Beate's Sketch Challenge

I can't believe I found a bit of time to work on a sketch challenge! This one is for Beate's sketch challenge for this weekend, check out her blog for some really beautiful things.... http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ My mo-jo has been SERIOUSLY off the last couple weeks. I told my friend Marcy today that I feel like a stamping idiot. I don't know what is wrong. I do find however that I tend to run in spurts and taking part in a couple challenges always seems to pull me out of my rut. The card itself is really very simple to make and isn't very fancy because when I sat down at my table it was to prepare for yet another stamp club and I don't usually want to make these cards really time consuming. The set used on this card is a Sale-a-bration set, Friendship Blooms. There is nothing better than FREE stamps!

Supplies Used: Chocolate Chip cs, ink, 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Old Olive cs, ink, Regal Rose cs, ink, Whisper White cs, White Gel Pen.

Happy Birthday Birdie!

I still am enjoying this set, A Little Birdie Told Me. I am preparing for some stamp club meetings I knew I wanted to teach them paper piecing and this bird is perfect for that! In addition to teaching some of my stamp clubs a new skill, they will get to use the jumbo eyelets, new striped ribbon and the Crop-o-dile. In this photo, it is hard to see the cute little circles the Crop-o-dile embossed along the side of the Pumpkin Pie panel. The color combo is one that was taken from the new catalog. Isn't it bright and cheerful?!? Sometimes we get so caught up in using lots of different papers, embellishments, layers, and if we let ourselves make a simple card we can be happily surprised how nice it turns out!

Supplies Used: Bashful Blue cs, Prints Designer Paper, Pumpkin Pie cs, SW Marker, Real Red cs, Striped Ribbon, SW Marker, Black Staz On, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-o-dile, Versa Mark ink, Polka Dot background, A Little Birdie Told Me.

Emerging Color Technique

I have a stamp club meeting on Friday and needed to come up with a new technique to show. I chose "Emerging Color" and will more than likely do this technique for most of my stamp clubs. The process is really quite easy.

You stamp a smaller image in different colors randomly over a piece of white card stock. Then using a solid image stamp it with Versa Mark ink and heat emboss it with Clear Embossing Powder. After you have done that, you simply brayer a darker color over the entire sheet and wipe clean when you have covered it completely! Isn't that easy?!?!

I distressed the edges of the Soft Sky panel and the Guava mat as well. I wish I could say that the chocolate ribbon is still available from Stampin Up! but it isn't. They retired it with the catalog that came out in July. Of course we still have the 5/8" Chocolate, but I thought it was too wide for this application. I hope you have a great day!

Supplies Used: Chocolate Chip cs, ink, grosgrain ribbon, Soft Sky cs, ink, Groovy Guava cs, ink, Versa Mark ink, Clear Embossing Powder, brayer, White Gel Pen, Circle Punches, Paper Piercer, Canvas, Refuge and Strength.

Will I Ever Stamp For Fun Again?

HI all! I apologize for my lack of posting! I have been stamping, but only a little bit. I am doing another swap with Jami at SCS and we are not allowed to upload our photos until after she has started swapping them out....element of surprise! So, as soon as those get swapped out (more than likely by Monday) I can share the two designs I did for her swap. But in the meantime, I have been so busy with Stamp Club workshops this month that I have hardly stamped for fun! I'm sorry I don't have anything to share but am hoping to get some stamping time in today or tomorrow. I have another stamp club meeting on so I'll need to come up with 2 projects for that as well! I am also getting revved up for a Splitcoaststampers weekend in Birch Run next weekend! I can't wait! It is my present to myself for my birthday, which is coming up on the 5th! I'll be gone from Friday to Saturday evening and the weekend will be full of stamping fun! Organized challenges, demonstrations by a couple of the Dirty Dozen Girls, and lots of friends! I've also made it a goal to have something published this year and I need to start submitting if that is ever going to happen! I can't wait for SAB to be over! I hope you get a chance to stamp today!

Lovin this Bike or am I Desperate for Spring?

Here is another card made with that adorable little bike! I also used the new printed paper again (just a different design). I really love this color combo because it screams "summer!" I must be desperate for winter to end. I have never disliked winter as much as I do now that I have kids! Sure, I love it for the holiday season, but I hate having my kids cooped up in the house so much. They go out and play some, but what a chore getting them ready to go out! Thankfully the 8 and 5 year old can do it themselves, but the 3 year old still needs help. And, it seems mom is the one checking to be sure that all the clothes get in the bathtub and hung up to dry (oooh, how I wish we had a mud room).

