I Cheated!

If you live anywhere in the state of Virginia or parts of western Maryland, you may have heard the squeals emanating from the Sheffer house Tuesday afternoon when I opened an email from Jen del Muro asking if I'd be interested in getting her weekly SFYTT sketches early and joining her and her friends Carole Burrage, Shannan Teubner, and Susan Liles in posting samples along with her sketches. Would I? Oh baby WOULD I! How fun is that?!

That said, I'm feeling like I SO cheated this week. When her sketch came, I was in the midst of creating Sue's blocks, so I had these little 2" x 2" canvases on the brain, and naturally translated her sketch into more of the same. Doesn't it make for a wild, crazy, fun card, though? You know what I love most about this card and the original altered blocks? They use bright colors (big phobia #1) AND designer paper (big phobia #2)!

THANK YOU Jen, for inviting me to participate! Now don't forget to go check out the sketch and Jen's sample first, and then Carole's, Shannan's, and Susan's interpretations. And then, go stamp! If you upload to SCS, use the keyword "SFYTT" so everyone can see everyone else's all in the same place.

Stamps: Live Your Dream, Amazing to Zany
Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Purely Pomegranate, Bali Breeze dp
Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: styled silver hodgepodge hardware, felt fusion flowers, purely pomegranate double-stitched ribbon, dimensionals, sponge daubers, small oval punch, rose red, tempting turquoise, old olive brads
All supplies by Stampin' Up. Size 5" square.

Gift Ideas

Who knew a visit with my upline would yield a week's worth of fodder for my blog! As I mentioned earlier this week, Sue spoiled me rotten with gifts this week. These first two are the make-and-take projects she had for everyone back at her Christmas party (which I missed).





This third picture was an adorable little gable box she decorated ...



and she put THIS inside!!



Now I did not know about this pickle tree ornament tradition when I first created the user name PickleTree, which I have been using on AOL for many years. I stumbled upon the tradition a few months ago after an SCS user inquired about my user name and told me there's a pizza place by the name The Pickle Tree in Michigan (?? I think it was Michigan). For some reason, I did a google search on pickle tree and found this neat little Christmas tradition of German origin. A glass pickle ornament is the last ornament hung on the tree the night before Christmas. On Christmas morning, the first child to find the pickle gets an extra gift and gets to be the first to begin unwrapping gifts. When I discovered that, I knew I'd have to get a pickle ornament, but I had never seen such a thing. How cool is it that Sue found one? And I don't think she knew of the tradition either!

Not only did she spoil me, but she spoiled my daughter as well. She had cleaned out her craft room a while back and had told me she didn't know what to do with all the stuff she wanted to get rid of (old stickers, die-cuts, etc.) I told her my daughter and future SU demo/downline was accepting any and all donations of unwanted crafting materials. She brought this ginormous bag FULL of stuff. My daughter's eyes were even bigger than mine were when I opened my last gift from Sue, which was a color caddy with extender (!!). Is she the most generous person EVAH?!!

My Kind of Color Combo

You can't go wrong with this week's SCS Color Challenge: River Rock, Basic Black, Whisper White. Love it! I also used this week's Sketch Challenge sketch for the layout (but turned on its side). And isn't that some cool background paper? I found it in the Halloween section (of all places) at my local Recollections store when it was going out of business. In real life, it's just a shiny black baroque pattern on a matte black background ... none of that purplish cast the camera picked up.

Stamps: Always, All Holidays
Paper: Whisper White, River Rock, black dp by Making Memories
Ink: Basic Black, River Rock
Accessories: classic and scallop rectangle nestabilities, sponge daubers, dimensionals, black stitched ribbon by Making Memories
Supplies by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Sue's Blocks

I missed my upline's Christmas party in December, so she and I exchanged gifts Tuesday during our visit. And even though it's the end of February, would you believe my gift to her wasn't finished?! In my defense, here's what happens ... I make something and if I don't give it right away, the second-guessing begins. Will she like it? Is it nice enough, creative enough?

