Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Big Bang


Y'all, I am going through a period right now where any luck I have is bad luck. First, the hives, which were awful. Then on Sunday late afternoon, I was helping hubby get the Christmas stuff out of the attic. I was on the second rung of the ladder, getting the stuff that he was handing down to me. Well, next thing I know, hubby is crouching over me and my head hurts - bad. I fell backwards off that ladder and hit my head on the wood floor and knocked myself out!!!!! I didn't know what the heck was going on, so hubby was scared out of his mind and called my mom and she came over and watched the kiddos while Steve drove me down to the ER at the hospital where I work. I had a CAT scan and luckily I just had a nasty headache (and backache and elbow-ache and butt-ache) from falling. They officially called it a concussion so I wasn't allowed to drive for 2 days. I've been staying at home, not moving around much 'cause it makes my head hurt, but I'm finally starting to feel a bit better. The upside of all this is I was able to work on my Christmas cards since I didn't have to move around much to make cards!!!! Not exactly the route I would have chosen to get my Christmas cards (almost) done, but I'll take it as the silver lining.
Tonight's card is one of my Christmas cards, and one that we did for Stamp Club tonight. This olive-turquoise combo is becoming one of my very favorites - so fresh and bright! This 3D ornament is so easy to make, and because it folds flat, you can still mail it. Yay!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Contempo Christmas, Contempo wheel
Cardstock: Old olive, Tempting turquoise, Whisper white
Ink: Old olive, Tempting turquoise
Other Stuff: Ornament punch, Old olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Perfect polka dots EF, Modern label punch, Scalloped oval punch

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Itching to be back







Hi everyone - I'm back again! Sorry for the long layoff . . . I've been having some problems and they always seem to get worse at night. Long story short: I have a really bad case of hives that didn't get diagnosed as hives until a day ago, and I'm miserable and itchy. I keep myself busy enough during the day that it doesn't kill me, but at night it's almost unbearable. So I haven't felt like blogging much lately. Tonight I just decided enough is enough and I'm sitting down to show you one of the projects I've been working on. A friend of mine asked me to make a small scrapbook for her in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. It was kind of short notice so I just dove into my scrapbooking stash and used some stuff that hadn't seen the light of day in a while. I'm pleased to report that the happy couple (and my friend) loved the album!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Happy Birthday dear friend


Have you ever been lucky enough to have a friend that you can go for months (or even years) and not talk to and then you can just pick up the phone and start talking like you had just talked the day before? I've been lucky enough to have two of them in my life and one of those ladies is having a birthday this Thanksgiving. I started this card with such gusto and faded fast . . . but I still think it's pretty enough for a close friend. The 'Just Believe' stamp set is soooo pretty and elegant, the perfect way to describe my oldest friend!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Just Believe
Cardstock: Early espresso, Rich razzleberry, Whisper white, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Early espresso
Other Stuff: Beautiful wings embosslit, Pretty in pink & rich razzleberry ribbon, vintage brads, Perfect details texturz plate, dazzling diamonds, basic pearls

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Candy buttons!


This idea has been floating around in my head since I got this new stamp set, Button, Button, which will be in the new Occasions Mini in January. There's lots of fun 'stuff' on this card: the button stamp (punched out), rhinestones, a jumbo wheel, and some puffy paint!
Heading to the chiropractor tomorrow to hopefully fix my ailing back . . . not good timing considering we need to move our furniture tomorrow night since the carpet cleaners are coming on Friday. When it rains it pours!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Jolliest time of the Year, Button, button, Christmas chatter jumbo wheel
Cardstock: Whisper white, basic black, Crumb cake
Ink: Basic black, real red
Other Stuff: 1" circle punch, Basic black 1/8" ribbon, basic rhinestones, black, real red, blush blossom & blushing bride markers, dimensionals, puffy paint (non SU), wheel guide

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Party time


I got to make some really cute contemporary invitations for a holiday party. Not my style, per se, but they sure did turn out nice, IMO. I digitally whited out the identifying information (how cool is it that you can do that?!?!?!?) so that I could share the design with you.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Contemporary Christmas Tree (unknown source, not SU)
Cardstock: Whisper white, Basic Black, Tempting turquoise, Old olive
Ink: Old olive, Tempting turquoise
Other Stuff: Basic rhinestones, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Versamarker, Old Olive & Tempting turquoise markers