I heat embossed the background on the Bashful Blue panel with the Polka Dot background stamp. I've done this on several cards recently, I just really like the extra touch it gives a project. I used my Stampin Write Markers to color the image in and then used my Crop-o-dile to set those Real Red eyelets. I hope you have a great day and get to stamp some!

Supplies Used: Bashful Blue cs, SW Marker, Real Red cs, SW Marker, So Saffron SW Marker, Going Grey SW Marker, Versa Mark ink, Clear Embossing Powder, Whisper White cs, Real Red eyelets, Summer Picnic DSP, Time for You stamp set.

Always On My Mind

Here is another made with the set Always....I have really enjoyed this color combo lately and this was an easy card to make as well. This is going to be my shoebox swap in Birch Run in a few weeks. A shoebox swap is when you design a card, cut up all the supplies and leave everything out that the person needs to use to create your card. Then you rotate through and make the cards. It is lots of fun as a demonstrator because we are always creating and cutting supplies for OTHER people, this time we get to have someone cut and create for us! I'm really excited! The only thing that will be different on the shoebox swap will be the ribbon. I'll be using the 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain. I love that ribbon! I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Supplies Used: Old Olive cs, ink, Groovy Guava cs, ink, double stitched ribbon, Whisper White cs, So Saffron cs, ink, dimensionals, Always.

Swappin Time Again

Whenever a new catalog comes out I hostess a New Catalog Swap on Splitcoaststampers for demonstrators. I usually take a few spots so I can have an excuse to play with any new toys I get. This is one of the swaps I did for one of those groups. Ilike to make swaps that are cards a customer could look at and know she could duplicate it easily, but still has some element that makes it stand out a bit. I don't know if you can see that I used the Crop-o-dile to dry emboss little circles across the card where the sentiment is at. Just a little something to jazz it up a bit but so easy anyone could do it. Overall this is really very simple to make but yet I think it is really elegant looking.

This was made using the new set Always. I didn't order it right away, but it was one that caught my eye. As Valentines Day approached it was calling to me even more! I thought the heart that is in this set would make beautiful Valentines. Well, I finally broke down and ordered it and I ever glad I did! Sometimes you see a stamp set and think you must add it to your collection, then you get it and hardly make anything with it. I've done that LOTS of times! Then there are those sets you get and you can't stop using them-Always is that set for me right now. I LOVE this set. I have really enjoyed using it!

Supplies Used: Basic Black cs, grosgrain ribbon, Black Staz On ink, Soft Sky cs, ink, Whisper White cs, Ticket Corner Punch, Crop-o-dile, Always Stamp set.

Happy Valentines Dear Husband!

Here is the Valentine I made for my husband. Men are so hard to make cards for! To be honest, I don't own one single "masculine" set. This is a bit flowery, but I chose the red and black to try to make it a bit more manly. This was really simple! Isn't this heart the most beautiful heart ever?!? This is from the new Stampin' Up! set called "Always". I loved this set as soon as I saw it but put off purchasing it until I saw a few things using this set and then I could resist no longer! I heat embossed the heart with silver embossing powder (I did the same with the greeting that reads "you mean everything to me"). I heat embossed the berries with clear embossing powder on the black background. The pretty black ribbon is some that I purchased from Walmart. Anyway, I hope you enjoy some time with your sweetheart tonight!

Headed to My Secret Sister

Isn't this bike image the cutest!?!? This is a sneak peak of a set that will be in the Occasions Mini Catalog, the mini will be in effect from March 1-May 31. The printed paper on this card is also from that mini. I'm sending this card to my secret sister for the SCS Michigan Gathering that will be the first weekend in March! I can't wait! We will be meeting with about 49 other SCS ladies for a weekend of stamping, challenges, prizes and fun! Anyway, we have secret sisters and since my secret sister found out who I was, I don't have to hide my stuff and can share it with you all. I love bike riding so this image called to me as soon as I saw it. This image reminds me of biking on Mackinaw Island. Last year for our anniversary my dh and I took a weekend away to Mackinaw Island and biked all around the island and through the middle as well (a road I had never traveled on the island!). Anyway, we figure we biked about 15 miles that day! YES- 15 miles! But it was fun and beautiful. All supplies are by Stampin' Up! except the red flower eyelets which have been in my stash for probaly 7 years!

