Ahead of the Game

I'm finally getting ahead of the game with baby thank yous. I only have a few outstanding -- it's down to the single digits and it feels good to be almost caught up.

I'm planning to make 30 of these simple cards for upcoming baby showers. I don't know when they'll be, but I want to be ready this time so all I have to do is write the notes out instead of having the extra step of making the cards as well.

I started with some blue Arturo note cards that I ordered from Ellen's store. They are just like the Fabriano cards, but in color!

These baby images are really old! I bought them at Michaels when I first started stamping because I thought they were cute. That was at least 5 years ago and this is the first time they've seen ink. Shocking, I know! Anyway, they are made by Rubber Stampede but are probably retired at this point. The sentiment is from A Muse Art Stamps. I love their clean fonts.

I stamped all the images with Palette Noir black ink and then watercolored with an aquapainter and my watercolor wonder crayons. Then when everything was dry, I added a little glitz with my new clear Copic Spica Glitter pen, also from Ellen's store.

Stamps: Sentiment from A Muse, Images from Rubber Stampede
Ink: Palette Noir Black
Paper: Pale Blue Arturo note card & envelope
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, clear Copic Spica Glitter Pen

Blogger's Challenge Friday #17

It's inspiration week on the blogger's challenge group!

In addition to being a stamper, I am a knitter and I'm almost done knitting a log cabin blanket for the baby. The pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting and that leads me to this week's inspiration. I absolutely love the Buncha Squares blanket that Kay finished up this summer which was inspired by Denyse Schmidt's fabric quilt design called What A Bunch of Squares. Click this link to check out Kay's beautiful afghan. Since knitting this blanket would probably take me 1-2 years, I decided to be inspired in the stamp room instead. ;)

I love the large spans of natural colored yarn in the blanket that is sprinkled with the squares of fresh colors. I chose the colors groovy guava, certainly celery, soft sky and always artichoke from one of the squares as my inspiration. I also decided to run my layers through the cuttlebug to bring some more squares into the design. The Traffic Jam embossing folder especially reminded me of the Buncha Squares blanket.

The layout is this month's dirty dozen fan club on splitcoast stampers. (The link won't work if you aren't a member of the fan club. Sorry!) After I picked this layout, I wasn't sure what to put in the focal circle. Then when I was sitting at my stamp table, I just grabbed this leftover scalloped circle from the mass-produced thank you notes of a couple weeks ago. It was perfect -- even the right color. That means this card took a total of 5 minutes to put together and that included digging out my cuttlebug! Not too shabby!!

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Soft Sky
Paper: Ivory Naturals, Whisper White, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Certainly Celery, Basic Black
Accessories: Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon, Pop-up glue dots
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, scallop circle punch, Blender Pens, Traffic Jam Embossing Folder, Tiny Mosaic Texture Embossing Folder

Friendship File

This week, I signed up for the weekly challenge on one of my yahoo groups. We were supposed to make a file folder card using Beate's tutorial.

To my delight, I was assigned my friend Rose Kerry! She is such a kind and loving person, so I knew my card would have to focus on friendship.

I also wanted to try last week's color challenge on splitcoast (CC135) and this is what I came up with.

I chose to use Simply Said since I haven't used it in so long and it has the perfect friendship saying. For the saying, I swiped a scrap of white card stock with a sponge dauber inked up with river rock ink. Then I stamped the sentiment on top and punched with the large oval punch. To make it stand out more, I ran the edges of the oval across a black marker.

Stamps: Simply Said, Wonderful Words
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, River Rock, Whisper White Craft Ink
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, River Rock, Basic Black
Accessories: Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: Large Oval Punch, Round Tab Punch, Pop-up Glue Dots, Neutral Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Signo White Gel Pen, Black Marker

Updated Family Portrait

Now that we know the baby is a boy, I thought it was time for an updated family portrait card. I actually made this for a contest the my 5th upline, Christina Crawford, had at her last group meeting. The contest category was "Welcome Baby" and I decided to participate in the contest when I woke up at 5am the morning of the meeting.

So, I stamped the card quickly, cut all the pieces, grabbed some markers and my adhesive and headed out the door. I had to be at a friend's house at 6am in order to get to the meeting on time. (It is about 1.5 hours away in New York.)

I colored the card once we got to the meeting place. As you can see, I missed the dad's pants! I guess it's no wonder that I didn't win that day. ;) Don't feel too bad for me though because I won the grand door prize -- a full set of Stampin' Up! markers!! I couldn't even believe it.

The card measures 4 1/4 x 4 1/4" square. The layout is from Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #17.

Stamps: All in the Family, Short & Sweet
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown
Card stock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: Coluzzle, Pop-up Glue Dots, Markers

Fall Wedding

We're going to a wedding tonight for one of my coworkers. Actually the groom used to work with me as well, so it should be a fun time!

For their wedding card, I wanted something simple and understated. The bride is also a stamper and tends towards more simple & elegant designs than ones with lots of layers and embellishments.