Monday, November 15, 2010

Quick & easy gift card holder


This was the 6th and final project that we did at my stamp-a-stack this Sunday. I was playing around with several different ideas when my Stamp club order came in. When I placed my order, I meant to get a pack of 8 1/2 x 11 Crumb cake cardstock. I accidentally ordered 12 x 12. Duh. Oh well, I put it to good use with these gift card holders, which turned out so cute, and are so easy. The Joy of Christmas stamp is from the Perfect Punches set, which is really growing on me.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Perfect punches, Fireside Christmas
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Deck the Halls DSP
Ink: Always artichoke
Other Stuff: Scallop circle punch, Word window punch, Martha Stewart score board, Velcro closures

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Contemporary Christmas


Tonight's card is inspired by some invitations I just put together using a unique color combination for Christmas: Tempting turquoise and Old Olive. The invitations are very contemporary, and I really like this color combo, even though I didn't think I was going to. Isn't that one of the best parts of being a stamper/crafter??? The different ideas that come at you from all facets of your life mean that there's always something new to create - things that you never thought about until someone else mentions it to you and all of a sudden, it just clicks!!! Now if I just had about a week off to work on all the different things I want to work on before the holidays . . .

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Snow swirled
Cardstock: Whisper white, Basic black, Old Olive, Tempting turquoise
Ink: Tempting turquoise
Other Stuff: Old olive marker, Tempting turquoise and basic black ribbon, Ticket corner punch, Basic rhinestones, Perfect details texturz plate, Scallop trim border punch, Platinum shimmer paint

Friday, November 12, 2010

Snowflake votives


Variations of these votive candles seem to be floating around the internet these days . . . I had to CASE them and add my own touch. This was our second stamp club project this month and a big hit! This would be a quick and simple (and inexpensive) hostess gift . . .

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Serene snowflakes
Cardstock: Whisper white, Marina mist
Ink: Pretty in Pink, concord crush, marina mist, not quite navy
Other Stuff: Votives, tissue paper, sticky strip, heat gun, circle punch, score board, Pretty in Pink satin ribbon

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Holiday Stamp-a-Stack


Somehow in all the craziness that is my life lately, I have forgotten to post the announcement for my Stamp-a-Stack!?!?!?
The Holiday Stamp-a-Stack will be held this Sunday, November 14, from 2-5 PM at a new location - my mom's house. She has an awesome new stamp room that is huge and can accomodate way more people than my media room. We are going to make 10 cards (2 each of 5 different designs) and a gift card holder. Can you believe you can get a jump on your holiday cards for just $20!!!! Sign up today and come for a fun Sunday afternoon!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Vintage Christmas


Here's one of our club projects from tonight. The bottom part of the card used fabric to give it a little more texture and I got to use one of my new clearance rack purchases, the build-a-brad.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Snow swirled, Bells & Boughs
Cardstock: Always artichoke, Cherry cobbler, Very vanilla
Ink: Always artichoke, Cherry cobbler, Crumb cake
Other Stuff: Deck the halls fabric, Big shot multipurpose adhesive sheets, Build-a-brad, 1/2" circle punch, Champagne mist shimmer paint, sponge daubers, Victoria crochet ribbon, Basic pearls, scallop oval punch

Monday, November 8, 2010

Thanksgiving Planner



In my family, everyone 'takes' a holiday and is in charge of the meal and the general planning of the day. Thanksgiving always has been, and likely always will be, my holiday. I like it, because the only thing that matters on Thanksgiving is being with people you are thankful for, and food. The food is the centerpiece of the whole day, and I like having that responsibility. But with that responsibility comes, for me, a lot of lists!!!!! I have seen some of these little planners on different blogs and on splitcoast for Christmas so I decided to make one for myself for Thanksgiving. I used some retired DSP (Autumn Days??) from last year's Fall/Winter Mini and a plain manila file folder. I should also give a shout out to Hannah Kost (symmetry.typepad.com) who posted a tutorial for this project that I loosely followed. You can do a lot more embellishing, but since this is really all about function for me, I didn't add too much to it so that there's less that can fall off in my purse!!!
We'll see how much I actually use this planner - maybe I'll make a Christmas one too!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Alphabet set (PSX)
Cardstock: Very vanilla, Dusty durango (retired), Chocolate chip, retired DSP
Ink: Early espresso
Other Stuff: Word window & modern label punches, Crop-a-dile, Chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon (retired), Nestie, Martha Stewart score board

