbon, iridescent ice ep, round tab punch, circle punch

I haven't had a chance to do any of the other Dare to Be Dirty challenges this week. Bummer! We leave Wednesday for the Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City. I might come back and try a few after I get back.

Edited to Add: Hey, I just read Friday's challenges. Both of these qualify for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge. Wahoo!

Who else is going to Convention? I'd love to meet up with you for a brief Kodak Moment!

Happy Friday!

Cake Inspiration Challenge

2008-07-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous cake is for Jenn's Dare to Get Dirty Inspiration Challenge. Just looking at this cake amazes me. This must be a primo designer cake. I never saw cakes like this when I was planning my wedding! While I was out yesterday, I found this paper by American Crafts that really reminded me of the cake. I picked it up along with a few others in the same family (green, black, white) to play with just for this challenge. It's really perfect for this, don't you think?

I wanted to add a whole row of the brads, but I only had seven, so I had to come up with a different plan. I was able to find this green ribbon, which I think works well. Sure wish it was thicker though.

This layout is from Julee's Monday Mojo Sketch 47. I didn't follow the sketch exactly, but I think it can still qualify. {Mon Amie recipe}
Stamps: Carte Postale
Ink: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: Conqueror White, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, American Crafts
Accessories: black brads, ribbon by American Crafts

I'll post the last of the Punch Class cards Friday night.

Punch Class Card #4

2008-07-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Lauren Meader to the rescue again! Isn't this card simply adorable? This is her design. Normally, I don't like to make a such a specialized card. I mean, not everyone is a dog lover, but I figure this card is too cute to pass up, uses punches in such a fun way, and everyone knows a dog lover, right?{Yappy Day recipe}
Stamps: Yappy Day, skinny oval by A Muse
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Ruby Red, Whisper White
Accessories: key tag punch, circle punch, corner rounder punch, coluzzle, sponges, 5/8" chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon

Two Dirty Challenges!

2008-07-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's late now, and I'm just now getting back to the computer. I was out running errands today (if you call the stamp store and scrapbook store errands), then some family arrived from out of town, so here it is, 11:30. Sorry about that!

Anyway, I made these two cards on Tuesday night. We were getting ready for bed, and I was really itching to participate in some of the challenges this year. I didn't do any last year. So, I made both of these cards in a matter of 30 minutes or so (because I was supposed to be on my way to bed), which for me is super fast. Normally, I'm a very slow stamper.

The first card is for Christine's watercolor challenge (and technically, it counts for Julie's challenge to make a card using a plain white base). I had this great stamp, which I don't know the name of and can't find out right now because my niece and nephew are sleeping on our futon, which is in our family room basement, which houses my craft space. So, there won't actually be complete recipes for any of these cards. But, if you have questions, just let me know and I'll get back to you. Anyway, here's a fun, quick little card. One stamp, some watercoloring, and some ribbon. That's it!

{In Paris recipe}
Stamps: Rubber Romance Ink: Adirondak Pitch Black, various SU! dye inks for watercoloring
Paper: PTI White
Accessories: aqua painter, black gingham ribbon

This next card is for Julie's white base card challenge, but it didn't originally start that way. It actually started as a card for Jody's ribbon challenge where you had to pick a yummy ribbon and use that as the starting place for your card. Well, I had some really cute ribbon that's been in my stash for over a year. I should have taken a picture of it. That ribbon decided my three color choices for this card. In the end, however, the ribbon just didn't work on the card. It was too bold for the white card base. Maybe I'll get inspired to try that one again. Anyway, here's the card.
{You're Amazing recipe}
Stamps: Verve Visual's Thankful Blossoms
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip
Paper: PTI White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: brads

Sometime tomorrow, I'll sneak away from the fam and post the next Punch Class card and maybe another challenge card if I get time to create.

Punch Class Card #3

2008-07-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

So, as I was photographing this card, I realized I made the card with very vanilla cardstock and stamped a whisper white envelope. Oops! I saw a card on Stamper's Showcase (SU!'s idea gallery for demos) similar to this by Stacia Sloma. I kept her color palette, changed the embellishments, and changed the layout ever so slightly. It's amazing what a few punched and stamped shapes can do, isn't it? Hey, I think this card qualifies for Michelle's challenge over at Splitcoast. It's Dare to Get Dirty week there where the Dirty Dozen (Splitcoast's design team), past and present, offer up challenges to Fan Club members. Score! {Time to Celebrate recipe}
Stamps: Background Basics, Celebrate Everything
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Bayou Blue, Sahara Sand
Accessories: circle and star punches, eyelets, SU! markers for envelope

I'll be back later today with a simple card I made late last night for two more of this week's Dare to Get Dirty Challenges.