I told myself I'd make something new for Sue if inspiration struck. Otherwise, she would get her original gift. Inspiration struck at 1 am Tuesday morning (she was due to arrive at 10 am). I worked as fast and furiously as I could for more than an hour, but ran out of steam (go figure). Anyway, I put the finishing touches on it last night, so she'll either get it by mail or at her March meeting. (I did show it to her while she was here. I know, isn't that tacky? "Here's your gift, but you can't have it yet.")

The other three sides are all decorated, too:







These are 2-inch wood blocks that I painted first and then covered in various Bali Breeze designer paper squares. Dressed-up white binder clips are attached to the top of each block for displaying photos, to-do lists, cards, etc.

The stamping is pretty straightforward, but if you have any questions, just ask!

Update:
How did you attach the binder clips?
with a generous amount of crystal effects. I'm thinking the E6000 glue would be great too. I don't know if it will hold up to actual repeated use yet ... I hope so!

Where did you find the blocks?
I'm pretty sure I got these at Michael's. Near the section with all the big unfinished wood items (shelves, stools, frames, etc.), they have a row of small wood items, including cut-out shapes, wooden spools, spheres, the little buttons you use to cover up a screw, etc. I think the unfinished blocks were there.

Stamps: Live Your Dream, Embrace Life, Little Pieces, Tiny Talk, Amazing to Zany
Paper: Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Purely Pomegranata, Pumpkin Pie, Bali Breeze designer paper
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: felt fusion flowers, styled silver hodgepodge hardware, artichoke ribbon, turquoise ribbon, purely pomegranate double-stitched ribbon, chipboard letters, dimensionals, heat and stick powder, dazzling diamonds glitter, sponge daubers, turquoise brad, rose red brad, old olive brad.
All supplies Stampin' Up.

Variation on a Theme

I spent the day yesterday with my upline, Sue Hyer, who came over to visit. We had the best time talkin' shop. She also loaded me up with goodies (and my daughter, too), but I'll have to wait for another post to get all that photographed and uploaded. In the meantime, here's a card I made last month and just never got around to posting. If it looks familiar, it's because I used the same color scheme, painted and glittered chipboard flower, and fun ribbon that I used on a card last month. Just another variation on the original theme. Enjoy, and have a great day!

Stamps: looks like spring (argyle background), sweet shapes (sentiment), rustic flowers by close to my heart (flower center)
Paper: whisper white
Ink: chocolate chip, soft sky, versamark
Accessories: stamp-a-ma-jig, blue flower ribbon by may arts, chocolate satin ribbon, chipboard flower, daquiri acrylic paint by making memories, heat and stick powder, dazzling diamonds glitter, chocolate chip marker
Supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.

FS: Part Two

This was my second upload for the Featured Stamper Challenge (see my first card in the post just below this one). Featured Stamper is the amazingly talented Mary Jo Albright. The challenge is pick a card to CASE, change at least two things, and identify those changes.

This time, I started with this fresh and adorable baby boy card. I kept the original layout and stamp set, but changed these things:

1. new color palette. (I did keep the basic gray, though. I might not have thought to use gray on a baby girl card, but I really liked the depth it adds.)
2. added a few layers
3. changed the star accent to a prima flower
4. took out the scalloped square mat on the main image (but only because I don't have the square nestabilities yet)
5. raised the elephant up on dimensionals
6. changed the three right-hand eyelet/rhinestone brad combos to two brads from the new styled silver hodgepodge hardware kit and topped them with Heidi Swapp pink jewels

This card will go to a stamping friend who had a baby girl earlier this month. I hope she likes it!

Stamps: nursery neccessities
Paper: basic gray, barely banana, whisper white, regal rose, certainly celery
Ink: going gray, barely banana, certainly celery, rose red
Accessories: pink heavenly prima flower (from texasjodylynn's recent prima share), dimensionals, sponge daubers, distressing tool, sewing machine, styled silver hodgepodge hardware kit (coming March 1), heidi swapp pink jewels, corner rounder, 1/16" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch
All supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.

Featured Stamper: Yo Yo Mary Jo

I had the best time yesterday participating in SCS's Featured Stamper Challenge. This week's challenge was to CASE something from Mary Jo Albright's awesome gallery. If you haven't seen her work, you MUST. That girl's got some wicked talent! (She was one of last year's winners of Stampin' Up's artisan award!)