So, I pulled out a Fabriano Medioevalis note card and set to work. The cake is from the retired Stampin' Up! set, Fairy-tale Wedding. I got the sentiment on sale from A Muse this summer because it is also retired. Both were stamped in Palette Noir black ink and I watercolored the cake with my watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter. Then just to add a little sparkle, I used my brand new copic spice clear glitter pen that I ordered from Ellen's store. I like it better than the Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen because it really is clear.

Stamps: Fairy-tale wedding from Stampin' Up!, Best Wishes from A Muse
Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir Black
Card stock: Fabriano Medioevalis folded card
Tools: Copic Spica Clear Glitter Pen, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter

Pink for October

I just stumbled across Bobbie Lawrence's blog. Her Moms group is selling the cutest key chain wristbands to raise money for mammograms in her community in Indiana. Read more about it here!

Blogger's Challenge Friday #16

This week's challenge was to make an ornament. I loved making these ornaments for convention so much, that I figured I'd have another go with the Ranger Memory Frames. So the only decision left was what to stamp?

When we got married, one of my favorite wedding gifts was a set of twelve ornaments that Eric's aunt & uncle had collected for us. Tucked away with the ornaments was a sheet of paper explaining their significance. Here's what it said:

According to the old German tradition, the tree of a newlywed couple should include these twelve ornaments to ensure blessing and happiness for their life together.

An Angel - God's Guidance in the Home
A Rose - Beauty and Affection
A Rabbit - Hope and Faith
A Teapot - Hospitality
A Pine Cone - Motherhood and Fruitfulness
A Santa - Unselfishness and Goodwill
A House - Shelter and Protection
A Fruit Basket - Generosity
A Bird - Happiness and Joy
A Flower Basket - Good Wishes
A Heart - True Love
A Fish - Christ's Blessing

When my best friend from college got married this June, we gave her a set of ornaments that we had been collecting for a couple of years. I wanted the ornaments to be all different styles. But, a few of the twelve were very difficult to find and we had to settle on whatever we came across. Two of these hard finds were the fruit basket and the flower basket.

So, wouldn't it be great to be able to stamp these ornaments instead? Then they would be perfect -- just what I envisioned. That was the inspiration for my blogger's challenge entry this week.

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Basket Full of Fun
Ink: Palette Noir Black Ink
Paper: Watercolor Paper
Accessories: Red Gingham Ribbon, Ranger Inkssentials Memory Frames, Ranger Inkssentials Memory Glass
Tools: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter

World Card Making Day

Sorry I've been missing for the past week or so. My Christmas card fundraiser class was Saturday, which was also World Card Making Day, and I am just now recovering. :) We did eight cards, two of which I posted about before here and here. I also directly cased rohla's Country Christmas card and Kristina Werner's Pink Christmas card.

So here's a round up of the other ones. You can click each picture for a larger view.

This card was totally inspired by Connie Babbert's wise men card. I obviously changed a few things, but I really loved the background Connie created by swiping the white oval with a sponge dauber inked in river rock. I love the washed out look of it. It seems so elegant.

The fine lace background is stamped in river rock ink on whisper white card stock. The holy family and sentiment are embossed gold.

Stamps: Holy Triptych, Fine Lace Background, Star Studded Season
Ink: River Rock, VersaMark
Paper:Whisper White, Natural Ivory, Brushed Gold
Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Coluzzle, Heat Tool, Powder Pal

The next card is a total CASE of MaryJo Monoski's ornament card from last year. I loved everything about her card. The simplicity, the colors, the layout... However, that designer paper retired with last year's holiday mini catalog, so I had to update the card with out new Wintergreen Designer paper. It has the same patterns, just different colors.

Stamps: Hung up on the Holidays, Happy Everything
Ink: Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, Basic Black
Paper:Whisper White, Sage Shadow, Wintergreen Designer Paper
Accessories:Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

The last one I'm going to share tonight was adapted from an awesome swap card I received from Adele Heffern. Since I had Soft Sky ribbon and prints paper, I swapped the colors. I also replaced the intricately cut-out snowflake with an easy punch. I used the Priceless classy brass template since I didn't have the Seeing Spots one. It's not quite as dramatic of an effect, but I'm still really happy with the results.


Stamps: Snow Burst, Many Merry Messages
Ink: Buckaroo Blue, Soft Sky
Paper:Whisper Soft Sky, Buckaroo Blue, Sokft Sky Prints Designer Paper
Accessories: Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon, Silver Brad, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Snow Blossom Punch, Cutter Kit, Paper Piercer from the Crafter's Toolkit, Priceless Classy Brass Template

Blogger's Challenge Friday #15

Pregnancy brain strikes again! I accidentally posted my blogger's challenge project on Saturday. Don't even ask how I made that mistake, but it's par for the course in my life right now.

This week's challenge was to make a project using orange and black. My 2-5-7-10 box fit the bill perfectly. Since my fundraiser Christmas card class is tomorrow, I won't have time until Sunday to make a different project.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out the other blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Another Round

Of baby thank you cards, that is! I love the simplicity of this batch.

This is a great layout to use up scraps. Besides the actual card base, every piece of paper and card stock on the 18 cards I made came from the scrap pile. You've got to love that!