Punch Class Card #2

2008-07-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is another card for Saturday's Punch Class. We will use punches to make a baby onesie card. The genius idea for a onesie card started with Lauren Meader, stamping goddess extraordinaire. Isn't this just like the cutest idea ever? Class members will get to choose the colors for their onesie card. The onesies cards below were cased from Tara Kieninger (tkieninger on SCS). You can see some more of her fabulous work on her blog. {Onesie recipes}

Stamps: Polka Dot background, Nursery Necessities

Ink: Barely Banana, Pixie Pink, Ballet Blue, White Craft

Paper: Conqueror White, Barely Banana, Pixie Pink, Ballet Blue, Whisper White

Accessories: 1 3/8 circle punch, scallop punch, star punch, eyelets, brads, crop-a-dile

Thanks for stopping by! More to come tomorrow!

Punch Class Card #1

2008-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Each day this week, I will be sharing a card that we will be making at Punch Class on Saturday morning. We will be making five cards altogther. We will also be making a punch template that will help know which punches work with different stamp sets, and attendees will get a handout showing some fun, creative ways to use their punches.

I had a lot of help with the ideas for this class from many of my virtual stamping friends and online galleries. This first card I cased from Becky Carafa's adorable card. I used a couple different flower centers, but other than that, this is all Becky. I loved the colors she used and everything. I'd been wanting to try making some of these flowers, so when I saw Becky's card and that it also uses the spiral punch, I knew it would be perfect for this class. You can see Becky's original card here.

{Birthday Hugs & Wishes recipe}
Stamps: Polka Dot Background, Birthday Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Basic Black, White Craft, Pumpkin Pie (envelope only)
Paper: Rose Red, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red DSP
Accessories: black gingham ribbon, scallop punch, spiral punch, circle punch, jumbo eyelet, rhinestone brad, clear button, build-a-brad

Thank for visiting, and be sure to come back every day this week to see the other cards for Punch Class.

New In Colors

2008-07-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

If you haven't had a chance to see Stampin' Up!'s new In Colors that will be available in August, here they are! I made this card last weekend when I got my order of preview stuff. I wanted to do something that would show off all six new colors. From the bottom left is Tangerine Tango, going up is Pacific Point, then Riding Hood Red. Moving to the right is Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze. In the bottom right corner is Pink Pirouette. The stamp set, Wow Flowers, is also new and will be available in August too. I used SCS Sketch Challenge 182 for the layout. I stamped the main images in Versamark and embossed them with white embossing powder. Thank you is stamped in black craft ink and clear embossed. {Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Wow Flowers
Ink: Versamark, Black Craft
Paper: Conqueror White, Basic Black, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Barely Banana, Pirouette Pink, Lovely Lilac, Pixie Pink
Accessories: white embossing powder, black embossing powder, circle punches, scallop punch, Three For You flower punch, black brad, basic black and pixie pink markers for the envelope

If you want a better look at the new In Colors, Dawn Olchefske has a great color comparison that you can see here.

On a completely non-stamping note (unless you count the stamping I did while watching TV), are there any other Firefly/Serenity fans out there? My husband and I spent two days this week completely immersed in the DVD of this prematurely canceled show called Firefly that apparently developed some cult following (the good kind - and no wonder). They made a movie, Serenity, a few years after the show was over. We really enjoyed it! In fact, we just watched the movie again. It's a really different kind of show, hard to explain. It's a western sci-fi, which let's face it, sounds terrible. But it's really, really good! It has characters that really grow on you and clever dialogue. It's written by the same guy (Joss Whedon) who did Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I didn't watch either of those shows when they were on, not much into vampires, but guess what just arrived from our Netflix cue? That's right, Buffy! We've been told that if we liked Firefly, we'll love Buffy. So, Buffy it is (and if my husband has his way, Angel will be next).

On the subject of vampires, any Stephanie Meyer fans out there? I've read the first two books in Stephanie Meyer's series. I need to read the third book because the fourth book is coming out in August. Now, again, not much of a vampire fan, and these books are actually young adult/teen books that I heard about in some random Splitcoast forum last year. Tried 'em out! Pleasantly surprised! Quick, easy reads, clearly written for a younger audience, but wonderful mind candy.

Now here I've blabbered on too long. It's way past my bedtime, so off I go!

Happy Cupcake Day, Jamie!

