"Card Sketch Challenge # 4"

It's time to get your creative juices flowing again! :-)
Here's a new sketch for you to have fun with. Remember, if you feel like sharing what you've come up with, please e-mail it HERE and I will post it.

Now, here's my version using Stampin' Ups! Sweet Pea flowers.

Have Fun!!

2010 Summer Mini Catalog Release!

It's here!! The new Summer Mini Catalog....FULL of some wonderful new products and stamp sets!

                            

See some of the new sets and items available beginning today!

 Click on the catalog to the right to view the entire catalog or download the PDF copy of it.

All stamp sets available in either wood-mount or cling-mount and also in three languages!

What a beautiful, elegant set. This is "Elements of Style".

Sooooo glad they came out with a 'grilling' stamp! Perfect for manly cards. :-)

This one is called "King of the Grill"

Great for first day and last day of school projects! This one is called "First Day"

This one will be helpful for a lot of us who either ride a motorcycle or have a spouse or friend that does! Simply called "Motorcycle".

Ladies, you might like these humerous sayings. They will certainly make someone smile!

Called "Favorite Thoughts"

So, there's a taste of what's in the new catalog! Hurry, and go check it out....there's LOTS to see!

Mother's Day Workshop Samples!

It's always nice to have a few different ideas for use with the same stamp set, right?
Here's another way you can use your "Garden from the Heart" set! It's such a great set for use in a Mother's Day card that I couldn't resist teaching it this past weekend to a lovely group of ladies. They also learned a quick and easy candy holder and how to make a neat 3-D flower to adorn their holder!
Hope you are inspired! :-)

The ladies learned how to use their water pens/aqua painters to color in the hat (using the ink from their ink pads pressed into the lid of the ink pads). Just like watercoloring!

When using your water pens it's best to use watercolor paper, which Stampin' Up! does sell.

All Stampin' Up! items used:

Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Whisper White cardstock, Watercolor paper, Aqua painter, Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, "Garden from the Heart" stamp set, Old Olive and Rose Red Stampin' Write markers, Eyelet Border punch, Perfect Polks Dots embossing folder and Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon.

 

This holder was made using a 3 x 12 piece of  Old Olive cardstock, scored at 4 3/4"  and 7 1/4". Used the 1 3/4" Circle punch to cut the center circle and the Scallop Circle punch to create the border.

The flower was made by punching out 7 pieces of Whisper White cardstock with the Scallop Circle punch. I use a dauber to ink the edges (front and backside) with whatever color I'd like to accent my flower with. You then will wad all the pieces up and then open back up. Stack them, secure through the center with a brad and then start to wad EACH layer straight up over each other. This will create your flower! Just pull the edges back out to the desired look you want. 

 Have fun making them!! ;-) 

Stampin' Up! Items used:

12 x 12 Old Olive cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, "Fifth Avenue Floral" stamp set, "Tiny Tags" stamp set, Medium Jewelry Tag punch, Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch (for the leaves), Pretty in Pink satin ribbon and Old Olive and Pretty in Pink ink pads.   

Mother's Day!

Have you started on your Mother's Day cards? No? Well, no worries....here's an idea for one! 

Mom, don't look!! :-)

In case you've never tried 'wrinkling' your ribbons, let me try and explain how to do it.
The hardest part is trying to separate the fibers at the end of the ribbon piece.
Once you've been able to do that, then work on getting a firm grip on one of them in the center.
When it's firmly held, begin pulling on the thread while pulling down the rest of the ribbon in the opposite direction. This will cause the ribbon to start to buckle and curve to the side. Keep doing this until you have your desired length. Be careful that you don't pull too hard and break the thread, or pull the thread out. I have been able to successfully use this technique on satin, taffeta and grosgrain ribbons! So, pull all those ribbons out and see what you can do! :-) Have fun!

Now, do you notice the fluffy looking flowers on the hat? Those were made taking styrofoam balls and rubbing them together to create the fluffy substance. Take the shaved styrofoam and put it in a sandwich baggie. Put a few drops of re-inker in the bag and 'mush' (don't you like that word?) the styrofoam shavings into the ink. You will need to work it in for a bit, but eventually you'll have some nice uniform colored 'fluff' to glue onto your stamped images once it's dry! :-)

Stampin' Up! Items used:

Garden from the Heart #118568 (cling-mount), Well Scripted #118601 (cling-mount), Vintage Vogue #118598 (cling-mount), 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon #111368, Signo gel pen #105021, Eyelet Border punch #113692, Blender pens #102845,

Kraft, Whisper White, Old Olive and Pink Pirouette cardstock.

Two-Step Bird Punch!

I LOVE this Two-Step Bird punch! It's got so many possibilities. You'll love working with it!