The cards themselves are the small note cards. They measure 3.5" by 7" and are the perfect size for a thank you note. Just enough room to write your message without leaving a bunch of white space inside. ;)

Since there is no Soft Sky marker, I just dipped a blender pen into the ink pad. That made coloring in the diaper pins a breeze.

Stamps: Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Soft Sky
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Soft Sky, Soft Sky Prints designer paper
Accessories: Black gingham ribbon, Pop-up glue dots
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, scallop circle punch, Blender Pens


To show a little versatility (and in case you are sick of the baby thank yous), I modified this card to be a girly birthday thank you card. The patterned paper here is from the Petals & Paisleys designer series paper. I like the way the regal rose scalloped circle contrasts with the pretty in pink patterned paper. To finish it up, I used the small corner rounder punch to create a scalloped edge at the bottom of the card. A little glitter was the final touch.

Stamps: Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber
Markers: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Petals & Paisley designer paper
Accessories: Chocolate Taffeta ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Pop-up glue dots
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, scallop circle punch, Small Corner Rounder, Two-way glue pen

Pink for October

You might have noticed that I changed my blog colors today to be shades of pink.

October is breast cancer awareness month and I am delighted to join the Pink for October initiative. This is a message that is very close to my heart. As I have mentioned before, my mother died when I was 16 years old. What I didn't say was that she had breast cancer -- twice. The first time, she was 29 years-old (my current age) and pregnant with me. She had a mastectomy and luckily didn't require any further treatment. Growing up I always knew that my mom had had cancer, but it didn't seem like a big deal. I wasn't around for it and she obviously survived it, so it wasn't that scary.

Every year she would go in for a mammogram to make sure it didn't come back. Then right before Christmas in 1993, the annual mammogram found a lump in her remaining breast. She had another mastectomy and this time required chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She ultimately lost her battle with cancer one year later on October 7, 1994.

My mother always insisted that I not live my life in fear of cancer. The best we can do is be tested as recommended and then deal with it if it happens.

Anyway, that's my story. Let's look at things you can do to help.

1. First of all, if you are over 40 or have a family history please get a mammogram. I've had one done annually since the age of 25 and they aren't that bad.
2. Look into this new test that can detect abnormal cells 7 years before a mammogram can. I just found out about this and have to wait 6 months after I stop breast feeding before I can have it done, but I will definitely be there on 6 month plus one day.
3. Check out the new Think Pink stamp set from My Favorite Things. They are donating 50% of the retail price to breast cancer research.
4. Support my friend, Kim Howard, in her 3-day walk fund-raising effort. My MIL and SIL did the 3-day this August in Boston and it was amazing.
   
5. If you have a blog, go pink and spread the word!

Boo Box

For my last stamp club meeting, I wanted to make a 2-5-7-10 box. So, I pulled out the super cute Booglie Eyes stamp set and got cracking.

The tutorial on splitcoast says it all.

Stamps: Booglie Eyes, Spot On Jumbo Wheel
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Shimmery White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Basic Black Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Double Circle hole punch, 1/8" circle punch, paper cutter

Blogger's Challenge Friday #14

This week's challenge was to use spectrum pads on our project. In the past, I've brayered glossy card stock with spectrum pads to make backgrounds, but today I wanted to try something different.

The first card I made was with the Cotton Candy Spectrum pad. It is monochromatic, so I thought I'd make the whole card monochromatic. This card is 4" x 4" square.

This card was super simple to make, but it left me feeling kind of blah.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Regal Rose, Cotton Candy Spectrum Pad
Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Rose Red
Accessories: Pink Taffetta Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

So, I tried again. This time I pulled out my old Twist spectrum pad. The colors in this pad are Yo yo Yellow, Green Galore, Glorious Green, Ballet Blue, and Lovely Lilac. I stamped the large flourish from Doodle This onto a 4 1/4" by 4 1/4" square white card. Then I stamped two daisies from this set onto scrap card stock and cut them out.

To color in the images, I simply took a clean aquapainter and pulled the colors from the outline of the stamp into the center of each petal. Super simple and it allows you to use your spectrum pads with line stamps. This technique reminded me of those Paint with Water coloring books where you would just wipe the wet paintbrush over the paper and it would color itself in.

To finish the card off, I added a little glitter and popped up the flowers with dimensionals.

I hope you enjoyed my entries this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Doodle This
Ink: Twist Spectrum Pad
Paper: Whisper White
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Two-way glue pen, Paper Snips

Blogger's Challenge Friday #13

My parents came over for the weekend to help us with some household projects. Eric & my dad finished demolition on the part of the deck that used to connect to our pool and my step-mom did the primer coat on the baby's room. (It's kind of a cross between Bashful Blue and Soft Sky.)

At any rate, that is why I am late with this week's blogger's challenge. We were supposed to make a project using some kind of embossing. For this card, I decided to use both heat embossing and dry embossing.

The layout for this card came from Lauren Meader's Saturday sketch challenge #14. I've loved all the samples on splitcoast of black butterflies on colorful card stock, so I decided to incorporate that into the challenge as well.

The patterned paper is from a really old Die Cuts with a View stack. I just punched out three different colored 1 3/8" squares and then embossed the butterflies on each one with black embossing powder. I also embossed the sentiment in the lower left corner.

