Oh Nuts!

Oh Nuts! It's not a Stampin' Up image but I thought it turned out pretty good. The inside of the card simply says "I forgot" which can be used for any occasion.

The images are from a company that specializes in three-step stamps to give the extra detail. The squirrel is stamped in three Stampin' Up colors--creamy caramel, close to cocoa and chocolate chip. Isn't he the cutest?

See you again soon.

Season of Joy

This is one of the cards I am planning to make with my senior group on November 19. The poinsettia image is from Stampin' Up Season of Joy and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I used Real Red, Handsome Hunter and Whisper White cardstock. The sentiment was framed with the Word Window punch and the Modern Label punch. I so love the Petals-A-Plenty textured impressions folder--it gives such a rich look to the cardstock background. I finished off the card by adding yellow rhinestones (from my private stash) to the poinsettia centers.

I hope you like this one ladies. See you soon.

Gift Tin

Just wanted to hop in here today and share my version of the ever popular gift tin. I made a 3D poinsettia using five petal flower punches, two large and one small. The leaves were made with a small oval punch and all petals and leaves were creased to make them more lifelike. Each individual flower was layered with stampin' dimensionals. Yellow paint was added to the center for stamens. Finished up with a 5/8" real red grosgrain ribbon. Love it!

See you again soon.

Patterned Pines

This is another card for one of my senior classes in November. I used the beautiful trees from the Patterned Pines Level 1 Hostess set. The trees were colored with Always Artichoke and Real Red inks using Stampin' Spots. I love these little one inch cubes when I'm using more than one color on a stamped image. The smaller ink pad allows me more control on where the color goes. They are the happy medium between regular ink pads and the Stampin' Write Markers. I particularly like the Stampin' Spots for when I go to a stamping or scrapbooking event and don't want to take all my ink pads with me. I can carry all 48 spots with me in a very small container so I always have the color I want to use at my fingertips.

Back to the card--I used Always Artichoke for my card base and paired it with a Basic Grey Christmas Tree cardstock which matches beautifully. A little white grosgrain ribbon and some rhinestone stars atop the trees complete the look.

As always, thanks for visiting.

Christmas Snowman

I thought I would share a non Stampin' Up card with you today. Sometimes I just feel the urge to do a little coloring on some detailed images and my share today is a happy little snowman with his forest friends. I used Copic markers and Stickles for a sparkling glow.

Thanks for coming back today.

Gifts of Christmas 3

This card was so simple to make. The main image was stamped with Versamark and then gold embossed in the debossed center of the Textured Impressions Petals-a-Plenty background. I first saw this debossing technique on Patty Bennett's blog and finally got around to trying it. So easy to do! I finished off the card with a small piece of Real Red grograin ribbon to match the Real Red cardstock. What do you think?

Thanks for coming back to visit.

Gifts of Christmas 2

I have again used the Gifts of Christmas stamp set and this time chose the dove image. The image was embossed in gold and die cut with Nestabilities. Prior to removing the die I sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink. I really like the way this Nestabilities set looks like an open book, in this case it would be the Bible.

I added a little bling with clear rhinestones in the center of the three flowers.

I really love the way this card turned out, and it was so simple to make.

Gifts of Christmas

I used the flower stamp from the Gifts of Christmas set and colored it with Stampin' Write Markers in Real Red and Handsome Hunter. The image and mat was die cut with Nestabilities and prior to removing the die I sponged in some Handsome Hunter to give the appearance of another mat. The background paper was found in my large stash of miscellaneous supplies. A whole 12 x 12 sheet of this paper really makes your eyes wonky when looking at it, but a small piece really went well with this image and managed to complete the look I wanted. I appreciate you stopping in today.

Berry Christmas

Don't you just love this Stampin' Up flocked designer paper from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty pack? It give your cards such a luxurious look.

On this card I paired the paper with several stamps from the Berry Christmas set to create, what I think, is a beautiful combination of Real Red and Whisper White. Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Signs of Autumn

Here I go straying down that other company stamp path again. This time I have used one of the images and a sheet of designer paper from the Signs of Autumn Stamp TV kit from Gina K. Designs. The card base is Stampin' Up Soft Suede and the image is mounted on Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke.

I was amazed at how well the paper from Gina K Designs blended in with the Stampin' Up colors. See, even when I stray into other companies I always come back to my favorite, Stampin' Up!