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Working hard


Busy weekend spent catching up and trying to get some of the ideas that have been floating around in my head for two weeks out. Also had to prep for stamp club this month and start thinking seriously about my Stamp-A-Stack. I'm SO EXCITED for stamp club this month - think I have some good projects to share. The ladies at club get to see them first, but I'll be sharing those projects later this week.
Tonight's card is another one using those bells from the 'Bells & Boughs' stamp set. I used one of the sketch challenge sketches, which makes things go together so quickly. I also used the Deck the Halls paper and, since it's for Christmas, some Gold Glow smooch spritz for some glamour. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Bells & Boughs
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Very vanilla
Ink: Early espresso
Other Stuff: Circles #2 sizzix die, sponge dauber, Champagne mist shimmer paint, Gold glow smooch spritz, Scallop oval punch, markers

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Easing back in


Oh blog, I have missed you so much! Four days is the longest I've gone since I started this blog without a post. I had a great weekend at Penn State, and both of my work trips are over for the year, so I am back to my regular life, thank goodness! Tonight was the first night in WEEKS that I was able to go up to my scrapbook haven and have some fun, and there was so much I wanted to do that I almost overwhelmed myself. I played with a few different ideas, and then the idea for tonight's card popped into my head. I wanted to use my new build-a-brads that I got from the clearance rack so I decided to do a 'vintage' snowflake card. When I finish this card (this may be one of my personal Christmas cards this year), I'll use the sentiment from the Sincere Salutations set, which is on the formal side, calligraphy-ish. Can you see the Champagne mist shimmer mist I sprayed on????

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Serene snowflakes, Snow swirled (for the build-a-brad)
Cardstock: Very vanilla, Always artichoke
Ink: Always artichoke, Crumb cake, Early espresso
Other Stuff: Build-a-brad, Very vanilla satin ribbon, mini glue dots, Champagne mist shimmer mist, sponge

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Back again


Whew . . . whirlwind weekend is winding down . . . one more trip Tuesday/Wednesday and I AM DONE!!!! For a girl who doesn't go anywhere during the whole year, three trips in 2 weeks is just too much for me. All has gone well with all trips so far, but it's exhausting. I miss my family (and my scrapbook room).
Tonight's card is another I'm thinking about including for my stamp-a-stack. This one uses the ornament punch and coordinating stamp set, which is so fun to use! I'm hoping to get a good picture of my stamp-a-stack cards this week so stay tuned and sign up early . . . I've already got some spots taken and space is limited!!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Delightful decorations, Four the Holidays
Cardstock: Whisper white, Real red
Ink: Real red, Bashful blue, Wild wasabi
Other Stuff: Ornament punch, Silver cord (non SU), Basic rhinestones

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Here I go again


I've been home from Denver for about 30 hours, and I'm getting ready to turn around and head back out again. This time hubby and I are heading back to our alma mater, Penn State, to watch them play against Michigan. While we're in PA we're also going to visit with both of our families, albeit briefly. Since this is going to be a whirlwind trip, I'm not going to bring my laptop, so no blog posts this weekend :-(
When I get back I'll be posting some pictures for my upcoming Holiday Stamp-a-Stack, which is scheduled for Sunday November 14.
Today's card is made with the beautiful new Stampin'Up! fabric offered in the mini catalog. I love the patterns as well as how much of it you get!!! It's quite a bit of bang for your buck.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Serene snowflakes, Fabulous phrases
Cardstock: Cherry cobbler, Very vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP
Ink: Cherry cobbler
Other Stuff: Scallop circle die, Deck the Halls fabric, Very vanilla satin ribbon, Cherry cobbler seam binding, Vintage brads, Modern label punch, Word window punch, Champagne mist shimmer paint, Big Shot multipurpose adhesive sheets

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

So flippin' cold


I am wondering who thought that Denver in late October was a good idea. It is flippin' freezing here AGAIN and the wind will just take your breath away, and not in a good way. I am glad for many reasons to be heading home in the morning and this cold weather is making it even easier to leave. So in honor of this freezing blustery cold, I am sharing a 'Let it Snow' card with you tonight (although it BETTER NOT SNOW tomorrow before I get on that plane to come home!!!)
This card uses lots of goodies and a cool trick I learned from my upline, Pam, using the cardstock vellum. I think this is going to be one of my stamp-a-stack cards for November, so I'll share the trick with you if you come to my SAS!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Big on Christmas, Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Not quite navy, Garden green, Vellum cardstock
Ink: Basic black, Not quite navy
Other Stuff: Markers, Basic rhinestone, Real red grosgrain ribbon, Northern frost sizzix strip (??? don't have my mini in front of me), dimensionals

