Last Contraband for Awhile

Here is another sample I made using a recently purchased contraband stamp. This beautiful fairy was made by Lizzie Anne Designs. I saw it for the first time on Cambria's blog where she made this adorable tooty fairy box for her daughter. http://cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/2007/10/lizzie-anne-tooth-fairy-tin.html As soon as I saw it I knew wanted to make some of these boxes for my three girls. I wish you could see how sparkly the fairy is...you just can't stamp a fairy without adding sparkle. I sent this card in for a contest they are having at Lizzie Anne Designs. I wasn't even paying attention to the date so I hope it gets there in time to be considered.

The card itself is really easy to make. The beautiful fairy is stamped on Watercolor Paper with Timber Brown Staz On and colored with my aquapainter. I added stickles to her crown, wand and skirt. I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder on the Soft Sky panel and used Stampin Up's largest circle punch to punch a circle out of the panel where I wanted the fairy to be shown. Then I used a piece of Groovy Guava and punched the same circle out. Next center your SU scallop punch over the Guava circle and punch. I used my white gel pen to trace the edges of the scallop circle and put little dots in the scallops. I adhered that to the Soft Sky panel. To do the grass I stamped an adorable flower that LAD enclosed for free when I ordered Fairy...so I don't know if it goes to a set or if it is a little individual thing, not sure but it was FREE so I really loved that! So, I stamped the flower randomly on Certainly Celery cardstock and then just freehand cut the hills. I sponged the Celery ink directly on the edges of the hills. I used my white gel pen to trace these little lines that are part of the flower stamp. I adhered the front hill on top of the bottom hill with dimensionals. Finally, I used Stampin' Up!'s Fancy Flexible Phrases and stamped "Wishes" in Timber Brown. I punched it out with the Word Window punch and added the pretty little diamond jewel.

Supplies used: Groovy Guava cs, ink, Soft Sky cs, ink, Timber Brown Staz On, Certainly Celery cs, ink, So Saffron ink, Creamy Caramel ink, Aquapainter, Fancy Flexible Phrases (SU!), Word Window Punch, SU! Scallop Punch, White Gel Pen, Cuttlebug, Fairy (Lizzie Anne Designs), Stickles

Elzybells!!!

If you know me at all, you know that I am a die hard SU snob! I don't buy any paper but theirs, no inks, no embellishments, NOTHING! I love our stuff, plus I can sell our stuff and as a stay at home mom with three girls I need to make some cash right?!?! So, it stands to reason that my money goes where I can earn money...investing in my business. I spend time on other stamping blogs and have been persuaded to buy just a couple (I think about 4) stamps from A Muse Artstamps because they are adorable, but yet, I have remained controlled...(did you see that Lorien? CONTROL....) Anyway, I saw stamps on this blog: http://elzybellsna.typepad.com/my_weblog/ the other day, and lost all control! I bought 4 stamps from them and I can't wait till they come out with more...Isn't this little girl adorable? She is called "Winter Girl". I also got "Girl With Sled" and you see the snowflake on the pink? YUP, it's from Elzybells...AND, so is the cute greeting that is on the tag, it says "Warm Winter Wishes". If I haven't personally directed you to their site, run there and check these cuties out. The other plus....wood mounted!!! YES! The trend in stamping is leaning toward acrylic stamps which I still haven't enjoyed and I will admit that some stamps I have considered, sitting on the fence to purchase, but the fact they are acrylic has stopped me. But these cuties are wood mounted. AHHHH, so, my goal is to flood the gals at Elzybells with cute samples and hope they beg me to be on a design team..who knows, it could happen right?

Supplies used: All Stampin' Up! (are you surprised?) and of course the Elzybells stamp!

SNEAK PEEK!

Don't you love free stuff? I attended Stampin' Up! regionals in Canada last month and after the event was over I received a free set in the mail. This set will be in the Spring/Summer Collection and I got a chance to make a card with it! Here is is! What do you think? This is an adorable set and I used my favorite designer paper with it, Fall Flowers. I love the mix of the Soft Sky, Really Rust and Olive. This set is called Enjoy Every Moment and has 11 stamps in it. Hopefully I will get a chance to play with it more later tonight. This particular card was made for Trish Kustra (scottsmom on SCS). She sent me a wonderful altered tin filled with ribbon, Peppermint Paties (one of my favorite chocolates!), a stamp set, some embellishments and a chipboard alphabet! She sent this to me because she said I am a great swap hostess! What an ego boost! I loved her treat so I wanted to send her something to say thanks...I hope she likes it!