As a final touch and to balance the design, I dry embossed three little flowers in the right corner of the card. (It's a little difficult to see in the picture.)

I will be mailing this card out to Victoria, a teenager that is battling cancer right now. Her teacher is trying to collect a card from every state in the country for Victoria. I am more than happy to represent Connecticut. For more information on how you can help, visit Lauren's blog.

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Priceless, Curvy Verses
Ink: VersaMark
Paper: Basic Black, Papertrey Select White Card stock, Patterned paper from Die Cuts with a View
Accessories: Black Gingham Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Embossing Powder
Tools: Priceless Classy Brass Template, Embossing Stylus, Light Table, 1 3/8" circle punch, Heat Tool

Blogger's Challenge Friday #13

This week's challenge was to use embossing (dry or heat) on a card. I haven't had a chance to sit down in my stamp room this week though, so my challenge will be a little late. Check back on Sunday.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Santa Baby

This is another candidate for my card class. I bought this stamp set because of this Santa image. He is just so jolly looking, but I was having a hard time coming up with a card tonight.

So, I browsed the gallery on splitcoast and fell in love with the red & black coloring on Lee Conrey's Christmas card. I also loved the layout and polka dots in Genann's Jolliest Santa card. So, I combined the two and came up with this card.

If I use this card in the class, I will replace the polka dot layer with a strip of the Dashing designer paper. (I just don't have it yet.)

To get that vibrant red coloring I decided to use markers, but I was worried about getting streaks. Then I remembered a tip we learned at convention this year. I stamped the Santa on watercolor paper and then colored him in with markers. If I ended up with any streaks, I just went over them with a blender pen until the color was solid. I think this is a very cool technique and I am really pleased with the results.

Stamps: Jolliest Time of the Year, Glad Tidings, Polka Dot Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir Black ink, Real Red
Markers: Real Red, Basic Black, Summer Sun
Paper: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter
Tools: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circke punch

Tagged!

Lauren tagged me to play a fun name game, so I was happy to play along.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -Snuffy Jetta

That's right, I named my first dog after the Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street. What can I say? I was 5 (and yes, I did have to look up how to spell that just now.)

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Chocolate Chip

Everything tastes better in chocolate.

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) -S-Sum

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Blue Horse

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)- Ann Hahn

I'm kind of cheating there since I was born on Hahn Air Force Base in Germany. I believe it is closed now.

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - Sumst

I'm not even sure how to pronounce that one.

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Celery Fuzzy Navel

I don't even want to think about what that implies.

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- Charles Thomas

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Dial Reeses

I don't wear perfume ever, so I usually just smell like Dial soap. Lame and ungirly, I know!

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Ann Joseph

That was fun!

Now it's time to tag five more people.

1. Kim
2. Lisa
3. MJ
4. Barbara
5. Toni
   

If you haven't been tagged, consider yourself tagged as my 6th choice and post a link in the comments so we can all see. :)

Blogger's Challenge Friday #12

Today was a really bad day. I didn't sleep well last night and felt pretty miserable because of it. On days like this, I most look forward to going home and putting on my favorite jammies (pictured at right).

That leads me to this week's blogger's challenge. We were supposed to find inspiration for a card from something in our non-stamping lives. I decided to be inspired by my jammies.

To make the main stamped panel, I started with a piece of glossy white card stock and brayered cool caribbean classic ink over the entire piece. Once this dried, I stamped the circles with VersaMark and then embossed with clear embossing powder. Finally, I brayered over the entire panel with night of navy classic ink. It came out a little more speckled than I would have liked because the embossing powder kept sticking. I probably didn't let the cool caribbean ink dry completely.

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Seeing Spots, Polka Dots & Petals
Ink: Palette Noir black, Cool Caribbean, Night of Navy, VersaMark
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Glossy White
Accessories: retired Flirty Ribbon Originals (ric rac), Clear Embossing Powder
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, Heat Tool

Happy Snowman

I haven't played with my Cold Play stamp set in forever! So, while I was coming up with possible cards for the fund raiser class, I thought it might be fun to bring back an oldie but a goodie. The hat & scarf were stamped separately, cut out and glued on after the fact.

This layout is from Lauren Meader's Saturday sketch #5. Aren't her sketches the best?

The color combination for this card came from the Color Coach. It's one of my favorites and a little non-traditional for a Christmas card. I decided to make one of the layers out of vellum card stock to soften the bordering blue beneath it. This is a technique that Lauren uses a lot and it was fun to try it out.


Stamps: Cold Play
Ink: Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: So Saffron Bordering Blue, More Mustard, Whisper White, Vellum card stock
Accessories: French Blue Grosgrain Ribbon

Crisp & Clean

This is another possibility for my holiday card class fund raiser. It is completely CASEd from rohla's card on splitcoast. I just loved the clean graphic design and the fabulous color combination of rohla's card. I only changed the stamps (since I didn't own those sets) and I made the card 4 1/4" square instead of 3" square.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Certainly Celery, Real Red, Certainly Celery Craft
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Celery Prints Designer Paper
Accessories: On Board Accents chipboard, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Red Gingham Ribbon
Tools: Coluzzle, Heat Tool

Snow Kissed Tree

In a couple of weeks, I'm hosting a fundraiser card class for a local women's group. They are raising money for a scholarship fund for Connecticut women. The class will focus on holiday cards and this is card might be one of the eight that we do.