I chose this card of hers to CASE. I've had the Baby, It's Cold Outside stamp by My Favorite Things for a while, but have only played with it a couple times. I loved the olive greens in Mary Jo's dp, so that's where I started. I also kept her layout and the fibers along the bottom. I changed the dp, the sentiment treatments, and added some layers and extra brads.

Stamps: Baby It's Cold Outside (My Favorite Things)
Paper: chocolate chip, old olive, bashful blue, shimmery white, dp (lily kate by Basic Grey)
Ink: palette noir, bashful blue, old olive, creamy caramel, going gray, pumpkin pie
Accessories: aqua painter, vintage brads (old-style), white acrylic paint (making memoies), dimensionals, small oval punch, word window punch, key tag punch, wide chocolate grosgrain, fibers (source unknown)

A Tale of Two Challenges

There are many things I'm not good at, but handwriting is not one of them. I've been a geek about "pretty" handwriting since elementary school, when the dots of my "i"s were either big circles or flowers (lol!). So this week's Limited Supplies Challenge on Splitcoast, which was to use handwriting on the front of your card, was perfect for me! Except for that "limited" part. My design took on a life of its own and as a result, I can't find a single limited thing about it. So I traded the handwriting for a stamped sentiment and bailed on the challenge altogether.



Stamps: A Little Birdie Told Me
Paper: Ruby Red, Basic Black, Ginger Blossom dp, Groovy Guava, stamper's select white card stock by Papertrey Ink
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, Ruby Red
Accessories: black ribbon (source unknown); sewing machine, dimensionals, corner rounder, 1/4" circle punch, vintage brads, distressing tool, sponge daubers
Supplies by Stampin' Up except where noted.


I was much more successful with Sharon Johnson's (No Time To Stamp) Stamp Simply Challenge #23, which is to use flourishes on your project. I made this card last weekend, but haven't posted it yet because I keep looking at it wondering if it needs something. I think I'm ready to call it done and move on :)



Here's a great tip I got from someone's blog (by the way, for the life of me, I can't remember where I read this, so if it was on your blog, please speak up): when making cards with white as the base, use Papertrey Ink's 110-pound Stamper's Select cardstock. It is thick and heavy enough to load up with embellishments without the card buckling under the weight. It's also works well with Stampin' Up markers (no streaking) and limited watercoloring (for extensive watercoloring, I still reach for 140-lb, cold press watercolor paper).

Stamps: Kind Thoughts
Paper: Stamper's Select White cardstock by Papertrey Ink, Chcolate Chip (SU)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, White craft
Accessories: styled silver hodgepodge hardware (coming March 1); brown satin ribbon, dimensionals, Heidi Swapp jewels, corner rounder for scalloped bottom
Supplies by Stampin' Up except where noted.

Dimples, Giggles, Cuddles Divine

I am SO wishing I had not added the faux stitching!

Stamps: So Many Scallops
Paper: Brocade Blue, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana
Ink: Always Artichoke, Brocade Blue, Barely Banana
Accessories: scallop punch, paper piercer, white gel pen, silver hodgepodge hardware, bashful blue striped grosgrain ribbon, swiss dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), dimensionals
Supplies by Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.

Three of a Kind

Kind Thoughts, that is. I just love this new Stampin' Up set! I put together this trio from various sketch challenges this week. The first is Splitcoast's sketch challenge #164:



The notches on the sides of the image panel were the result of a "mistake." I had wanted to thread the ribbon through, so I punched two slots with the slot punch. It didn't look quite right, so I got rid of that with the 3/4" circle punch. I sort of like it this way ... something a little different, kind of gives it an hourglass look. I distressed all the edges and added the machine stitching for a shabby chic kind of look.

The second is for Jen del Muro's "Sketch for You To Try" from this past Saturday:



I left off the machine stitching and distressing on this one and added the Stitched background in white on the large celery background panel.