2008-07-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

I am just SO bad at mailing out cards on time (I did get my GSG swaps in the mail today though). No, that's putting it nicely, I'm just SO bad at mailing cards at all. It's Jamie Sears' birthday today, and I hear she got some Copic markers! Woo hoo! Happy Birthday, Jamie! Here's your card. I promise to mail it soon.
This layout is based on a sketch by Mary J0 Price-Williams (Technostamper). You can find her sketch here.

{Cupcake Birthday recipe}
Stamps: Hero Arts Clear Cupcakes
Ink: Palette Noir, Regal Rose
Paper: Conqueror White, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Die Cuts with a View
Accessories: Copic markers, Sky ribbon from Sherbet Originals, Stardust Stickle, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder

Siberian Iris

2008-07-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Look at what I got in the mail yesterday! It's my first RAK (random act of kindness card)! Denise (peanutbee) sent me this gorgeous card. It's so pretty and sparkly in real life! She also sent me some iris images from the Siberian Iris stamp set by Flourishes that I was coveting, especially after seeing this card and this card that she had made with it.

So, today, I simply HAD to sit down and create something with one of these images. They were just begging to be played with! I have to say, I'm in love with this flower image. Luckily, Denise sent me several, including some on watercolor paper (she thinks of everything), so I still have several to play with. Thanks, Denise! These are so awesome! I hope you like my first card with this image.

{Sincere Thanks recipe}
Stamps: Siberian Iris by Flourishes, sentiment by A Muse
Ink: Unknown Black, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Crate Paper
Accessories: Copic markers, 5/8' chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon, nestabilities

Recipe Box Class

2008-07-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the first of two Recipe Box Classes using the Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper and the Tart & Tangy stamp set from the Occasions Mini. I knew I wanted to offer this as a summer class and that the products would be unavailable in July and August, so I just did some preplanning and preordering.

The class included either a small or large sized tin, six recipe (or card) dividers, seven cards, the Summer Picnic paper, and the Tart & Tangy stamp set (optional).

I took the photos before I added ribbon to my tin and sentiments to my cards. I plan to put some ribbon around the black handle of the recipe tin. The cards are all sentiment free, so people could use them as a blank set of cards or personalize them. I put out several sentiment sets and a container of random sentiments for class members to choose from.

Their final products turned out great! I can't wait for the next class.

Here's the tin, unembellished. The tin title choices were "Favorite Recipes," "Wonderful Recipes," or "Cards." The recipe divider cards were made with the From the Kitchen stamp set. I thought they turned out so cute!
I saw that there is a new Spellbinders Apron die cut available. As soon as I saw it, I thought it would be fun to create an apron card to go with this recipe tin, especially if it were being used as a gift. I used my Coluzzle to cut out the sides of the card in the shape of an apron. I saw another apron card on Splitcoast where someone had used the jumbo eyelets to attache the ribbon. I thought that was clever and used that idea here.

Edited to Add: This card does NOT use the apron diecut from Spellbinders. That's just what inspired the idea of an apron card. If you want to purchase the Spellbinders Apron die cut, you can buy it HERE. Sorry for the confusion!Here are the cards we made. I realized that I really prefer cards with sentiments, so I'll probably go back and add sentiments once my other class is over (that's not until late in August).

This was such a fun class. I think everyone enjoyed making their projects. I think these would make great gifts. One gal was even going to a wedding shower with a recipe/cooking theme the next day. How convenient is that?

{Recipe Box & Cards recipe}
Stamps: Tart & Tangy, From the Kitchen, Wonderful Favorites, Pure & Simple Alphabet Lower

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Basic Black

Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kraft, Conqueror White (card bases), Summer Picnic DSP

Accessories: SU! markers, jumbo eyelets, circle punches, scallop circle punch, 1/4" red grosgrain ribbon, 5/8" old olive ribbon, chocolate chip twill ribbon, kraft taffeta ribbon, scallop scissors (obviously made before the AWESOME *new* SU! scalloped edge punch), tins from Provo craft, Coluzzle, red brads, paper piercer

To run the class more smoothly, I created a handout with cutting instructions (everyone had to cut their own patterned paper) and photos. It's probably not much use to most of you now, since you can't offer this class anymore (unless you're all stocked up on Summer Picnic paper), but if you'd like the handout, just email me (kkgasper@comcast.net), and I'd be happy to send it to you (it's a Word doc).

Email Subscriptions and an Award

2008-07-13T00:36:00.000-07:00

Good news! I can now accept email subscriptions. Just sign up by entering your email address on the sidebar of the blog where it says "Email Subscriptions" and you will receive email updates when I post.