Monday, October 25, 2010

Dashing around


A cold front came through Denver today and my oh my it has been cold and windy!!!! Whew! I thought I was going to blow away walking across the street to the convention center this afternoon. Since I've been dashing around here and there in this cold windiness, I thought I'd share a 'Dasher' card with you today. This is a simple card but I really love it. I've been trying to stock up on some of the Stampin'Up! ribbons and finally committed to buying one of these big fat striped ribbons. LOVE IT!!!! It makes such an impression on the card and it's so effortless. I also decided to use the sentiment from 'Just Believe' because I think it fits.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Dasher, Just Believe
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Soft suede, Whisper white, Real red
Ink: Real red, Soft suede
Other Stuff: Circle punch, 1 1/2" striped ribbon, Scallop circle nestie

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Swirly


Since it was a bit windy and swirly today in Denver, I'm going to post this card using Snow Swirled, my newest holiday stamp set. I went with traditional reds and greens with this card, but I'm thinking that non-traditional colors might look pretty darn awesome as well. I also took out my little jar of shimmer paint and a sponge and sponged some of the paint onto a stamp (I used the Serene snowflakes stamp), and stamped a shimmery gorgeous background. The paint seems to last forever so you could do this and have enough to do all your Christmas cards and have plenty left over. The only thing you need to do differently is allow it some time to dry - it's not an almost instantaneous dry like you would get with regular ink.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Snow swirled, Serene snowflakes
Cardstock: Whisper white, Real red, Garden green
Ink: Garden green, real red
Other Stuff: Platinum shimmer paint, sponge, scallop trim border punch, red & green rhinestones (not SU)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Strange night


My time in Denver has been interesting so far. I was in class all day today but this evening some colleagues and I went out for dinner. We were walking down the main drag and there were blood covered zombies everywhere. No joke. And some of them were more realistic that I cared for, to be honest. And on the way back, there were some smells in the air that weren't quite legal, if you get my drift. It was just very very strange - hundreds of (too) lifelike zombies walking the streets are just a bit much for me. I'm glad to be back in my room, working on my familiar blog, even if it's in unfamiliar territory.
I made tonight's card a few days ago (using my mom's supplies - thanks mom!). It's the Growing Green stamp set, which is on my wish list and, being in Colorado, takes on some new meaning. No offense to anyone who might be from Colorado, but this place is full of hippies, and I think that they would appreciate this card.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Growing green, Three little words
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Always artichoke, Very vanilla, Soft suede
Ink: Always artichoke
Other Stuff: Scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch

Friday, October 22, 2010

Totally Happy Birthday


Sometimes I am such a scatterbrain. Today is a dear friend's birthday and I saw her yesterday, HAD HER CARD IN MY CAR, and didn't give it to her. So now her first glimpse of her birthday card will be here on my blog. Sometimes I think the hardest part of making cards is being organized enough to give them (at least in a timely fashion). I'll put that on my New Year's Resolution list again this next year.
This card is made with Totally Tess, who reminds me of my friend whose birthday it is. (That was a horrible sentence but I'm getting kinda tired . . . travel day and all). Anyway, Tess is underutilized in my stamp room, but I always think of her when I want to make a card for Michelle. I also pulled out my long-neglected Prisma pencils, gamsol and blending stumps - some stamps are just meant to be colored. I did a bit of creative masking by putting a single cupcake in Tess's hand from the Birthday Bakery set. That's one of the most fun things about Tess - she can 'hold' so many different things!
Happy Birthday Michelle!!! Hope it was great!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Tote-ally Tess, Birthday Bakery
Cardstock: Sahara sand, Early espresso, Whisper white, Pink pirouette, Rich razzleberry DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Other Stuff: Prisma pencils, Gamsol