The third is for Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday #25:



Pretty much the same idea here, just different layout. After stitching and assembling everything, I thought it looked a little unbalanced, and so decided on the row of black brads on the amethyst prints panel. I didn't want to take everything apart (lots of messy dimensionals), so I faked it with 1/4" circles topped with crystal effects. They look more like thumbtacks, but oh well, still better than dismantling the whole thing!

And here they all are together:



Stamps: Kind Thoughts, Stitched background
Paper: Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Amethyst Prints dp, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On
Accessories: Certainly Celery marker, Bashful Blue Marker, Almost Amethyst Marker, basic black marker, spica clear glitter pen, blue jewel (creative candy by A Muse), dimensionals, distressing tool, machine stitching, black brad (bigger brads by Close To My Heart), ribbon (Offray, sold at Michael's), 3/4" circle punch, 1/4" circle punch, large oval punch, word window punch
All supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.

Birthday Opulence

Oh my, what did you think of Splitcoast's color combo this week? Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, and, wait what's the name of that third color? I have to go look it up, since I NEVER use it! Orchid Opulence!

But, no surprise, the combo grew on me, as these odd ones always do. It was an instant hit with my 4-year-old, however. She literally sucked in air when I showed it to her this morning. Gotta love an audience like that!

I glittered the polka dot background with heat-and-stick powder over VersaMark ink, then dazzling diamonds glitter on top of that.

Stamps: Birthday Whimsy, Polka Dot background
Paper: Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Orchid Opulence, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: heat-and-stick powder, dazzling diamonds glitter, 1/2" circle punch, wide celery grosgrain, pumkin grosgrain, large oval punch, celery buttons, paper piercer, word window punch, dimensionals, nestabilities (spellbinders), white acrylic paint (making memories)
Supplies by Stampin' Up unless noted otherwise.

Overdue Thanks

I am SO behind on some thank yous that should have been sent a month ago. It's getting embarrassing. But here's the thing ... because they are for stampers (and stampers I've only met online on top of that), I want the card to be just right. And if it isn't ... well then the thanks doesn't get sent until I do get the card just right. Do you do that too?

For this one, I used a Julee Tilman sketch. I'm all over her sketches, but this one gave me some trouble. I loved the look of it, but I couldn't seem to get anything good from it. I don't like to "fail" (at anything, ask my mother what happened when I got my very first-ever "C," senior year in college ... oh, I think the sky fell that day), so I was determined to wrestle something decent out of it.

The colored polka dots at the bottom are done with the Polka Dot background stamp. For the second color, I used a stamp-a-ma-jig to offset the stamp. Don't know if it was me or the stamp, but I wasn't able to line it up perfectly for the second color. Makes me want to get out a ruler and measure between the dots. (Yes, I'm aware there's a name for that ... it starts with an "a," and by the way, it does have a hyphen. Who me?)

Stamps: Live Your Dream, Polka Dot (background)
Paper: Always Artichoke, Barely Banana, Brocade Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Brocade Blue, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: dimensionals, swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder, ticket corner punch, aged copper hodgepodge hardware, artichoke grosgrain ribbon, small oval punch, word window punch, three for you punch, white eyelets, stamp-a-ma-jig
All supplies Stampin' Up.

Rectangle Nestabilities For Sale

[Updated: These are already sold.]

I goofed and double-ordered the full set of classic and scalloped rectangle nestabilities. Rather than pay shipping twice to exchange them, I thought I'd offer them for sale here. Here's what you'll get:

Classic Rectangles, Large (5 dies)
Classic Rectangles, Small (5 dies)
Scalloped Rectangles, Large (5 dies)
Scalloped Rectangles, Small (5 dies)

Retail price on the full set is about $80. (They are also currently backordered until early to mid March. You can have mine in only a few days!) They are brand-new and unopened. Original packaging is fully intact. Your price: $70 plus actual shipping. I prefer payment by PayPal, but will take a personal check as well. First-come, first served.

If you are interested, please SEND EMAIL (my email link is to the right in the sidebar). DO NOT LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST.

Afternoon Dream

I cheerfully could have ordered one of everything in Stampin' Up's upcoming Occasions mini-catalog. (I didn't.) Watch for the mini on or before March 1. This card uses three new products, the Live Your Dream stamp set, Afternoon Tea dp, and the silver hodgepodge kit. Not only is the hardware a bright silver color, but the individual pieces are different (and fancier) than pieces in the other kits, too.