Supplies Used: Soft Sky cs, ink, Olive cs, ink, Really Rust cs, ink, Fall Flowers paper, Olive Wide Grosgrain, Photo Corner punch, Earth Elements buttons, linen thread.

We All Gotta Have A Hobby

Some people may actually think it is weird that I spend my free time rubberstamping...why not sewing or knitting they may say....but hey, everyone has gotta have a hobby. Why not rubber stamping? My husband has several outdoorsy type of hobbies. He is not your typical hunting or fishing type of guy but rather gardening and bees. Yes, bees. He has sevearl honeybee hives in our backyard and several more at a friend's house down the road. He gets looks when people hear about the bees. Mainly looks that say, "Are you crazy?" But he loves it. Lately he has taken to removing honeybee nests from buildings. He has done 2 removals this summer so I thought I would share a photo of a bunch of bees that took up residence in an apartment building...amazing!

What is Bo-Ho Anyway?

If any of gals that were at our stamp club meeting last week see this post, they will be laughing...(waving a cyber hi! to Marcy, Pat, Tiffany, Kelly and Abby!) I LOVE, LOVE the set True Friends from the current mini catalog and especially LOVE this flower image. Isn't it sweet? I don't know what it is about it that grabs me but it is so sweet. But what I want to know is what is BoHo? Currently the BoHo style is very popular in paper crafting. This set has a BoHo feel but I don't know what it means to be Bo-Ho? Anyone else know?

I wish I could say this pocket card was all my idea, but it wasn't. I seem to be stuck in a CASE-it rut right now. We did a card just like this at Regionals in Canada a couple weeks ago. The only thing I changed was the image on the tag. The original card that Stampin' Up! designed used the {Thank U} image, which doesn't do it for me. So I used my favorite image in this set, the BoHo flower. I colored it with Stampin Write Markers and can say I adore the way this turned out. The colors were completely Stampin' Up!'s design and I love them together!!

Supplies: Kraft cardstock, Soft Sky cardstock and ink, Mellow Moss cardstock and ink, Red gingham ribbon, tag corner punch, Ruby Red brads, So Saffron cardstock, Stampin Dimensionals

Christmas Card Class #2

This is another sample from my Christmas Card class 2 weeks ago. It was the last one I created for this class. Usually the last card I design is my least favorite....you have gone through many color combos, layouts, stamp sets, etc. and you are tapped out creatively. Well, I loved this when I was finally done. I wasn't even planning on using this set but it seemed that my Cold Play set walked off and I couldn't locate it. So...this is was my final design for that class. I plan on using this design as some of my Christmas Cards this year.

Supplies: Snowflake Spot stamp set, Purely Pomegranate ink, card stock, Bashful Blue ink, card stock, Mellow Moss ink, card stock, ribbon. Versamark ink, heat tool, Irradescent Ice Embossing Powder, Crafter's Tool Kit, Photo Corner Punch.

Halloween is Coming

As a kid, I loved Halloween and I still think Halloween is fun for kids but it has become so adult the last several years. Many of the decorations are too scary for young kids. Did the adults that buy these things forget that this "holiday" is supposed to be for kids. My middle daughter wouldn't even go trick or treating last year because she was so freaked out by the yard decorations in the neighborhood we were trick or treating in. I don't think I have ever sent a Halloween card. But, I did enter a swap in which we were requested to make a simple Halloween card. This was my submission. Enjoy.

Supplies used: Pumpkin Pie card stock and ink, Black card stock,ink, grosgrain, Always Artichoke ink, linen thread, scallop circle punch, circle punch, Creepy Crawly Designer Series paper, paper piercer and template, black eyelet.

Fall...It's the HOTTEST Time of the Year?

Here in Grand Blanc, Michigan we have our air conditioning running today. It is over 90 today! I don't remember a time it was this warm in October. So, here is a fall"ish" sample for you to enjoy.

Supplies: Groovy Guava ink, cardstock, ribbon, Mellow Moss ink, cardstock, Ruby Red ink, cardstock, watercolor paper, brads, aquapainter, Give Thanks stamp set, Canvas background stamp, Vases in Vogue stamp set.