I really want to thank everyone who has been visiting my blog. I love getting the comments and according to my counter, I have about 100 people per day visiting lately. I would love to hear from all of you blog stalkers...I know you're out there!

I recently received this award from Debbie at Heartfelt Stamping. Debbie's from the UK! Do you hear that? Someone from the UK reads my blog and gave me an award!!! That is so cool! And, of course, you know how we feel about the Brits in this household. Love 'em! Thanks, Debbie! You made my day!

The rules for this award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

Here are my nominations:
1. Ashley at Design With Ink
2. Jenn at Kiyomi Krafts
3. Dawn at My Favorite Things
4. Mary at Stampin' Pretty
5. Joanne at Just A Little Something
6. Kazan at Nunu Toolies
7. My best friend, Krista, at Five-Speckled Eggs, because let's face it, the commentary her three year-old contributes to the blogging world is nothing less than brilliant, and that in itself deserves an award.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

July Technique Class

2008-07-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

These are the cards we made last night at Technique Class. I was so glad Stampin' Up! didn't retire Lovely as a Tree, so I bought it. This card uses the Reflection/Mirror Image Technique and the Thumping Technique. The trees were colored with SU! markers in Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. The tree brances were thumped with Always Artichoke and Garden Green. I think this technique would work so nicely for a fall card using reds, oranges, and yellows. {For You recipe}
Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, All Holidays
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky
Paper: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Whisper White, retired SU! designer paper
Accessories: Brass Hodgepodge Hardware, Soft Sky double-stitched ribbon, acetate, markers, sponges

Just recently, I also ordered the Seaside stamp set, thinking it would be good for a summer workshop or class. Of course, it's now on the dormant list. At least I was able to use it before we forget all about it. The technique for this card was dry embossing stamped images on vellum cardstock. I stamped the shells on vellum cardstock and let them dry. Then I turned them face down on a mouse pad and used a stylus to emboss the main lines of the shells as well as the inside area. The finished result are shells with texture and shape adhered with pop-up glue dots. {Seashell Birthday recipe}
Stamps: Seaside, Cheesecloth, Sincere Salutations
Ink: White Craft, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Conqueror White, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Vellum Cardstock
Accessories: Kraft Taffeta ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder (swirls), blue brads

Saturday is the Recipe Box Class featuring Summer Picnic DSP and Tart & Tangy. I'll post pictures this weekend.

Dogtor's Orders

2008-07-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

I made this card for Kim Muhl at PaperTastic Creations. She tripped over her parents' dog. Luckily, she and the dog survived, but now Kim has to have surgery for a fracture in her foot. You'll be glad to know that the dog felt terrible and tried to make amends with enthusiastic licking! I thought this card was appropriate. She's probably received it by now, and if not, I think she's staying with her parents and is on dial-up, so this won't give anything away.

I love this little dog set by My Favorite Things (MFT) called Friends Furever. This is the first time I've used it. I based this card on Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You to Try from a few weeks back. Little paw prints line the bottom of the inside of the card.
{Dogtor's Orders recipe}

Stamps: Friends Furever by MFT, Dogtor's Orders by The Cat's Pajamas, I Love My Dog by Hero Arts

Ink: Palette Noir

Paper: PTI White, Whisper White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana, unknown patterned paper

Accessories: 5/8" red grosgrain ribbon, vintage brass brad, Copic markers

Speaking of dogs, I just love mine! Here's a picture of the three of them from when we first adopted Georgia. Addy is on the left. She's our current CCI service dog in training who goes back in August (ouch!). Tanith is in the middle. She was the third CCI dog we raised, and she was released from the program while in advanced training. Yep, she just decided the working life wasn't for her and went on to be our spoiled family pet. On the far right is our little one, Georgia, recently adopted from a local shelter. You can read more about that here. She's doing pretty well. Okay, she's a bit of a pain...picked up some bad habits from her previous owners (which is perfectly understandable as they had their hands full with two preschoolers). Mainly she jumps, "Hey, what's that on the counter? Something there for me? Sure smells good" or "Oh, hello! I'm so happy to meet/see you!" She also steals, "Ooooh, these socks are lying right here on the floor. They must be for me. I can just take them and run." She chews inappropriately too, "Hmmm, what can I find in this garbage can? Look at this pretty white paper all crumbled up in a ball. I'll just take it into the living room and tear it into little bits. Uh, oh, mom's here! I wonder why she's looking at me like that?" And every now and then, she still potties in the house, "Playing is so much fun! Uh-oh! I really have to go potty. Where are those two big people? I really gotta go....Oops!" But, she's awfully cute, and we just love her!