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Off to get some omelets


I'm heading out to Denver for a work conference tomorrow, so fair warning that my blog posts might be MIA for a few days if I have any sort of computer/internet connection problems. I'm not anticipating any issues, but I figured I'd better give fair warning just in case. I've got a crazy couple weeks coming up: Denver until next Wednesday, and then I turn around and head out to home/Penn State for the weekend just 2 days later. We're getting back in time to take the kiddos out trick-or-treating on Sunday evening but I have to drive down to Austin Tuesday night to give a lecture on Wednesday. Whew. Just thinking about all that exhausts me. I've got a bunch of cards 'stockpiled' but we'll see how far they stretch.
Without further ado, let's talk about the real reason you're all here: tonight's card. This is a simple Christmas card that would be easy to mail since it doesn't have a lot of 3D embellishments or even a lot of layers. The embossing part is what's tricky about this card. Some people cut up their embossing folders, but I'm too cheap to do that. You can just use an extra shim in your embossing 'sandwich' with the shape that you want to keep un-embossed (is that a word??) - in this card I used a wooden frame with an oval cut-out from a craft store. It's amazing how easy it is to do, and then you have a great one-layer look that doesn't look like one layer.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: A Cardinal Christmas
Cardstock: Whisper white, Real red
Ink: Basic black
Other Stuff: Markers, Petals-a-plenty embossing folder, Champagne mist shimmer spray (made with shimmer paint)
Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)Stamps:Cardstock:Ink:Other Stuff:

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Beautiful foliage


Tonight's card was inspired by one that I saw a while ago on splitcoast (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1773674?&cat=20033). Cajun craze, Always artichoke, and Early espresso . . . sure, no problem. But adding in Perfect plum??? Genius!!! And something I can't take credit for. This is a beautiful stamp set that is sophisticated and so easy to use. I don't think you could make a bad card with it. We made this one at stamp club and even thought it was simple, everyone loved it.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: French foliage, Day of gratitude
Cardstock: Early espresso, perfect plum, very vanilla
Ink: Cajun craze, always artichoke, early espresso, perfect plum
Other Stuff: Linen thread, eyelets, crop-a-dile, ticket corner punch

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Gobble gobble


This is a close-up of one of the cards from my stamp-a-stack last week. My upline Pam showed us how to make these cute turkeys at one of our stamp clubs (last year or the year before - who remembers???). We started the evening with this card and some of the folding/assembly was a little complicated, but everyone got through it and after this, everything else was a breeze! This card is a little bit bulky with the button and the folds, but I think still mail-able.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wonderfully worn, Fabulous phrases
Cardstock: Chocolate chip, Very vanilla, Old Olive, Cherry cobbler, More mustard, Basic Black, Pumpkin pie
Ink: Pumpkin pie
Other Stuff: Circle punches, Scallop circle punch, Owl punch (for eyes), Modern label punch, Word window punch, Old olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Pumpkin pie buttons & brads (from clearance rack), sticky strip

New Holiday Mini Bundles 20% off!!!!




Have you thought about ordering some stuff for the upcoming holidays but somehow managed to hold back??? If so, your patience can be rewarded!! Stampin'Up! is offering some great bundles on holiday items for 20% off the regular price if purchased separately! I personally can't wait to get my hands on the Tags til Christmas and Simply Adorned bundles!
Go to my Stampin'Up! website today to order (and check out the bundles in bigger type - sorry about how small they look on screen).
www.ksa.stampinup.net

Monday, October 18, 2010

Having some fun


I started rubber stamping (branching out from scrapbooking) one year in grad school when I wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving. I was really upset about not being able to spend that time with my family until a friend of mine, who was also staying in town, asked me if I wanted to try making my own Christmas cards with her that weekend. The rest, as you can imagine, is history. So Christmas cards, more than any other, are special to me as that's how I got my start and got hooked on this hobby. I make A LOT of Christmas cards (130+) so usually they have to be relatively simple. One of the absolute fantastic things about this blog is I make a lot of cards that are just prototypes - made to try out different color combinations or a new technique or new product. In years past, my 'prototype' Christmas cards never got their moment in the spotlight because most of them were just too hard to mass produce or just didn't have quite the look I was going for. Not so anymore!!!
Tonight's card is inspired by the colored Christmas lights that my mom is so fond of. They've kind of gone out of style as most people (like myself) use all white lights now. I pulled out some of the teeny tiny colored rhinestones of unknown origin and stuck them all over this trendy tree. Fun!!