The following card was made using this punch. I have posted this card done in other colors, but this was my first one. I couldn't post it because I had made one similar for a girlfriend of mine for her 50th Birthday and she hadn't received it yet! I couldn't spoil the surprise, could I? :-)

I hope both cards inspire you!

Don't forget to use your Sissix Die Cut numbers and incorporate them on your cards. These were cut from chipboard and I used my SU Classic ink to color them, and then spritzed them with a mixture of SU's pearlized paint and alcohol to add a bit of shimmer! The Taffeta ribbon worked beautifully with the look of this card. I used one of my favorite stamp sets, "Friends 24-7", to stamp on this card with.

Hope it's given you more color combo ideas to run with!

Stampin' Up Announces....

Okay, so I always eagerly await the new In-Colors each year....but this year is even more exciting! I have to admit there is a little disappointment in some of the news....but as a whole, it's great!!

Stampin' Up! is bringing in 6 new In-Colors and re-vamping all the other color groups!! They are bringing back some of our favorite In-Colors from the past as well as getting rid of some of the standard colors they've always had. It's a very nice change-over and I think you'll like it when you take a good look. I have to admit, there's a few colors I will miss....so, I will be stocking up on paper and ink re-fills on those colors!! We'll have to get our orders in ASAP before they start to run out! So, start making your lists! :-)

So glad to see River Rock in the neutrals and Crumb Cake (which is the new name for Kraft)!

Above are the colors you need to go through your stash with and see what you need to stock up on! I'm going to miss the blues and yellows....but LOVE the new colors coming back! Baha Breeze was always a favorite and looks so good with Real Red and Chocolate Chip. Marina Mist is gorgeous and so is Daffodil Delight. And I'm soooo thrilled to have Riding Hood Red coming back!!

Yes, we have MUCH to look forward to! :-)

Rachel's Win...Digital Image!

As you all know, Rachel was lucky to win first place in Karen's Doodles contest! She was able to pick out what she wanted Karen to design on one of her images. Rachel picked the picture I took of her and her dog Maggie and she named the digital stamp "Maggie and Me". Karen has posted it on her blog, so you can go there to see it and all her others. Here's the image and the scrapbook page photo she designed it off of. It's sooooo adorable!

If you have children, I encourage you to get them to participate in the contests! See what you can look forward to them winning! :-)

The scrapbook pages I designed using Stampin' Up's "My Digital Studio". It's a fantastic program and so easy to use! You will LOVE it!

Just click on the "Shop Now" button (to your right) to order the program....you won't regret it!

Spring Break in Florida

Rachel and I scooted down to Florida for her Spring Break. It's been a great trip! I got to finally see my little sister and her adorable pregnant belly....unexpectedly re-connected with a family friend from Highschool...and got to hang out with my parents, middle sis and niece and nephew. All-in-All....it's been a great trip so far! Haven't done any stamping lately, but will post another challenge and some ideas for you when I get back! For now, I thought I'd share some pictures of our time down here:

             

How do you like this beach! Isn't it gorgeous! Look at clear the water is....

Look at that cute 'bump'!! Kristy was such a trooper on that warm beach...and she looked adorable! I tried to talk her in to putting on a 2-piece bathing suit....that was out of the question she said! :-)

The cousins! Jonathan, Rachel and Ashlyn...                                                                                               

The Sisters....Penny, Myself, and Kristy!

My Mom took the kids Go-Cart racing....it was Rachel's first time. She went around the track with me and then my sister, Penny, before trying it herself. She was quite a bit nervous for her first time by herself (as shown in picture) but quickly caught on and had a blast! She went out one more time, and the final pic is the cousins crossing the finish line and coming in to park. LOTS of fun!

Easter Lily

Look what a little ink from a Stampin' Write marker and a water brush can do! :-) Just ink up where the darker color will be on your image and then pull the color out with your waterbrush. I did do the lily on watercolor paper....less messy that way. :-) Tried to keep it simple so the lily would be the focus. The raised lines on the Whisper White card base were done using my stylus. The accent color is Elegant Eggplant.
Now you go and try it! Have fun!

Remember only TWO DAYS LEFT to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration!!

Ends March 31st.

Rachel Won!

I just want to thank you all for your wonderful comments to Rachel about her card! She was so delighted to read them all!
GOOD NEWS! In the random drawing that Karen's Doodles does....Rachel won 1st place! She is sooooo excited! The most exciting part for her is that as part of the 1st place winning, she gets to design her own digital stamp.....so as you read this she is pondering what she wants to design. :-) I'm sure we'll know the specifics soon!
Thank you again for your support of my daughter! She's thrilled! :-)

Easter Gable Box

It's just around the corner.....watch out for that Easter bunny!  She packs a lot of sweets that could get you in to baskets of trouble! :-)

I never thought I'd enjoy 'punch art' that much...but they are all sooo adorable...they just have to find a place in our crafts! This Easter bunny found her way onto a Gable Box. How cute is this to give to your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews on Easter! Just change out the colors, omit the bow, add a carrot instead of flowers and it's perfect for boys too.
You can find the instructions HERE to make the Gable Box. (The punches used will follow the picture.)