Thanks for stopping in.

I wish you could all see this card up close and personal. It is much prettier in real life.

I used Delightful Decorations from the new Holiday Mini Catalog that began September 1. The card base is last year's In Color Riding Hood Red and the tree branch is a Sizzix die using Always Artichoke dotted with Crystal Stickles. The ornaments are stamped with Always Artichoke, Riding Hood Red and a Memento Metallic ink that I borrowed from my sister.

See you again soon.

Lovely As A Tree by Moonlight

If Stampin' Up ever tries to retire this set I think I will start a protest campaign. I know there are many demonstrators out there who feel the same way too.

The Lovely As A Tree set always makes the most beautiful cards. I sponged on Night of Navy ink over a 1 3/8" circle mask to create the moon. The snow portion of the card is covered with Crystal Stickles for a sparkling effect. Isn't this pretty? I remember northern skies looking like this and I think it will start snowing at any moment.

Joseph's Coat 2

This is going to be a very quick post.

Here is another Joseph's Coat card that I took to show our Stampin' Up group during our August meeting.

Hope you enjoy!

Joseph's Coat

Once a month my Stampin' Up upline holds a team meeting during which we go over all things Stampin' Up and share our successes as well as struggles with our Stampin' Up businesses during the past month.

Each month one member is assigned the task of teaching a technique make-n-take. It was my turn during the month of August and I taught the Joseph's Coat technique as shown on this card. Joseph's Coat is done as follows:

1. Choose 3 colors of Stampin' Up inks. For this card I used Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke. These colors are streaked onto a piece of Glossy White eventually covering the entire piece of paper, but trying not to muddy your colors.

2. After the base coat of colors is dry, stamp a solid image with Versamark and then clear emboss it. I used the leaves from Kind & Caring Thoughts.

3. After your embossing is cooled use a brayer to cover your color streaked Glossy White with a darker color. I used Chocolate Chip.

4. Allow the brayered color to dry and then use a soft cloth to buff off the color from the embossed areas. This will allow your base colors to peek through.

5. Complete your card as you wish.

Hope you try your own creation using the Joseph's Coat technique and let me see what you have done.

See you soon.

Asian Artistry Again

I really do have other stamp sets, but seem to keep reaching for Asian Artistry. I guess you could say this is my favorite floral image right now.

I used Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal for my main colors. The Circle Scissor Plus was used to make the half circles from Certainly Celery Designer Paper and Black cardstock. I think this is a very pretty card and hope it is well received at my class on September 3rd at the Beaches Senior Center. Hope to see you there.

Until later, thanks for coming back to visit.

Arranged With Love

As you all know I'm a Stampin' Up associate, but also love many other companies and sometimes just have to stray.

Today's card is from Gina K Designs and is a set called Arranged With Love. I colored the image with Copic markers and mounted on Stampin' Up Pixie Pink and Green Galore. I love to color in the evening when I am watching TV so this image is perfect for that. Love it!

Thanks for coming back.

Fifth Avenue Floral

I absolutely love the way this card turned out. I used the small flower from the Stampin' Up Fifth Avenue Floral set. The image was stamped with Versamark on Shimmery White paper, embossed in White and then a Dusty Durango reinker was used with a waterbrush to color in the flowers. The flowers were all hand cut and attached with Stampin Dimensionals. The greenery was cut with the Big Shot using the Stampin' Up Little Leaves die. The card took a little extra time but I think it was well worth the effort and I hope that those taking my next class at Hobby Lobby think so too.

Thanks for stopping to visit.

Asian Artistry 2

To say that I love this stamp set would be an understatement. I find myself reaching for it again and again because I think it makes the most beautiful cards. I embossed the image in gold this time and then colored with Stampin' Write Markers.

Although I love to color any image with anything from the SU Markers and SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons to pencils to Copic markers, I find that embossing your images makes the coloring much easier to stay in the lines. I find this especially true for those older folks with poor eyesight like me. I'm hoping that my seniors at the Beaches Senior Center find this true for them too because I plan to have them make this card in an upcoming class.

Thanks so much for checking in today. I hope to have you back again soon.