Oh my goodness I must have been tired last night when I originally posted this - forgot to put in all the 'recipe' components!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Trendy trees, Short & sweet, Confetti
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Riding hood red DSP, Whisper white
Ink: Garden green, Chocolate chip, Riding hood red, Crumb cake
Other Stuff: Stamp-a-ma-jig, itty bitty rhinestones of unknown origin

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Quick thank you notes


Tonight I didn't want to work on anything terribly involved since I'm all wrapped up in the Phillies-Giants baseball game. I decided to play with one of my new stamp sets, Perfect Punches, and make a set of Thank you cards. Since I also wanted to play with my new In-color ink pads, it worked out well. The Perfect Punches set is fun to use and helps you to put a card together quickly - stamp, punch and add to your card for some instant impact!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Perfect punches
Cardstock: Poppy parade, Pear pizzazz, Concord crush, Peach parfait, Blushing bride, Hostess DSP paper pack in same colors
Ink: same as above
Other Stuff: Scalloped oval punch, dimensionals

Friday, October 15, 2010

Stamp A Stack


As promised, here's one of the 6 cards we made last night during the stamp-a-stack. This was one of the easier cards - we just colored the image with the new markers and used a border punch.
Looking forward to a beautiful fall weekend watching baseball and playing with the family!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Friends never fade
Cardstock: Concord crush, Pear pizzazz, Peach parfait, whisper white
Ink: Versamark
Other Stuff: Markers, pinking hearts border punch

Late night

We had a fun, but late, night last night with some lovely ladies who came to my stamp-a-stack. It was too late to post anything, but I'll be back tonight to share some of the cards we made.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Trying something new


Tonight was busy, with bowling and then coming home and putting the finishing touches on some things for my stamp-a-stack tomorrow night. I still wanted to make a card so I decided to just pull a color out of my stack of paper and not surprisingly, I came up with Bravo Burgandy. I NEVER use Bravo Burgandy. Ever. So there's a lot of it in my stack of paper collections. So of course it came out tonight and had to be my 10 minute card inspiration. At least it was a fall color so I could pair it with some other stuff and make it work. I gotta say, it's not too shabby an effort for being a quick card AND a color I never ever use. And not only did I use burgandy, I used it as the card base, with markers to color in the focal image, and the ink pad to stamp the sentiment.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Word Play
Cardstock: Bravo burgandy, Crumb cake, Very vanilla
Ink: Bravo burgandy
Other Stuff: More mustard, bravo burgandy & crumb cake markers, chantilly lace trim

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Modern flowers


I had to make a birthday card for a co-worker this week and decided to dust off my 5th Avenue Floral set. This set is absolutely gorgeous and I have to remind myself sometimes that you don't HAVE to make the show-stopping embossed/spritzed/aquapainter-ed/fussy-cut rose (although you certainly can if you have the time!). It's perfectly okay to make an 'easy' card with this set - it's still gorgeous!!!! No one needs to know it didn't take forever to make :-)

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: 5th Avenue Floral, Fabulous phrases
Cardstock: Whisper white, Early espresso, Wild wasabi
Ink: Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Other Stuff: Curly label punch, 1/8" Marina Mist taffeta ribbon, stamp-a-ma-jig, glitter pen (non SU), dimensionals

Monday, October 11, 2010

Haunted Halloween


This is a simple but fun Halloween card that we made this weekend at one of my workshops. It uses the 'Haunted' jumbo roller and the new bat punch. I added some white gel pen highlights to the trick-or-treaters eyes.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Haunted Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Ink: Basic black jumbo cartridge
Other Stuff: Bat punch, white gel pen, mini glue dots

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Good times





Busy weekend! I had workshops on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, so not a lot of time for new creations. Since I haven't been able to make some new stuff, I'm sharing pictures from my awesome Haunted House workshop Sunday afternoon - we had a lot of fun making our spooktacular haunted houses! I got a little nervous during the workshop at one point, because it got really quiet. You start thinking that maybe you said something to get people upset, but no - turns out they were just all concentrating!!! That works for me. This workshop was interesting because even though we were all making the same house, each person put their own stamp on theirs and they all turned out just a bit different.
I don't think I'll be attempting a Christmas house class, but I'm pretty sure I'll be making one for myself - they can get addicting!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Christmas wreath


Here's another one of my Christmas cards - I actually made about a dozen of these this summer when I thought I might actually get my Christmas cards done early this year - HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Yeah, right. But at least I have somewhat of a head start! The Autumn Days stamp set can be so versatile - one of my favorites!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Autumn days, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock:Whisper white, Garden Green
Ink: Garden Green, Real red
Other Stuff: gold paint pen, sheer red ribbon (non SU), Bow easy, mini glue dots

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Fore!