I was inspired by Miss Minx's Gorgeous Pine card on splitcoast, but I changed the layout to Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketch #3. I also changed the colors to be current.

To create the main stamped image, I used the Crayon Resist technique. I first stamped the tree in Olive Green StazOn Ink on glossy white card stock. The I colored in the tree trunk with my Chocolate Chip marker. Once that dried, I colored over each branch with a white crayon. Then I sponged night of navy ink over the entire image. Finally, I rubbed the entire thing with a paper towel to get rid of the crayon waxy residue.

The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory. The sentiment was stamped in night of navy ink and then punched out with the designer label punch. I then backed it with a 1 3/8" circle of sage shadow to give it a little depth.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Party Punch
Ink: Olive Green StazOn Ink, Night of Navy, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Sage Shadow, Glossy White, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Pop-up glue dot
Tools: Designer Label punch, 1 3/8" circle punch

Simple Thanks

When I was in Momento last week, I fell in love with this patterned paper by Heidi Grace Designs. I couldn't find a link for it online, but it was on sale at Momento.

This card was inspired by dawnSing's Simply Elegant card on splitcoast. I loved the monochromatic look of her card with the patterned paper matching the card base. So, my challenge was to make a vanilla card that wouldn't fall over with the weight of all these layers! Stampin' Up's very vanilla wasn't going to do the trick. It is really designed to be layered onto a card and not the be the card base itself.

The quest for a stronger vanilla card stock base led me to Ellen Hutson's store where I purchased some Classic Crest card stock in the Classic Cream color. I had heard Ellen rave about this paper, but I wanted to see it for myself. Let me tell you, it is great! So smooth, yet sturdy. It stamps like a dream too. Ellen also carries this card stock in Natural White and Solar White.

I really wanted to use a taffeta ribbon on this card, but Stampin' Up! only carries it in neutral colors. I thought the narrow grosgrain would be too thin, so I tried this Craft Seam Binding from Martha Stewart. It is light and wide, but I didn't like the knots that I made with it. I don't think I'll buy the seam binding again.

The sentiment is from A Muse and the oval frame is from the Oval Borders & Corners set from Papertrey Ink. (It's the smaller double lined oval.)

I made 12 of these (from 2 sheets of the patterned paper) . I figure they'll be perfect for Christmas thank yous.

Stamps: Borders & Corners {oval} set from Papertrey Ink, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: VersaMagic Night Sky chalk ink
Paper: Night of Navy from Stampin' Up!, Classic Cream from Classic Crest, Snowflake Park Small Snowflakes by Heidi Grace
Accessories: Navy craft seam binding from Martha Stewart
Tools: Mega Scallop Oval punch by Marvy

Blogger's Challenge Friday #11

This week's challenge was to use the layout of the star card on page 12 of the Holiday Mini Catalog as our inspiration. As you can see, I didn't stray too far from the original.

I also need lots of thank you cards, so I hope you won't get too tired of seeing them. ;) The meta challenge for me was to make a boy card. I might as well start now, right?

The patterned paper here is from the Chatterbox Playhouse collection (specifically the Swing Stripe & the Cowboy Paisley patterns). This paper is double sided, so the textured red & yellow papers are just the back side of the stripe & paisley papers. I think this paper is discontinued because I got it on clearance at Michaels a few months ago and can't find it on the Chatterbox website now.

I adhered the paper to the chipboard star (from the On Board Accents) with an anywhere glue stick and then sanded the edges using the sanding blocks. This method has the benefit of being easier than cutting out the paper in the exact shape of the chipboard and it gives a nice distressed look around the edges.

I used the thank you from Seeing Spots and the diaper pin from Short & Sweet again on this card. I think it makes a cute combo.

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar. Look closely because we have some new members. :)

Stamps: Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Ink: Palette Noir black, Brocade Blue marker
Paper: Brocade Blue, Cranberry Crisp, River Rock, Playhouse paper by Chatterbox
Accessories: Twill Ribbon from American Crafts Elements: Tan Essentials, On Board Accents from Stampin' Up!, Earth Elements brads, Pop-up glue dots
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch

Quick Update

It's a boy!

First batch of thank yous

When we first told our family that we were expecting, we were flooded with cards of congratulations and even a couple gift cards for maternity clothes. Well, I finally went maternity shopping a couple weeks ago and I'm faced with the fact that these thank yous are well overdue!

This layout for this card comes from one of Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketches (number 3 to be exact). I really wanted to use this new patterned paper I bought over the weekend and this sketch was perfect.

Speaking of the paper, it is from Paper Salon and is called Harmony: Stripes and Harmony: Petite Paisley. Isn't it too cute? I bought this paper at a brand new scrapbooking store in the same town I work in. How cool is that? I can get there in 10 minutes on my lunch break. That is going to be dangerous! Anyway, the store is called Momento and it is really nice! They even had some copic markers in stock so I was able to play with them a little. I'm going to hold off to see if they offer a class before taking that leap.

