Indian Summer Cross

Some new goodies arrived in my mailbox yesterday afternoon and everything else has taken a temporary back seat! This Kilkenny Cross image is by Holly Berry House and the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's new Indian Summer 6x6 pad. I love how intricate this image is, yet it's still so easy to work with. Stamper's Dream carries a wonderful selection of Holly Berry House images done in this same style: three different crosses, bells, a butterfly, treasure boxes, a snowflake, and a poinsettia. All I had to do for this look was stamp the cross in VersaMark ink three times onto two different Indian Summer patterns, heat emboss with glittery gold powder, trim down the three different layers, then assemble them back together with foam adhesive. Easy!

I embellished the cross with some white Kaiser Craft pearls that I custom colored using a R14 Copic marker. I layered the cross onto two different sizes of the Curved Rectangle Mega Nestabilities and accented with some Rose 1 1/2" silk ribbon tied with gold cord. I ran a VersaMarker along the edges of most of the panels, then dipped into the gold EP and heat embossed.

Finished size: 4 1/4" x 6"

Thanks for visiting!

Wreath of Joy

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is the fresh greenery, especially those beautiful wreaths all filled with boxwood, holly, berries, and fresh fruits, so when I received this gorgeous holiday Wreath Rubber Stamp by Inkadinkado, I couldn't wait to ink it up. The artwork is incredibly detailed, and since all the shadowing is drawn in as part of the illustration, it's super easy to color. The best part? No need to refresh and replace the greens and fruits, and no dead needles to sweep up!

I used Prismacolors on the wreath and Copics on the bow (I liked the reds of my Copics better) then popped up the center of the bow for dimension. The patterned papers are all from Basic Grey's Wassail pack and the card stock is Prismatics. The sentiment is done with the Times New Roman font from JustRite Stamps. I used the 60-point letters that come in the 1 3/16" Damask Centers and Bonus Font collection (the 50-point letters of any of the Font Sets would also work well). The sentiment is die-cut with Spellbinders Fancy Tags, the image is cut with the Spellbinders Labels Three Nestabilities, and the decorative red border along the bottom was done with the Fancy Scallop Piercabilities (love my Spellbinders!). The white decorative border that peeks up from that striped pattern is the Fiskars Lace Border punch. It's hard to see in the picture, but the ribbon that's threaded through the sentiment tag is this amazing, rich, burgundy velvet ribbon - so luscious!

Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Wreath Rubber Stamp (Inkadinkado), 1 3/16 Damask Centers and Bonus Font (JustRite)
Paper: Basic Grey Wassail, Prismatics Blush Red Dark and Herbal Garden Medium, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, Copic markers, Spellbinders Labels Three Nestabilties, Fancy Scalloped Piercabilities, and Fancy Tags, Fiskars Lace border punch, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Art Institute ultrafine crystal glitter, burgundy woven velvet 3/8" ribbon, foam adhesive, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

With Sympathy

Happy Tuesday, friends! I took a short break from stamping over the weekend, and what I worked on yesterday isn't quite ready, so how about I show one of the projects I created from when I was part of the Splitcoast Dirty Dozen? This was for the September 2008 gallery. Our theme was Colors of the Rainbow, and we each took a color to focus on. Mine (obviously) was blue. This sympathy card was one of my favorites from the month.

I love the soft, soothing, muted tones of Soft Sky and Baja Breeze together - perfect for a sympathy card. The layout was based on the September 2008 Dirty Dozen sketch, which was provided by my DD "roomie" Cindy Lawrence. I inked the branch image from Stampin' Up's Kindred Spirits set with Soft Sky, then, to give it a little more depth, I lightly sponged Blue Bayou ink around the edges before stamping. It took a little time to trim out the image, but I love the look, so it was worth it. The dry embossing on the Baja Breeze strip was done with the Argyle Cuttlebug folder, and the embossing on the Basic Gray circle was done with Nestabilities.

It's hard to believe a whole year has passed! Thanks so much for stopping by!



Stamps: Kindred Spirits (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Soft Sky, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Blue Bayou, Basic Gray (SU)
Accessories: large oval punch, Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Basic Grey taffeta ribbon, scallop border punch, 1/4" circle punch, silver brads, distressing tool (SU!); classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Argyle Cuttlebug folder (Provo Craft)

Swan Song

How about all that new Verve that was released last night?? What an awesome batch of new photopolymer! Today, I have another card that I made with the elegant Swan Song set. I love that there are two swans, one facing left and one facing right. Use them individually, or put them together to make sweet lovebirds. Another great thing is that there are the cutest little legs, too (separate stamps), so you can even turn them into peacocks! Check out Julee's peacock HERE - how cool is that?!?

