A Good Thing

As the saying goes, "Too much of a good thing is a good thing." At least that's what I was thinking with the Styled Silver hodgepodge hardware. Why stop with just one frame, or even two? Here I've started with the frame that's shaped like the designer label punch. I layered an oval frame on top of that. In the center of that is one of the large decorative brads, with a flower from the Pretties kit behind it and a half pearl from the Pretties kit on top. Too much? :D

Stamps: All Holidays, Polka Dot, Stitched
Paper: Basic Gray, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Styled Silver hodgepodge hardware, Pretties kit, corner rounder, paper piercer, gray taffeta ribbon, dimensionals
Size: 4" square
All supplies by Stampin' Up!

A Cheater Color Challenge

It's been almost a week and a half since I participated in an SCS challenge - no wonder I was feeling a little peckish yesterday! This week's color challenge is Mellow Moss, Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, and Creamy Caramel. So I got the first three in, but cheated a bit on the Caramel. It's there, but barely -- I used an aqua painter to add a thin outline in Creamy Caramel around the image.

Speaking of the image ... isn't that crocodile chomping on the birthday cake the cutest?! It is from one of the first sets to be released by H&M Stamps in May. Can't wait to show you some of the other fab images over the coming days and weeks!

A couple of details and how-tos on this one: I colored the crocodile with an aqua painter, then added some glitter to his belly and to the candle flame. I stamped the image a second time, trimmed out just the head with hat, then popped it up on a dimensional. The "bite" out of the focal image panel was done with one of the classic circle nestabilities. I used pinking shears on one edge of the large white panel to echo the croc's teeth.

One more thing -- it's also been more than a week since I "blurfed" in my Google Reader or scooted around SCS leaving comments (other than last week's FS challenge, which I'm still slowly working my way through). Most of my blogs now have more than ten unread posts, some WAY more. My favorite blogs right now are the ones that aren't updating ;) I'll be catching up soon, but slowly. Please don't take it personally!

Stamps: Wild Birthday Wishes by H&M Stamps
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral, watercolor paper
Ink: Palette Noir inkpad; Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal & Creamy Caramel reinkers
Accessories: aqua painter, dimensionals, sponge daubers, classic circle nestabilities, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, ticket corner punch, pinking shears, Heidi Swapp bling, 'Diamonds in the Rough' Cuttlebug folder, spring moss and apricot grosgrain, 'Sweet Shop' ribbon collection (retired SU)

No Foolin'!!

I've got some great news today:

I have joined the design team for Verve Visual! Yep, today it's official. I am SO, SO excited to be part of this company and to be included in its line-up of fabulous designers: Julee Tilman (the owner), Amy Westerman, Bethany Paull, Carole Burrage, Charmaine Ikach, Jen del Muro, Laura Fredrickson, Laurie Schmidlin, Shannan Teubner, and Susan Liles. Congrats to Carole, Laura, and Susan, the other newbies, and to Shannan, who has stepped into the design team coordinator role!

So ... would you like to join the Verve team as the June Guest Designer?! Here's your chance: go to the Verve Blog to see all the details, but hint, hint, it's a sketch challenge (you know how much I love those!) and today's card is my sample. You have until the end of the month to enter.

And last ... how about a little celebration? Between now and April 8, you can take 15% off your entire purchase at http://www.shopverve.com/ just by using the coupon code AmyRocks (and no, I did not come up with that, LOL!).

Stamps: Anniversary Birds and Wonderful Wishes (Verve Visual)
Paper: Basic Black, Soft Sky, Whisper White (SU!); Halloween Foiling (Making Memories)
Ink: Basic Black (SU!)
Accessories: Michael's ribbon, Blue Heavenly Prima, Cuttlebug Textile, SU black brad, Heidi Swapp clear jewels, paper piercer, SU punches: small oval, word window and ticket corner
Size: 6 1/2 x 3 1/4"

Dreaming of Bali

I love the Live Your Dream images with the bright colors of the Bali Breeze designer paper. I know I've used this combo a lot, but I can't help myself -- I can almost feel summer with this card!

Stamps: Live Your Dream, Amazing to Zany
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Bali Breeze dp
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: dimensionals, corner rounder, 1/2" circle punch, purely pomegranate double-stitched ribbon
All supplies by Stampin' Up.