Supplies Used: Bashful Blue cs, Stampin Write Marker, Certainly Celery cs, SW Marker, Grosgrain Ribbon, Real Red cs, Grosgrain Ribbon, SW Marker, Flower Eyelets, So Saffron cs, SW Marker, Going Grey ink, SW Marker, Basic Black SW Marker, Black Staz On, Time for You set, Summer Picnic DSP.

Stamp Club Acetate Card

This is the card that one of my stamp club's did last week at our meeting. I hadn't used acetate when making a card base before but it really isn't any different from using cardstock as your base. I think the ladies enjoyed it! (I apologize for the glare from the lights on the front of this card!)

Supplies Used: Acetate sheet, Whisper White cardstock, Soft Sky cs, ink, River Rock ink, Always Artichoke cs, brad, SW Marker, grosgrain ribbon, Fall Flowers DSP, Circle Scallop punch, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Seeing Spots stamp set.

Valentine Bookmarks

A couple posts below I shared a card my 8 year old had made for her daddy who was sick. Now today I am sharing the Valentines my 5 year old and I created for her class party. Mom decided that bookmarks would be a fun Valentine to give out...I created a sample for her (on the far left standing up) and she did all the coloring and stamping of the hearts herself. I did the cutting and assembling. She wanted "cats for the girls and lions for the boys" so we used C.C. Designs stamp sets, Love Ya Lots and Love Ya Much. I couldn't make them too involved since she was going to be doing the stamping. She made 18 of these. I was pretty impressed she did them all! She was very particular too! Everytime she would get ready to do some more, she would lay out all the completed ones into a pattern and had to keep with the pattern...yellow face on one, black face on the next, and so on! You can tell she is a kindergartener learning about patterns!

Simple Tri-Fold Monkey

Here is another project made with CC Designs new Monkey Love stamps (available Saturday, February 9 at All That Scraps). This is the other image that is in the set (first image shown on the 2 cards before this post) and another sentiment. This is such a simple card with a different fold that we usually gravitate toward. This is a tri-fold card...wanna know how to make it? SO easy!

For this card I cut the Close to Cocoa cardstock to measure 4" x 11". I put it into my paper cutter horizontally and scored it at 3 1/2". Then I just folded the remaining portion over the front of the card. I then trimmed 1/2" off the front flap. That is it!

Don't you love his tummy???

Supplies Used: (All supplies, except stamp set by Stampin' Up!) Close to Cocoa cardstock, ink, Creamy Caramel ink, aquapainter, Berry Bliss Designer Series paper, Lt. Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, half jewel ($1 bin from somewhere), Monkey Love stamp set (CC Designs).

Kids LOVE C.C. Designs!

Here is a project that my 8 year old did less than an hour after the new Monkey Love Stamps arrived from All That Scraps. She is constantly telling me she doesn't do a good job stamping and of course I reminded her that she just needs to practice. So today when her sick dad and 2 sisters were sleeping we stole an hour or so to go downstairs and work on some projects. While I did the project below, she worked on this card for her daddy. I was quite impressed with her ability to try shading the monkey using Creamy Caramel for the monkey and adding some Close to Cocoa on his body. These stamps are perfect for the kids in your life, don't hoard your stamps, let your kids play (after proper instruction on how to show your rubber love!!)

Itzie Inkies Monkies!

Lookee at this cute little fella! Isn't he adorable? Shortly after beginning my position as an All That Scraps design team member the other dt members were chatting about how much we love Lucky and Lulu and the cute penguins, one of the gals said she would love to see some monkies in the CC Designs style and Christine (the owner of ATS and designer of CC Designs) said, "Guess what I'm workin on?" So, today I recieved a package that included this adorable guy! I was especially excited because my 3 year old LOVES monkies-especially Curious George. She had a Curious George birthday party last year (I used the Monkey Business stamp set that Stampin' Up! has for those invites) and she is still insisting on having a George party again. The leaves on the tree were made using the flower from the retired Stampin' Up! set, Sheltering Tree.

This adorable monkey, including one other and another sentiment will be available tomorrow, February 9 on the All That Scraps website http://allthatscraps.com/ . You have to check them out!

