A New Ink on Life

I Have Bright Hopes

Hmmm, I feel like I should reintroduce myself here:) It's been two weeks since my last post, but I am happy to report that (fingers crossed) my house is finally germ free, and I actually got to stamp a card tonight just because!

I had been frantically trying to finish up some projects for Stampin' Up!, so with every one being sick it left little time for any personal stamping. I am also happy to report that they are all finished and shipped to Utah earlier this week, so I will be back to creating and posting on here. I also took a little break from my DT commitments but the wonderfuls ladies at Try Stampin' on Tuesday and the awesome goddesses at Stampin' Royalty have been creating up a storm so be sure to check out their challenges this week and I will be back playing next week.

Okay on to the card:

Brights Hopes is definately one of my most favourite stamp sets ever. I just LOVE it, and need to get as much ink on it as I can before the current mini catalogue comes to and end at the begining of January. Splitcoast Stampers had the perfect holiday colour challenge this week: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Crumb Cake.  These colours also seemed perfect for the current challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments of an "Old Fashioned Christmas". I can not tell you how good it felt to sit, stamp and play along with a few challenges:)

It is hard to tell in the photos but the card has been sprayed with a generous amout of Vanilla Smooch Spritz (you can see it a little better if you click on the photo. I'll list all the supplies and if you have any questions please just shoot me an email or leave me a comment:)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Supplies used:

Stamps: Bright Hopes, Medallion Background

Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede Ink and Marker, Crumb Cake

Paper: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Naturals Ivory

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants Die (Scallop Circle), 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Deck the halls Fabric, Hemp Twine, Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon, Boho Blossoms Punch, Pearls, Sponge, Color Spritzer Tool, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz

A Shabby Chic Christmas

Well I finally got a chance to do a little stamping yesterday, and I wanted to thank everyone who commented or sent me a get better message for Isabelle. Her fever finally broke (after a full week of anywhere from 101-103.5) and she was able to go to preschool yesterday, which is why I have a card for you today,lol! But unfortunately I now seem to be getting a head cold:(

CherylAnn has created a great CAS sketch for this week at Try Stampin' on Tuesday. We would love to have you play along!

Lots and LOTS of shimmer and shine on this card! I just recently got the White Frost Shimmer Paint and oh my gosh this stuff is awesome.  I cut the large snowflake out from Vellum Card stock and Silver Glimmer Paper using the Snowflake # Die and the Big Shot.  On the vellum one I used a Sponge Dauber and and lightly covered the whole snowflake with the shimmer paint-so pretty. (if you click on the photo you can see it a little better)

I used the Beau Chateau Designer Series Paper and mounted the 3 pieces on some Pink Piroette card stock then embossed the whole piece with the Vintage Walllpaer Impressions Folder. Of course I had to do my standard sponging and destressing. The stocking was created by just punching out some of the DSP with the Stocking Builder Punch.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Tiny Tags

Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Suede

Paper: Beau Chateau Designer Series paper, Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette, Vellum Card stock

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants Die, Vintage Wallpaper and Northern Flurry Impressions Folder, Snowflake #2 Die, Jewlery Tag Punch, Rhinestone Jewels, Linen Thread, Detressing Tool (Cutter Kit), Sponge, Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Songe Dauber, Frost White Simmer Paint

Well I have got to run but if you have any questions on the card just ask:)

Have a great day,

Pick Your Poison Pirate

So as I have mentioned before that I really don't "get into" halloween that much, but I am happy to report that I did get decorations last weekend and we are now not the "lamest" house on the block anymore,lol! So when I got a call from Stampin' Up! a few weeks ago asking if I would be willing to create a halloween project for their Facebook page I of course was excited, but what was I going to make?! The projects were posted last week and I was blown away by the awesome things that this year's Artisan Award Winners came up with. If you haven't already be sure to check them out HERE!

I had taken these awesome pictures of my son last halloween and had used a few of them on one of my Artisan enteries but I had yet to scrap them for myself,(yes I am way behind on scrapping:). So I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do so. I used the Pick Your Poison Designer Series Paper (Holiday Mini) and I just love how one side of this paper is just perfect for scrapbooking. The title is actually cut from one of the sheets and then the main 12x12 sheet already had the awesome border around it.

I created ticket embellishments by using the Postage Stamp Punch and the Ticket Corner Punch.

Another fun detail was using the Basic Rhinestone Jewels and colouring them black using a permenant marker. In person they look really cool where I added them to the skulls on the corner of the page. I also used my favourite Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and cut it in half (width) then pulled out a bunch of the threads to create a neat fringe.

Supplies used:

123030 (W)) 123032 (C) The Open Sea Stamp Set

124001 Pick Your Poison Designer Series Paper

121044 Basic Gray Card stock

101849 Naturals Ivory

119685 Cherry Cobbler Card stock

119669 Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink

109120 Basic Gray Classic Ink

121030 Crumb Cake Classic Ink

105115 Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Write Marker

107066 Color Spritzer Tool

101610 Stamping Sponges

119868 1” Circle Punch

119861 1 ¼” Circle Punch

122344 Postage Stamp Punch

119867 Ticket Corner Punch

119246 Basic Rhinestone Jewels

106958 Cutter Kit

117273 Antique Brads

118763 Mini Vintage Tags

105394 Basic Black Stampin’ Write Journaler

125061 Basic Gray 1 ¼” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

 

Other:  Black Sharpie Marker for coloring the Rhinestones

 Have a great day!