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the week. Visit i{heart}2stamp to see the sketch, Jen's sample, and guest designer Gretchen Belknap's sample, then head over to the rest of the sample-making crew for more inspiration: Amy Rohl, Kelly Lunceford, and Susan Liles (who, in case you haven't seen or heard yet, is one of Splitcoast's newest Dirty Dozen designers. Woot!!). Carole, who is taking an short break right now, celebrated her birthday yesterday, so if you get a chance, stop by her blog to leave her some birthday love!

I stamped the swan onto ivory card stock, added some very light blue shadowing to the feathers using a BG0000 Copic marker, then painted on some Angel Wings Shimmerz for some extra zing. The crystal flourish is by Zva Creations. The designer papers I used are from the Ooh La La "For Him" collection by My Mind's Eye. I love the colors in these! The little ruled circle with the dotted perimeter that's behind the swan is one of the die-cuts from the MME paper kit.

Before I go, I wanted to answer a comment that I got today (Saturday) about blog feeds and subscriptions by email. The concern raised was a very valid one involving timing. Here's an example, if I post on Friday about Verve's release party that is happening that same night, most subscribers will not get that day's blog feed in their email until the early morning hours of the next day (or Saturday). Guess what? The release party is already over :( Same thing with challenges and giveaways - by the time you get my feed by email, the deadline may have passed already. Very frustrating, I know! I do try hard to promote and announce time-sensitive things a day or more in advance to give email subscribers plenty of notice.

But here are two options for how YOU can help make sure you get more timely updates:

1.) Change your Feedblitz delivery settings from "Nightly" to "Hourly." Here's how:
- go to http://www.feedblitz.com/ and log in
- click the "subscriptions" tab
- you'll see a drop-down box in the right corner. It says "Pick One of Your Subscriptions." Choose Pickled Paper Designs.
- In the main portion of the page, you'll have a list of options, such as "New," "Your Subscriptions," "Restore," etc. Choose "Scheduling."
- Where it says "How often do you want FeedBlitz to check for new articles?" I expect you'll see "Nightly (using the configured time zone)" If so, use the drop-down box to change to "Hourly."
- Be sure to click the "Update Schedule" button for your change to take effect.

Now Feedblitz will check for new feeds every hour, so as soon as it finds one, your email will be generated, and hopefully the timeliness problem will be a thing of the past!

The only possible downside is that you will likely increase the number of emails you get from Feedblitz. If, for example, you changed all your subscriptions to hourly, then instead of one email with a bunch of posts from different blogs, you might get a bunch of emails, each with only one post from that one blog.

Which is why you may want to ....

2.) Consider using Google Reader for blog updates. New blog posts generally show up in my Reader within about 30 minutes. Since Google Reader is not email-based, you are also not impacted by any third-party email problems (downtimes, delays, crashes, etc.), which neither of us will have any control over. I love Google Reader and have moved the vast majority of my blog roll to it. (I'll try NOT to take it personally if my Feedblitz subscription numbers drop off drastically {grin}).

I hope the above info helps out, and if you ever have any other questions or problems with feeds and subscriptions, I'll do my best to help!

Have a great weekend!



Stamps: Swan Song (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream and Aqua Mist, My Mind's Eye Ooh La La For Him dp collection
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Always Artichoke
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 1, Classic Circle, and Blossom Nestabilities, Fiskars lace border punch, Zva Creations and Swarovski crystals, Angel Wings Shimmerz paint, Michael's paper flowers, Stampin' Up taffeta ribbon, foam adhesive

You Put a Song in My Heart

I have a couple more peeks at the new Verve stamps that are releasing tonight. This first one shows a set called Swan Song - a gorgeous collection. I was drawn to the sketched look of this bird on a branch, as well as the tiny, sweet font of this particular sentiment. The partially stamped, text-style background was the by-product of a happy accident. I really liked the look so I went with it - love when that happens! The layout is from Julee's Mojo 104 sketch. I stamped the bird image in Papertrey's Dark Chocolate, then die-cut with a Spellbinders circle. I masked the body, then sponged on SU's Soft Sky and Papertrey's Ocean Tides with the die still in place. Then I added just a touch of Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink to the bird's body. I think everything else is pretty straightforward, so I won't go into extra detail, but if you have any questions, just ask!