Anyway, the main image is expectafellabella from Stamping Bella. I was super excited about this one because this bella has the same haircut as me -- short & straight. The guy kind of looks like my husband too so it was too perfect! I stamped the happy couple on watercolor paper with Palette Noir black ink and then water colored them with my watercolor wonder crayons.

The sentiment is from the Seeing Spots set from Stampin' Up! I then stamped the little diaper pin from Short & Sweet which fit in the center perfectly.

Stamps: expectafellabella from Stamping Bella, Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Ink: Palette Noir black
Paper: Certainly Celery, Watercolor Paper, Harmony paper from Paper Salon
Accessories: Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon, Pop-up glue dots
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Blogger's Challenge Friday #10

This week were were challenged to use the layout on page 92 of the Fall/Winter Collection (Circus Train) as our card inspiration. We did not have to make a pocket card, we just had to use the layout with the 5 squares.

This was a tricky challenge for me. I'm not good at randomly positioning things and having them look good. I'm more right brained -- orderly I guess. Anyway, trying to line up the squares just like the sample was making my head explode, so I decided to rotate the card 90 degrees and attempt my own pattern with the squares.

Aside from my personal issues with randomness, this was a really easy card to pull together. The color combination (groovy guava, ruby red, blush blossom and river rock) is from the In Color Combos sheet from Stampin' Up! It's like a color coach supplement with all the new colors for this year.

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Priceless
Ink: Groovy Guava, Ruby Red, River Rock
Paper: Groovy Guava, Ruby Red, River Rock, Blush Blossom, Confetti White
Tools: Crafter's Toolkit, 1 3/8" square punch

Q&A

In the comments, Nichole asked if I preferred the Heat & Stick powder with Dazzling Diamonds technique over just embossing with Hologram Highlights or Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I figured I would reply here so everyone could hear.

My answer is of course, it depends! I think that Heat & Stick with Dazzling Diamonds is sparklier and more glittery than embossing with Iridescent Ice. However it is also twice the work & clean-up so that is a factor as well.

For my last two Snow Burst cards, I chose heat & stick because I wanted them to really sparkle. I mostly use Iridescent Ice embossing powder for the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique or if I'm feeling lazy. ;)

Anyway, that's just my two cents.

Return of the Snow Bursts

This actually will be my Holiday swap card. I just have to make 30 of them by September 10. That doesn't seem too hard, right?

The layout for this card was inspired by Beate Johns' poppy anniversary card.

I first inked the snowflakes with VersaMark and then immediately inked them with soft sky classic ink before stamping. This left the ink sticky enough to hold the heat & stick powder. After heating, I poured dazzling diamonds glitter on top to make them sparkle.

The sentiment is embossed with silver embossing powder. Then I used the VersaMarker to color in the letters. We learned this technique at convention and it really makes the outline letters pop!

A little paper piercing and some white taffeta ribbon finish off the card nicely. The swap guidelines were to make a Wow Holiday card that is reproducible and not intimidating. I hope that I've achieved that here!

Stamps: Snow Burst, Glad Tidings
Ink: Soft Sky, VersaMark, VersaMarker
Paper: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Brushed Silver
Accessories: White Taffeta Ribbon, Silver Embossing Powder, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Crafter's Toolkit, Coluzzle

Stolen Moments

I probably should have been working tonight, but I was pretty burnt out! So, I took a couple of hours to decompress, stamp and figure out what I'm going to do for a Christmas card swap that is due soon.

This will not be my swap card, but I do like it's simplicity. The layout is from Lauren Meader's Saturday sketch this week. Lauren is such an inspiration and I am loving the sketches on her blog! You can never have too many layouts tucked away.

For the tree, I first inked up the stamp in wild wasabi and then cleaned off the star and trunk with a baby wipe. This allowed me to color those in with markers before stamping. A little glitter applied with the two-way glue pen finished it off nicely.

This was also the first time I've used the new rhinestone brads from Stampin' Up! They really add that extra sparkle just where you need it! They were a little difficult to flatten, so I used the crop-a-dile to set the brads. Now they're perfectly flat.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Rose Red
Markers: Night of Navy, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Tools: Two-way glue pen, Crop-a-dile
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Ice circle rhinestone brads

Blogger's Challenge Friday #9

Sorry for being a day late with the challenge. My real job has been claiming my evenings this week which leaves no time for stamping. I don't think it's going to get better this week, so next Friday's challenge might be the next time you hear from me!

Anyway, this week's challenge was to get punchy! We were supposed to make a card using punches as our focal point.

For this card, I used the Small Tag punch and the Key Tag punch to make tombstones. I also used the Ticket Corner punch to make a couple 1 1/2" squares into tombstones as well. The moon was punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch. Too much fun!

For the tombstones, I sponged them with the same color ink as the card stock to make them look older. I also debossed the "RIP" on each tombstone to make them look carved.

This card will fit in the small open ended envelopes. It measures 6 1/2" by 3 1/4".