Hope you enjoy! Have a delightful and blessed Easter....

All items used are by Stampin' Up!

Large and Small Oval punches, 1" and 1 1/4" Circle punches, Word Window punch (for pink pads of the feet and fence pieces), Heart to Heart punch, White gel pen, Black Stampin' Write marker, Crop-O-Dile (for pink nose), Tea Party Designer Series paper,

So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink cardstock,

Vintage Vogue stamp set, Clear Rhinestone brads, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon.

My Second Sketch Challenge!

Are you ready to play again? I've got another sketch challenge for you!

I hope you have fun putting your favorite colors, patterns and embellishments to this design. Please share what you come up with for all the readers of this blog, if you'd like! I know they will all enjoy seeing your designs and being inspired by your vision of this sketch. If you'd like to participate and send me a picture of your card, please send it HERE, and I will be sure to post it. If you don't have a watermark on your picture, I will be sure to list your name as you'd like it.

Note: If you are still working on the first sketch, there is no time limit here! You can still send it in and I'll post it!

Thank you for playing! :-)

Here's my interpretation :-) I used this image from a stamp set I love, and haven't used very often. This seemed like just the image I needed. Maybe you can pull out a stamp set you haven't used in awhile and try and apply it in this sketch! (Is that considered another challenge?! :-)

All items used are Stampin' Up products:

Le Jardin Botanique stamp set, Very Vintage jumbo wheel, Finial Press embossing folder,

Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Real Red cardstock, Blending pens, Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, 3/16" Corner Rounder punch, Eyelet Border punch, 5/8" Real Red Grosgrain ribbon and Clear Rhinestone brads.

Rachel's Contest Entry!

Rachel (my 9 year old daughter) is so excited to enter her first card contest given at Karen's Doodles...she had to use one of their delightful digital images, and her card had to have atleast 2 pattern papers, 3 brads or buttons and something black. She used my Stampin' Up! markers to color in the image and blew me away with her coloring! I quickly told her how to blend her colors, and she went right to it! I'm soooo excited for her about her card, that I just had to post it to show you all!
Hope you enjoy!

Made by Rachel, my 9 year old daughter!

She did the coloring all herself using my Stampin' Up! markers! and she put it all together on her own!

I'm a VERY proud Mom, can't you tell?! :-)

Here's a close-up of her coloring job:

Thanks for stopping by to see!

Please post your comments so my daughter can gain some confidence in her work! Thanks!

Vintage Bird and Lace

How many of you have leftover ribbon and lace from sewing projects and it's not enough for another sewing project....so you have no idea what to do with it? Or maybe you are like me...you walk into the fabric/craft store and your eyes lite on a roll of 'knitted' lace and you HAVE to buy it....not having any idea what to do with it...you just liked it! :-)

Well, here is what I did with mine! This just goes to show you that all those bits and pieces of odds and ends laying around your home CAN be used for something....just throw it on a card and create a thing of beauty and interest! :-) Just rub some ink on it to 'age' it a bit and it does wonders on a card! I just taught this card to a group of my friends this past weekend. We had so much fun! Thanks Ladies for a delighful weekend! Can't wait to get together again soon.

Okay, here's my sample.....hope this inspires you to pull out your scraps and create something new and exciting!

Items used by Stampin' Up! except the patterned paper and ribbon:

Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch #117191, SU's Four largest circle punches (listed on previous entries), Friends 24-7 stamp set #113218, Kraft and Whisper White ribbon, Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamp set #114996.

I would have preffered to have used the Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon on this, but had run out. It would have been so much nicer with that. The item # for the Taffeta ribbon is 109067.

Long-Stem Silhouette

More Definitely Decorative! I just finished re-doing my Master Bathroom, and found that this Wall Vinyl worked great! My husband thought I had painted it....

This is the large version of the "Long-Stem Silhouette"....it measures 12 3/4" x 52 3/4". Would look great in a foyer too...

The Long-Stem Silhouette is available in Black, Chocolate and White. The smaller size is measured at 5 3/4" x 27 3/4".

Check out Definitely Decorative HERE.

Definitely Decorative!

If you haven't looked through the Definitely Decorative catalogs....you are missing out!! There's wonderful images and quotes, "chalkboard" images you can actually write on, etc. They go on easy and come off easy without marring your walls. I just LOVE them! Stampin' Up! has a wonderful selection of colors too, in their images. So, hurry up and go take a look! :-) SEE HERE

Here's one I just applied in my dining room:

If you like this one, it measures 22 1/2" x 13" and is shown here in the Chocolate Chip. It's item #114769. It's also available in smaller sizes and other colors. Follow the link above to download the catalog and view all your options! 