Wings of Friendship

Hello everyone and welcome back. This card is another one I have done in preparation for a future class at Hobby Lobby. I used the bird from the Wings of Friendship Hostess Level 2 stamp set. I used Stampin' Write Markers to color directly to the stamp and then stamped the image. The bird's wing and the solid flower were stamped on another sheet of Whisper White, cut out and then Stampin' Dimensionals were used to pop them up.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you come back again soon.

See, I can use something else besides Rich Razzleberry and today it is So Saffron. To make this birthday card I grabbed the giraffe from Animal Stories because it was sitting on my table.

I used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the giraffe and then stamped on Whisper White. I used the cute animal print from the Tall Tales Designer Paper Pack and topped it off with Rose Red ribbon.

Hope you enjoy this simple offering and that you come back to visit soon.

Supplies:

Stamps: Animal Stories, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White, Rose Red & Chocolate Chip cardstock, Tall Tales DP

Misc: So Saffron & Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers, Small Oval Punch, Scallop Oval, Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Asian Artistry & Rich Razzleberry Fusion

I know you are probably tired of seeing cards made with Rich Razzleberry, but I can't seem to help myself. Please forgive me.



I used the Asian Artistry image that I think resembles orchids, stamped with Versamark and embossed in gold. This photo doesn't show it very well but the plant is in an oval bowl that has been shaded with Chocolate Chip ink and a sponge dauber to give it more dimension and adhered to the card with Stampin' dimensionals. The image and sentiment are mounted onto Melon Mambo.



Hope you come back soon.



Supplies:

Stamps: Asian Artistry (Level 2 Hostess) and Teeny Tiny Messages

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, & Melon Mambo cardstock, Razzleberry Lemonade DP

Ink: Versamark and Chocolate Chip

Misc: Large Oval Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, gold ribbon from my stash

Circle Circus

I have been wanting to use the Circle Circus set so I put it together with Rich Razzleberry (my current favorite In Color). I used a piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped various circles with Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry inks and finished it up with Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon. This is the best ribbon because you can use the plain side of the ribbon without worrying about the polka dots showing through. The sentiment is stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Whisper White and then punched with a 1 1/4" circle punch and mounted on three other 1 3/8" circles of Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry.

This is another one of the cards that I will be doing at my August 8th class from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in Hobby Lobby at the intersection of Beach Blvd. & San Pablo Rd. I hope you will stop in to take the class or just stop by to say hello.

See you there.

CHA TRIP

Yesterday was unbelievable. My sister and I went to CHA in Orlando for the day and had the pleasure of doing it with 50 other women and 2 husbands (what were they thinking) on a bus trip. It was a very long day waking up at 4:30 AM and getting home at 9:00 PM. CHA wasn't exactly what we were expecting, but we did have a good time. Our two big complaints were that the make and take lines were horrendous and we were totally exhausted by the time we got home. Lots of goodies to choose from and I found several items I couldn't live without.

Fortunately I had a card waiting in the wings that I am able to show you today. This card uses the elephant from Stampin' Up's Animal Stories on Whisper White with Melon Mambo ink. This card was very easy to complete and I think it's a cute little card to welcome a new baby.

Supplies:

Stamps: Animal Stores and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo cardstock & Melon Mambo designer paper

Ink: Melon Mambo

Misc: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Eyelet Border Punch, Small & Large Oval Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.

Hello everyone. See, I promised that I would try and be a more consistent blogger. I'm glad to see you came back for a visit

I CASE'd this card from Lee Conrey and changed it up a tiny bit. I used the Animal Stories stamp set for the main image and the grasses were made with the Autumn Days stamp set. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. Chocolate Chip was used for the card base with Whisper White, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip for the layering of the stamped image which was stamped with Old Olive. The cute designer paper is called Tall Tales. I hope you like my version of Lee's card.
See you soon!

Thoughts & Prayers

I really love the In Color of Rich Razzleberry. It is so rich looking (no pun intended). Love, love, love it!!!

This is another simple, yet elegant, card. I used the beautiful, flowing tree from the Thoughts & Prayers set and colored it with my Stampin' Write Markers instead of using an inkpad. This enabled me to have separate colors for the leaves and branches.