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Booglie Eyes, Rough Edges Alphabet
Ink: Going Gray, Basic Gray, Stazon Jet Black
Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Barely Banana, Watercolor Paper, Going Gray, Basic Gray
Tools: 1 1/4" Circle punch, Small Tag punch, Key Tag punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Paper Snips, Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Embossing Stylus

Golden Snowflakes

Two years ago, I was in a private 100 person swap when the new catalog came out. That's when I received this beautiful swap card from Betty Saccocia. When I signed up for the Control Freaks Holiday Mini swap, I couldn't get this color combination out of my head. I loved the soft colors and sparkle of Betty's card and thought it would look awesome with snowflakes.

So, with my color combination and stamps chosen, I just had to pick a layout. That's when I ran across Lauren Meader's blog and saw her Dare to get Dirty sketch challenge. Perfection!

So you see, I ended up with a beautiful card by just mixing and matching card elements that I liked from other stampers. Easy, no?

For this card, I embossed the sentiment Warm Wishes on the card base with gold embossing powder. The snowflakes from Snow Burst were stamped in very vanilla craft ink and then sprinkled with heat & stick powder. I then heated the powder until it melted (like embossing), and then immediately poured the dazzling diamonds glitter on top. This makes it much more sparkly than if I embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder. (Although, that would have been faster!)

I finished the card off by tying vanilla taffeta ribbon around the brushed gold card stock and then popping the snowflake panels up on dimensionals.

Stamps: Snow Burst, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Very Vanilla Craft Ink, VersaMark
Paper: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Brushed Gold
Accessories: Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy

Blogger's Challenge Friday #8

This week's challenge was to find inspiration for a card from something ordinary like clothing or a pattern in a rug. I found that when you are actively looking for inspiration it is a lot harder to find. But, I did manage to stumble upon this diaper bag from lexie barnes. I own a lady b and a flo knitting bag from her that I absolutely love. I also picked up one of these darling diaper bags off ebay for half price. (Mine is a different print though.) Anyway, I thought this bag was super cute and would be perfect for this challenge.

So without further ado, here is my card. The main panel is glossy white card stock which I first stamped with blush blossom and groovy guava flowers. Since I was planning to brayer over this with old olive ink, I needed to emboss the flowers with clear embossing powder so they wouldn't get muddy. To do this, I simply inked my stamps in VersaMark first, then I inked them in the color dye ink before stamping. This gives the image enough stickiness to hold the embossing powder. I then colored the center of the circles in with markers. After they dried, I colored over them with a VersaMarker and embossed again.

The stems and leaves were inked in always artichoke. Since this is a darker shade of green than old olive, I didn't need to emboss them. The last step was to brayer on the old olive ink.

In real life, the big flower isn't quite that dark. It started raining when I took the picture so the colors are a little off.

The layout for this card is from sketch challenge 80 on splitcoast.

I hope you liked my entry today! Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Bodacious Bouquet
Ink: Versamark, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Groovy Guava, Blush Blossom
Paper: Old Olive, Groovy Guava, Basic Black, Glossy White
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder
Tools: Heat Tool, Foam Brayer

Leftovers

This was going to be the second make-n-take at my workshop over the weekend, but it didn't end up happening. It was really hot, we started late and I didn't want to be there all day. So, we only did one card.

It's actually pretty good because now I can whip up these cards pretty quickly since everything is already cut and prepped. As a non-workshop card though, I think I'll need to step it up a little. Maybe some ribbon or something? Any suggestions?

This card once again uses Cindy Lyles' layout from her butterfly kisses card. I also can't seem to use this layout with glittering my patterned paper. It's so easy and I think it really pretties up the Prints series of papers.

To tie the sparkle in to the focal point, I stamped the swirl with VersaMark and used heat & stick powder to adhere the Dazzling Diamonds glitter. It sparkles much more than using Iridescent Ice embossing powder, so I think it's worth the extra step.

I ordered Priceless after seeing all of the beautiful cards on splitcoast using this set. Lori Craig in particular pushed me off the fence. Thanks Lori!

I didn't forget about the journal tutorial. It's still coming. I just need to resize all of the pictures.

Stamps: Priceless
Ink: Taken with Teal, VersaMark
Card stock: Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Basic Black, Soft Sky Prints Designer Paper
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Pop-up glue dots, Heat & Stick Powder
Tools: Two-way glue pen

Glimpse of Fall

I designed this card on Friday for a workshop that I had this weekend. They wanted to learn how to emboss and Friday was a cold (60s) and rainy day, so I thought "why not make a fall card?" Of course, I felt a little silly on Sunday showing off this pumpkin card when it was almost 90 degrees out. They still enjoyed it though. ;)

The pumpkin was embossed with black embossing powder and then watercolored with the watercolor crayons.

The layout is from a shade of blue's sketch challenge 81. It really caught my eye and is the perfect layout to showcase the stamps from Year after Year.

This was the first time I've used my brand new crop-a-dile. I fell in love with this tool at convention, so it was on my first order after I got home. For this card, we used it to punch the holes and silently set the eyelets. It felt a little awkward at first, but I love it now! No more hammering for me.

For the background, we stamped the Flannel Plaid stamp in Always Artichoke ink on an Always Artichoke card base. The Pumpkin Pie layer was roughened up with direct to paper technique.

That's it for today. Check back tomorrow for a little tutorial on covering the On Board chipboard journal!