My dad and my father-in-law, like my hubby, are both golfers. They also both recently had birthdays. And I am just now getting to sending their cards out. I know, I know. I make cards every day - how can I forget to send birthday cards to my father(s)?!?!?! It is because I am a terrible, unorganized person. I have no excuse. So to try and make amends, I made some pretty cool cards for them. The single stamp 'On the Green' was one of the first on my list to buy and I'm really liking it. This card came together so quickly that I was able to make 2 in no time. Now I just need to get them in the mail . . .

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: On the Green
Cardstock: Bashful blue, Chocolate chip, whisper white, Garden Green DSP
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Other Stuff: Square lattice EF, sentiment stickers (non SU)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

October Stamp Club


I've been so excited to show this card here on my blog. I made it a few weeks ago but decided to use it for stamp club so I've kept it under wraps. Our hostess this month for stamp club is into horses and anything country. Boots, pickup truck, 5 acres in the country for her horses, the whole nine yards. So I thought that Faux Barn Board would just be perfect!! You can find the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers, just like I did. It takes a couple steps, but it's easy and almost impossible to mess up, since it's supposed to look distressed. That's my kind of technique!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock: Whisper white, Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler, More mustard
Ink: Early espresso, More mustard, cherry cobbler
Other Stuff: Modern label & word window punches, glimmer brad, paper piercer, supplies for barn board (see splitcoast tutorial - I followed it exactly)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Buried treasure



I had to do one of those big clear-everything-off-your-desk-and-weed-through-the-junk-so-you-have-room-to-work-again moments this weekend. I hated to take the time to do it, but when you get to a point where you have to clear enough space to stamp one small card front, you know you just have jump in and get things cleaned up. The good news is that after you're done, the top of your desk usually stays clean for at least 15 minutes or so. The bad news is it takes me about an hour to excavate to the desk level. In the midst of my latest dig, I found a card I must have made a while ago and I really liked it. (See above card) Note: I'm pretty sure I CASE'd this card from somewhere, so I can't claim this as my own design.

BUT, I decided that it was more of a summer card than something suitable for fall. I decided the easiest thing to do would be to change it up a bit with some different colors. So I re-made the card:



Voila!!! Same card layout + Different colors = different feel. As with most things you do, I think I improved it the second time around. I fancied it up a bit with the gold glow smooch spritz (everything for fall should have a gold glow to it, IMO), and used DSP for the circles instead of plain cardstock, and I added pearls and a sentiment this time around. If only we had time to re-do all our cards, think how great they'd all be . . .
Oh, well. As an added bonus that you may have noticed, I figured out how to put card images in different areas in my blog post. And it only took me 145 posts to figure that out. Imagine what I'll be able to do when I have a whole year of blogging under my belt!!!



Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Printed petals, Short & Sweet (2nd card only)
Cardstock: 1) Whisper white, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise 2) Whisper white, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry & Old Olive DSP
Ink: 1) Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight 2)Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Other Stuff: 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches, Scallop Trim Border punch, dimensionals 1)Tempting Turquoise ribbon 2)Rich Razzleberry ribbon, Basic Pearls, Gold glow smooch spritz

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Fall Stamp-a-Stack


Sometimes technology gets the best of me. I don't think I posted this earlier, but somehow, my Fall Stamp-A-Stack is showing up as if I posted it in September. This confuses me. So I'm posting it again, just in case, like me, you missed it the first time around. Hopefully you'll be able to join me for a fun night of stamping!

Fall Stamp-A-Stack: Make 12 cards (2 each of 6 different designs) for only $20! All supplies except adhesive included. We'll make the 4 cards pictured as well as a Christmas/Holiday card and an any occasion card using the new Stampin'Up! In colors. Reserve your spot now because space is limited!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Northern Frost


Quick post tonight, with a card that's quick to make. This card uses some of the fun new stuff in the Holiday Mini - the Northern Frost Decorative Strip (used with the BigShot), the Little Christmas builder wheel and the fun glitter brads. I had considered using this for one of my swaps for regionals and then decided not to do it. But that doesn't mean I don't like it - it just means that after putting a couple together I decided I didn't want to try and make 50 of them!!!
Thoughts and prayers going out to all of you in the Northeast who are getting enough rain to float an ark. Be safe and keep those sump pumps going!!!!
PS. Hubby did great with his surgery but now comes the hard part - healing. He's being a real trooper but he's in a lot of pain. I keep telling him it will be all worth it in a few weeks when he's up and feeling much better, but right now that seems like a long way away for him, poor guy :-(

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Little Christmas builder wheel, Whimsy Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Bashful blue, Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Perfect plum, whisper white
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Bashful blue
Other Stuff: Glitter brad, Basic Rhinestones

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

If it ain't broke . . .