Supplies:

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, It's Your Birthday (retired)

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Brushed Gold, Whisper White

Designer Paper: Rich Razzleberry Patterns

Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers in Rich Razzleberry and Close to Cocoa, Rich Razzleberry 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

Asian Artistry

Today I am sharing a card made with the Stampin' Up Level 2 Hostess Set called Asian Artistry. This is a simple card made with the new In Colors Soft Suede and Dusty Durango and the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper. I will be demonstrating this card and 3 others at my next class. I hope to see you there.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU Asian Artistry

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Whisper White

Designer Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade

Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories: Dusty Durango 1/2" Polka-Dot Grograin Ribbon, Stampin' Write Marker in Crushed Curry, Gold Brads

A Kiss For Chloe

Isn't this the sweetest image? It is called A Kiss For Chloe and is from a stamp company called Stampavie. Many of their stamps are of vintage looking children and I just love them. I purchased my stamp from Stampers Dream and the image was colored with my Stampin' Up Markers.

Thank you so much for stopping back at my blog. I know it has been a long time since I posted but hope to be a better blogger in the future. You all know how it is--the older you get the faster life seems to pass by. I can't even begin to understand where the time has gone and can only wish it was spent doing something fun and exciting (but it wasn't).

I will post again in a couple of days because I have been working very hard on some Stampin' Up only cards in hopes of getting some classes together. See you soon!

Summer Fun Promotion/Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! is holding a fantastic Summer Fun Promotion from June 1-30, 2009. For a workshop totalling $250.00 to $399.99 you can earn an extra $20.00 in Hostess dollars and for a $400.00+ workshop you can earn an extra $40.00 in Hostess dollars. These extra Hostess dollars are in addition to all other Hostess benefits currently being offered in the Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog.

This is also the time of year that we say a fond farewell to some beloved stamp sets and accessories. For a listing of the retiring stamp sets alphabetically please click here.

Don't forget that these retiring stamp sets and accessories are only available until June 30th and are on an "only as available" basis. When they are gone--that's it!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Petal Pizzazz

Today's card was so much fun to make. I punched out two different sizes of circles from Post-It Notes and adhered those in several spots on my Whisper White cardstock. Once I had the circles placed where I wanted them I used my brayer loaded with Barely Banana ink and brayered my cardstock until I was satisfied with the coverage. I removed the Post-It Note circles and this left me with polka dotted background cardstock. I then used Ruby Red ink for the flowers and Certainly Celery for the leaves. I hope you enjoy this simple but fun card.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU Petal Pizzazz for flowers and Fresh Cuts for sentiment

Cardstock: Whisper White, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery

SU Inks: Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, Basic Black

Accessories: 1 1/2" and 1 1/4" circle punches, brayer

Thanks for coming back to visit my blog.

Pocket Silhouettes

This card was created by my upline, Lee Conrey, for our shoebox swap at the Orlando Regional. The card was made by me so I have myself to blame for the fact that the sentiment is crooked, but I wanted to share anyway because I love the card.

Supplies used:

SU Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Chocolate Chip grograin ribbon, Cuttlebug dotted background

Thanks for stopping back again today.

Echoes of Kindness

Today's share is a card I made for the shoebox swap that we did at the Stampin' Up Regional in Orlando on January 10th. My upline rented a beautiful condo that was only about a mile from the convention center. There were 5 of us staying in the condo and a good time was had by all. Lots of great information, ideas, techniques, etc. were gathered by all of us who attended. Three of the demos also attended Leadership prior to the Regional and this past Thursday they were kind enough to share alot of the information they obtained there. I'm looking forward to all the new Stampin' Up products that will be coming out in the coming year.

Supplies used:

SU Stamp Set: Echoes of Kindness (level 2 hostess), Fresh Cuts for the sentiment

Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Designer Paper: Juntos from SU Celebrando Creatividad catalog

Ink: Mellow Moss, Basic Black

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, sponge dauber, generic rhinestones

Dahlia Fold

I know, I know, I've been away for quite a long time. But to make up for that I will be posting three cards over the next several days.

My upline had our team meeting tonight and it was my turn to teach a technique. I decided to do the Dahlia Fold card that I am sharing here. I was afraid most of our team already knew about this fold, but to my surprise there were 3 or 4 there who hadn't seen it.

Supplies used:

SU Stamp sets: Dream a Little (level 3 hostess) for the background, Fresh Cuts for the sentiment
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss
Designer Paper: Raspberry Tart
Ink: Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Large Oval Punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad, sponge dauber

Thanks for coming back to visit.