Gingerbread and Sugared Things......

It's Tuesday so that means CherylAnn has come up with another great sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday. I know Halloween isn't even here yet but I am now into the Christmas card making mode:) Although I promise tomorrow I will have a few spooky projects to share this week.

And here's what I came up with:

So I did change it up a little. I omitted the fourth circle and just stamped my sentiment directly on the Designer Series Paper. The images from Jolly Bingo Bits were just too cute not to use in those circles and paired perfectly with the words from the Sweet Season stamp set, which obviously would not fit in a circle:)
The base of the card is a 4 1/4 Soft Suede square, layered with a patteren from the Holly Berry Bouquet DSP that I created Faux Stitching around it using a Paper Piercer, Matt Pack and an Early Espresso Marker.

Next I layered on some Real Red Textured Card stock. I then tied some White Bakers Twine around the main piece of DSP and added 3 Mini Jingle Bells that I had threaded through some Linen Thread.This piece was then attached to the card with Dimensionals.  One thing that I did add to give just a little "bling" was some of the new Dazzling Details glitter to each of the images. This stuff is so fun to work with because it comes in a squeeze bottle and is mess free!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits, Sweet Season

Ink: Early Espresso Ink Pad and Marker, Soft Suede, Real Red, Garden Green

Paper: Holy Berry Bouquet Designer Series Paper, Real Red Textured, Whisper White, Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Mini Jingle Bells, White Bakers Twine, 1" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Paper piercer, Matt Pack

Have a great day!

A Merry Dasher Christmas

Hmmm looks like I am skipping halloween this year and going straight to Christmas,lol! I will have some fun Halloween projects to show, but lately I have been trying to come up with designs for some upcoming Christmas card classes and this week's Try Stampin' On Tuesday's Sketch was perfect!! We would love to have you join us this week so be sure to check out all of the Design Teams samples:)

Here's the sketch:

And my card: 

 
I just love Dasher! It is just such a great single image stamp. Because I am creating this card for a class I kept the over all design pretty clean-no destressing or sponging here,lol! The base is Crumb Cake and I used the holly stamp from Dear Santa to stamp tone on tone, just to add some interest to the background. For the main image I stamped Dasher on Very Vanilla and matted it on Chocolate Chip then added a 3 mini Pearl Jewels to his antlers. The DSP is from the Holly Bouquet and Subtles Pack Stack (Wild Wasabi).    

The red scallop was die cut using the Tastful Trim Die and Textured Real Red Card stock. Lastly I added some Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon.
For the sentiment I used the Christmas Greetings set.

 

Supplies used:

Stamps: Dasher, Christmas Greetings, Dear Santa

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Real Red Textured, Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack and Holly Bouquet Designer Series paper

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Accessories: Big Shot, Tasteful Trim Die, Pearl Jewels, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon

Have a wonderful day!  

 
 

To My Girls

So I have been creating a little lately and will have lots to share in the coming weeks, especially some traditional scrapbook pages as I decide to get my butt in gear and get back to scrapping. I joined the Got Sketch Express 2 which is a on line class created by the very talented Valerie Salmon. Sometimes I just need a little help in getting that creative mojo going,lol:)

Here is my first page that I created using one of the sketches:

Now first let me explain a little bit about my title and the quote. These pictures were taken about 2 weeks ago and my husband and son were at a soccer game so I was home with just the 2 girls. My oldest will be 12 this weekend and she is at the age where it seems to be everything is about ipods and cell phones and what you wear and how you look. She is a great kid and doesn't really feed into all the hype but there are times when it seems that "everyone but her" has something:) Well on this particular day we walked down to a neighbours house and the kids had fun just being kids. They acted silly, had a water fight and ran around the yard. Good old traditinal fun that no amount of money can buy.

 I took these pictures as they were climbing a tree in the front yard. There was so much that I wanted to say about the day so I created a hidden journaling tag in My Digital Studio. Here's what the tag says:

 I used so many products on this page that I will not go into full details but I will list them and if you have any question just ask:) One thing I will point out is the ruffled fabric that is along the edge of the layer with the photos. I used the Tasteful trim Die to cut the fabric and then attached it using a Hot glue Gun. Hope you have a wonderful day and you find the time in life's hectic and sometimes crazy days, to reflect on the things that truly matter most.