Supplies Used: Old Olive cs, ink, Always Artichoke ink, Soft Sky cs, Chocolate Chip SW Marker, Creamy Caramel SW Marker, ink, Close to Cocoa ink, SW Marker, Aquapainter, Tag Corner Punch, Paper Piercer and Template, White Signo Gel Pen, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper, Horizontal Slot Punch, CC Designs Monkey Love stamp set.

Bo Ho Backgrounds

Here is another for Jami's girls! This one uses the new set Bo-Ho Backgrounds. I love that not only does this set have 2 blocks that are for backgrounds, it also includes a medallion image and a block that has 2 sentiments on it. Although you have to use the marker ommitting technique to get just the sentiment you want, I love it!

My favorite stamp in this set is the background of flowers. The flowers are beautifully drawn and stamp wonderfully. I love using them all over a large panel as I did here. To get the multi colored medallion I just stamped the medallion three different times, in three different colors. Then I used my circle punches and punched out different layers of the medallion and layered them on top of one another! So easy!

Supplies Used: Pretty in Pink cs, ink, Purely Pomegranate ink, cs, Very Vanilla cs, Close to Cocoa ink, Circle Punches, Gingham ribbon, silver brad, Scallop Circle Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Bo-Ho Backgrounds.

Enjoy It!

Do you like this one?!?! This set was a freebie demo's received. I love the images in it and when I was all done with this one I was really pleased with it. I love the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon-it adds so much! This was another one I did for Jami's swap. I had to use this set and a combination of colors shown on page 10 in the Spring-Summer Collection. I had this sample at a stamp club meeting this week and one of the gals said she really liked it but that it had too much guava. She said she's not a fan of Groovy Guava. The great thing about the color combos Stampin' Up! is putting in these new catalogs is that there are so many colors listed (such as on page 10 they show these colors together:

Old Olive

So Saffron

Pumpkin Pie

Groovy Guava

Cameo Coral

Rose Red

There are so many colors suggested, you could substitute just about anything for the Guava and have it look great!

Supplies Used: So Saffron ink, cardstock, Groovy Guava ink, cardstock, Slit Punch, 1/8" Handheld Circle Punch, So Saffron Brad, 3/4" Circle Punch, Enjoy the Little Things.

Jami's Swap!

I haven't been doing nothing the last 2 weeks, I have been working on swaps for another of Jami's swaps over at Splitcoaststampers. I call these ladies "famous swapers". Why? They have blogs that rank way up there, many of them you have probaly seen. You know Taylor VanBruggen right? Yup...Miss Famous Stamper herself! I get to swap with her and lots of other incredibly talented ladies. Jami does request that we wait to post our creations until she has swapped them out. They have been swapped out so I can show you some of mine. This is the one I chose to show you today. This still remains a favorite set of mine even after many projects made with it! I paper pieced the bird by stamping him on the blue piece of Cutie Pie Paper and cutting out just his body. Then I popped it up with a dimensional. I can't seem to get away from paper piecing this little guy! The artwork just makes it so easy! Supplies Used: Bashful Blue card stock, ink, Black Staz On ink, Whisper White card stock, Pumpkin Pie SW Marker, Scallop Circle Punch, Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper, Rose Red brads, Bashful Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, A Little Birdie Told Me.

How Sweet is This?

You might recall that in November I mentioned that I had a customer who was so sweet and actually bought me an early Christmas gift. This sweet lady bought me the Giga Scallop Oval punch for Christmas because she said she is so thankful for me. I thought that was so sweet! Tonight I met with a stamp club tonight that I haven't seen since November. One of the members came in and said, "I have something for you!" Look what she made me!!! Isn't this THE CUTEST cardstock purse with note cards?!?!? She made 10 of these babies for me! I was so touched! She used this adorable paisley stamp on the Pretty in Pink paper. I don't know who makes the "C" stamp or the "Just a Note" but I know the rectangular frame around the letter is a retired stamp from SU! I still can't get over how sweet this is! As a paper crafter I find myself making stuff for other people all the time, and I wish I had some cute things for myself but it seems weird to make something for myself. Now someone has gone and made me something! Thanks Deneen! In addition to making me this sweet little ensemble, Deneen is constantly encouraging me and giving me great compliments about my work! A friend who makes me gifts and is encouraging to boot! I think I'll keep her around!