Layout comes from this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge, #163. I used Crystal Effects to glue two half pearls from the Pretties kit to the tops of two brads from the silver hodgepodge kit.

Stamps: Live Your Dream (available March 1)
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Papertrey Stamper's Select White, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Afternoon Tea dp (available March 1)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: sponge dauber, dimensionals, wasabi double-stitched ribbon, paper piercer, pretties kit, silver hodgepodge hardware kit (available March 1)

Live Your Dream

I wasn't crazy about Splitcoast's color combination challenge this week -- Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, and Kraft. But sometimes the ones I'm not crazy about end up being the most fun.

Here's another attempt at a super lean, clean and simple, design. I inked the little bird from the Live Your Dream set (available March 1 in the upcoming Occasions mini-catalog) in Green Galore, then used a sponge dauber to add a little turquoise. I knew I wouldn't sleep well tonight if I didn't pierce something, so if you look closely, you'll see a hole for each bird's eye ;) The turquoise dp is from the Turquoise Prints collection. Dry embossing is done with the new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.

Stamps: Live Your Dream (available March 1)
Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Green Galore, Turquoise prints dp
Ink: Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: turquoise grosgrain, 3/4" circle punch, swiss dots cuttlebug folder

2008 Scrapbook Club

I'm kicking off my 2008 Scrapbook Club tonight. Six scrapbookers are coming to crop, place an order, and complete this make-and-take (you can click the picture for a close-up):



I haven't done any scrapbooking since early last Fall ... I forgot how happy it makes me! I'm not so much of an "event" scrapbooker, so I tried to put together something that could, but doesn't have to, be used for Valentine's Day. I'm always a little anxious (okay, a lot!) about the make-and-takes. Coming up with something that suits everyone can be challenging. (I seem to have a learning disability when it comes to the whole "you can't please everyone" advice!)

This spread is quite simple, but I like how it turned out. Probably because I used one of Valerie Salmon's sketches as a starting point (#40) -- love her stuff. If you like sketches, check out her site, Got Sketch. Can you believe the whole page was completed with just one stamp set, SU's new Always set? The "you mean everything to me" quote is microscopic compared to your average page title, but I think it works, don't you?

By the way, I don't know why those four middle black and white photos look so washed out ... they don't look that way IRL.

Stamps: Always
Paper: Rose Red, River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla craft
Accessories: 1/4", 1/2", 1 1/4", and 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop punch, paper piercer and template, scallop scissors (old, old, old Creative Memories), "textile" Cuttlebug embossing folder
Sizes: pages are 12" x 12"; photos are 5" x 7", 4" x 6", 4" square, and 6" x 4"

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Thought I'd show you some of the treats my kids went to school with today:

My son took these for his class:

It's the same "police be my valentine" idea that I used a while back on my V-Day Quintet post.

And my daughter took these:


They are rice krispie treat hearts dipped in white chocolate and covered with pink, red and white sprinkles. My friend Jenn came up with these for this month's teacher appreciation gift (we're on that PTO committee together). We made eleven trays of rice krispie treats to get the 62 hearts we needed for the PTO project. I made another two trays, so I could send 16 in for my daughter's preschool classmates and teachers. I'm quite certain I'll break out in hives if I have to make these again anytime soon. Eating them, however, hasn't been a problem ;)



Nugget Pouch Supplies:
Stamps: Fun on Wheels (retired SU)
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red
Accessories: small cello bags, 1 3/8" circle punch, word window punch, Arial computer font

Rice Krispie Treat Supplies:
Stamps: Tags So Much (retired SU)
Paper: Pink Passion, Whisper White
Ink: Pink Passion
Accessories: small and large tag punches

E is for Excellent

This Excellent Blogger Award has been flying around the internet faster than free ice cream on a hot summer day! I first saw that I had been nominated by Michelle Rodgers of Stampers Dream. I found her blog back in December, when Cammie passed along the news that Michelle had posted a design team call. I was too chicken to submit any samples, but I've been having a great time checking out Michelle's projects ever since. I love that she uses a wide variety of stamps and products. I always see something fresh and interesting ... check her out!