My First Sketch Challenge Creation!

Wow! It was so much fun to actually design my own sketch challenge for you! I hope you'll participate! I've had so much fun being inspired by Diane's that I thought I'd give it a try! Please let me know what you think....

Remember, sketches are for your inspiration and can be altered to suit your style, color preference, etc. Embellish, change from portrait to landscape style if you wish.....just have fun being creative with it!

I'd LOVE to see what you do with my sketch! Please e-mail me HERE with your creation and I will begin another page where I will post your samples (if you wish). The samples will remain up until the next sketch challenge!

Of course I can't leave you without also posting my rendition of the sketch! Hope you enjoy and are inspired to let your creativity flow.....

Here's my rendition:

Items used:

Upsy Daisy stamp set #111710

Taken with Teal, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Whisper White, Real Red and Soft Suede cardstock,

White gel pen #105021, Mat Pack & Paper Piercing tool # 105826 and #116631,

Crop-o-dile (to punch the little circles), 1/2" circle punch # 104390, Playground button set #116313,

*Scallop Trim Border punch #118402

* This item is a Sale-A-Bration item and is only available for FREE with a $50 purchase through March 31st. Don't miss out on this great FREE item! Place an order today!!

Strawberry Delight!

Today's card was done using a sketch challenge from a fellow Demonstrator, Diane Noble. She posted it several days ago, and I just had time to sit down and participate. It's been a wonderfully lazy Saturday with a few hours to sit at my stamping table....the rain makes me want to huddle inside and be creative. :-) Does it do the same to you? My daughter wants to go out and see the new 'Alice in Wonderland' movie, so I will be soon off and running to do just that. In the meantime let me share what I came up with for the sketch, and also to challenge you to make a card using it!! Send me pictures of what you do with it, and I'll post them on my blog for other's to be inspired! E-mail your samples HERE.

So, here's the sketch by Diane:

And here's my rendition:

Stampin' Up! Items Used:

Real Red, Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock,

5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon,

*Scallop Trim Border punch, Linen Thread,

Jewelry Tag punch, *Vintage Labela stamp set,

Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder,

Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper,

Tart & Tangy stamp set,

Sahara Sand, Real Red and Old Olive Stampin' write markers

* These items are only available through March 31st as part of the FREE Sale-A-Bration items for every $50 you spend! Don't miss your chance to get them!!

Happy Birthday to My Hubby!

Today is my husbands Birthday! Now, do you think I could give him a store bought card?! I don't think so!! I think he'd be pretty offended if I did.... :-)

A good friend of mine commented, early last year, that she couldn't wait to see what I came up with with the stamp set "Sense of Time" when I had purchased it. I'm ashamed to say, it's taken me that long to be inspired to do something with it....but my husbands B'day seemed just the right time to use it! I hope they are both pleased with the result....I think I am! I used the Designer Series paper "Nouveau Chic" which is just masculine enough to help pull off this card.  Let me know what you think!

Hope you like!

Stampin' Up! Items Used:

Nouveau Chic DSP #115670, Sense of Time stamp set #113804

Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Apricot Appeal and Sage Shadow cardstock,

Silver brads #104336, Basic Black  1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain ribbon,

Linen Thread #104199, Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon #109064,

Extreme Elements stamp set #115181

Remember...Sale-A-Bration is still going on! Ends April 30th!

If you'd like to book a workshop to learn how to make these fun cards and projects, drop me a line!

Think'in Easter!

What does Easter make you think about? Probably, like a lot of you, I think of Spring beginnings because I am soooo ready for that season! :-) Flowers...dew on the grass in the mornings instead of snow and frost...warmer days and nights....getting Easter eggs ready for the children's egg hunts...
The biggest things I tend to think about are all the blessings in my life....my husband, daughter, family and friends, our continued health through the years....and most of all...that I serve a God that loves me. Sometimes I think He gets lost in all the hoopla of each holiday that has commercially evolved. It's good to just step back and remember what Easter really is about and count those blessings that are in my life....to remember that it's because of who He is and what He did on the cross that I have those blessings.
I know we all don't believe the same things, so what does Easter mean to you?

In keeping with Spring colors and the sense of Spring....Here's an Easter card to share with you!

Stampin' Up! Items Used:

Tea Party Designer Series Paper #113992,

Designer Label, 1 3/8 Circle and 1 3/4 Circle punches,

Little Leaves Sizzlits #114511,

Vintage Vogue Cling-mount stamp set #118598

Well Scripted Cling-mount stamp set #118601

Certainly Celery 5/8" Grosgrain ribbob #109050

Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery cardstock

Clear Rhinestone Brads #113144