I just sat down to write my blog entry for the night and realized that my card for tonight is basically the same layout as the one I posted 2 days ago . . . hence my title today. Didn't even realize I did it until I sat down. Although I suppose this is a good time to point out that the same card sketch can look completely different depending on the colors, papers and embellishments used.
The flower on this card was inspired by a presentation at the Stampin'Up! regionals earlier this month (I think the presenter was Jaycene Morgan but I wouldn't bet my life on it). Anyway, she used the Fancy Flower punch and then used different sized circle punches to make the layers on top of and underneath the original punch - brilliant!!!! Then you finish it off with something cute in the middle to cover the little hole that's left. So simple, so easy, yet would have never occurred to me!
I am hoping to blog as normal the rest of this week and next, but I've got to warn you that I've got a lot on my plate right now. Hubby's going in for nose surgery tomorrow (repairing his deviated septum), mom's in the middle of moving (closer to me, thank goodness!), and I'm stretched about as thin as I can stretch (if only that were literally true - how nice would it be to stretch yourself to thin-ness?!?!). So please know that I'll do my best and hopefully still have a few minutes to myself each night to come say hi here. Thanks and I'll be back soon!!!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude
Cardstock: More mustard, Early espresso, Cajun Craze (cs and DSP)
Ink: More mustard
Other Stuff: Fancy flower punch, 1" and 3/4" circle punches, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Glitter brad, dimensionals

Monday, September 27, 2010

Christmas gratitude


The new stamp set 'Day of Gratitude' from the Holiday Mini is quickly becoming one of my new favorites. It makes such beautiful fall cards, but I kept looking at that big focal image thinking that it is more versatile than the other stamps in the set. I played with it a bit and made what I like to think of as my Penn State holiday card. Many of my friends from Penn State are Jewish and therefore don't celebrate Christmas, so I kept the greeting neutral so that I could use it for any Penn Stater on my list. After I made this card, the thought did occur to me that fans of another, ahem, football team, may also like this particular color scheme. Living in Dallas, where there are a lot of cowboys, gave me this idea, although I have to say I don't condone it and in fact just thinking it makes me throw up a little in my mouth. But once I post things 'out there' on my blog I guess I can't control what you do with my ideas anyway, so I guess I'll live with the consequences :-)


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Confetti, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Basic Gray
Ink: Craft white, White Stazon, Night of Navy
Other Stuff: White embossing powder, White taffeta ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, dimensionals, Vanilla Shimmer smooch spritz, color catcher

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Fall Stamp-A-Stack


Sign up now for my Fall-themed Stamp-a-Stack! Reserve your spot now for Thursday, October 14 at 7 pm - space is limited! We'll make 2 each of 6 different cards (the four cards pictured above plus a Christmas card and a bonus card) for only $20! You bring your own adhesive and all other supplies are included.

Feels like Fall


Today it actually felt like fall. My sister had to vacate her house with the dogs for the afternoon because the realtor had an open house at my sister's house, and the doggies weren't invited. Luckily they were able to come up to Aunt Karla's house and hang out in the backyard all afternoon. They loved it and we were able to leave them out there guilt-free because the weather was just perfect. We couldn't have asked for better weather.
I decided to pull out my Autumn Days stamp set tonight. It's perfect for fall and this stamp set in particular stirs up some good memories for me. It's the pheasant: I will always and forever associate pheasants with my poppop, and thinking about him makes me happy in a way that also makes me kind of teary, if that makes any sense. So tonight's card is meant to be masculine and manly, something that a hunter would like to get. No frills, no fussiness and good manly colors.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Autumn Days, Teeny tiny wishes
Cardstock: More mustard, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: More mustard, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede
Other Stuff: Markers & blender pen, 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" circle punches, Modern label punch, Word Window punch, Square lattice embossing folder, waffle paper