Next up is a clean-and-simple take on Harvest Blessings, a simply awesome new fall set:



I used the color combo Charmaine picked for her Color Challenge - a tough one for me, especially trying to balance those four strong, deep colors. In the end (which is to say after MUCH fussing), I went with a lot of neutral and just small amounts of each color. Some ribbon, a touch of piercing, and a bit of scoring add just a bit more interest. I don't think you can see it at all in the photo, but I also stamped some of the smaller leaves from another new set called Happiness Found in VersaMark ink onto the cream background. Be sure to visit today's post on the Verve Blog for some amazing projects featuring these two fall sets, not to mention a chance to win both!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you can join us at the Release Party tonight, beginning at 9 pm EST in the Verve Forum. Have a great day!



Song in My Heart:
Stamps: Swan Song (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up Kraft, Papertrey White, Dark Chocolate, and Aqua Mist card stock
Ink: Papertrey Snow White and Ocean Tides, Stampin' Up Soft Sky
Accessories: Spellbinders classic circle Nestabilities and Blossom Nestabilities, Stampin' Up scalloped border punch and Vintage brads, Papertrey Ocean Tides saddle-stitch ribbon and Aqua Mist button, May Arts natural burlap string, foam adhesive

Autumn Wishes:
Stamps: Harvest Blessings, Happiness Found (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry, Daisy D's dp
Ink: Stampin' Up Old Olive, Dusty Durango, and Rich Razzleberrry, Tsukineko VersaMark
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Circle and Peony Nestabilities, Spellbinders RicRac Piercabilities, Scor-Pal, Ornare piercing template, Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry ribbon

You're A Rockstar

It's Day 2 of sneak peeks over on the Verve blog. (Be sure to check out yesterday if you haven't already. There are giveaways each day, so you won't want to miss anything!) Today, the Verve Divas are previewing two awesome new sets, You Rock and Starstruck. I adore Julee's artistry and her ability to combine different styles into fresh, new combinations. You Rock is an enchanting fusion of the bold, geometric star shape and the elegant fleur-de-lis symbol, and I absolutely love the look!

The stars, from You Rock, are stamped in Stampin' Up's Blue Bayou and Soft Suede. I trimmed them out, cutting right on the outline, then layered them onto matching card stock stars punched with Stampin' Up's large star punch. The result is a perfect narrow mat. I stamped the sentiment, from Starstruck, in Soft Suede as well, then pleated and notched the strip for the banner look. My color combo is straight from the beautiful K&Co Amy Butler designer paper strip that I used along the right side. I embellished with some dry emossing, scallop borders, polka dots, bling, and paper piercing. The finished size is a tall and skinny 3 1/4" x 6 1/2."

Don't forget to click over to the Verve blog to see the rest of the peeks and for a chance to win today's two sets. Hope you'll join us in the Verve Forum tomorrow night (that's Friday, 9/18) at 9 pm for the release party!

Oh, and I almost forgot to add that I also made this to fit Lynda's current Bling Challenge. Lynda's challenge is just one of Verve's five release week challenges. Each individual challenge will have a random $25 gift certificate winner, and if you complete all five, you're entered into a drawing to win the entire release. Worth playing for? Of course! (Full details are in the Master Challenge Thread.)

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: You Rock, Starstruck, Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up Blue Bayou, Marigold Morning, and So Saffron card stock, Papertrey Vintage Cream card stock; K&Co Amy Butler designer paper
Ink: Stampin' Up Blue Bayou and Soft Suede
Accessories: Spellbinders classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities, Stampin' Up large star and scalloped border punches, SU ribbon, paper piercer, Swarovski clear crystals, D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder, Making Memories button

Release Week at Verve!

Hi everyone, Verve kicked off its release week festivities yesterday with a quintet of challenges hosted by some of the Divas. Each challenge will have a random winner of a $25 gift certificate, and those who complete ALL the challenges are entered into a drawing to win the entire release! Check out the September '09 Master Challenge Thread in the Verve Forum for all the details. Official peeks begin tomorrow on the Verve blog, but you just may see an extra peek or two from the Divas who are hosting challenges ;)

I love the sketch that Julee drew up for her Sketch Challenge and used it for today's card. The stamps are from last month's Delightful & Delicious, and the papers are from the Ooh La La For Him collection by My Mind's Eye.

Join us on Friday night at 9 pm in the Verve Forum for our Release Party!

I finished off the inside to coordinate:



Hope you're having a great week so far!



Stamps: Delightful & Delicious (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Ooh La La For Him (My Mind's Eye); Summer Sunrise and Dark Chocolate (Papertrey); Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Soft Sky (SU), Walnut Stain Distress (Ranger), Summer Sunrise (PTI)
Accessories: Classic and Scalloped Square Nestabilities, Classic and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities (Spellbinders); brown twill (Offray); corduroy brads (Stampin' Up); paper piercer, foam adhesive