Stamps: Year after Year, Flannel Plaid
Ink: Versamark, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie, Confetti White, River Rock
Accessories: Black grosgrain ribbon, Black eyelets
Tools: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter, Crop-a-dile, Paper snips

Blogger's Challenge Friday #7

This week's blogger's challenge is called "Alter It". Basically, we could alter anything from a frame to a tin. I chose to alter an On Board Art Journal from Stampin' Up! This also just happens to be the Ways to Use it (125) challenge this week on splitcoast. It's nice how that worked out. ;)

I had purchased this journal back in May to record my thoughts and feelings about my pregnancy, but I put off decorating it in case something went wrong. Now that I'm 4 months along, I should stop thinking that way. So this challenge is well timed.

On the drive up to the SSUS Cape Cod retreat in March, Barb & I stopped at the Scrapbook Clubhouse in Westbrook, CT. That's where I bought two sheets of the Stork paper from the Karen Foster Maternity line. It was just too pretty to pass up and it is the perfect paper to cover my pregnancy journal!

I took the two covers off the journal in order to cover them book-style like Carol Duvall always did on her show. I used Royal Coat Decoupage Finish to adhere the paper to the book. I've also heard that you can use Stampin' Up! glue sticks for this. If you'd like me to share some details & measurements, let me know!

I made a tag for the journal using one of the big circle tags from the On Board Accents chipboard. I colored the tag with Very Vanilla craft ink and dried it. Then using my Palette Noir black ink pad, I stamped the my from the retired Stampin' Up! set Phrase Starters. I stamped the 2" x 1" pregabella from Stamping Bella on some watercolor paper and then cut her out and glued her on the tag. I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to watercolor directly on the tag. (Did you know that some of the bellas come in two different sizes?) Anyway, then I stamped the word journal down the side of the tag with the also retired Stampin' Up! set Euphoria Alphabet & Numbers.

I was worried that pregabella might come off, so I smooshed my Versamark pad all over the tag and embossed with Glassy Glaze (UTEE). I did this 3 times to get it nice and smooth. Now I'm not sure if I like the shiny look of it next to the vintagey paper. I might redo that part later.

A little twill tape finishes it off nicely. Now I just need to start using it before the baby comes!

I hope you liked my entry today! Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: pregabella from Stamping Bella, Phrase Starters II, Euphoria Mini Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Very Vanilla Craft Ink, Versamark
Paper: Stork by Karen Foster, watercolor paper
Accessories: Twill Tape, Pop-up glue dots
Tools: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter, 1/4" square punch, Royal Coat Decoupage Finish, Sponge

Annika's Card

My friend B had to leave convention a day and a half early because her daughter, Annika, was being hospitalized for pneumonia.

Annika is four years old and had to have surgery to drain the fluid from her lungs. She is starting to feel better now, but she still has a couple more weeks of recovery in the hospital. Please keep Annika in your thoughts & prayers.

This card measures 4 1/4" by 4 1/4". I cut the circle out of shimmery white card stock with the coluzzle. Then I went around the whole circumference with my new corner rounder punch to make a large scalloped circle.

Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories, Quick Thinking
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom
Card stock: Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Shimmery White
Accessories: Narrow White Grosgrain Ribbon, Narrow Apricot Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Coluzzle, Aquapainter, 3/16" Corner Rounder

Blogger's Challenge Friday #6

I know I've missed the last two, but my schedule is back to normal now and I am super excited about this challenge. We were supposed to use the layout on page 165 of the Fall/Winter Collection as our starting point.

I wasn't feeling like flowers, so I pulled out my Booglie Eyes stamp set. Even though I'm not much of a Halloween girl, this set cracks me up. I stamped the spider and mummy in Palette Noir ink on whisper white card stock. I watercolored the spider by scribbling a Basic Black marker on a stamp case and then picking up the ink with my aquapainter. This is a great trick since the Basic Black ink pad is waterproof. I did the same thing with the mummy, but I used the Going Gray marker instead. I just wanted to give his rags a little shadow. As if that weren't enough, I came back with my Stardust Sakura pen and added some glitter highlights.

The pumpkin pie circle was punched with a Marvy Mega Scalloped Circle punch and the smaller vintage violet one was punched with the Marvy Super Jumbo Scalloped Circle punch. I then cut my booglie guys out with the Coluzzle to fit inside the scalloped circles. The circles are both popped up with dimensionals.

I haven't gotten any of the new wide grosgrain ribbon yet, so I settled on the now retired wide organdy ribbon instead. I also used last year's Halloween paper since I still have a lot left.

I hope you liked my entry today! Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge cards! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Booglie Eyes
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Going Gray marker, Basic Black Marker
Card stock: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Vintage Violet, Whisper White, retired Halloween designer paper
Accessories: Black Wide Organdy Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Marvy Super Jumbo and Mega Scalloped Circle Punches, Coluzzle, Aquapainter, Sakura Stardust Pen

Faux Icicles Tutorial

For a great tutorial of the faux icicles technique I mentioned yesterday, check out Lisa Somerville's blog post today.

Tomorrow I will be back with some actual stamping for this week's blogger's challenge!