Since then, I was also nominated by Silke Ledlow, Sarah Green, Mercy Kerin, and Sue Berker. Wow! Those are four of the most amazingly talented stampers. I am so honored! Thank you!

To pay it forward, I'm nominating a few of my NEWEST favorites. If your name isn't on here, it just means I've been stalking you for a lot longer!
Marilyn Moseley: Stamp with Marilyn
Mary Fish: Stampin' Pretty
Jan Hunnicutt: She's Gone Stampin'
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Renee Van Stralen: Stamping for Sanity
Sue Berker: Sharing What I Love

By the way, I made my list last Saturday, too .... I know most, if not all, have been nominated already. But I still wanted to cast my vote. Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!

Turquoise Birthday

I am SO not a fan of the Bold Brights! However, turquoise is "hot," right? (Please tell me this will appeal to someone!)

Once again, I recycled an old card here. The original (wish I'd taken a before picture ... hey, I should do a regular "card makeover" feature here on this blog, that would be fun!) had the random circle stamped strip with some ribbon tied around it and a "hello" sentiment in the bottom corner. Very basic.

To update it, I shortened and repositioned the original strip, then started adding layers and various elements. I also cuttlebugged the background with that new Swiss Dot folder (again).

To get the rounded end on the sentiment strip, I cut a 3/8" strip, stamped the greeting on it, then threaded just one end through the opening in the word window punch. This little tip for lengthening a punched shape circulated a few years ago. I haven't seen instructions lately, so here's a picture that shows exactly what I did. You can do this with a lot of punches (key tag, tag, word window, etc.).

Stamps: Simply Circles, Simple Sayings II (both retired), and Seeing Spots (current SU!)
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: pretties kit, word window punch, dimensionals, "swiss dots" cuttlebug embossing folder

A Recycled Easter Card

This is my "non-religious" Easter card for my rapidly approaching card-selling venture. (The excitement has turned into panic ... so much to do!) The focal image panel (including the trio of ribbon knots and torn edge) came from this card that I had CASEd for a set sampler a few years ago. (I see now that the card I CASEd is also a CASE, so I have no idea where it originally came from!) Anyway, after I take the samplers apart, I try to take components of the cards and repurpose them into totally new cards. It's a fun little 'recycling' exercise.

The dry embossed dot pattern was done with a new Cuttlebug folder called "Swiss Dots." I have a feeling I'll be using this one A LOT. I got mine from Eclectic Paperie. This was my first shopping experience with them, and it was fantastic! I pretty much placed my order, then walked to my mailbox, where the new folders were waiting ;) No, but they were super fast, only a couple of days max. They also included a handful of stamped images, ready for me to color and use on a project. I thought that was a really neat touch!

The scallop was made with the corner rounder. The photo corner has faux eyelets on it, which I think I first saw on Kendra Giles's blog, Inkin' It Up. (White gel pen dot with hole pierced in center.) The sentiment was done on the computer.

Stamps: Festive Four
Paper: Bashful Blue, Green Galore, Apricot Appeal, Regal Rose, Whisper White, watercolor paper
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, Apricot Appeal, Regal Rose, Green Galore, Bashful Blue
Accessories: celery grosgrain, apricot grosgain, rose grosgrain, dimensionas, aqua painter, corner rounder, 1/16" punch, photo corner punch, white gel pen

Jennifer Meyer RAK

I saw this card on Jennifer Meyer's blog (Jennifer's Sweet Designs) last week. Imagine my pure delight when it came in the mail to ME and I got to feast my eyes on the real deal. Isn't it a beauty?! Jennifer is such a sweetie. I first "met" her from all the super encouraging and friendly comments she left in my SCS gallery and on my blog. Check out all her other fantastic creations on her blog or in her SCS gallery (lovetostamp6).

She is also a design team member for Mothers & Daughters Creations. They have a bunch of challenges (with prizes) running right now, plus an opportunity to try for a guest designer spot. Be sure to scroll down a few posts on Jennifer's blog for details if you're interested! Looks like February 13 is the deadline.