So Happy For Kate

A good friend of mine just had her fourth child last week. Her first three are boys, so we're all just thrilled for her that she had a GIRL!

I've used a different color combo on this one. It comes from a long-forgotten package of Maya Road fibers that my youngest (11 months) found while he was 'exploring' my drawer of orange embellishments.

The layout comes from Jen del Muro's weekly Sketch for You to Try. Be sure to check out i{heart}2stamp to see the sketch, Jen's sample, and guest designer Joanne Basile's sample. Then head over to see what Carole, Shannan, and Susan cooked up with this sketch. When you're ready to play along, remember to use keyword SFYTT if you upload to SCS. That way we can all hang out together at the same playground.

Have a great weekend!


Stamps: Nursery Necessities
Paper: Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Groovy Guava
Ink: Groovy Guava, Perfect Plum
Accessories: Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon, small oval punch, bigger brads (by Close to My Heart), Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder (by Provo Craft), corner rounder, classic and scalloped circle nestabilities (by Spellbinders), dimensionals, three for you punch, spring bouquet punch, pretties kit
Supplies by Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.

Speed Scrapbooking

I've been a little quiet for a few days. While I was away, I learned a hard lesson - four days isn't enough time to prepare an Artisan Award entry. LOL! I tried, I really did ... begged, borrowed and stole every spare moment and then some, stayed up way too late, but in the end, it just didn't come together. If I only had another day or two, but whose fault for waiting until the last minute?! I'm a little disappointed in myself that I'm not giving it a shot, but hopefully there will be more chances to enter in future years. And no matter what, it will still be the Stampin' Up award highest up on my "watch list." Good luck to those who entered!

As I was attempting to put together some projects for the contest, I was reminded of a speed scrapbooking strategy I adopted a few years ago, but forgot somewhere along the way. Whenever I used to make a card I was really happy with, I would immediately make a coordinating scrapbook page. The supplies were already out, the concept was already executed, all I had to do was adapt everything to a larger canvas. I got a lot of pages done that way!

Today's project was my attempt to remake this card into a scrapbook page. I love this picture of my mom holding my sleeping daughter. It's not a particularly great photo, but it's one that resonates with me on an emotional level. Photos of quiet moments like this don't need a whole lot of description, so instead of journaling, I went with this quote: "A garden of love grows in a grandmother's heart."

Stamps: From the Garden, Print Pattern, All Holidays
Paper: Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Chocoalte Chip, Whisper White, So Saffron
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, So Saffron
Accessories: aged copper hodgepodge hardware, soft sky double-stitched ribbon, corner rounder (for scallops), sewing machine, paper piercer, edge distressor, aqua painter, 1" circle punch
All supplies by Stampin' Up!

For You

Whatever will we do in July when we lose Soft Sky to the Stampin' Up graveyard? I shudder to think.

I wasn't quite ready to put away the Sage Shadow/Soft Sky/Basic Gray color combo from Saturday's inspiration challenge without making at least one more project. I also liked the combination of textile and swiss dots Cuttlebug folders on Sunday's card, and wanted to see if I could get a similar look using only Stampin' Up supplies. The Sage Shadow background is stamped in white craft ink using the Stitched background, and the Soft Sky background is stamped in white with the Polka Dot background. To add a little texture, I used the crop-a-dile to emboss over each dot on the Soft Sky background piece. I've found that I need to use a really light touch when doing this or it leaves small wrinkles and creases on the card stock.

I used glue dots to secure the bookplate to the background, so that I could add two decorative half pearls from the Pretties kit in place of the usual brads. The bottom flower from the Pretties kit is lightly dyed with Soft Sky using a reinker and aqua painter.

I've been doing a lot of sponging, distressing, and layering on my cards lately, so this was a welcome change of pace. I hope you enjoy!

Stamps: All Holidays, Stitched, Polka Dot
Paper: Sage Shadow, Basic Gray, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, White craft
Accessories: corner rounder, 1/16" circle punch, gray taffeta ribbon, Crop-A-Dile, Pretties kit, aqua painter, paper piercer, Styled Silver hodgepodge hardware, paper piercer
All supplies by Stampin' Up!