Easter Comes Early

Time flies enough on its own, without us always looking and working ahead, you know? Sorry to rush into Easter so soon, but I needed to make this for the shop I'll start selling in soon (in only a week! I'm excited!).

This one uses the retired Renewed Faith Stampin' Up set. I stamped the cross in Perfect Plum craft ink onto a block of Enchante designer paper, then the Bible verse in black over top. The flowers come from the Pretties kit. I dyed the larger one with a Perfect Plum reinker using the Aqua Painter.

Stamps: Renewed Faith (retired)
Paper: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Enchante designer paper (retired)
Ink: Perfect Plum craft ink, Black Staz-On
Accessories: ticket corner punch, dimensionals, pretties kit, aqua painter, 1/4" circle punch, silver brad

Featured Stamper Challenge

I made this card this morning for this week's SCS Featured Stamper challenge. I loved looking through Renee's (aka prchvs) gallery. She has an awesome style. The way the challenge works is that you pick a card to CASE, but you make at least two changes from the original.

I copied this card of Renee's. I kept her layout, but changed the stamps and the colors. I also added and removed layers and changed the bottom word window punch to a pair of flowers. The layered flower has dimensionals between each layer, and each petal is outlined with a Stardust glitter pen. Scalloped rectangle is done with nestabilities.

Bear with me this week, as I may be a little sporadic with my posts. Last week, I finalized an arrangement to begin selling cards in a local boutique-y type consignment shop. I'm really excited to see how it will go. It could be the perfect opportunity for me because the store is open only one weekend a month. I get a chance to test the market without getting in over my head. My starting inventory will be a little different than I expected, so I have a lot of stamping to do between now and next Tuesday!

Stamps: Paint Prints (retired, I don't know why I pulled this one out!), Paisley (large chocolate chip background ... hard to see, even IRL)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Celery prints dp
Ink: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: celery ribbon, polka dot sheer (Really Reasonable Ribbon), Three for You punch, 1/4" circle punch, "limeade" jewels (doodlebug designs), rectangle plain and scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), paper piercer, slot punch, dimensionals, stardust glitter pen

Every Day is a Gift

There must be something wrong with me. The simpler the card, the more time it takes me. Would you believe I spent two hours arranging and rearranging, stamping and restamping, tying and untying, poking and trimming for THIS!? It was a fun two hours, but sheesh, could it be any more simple?



Stamps: Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Soft Sky, vellum card stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp (retired)
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, paper piercer, River Rock double-stitched ribbon, dimensionals, clear spica pen
Size: 4" square

For the Beauty of the Earth

I'm taking a page out of Shannan's book with my music-related title, but just for today. My music repertoire is much too limited to do that every day (prelude, etude, concerto, repeat, ha ha). However, as I look out on the beautiful ice-covered trees and shrubs, it's this hymn that comes into my head. Take a look:







Makes me want to run turn up the heat. Except for the $1800 (!!!!) propane bill that came yesterday. Ouch. That really put a damper on my plans for a big Stampin' Up order today. Other than the pre-order in December, can you believe I haven't even placed an order from the new catty yet?

Enough blab. I do have stamping for you. I made this card a few days ago, but then the Out on a Limb set from Papertrey arrived and butted this one right outta line. The stamp comes from Garden Silhouettes (retired hostess set). I colored it with markers so I could "shorten" it to fit inside the rectangle nestabilities. You won't be able to see it in the pic, but I colored over the blossoms with a clear Spica pen. I stamped the Linen background in River Rock across the image to add a little texture. Other than that, pretty straightforward.



Off to play a little Wii with my oldest son. We were literally sending him out the door to meet the bus this morning when dh got the alert on his blackberry that schools are closed due to the ice. So glad that came when it did. Can I tell you how many times a neighbor has had to call to tell me schools are closed because they see my kid standing out at the end of the driveway? And then I feel like a complete idiot! Doh!

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Linen
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, Enchante dp
Ink: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery
Accessories: brown satin ribbon, rectangle regular and scallop nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Size: 4 1/4" square