 Supplies used:

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases, French Foliage, Family Reunion

My Digital Studio Program and Autumn Elements Download

Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Suede. Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Crumb Cake, River Rock, Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Soft Suede, River Rock and Pool Party Textured Card stock, Spice Cake DSP, Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Big Shot Perfect Pennants Die, Tasful Trim Die, Circles #2 Die, Simple Letters Die, Cork Sheets, Spice Cake Designer Buttons, Spice Cake fabric, Linen Thread, Striped Grosgrain Ribbon Soft Suede,  Neutrals Buttons, Vintage Trinkets, Heart to Heart Punch, 1/4" and 1/2" Circle Punches
 

 

Bright Hopes with a Little Spice Cake

 I know it is a little early for Christmas, but I had joined another holiday mini swap so I am back today with another Chritmas card. When I designed this card I wanted to create something that would be able to easily  be recreated for a class or mass produced.

I used some untraditional colours, but I think they worked out well. I picked the colour scheme from the Spice Cake Product Suite in the Holiday Mini (p.17)  For the base I used Soft Suede (can you tell I love this colour:), next I layered on a piece of River Rock that was stamped with the Medallion Background and spritzed the whole layer using a Soft Suede Marker and Colour Spritzer Tool. 
   
For the main image I stamped the tree using Pool Party Classic Ink on Naturals Ivory Card stock. I destressed the edges then sponged them with More Mustard. I am so in love with Stampin' Up's Designer Fabric and since I don't sew (on my bucket list of things to learn), I cut a strip, frayed the edged then used it as I would ribbon. I matted that piece onto Soft Suede then wanted to add little more sparkle and to tie in with the Rhinestone, so I added some Silver Glimmer Paper that was punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch. I then attached it to the card with Dimensionals.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Bright Hopes, Medallion Background

Ink: More Mustard, Early Espresso, River Rock, Soft Suede Marker, Pool Party

Paper: River rock, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Sponge, Destressing Tool (cutter kit), Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Rhinestone Jewels, Spice Cake Designer Fabric, Colour Spritzer Tool

 

Christmas Lane Stocking

I am a huge fan of the new Holiday Mini Catalogue and I absolutely adore the patterns and colours of the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit (p.26). These kits are so perfect for so many paper crafts-not just scrapbooking. I also had fun playing with the new Stocking Builder Punch.

 
I created this card for a recent swap that I participated in that was focusing on the Holiday Mini. I started with a Soft Suede card base then layered on Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler. The Crumb Cake piece was embossed using the Stripes Impressions Folder and then sponged with Whisper White Craft Ink. The Cherry Cobbler piece was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Folder. On the Designer Series paper layer I attached two pieces of Early Espresso card stock that had been punched out with the Dotted Ribbon Border Punch. I then added the yummy Ruffled Ribbon in Lucky Limeaid and attached a snowflake to it that was die cut using the Northern Frost Decorative Strip. 

  I created the main image panel by embossing some Soft Suede Textured card stock with one of the Designer Frames Folders then cut it out.
The stocking was made by using the Stocking Builder Punch, Lucky Limeaide Textured card stock and another pattern of DSP from the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' kit. Of course I just had to attach one of those cute little Mini Jingles Bells with some Early Espresso Bakers Twine. And unfortunately the one thing you can not see in this picture is the fine shimmer that is all over the card. I mixed some Champange Shimmer Paint with Alcohol in a misting bottle then sprayed the whole card.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Whisper White Craft, Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Simply Scrappin' Christmas Lane Kit, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeaide, Soft Suede

Accessories: Jewlery Tag Punch, Big Shot, Northern Frost Decorative Strip, Lucky Limeaide Ruffled Ribbon, Espresso Bakers Twine, Linen Thread, Stripes Folder, Designer Frames Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Folder, Mini Jingle Bells, Mini Silver Brad, Champagne Shimmer Paint, Basic Pearls

Have a great day!

Day of Gratitude

It's Tuesday and that means there is another great sketch challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday. I took last week off but I am so glad to be back this week with a card for this weeks sketch.

Here's my card:

Lot's of fun new goodies from the Holiday Mini Catalogue on this one. I really LOVE the new Spice Cake Designer Series Paper and matching fabric! Because I don't really sew I used the fabric to frame the outside of my sentiment by first cutting it with the Tasteful Trim Die then pleating it around the Wide Oval. The base of the card is Naturals Ivory Card stock and I then layered on a piece of River Rock that had been stamped with the Medallion Background Stamp and spritzed with the Colour Spritzer Tool and a Soft Suede Marker.
   
I crumpled up some Very Vanilla Seam Binding then tied a bow around the largest layer. I then added another small piece of Seam Binding to create two more "tails" for the bow. Hope you get a chance to play along with us this week:)

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Medallion Background

Paper: Naturals Ivory, River Rock, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Spice Cake DSP

Ink: Soft Suede Marker, Early Espresso, River Rock

Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Big Shot, Tasteful Trim Die, Pearl Jewels, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Spice Cake Fabric, Colour Spritzer Tool

Have a great day!
 

Grateful for Spice Cake

So it is Tuesday and I should have a sample for you for this week's Challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday, however I some how managed to create a card using next weeks sketch so I will just share the card with you today-OOPS! If you are looking for the Artisan Blog Hop you can view my most recent post HERE.

I was doing the happy dance when I received some new pre order goodies from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalogue that will be released on Sept. 1st (just one of the amazing perks of being a demonstrator). The beautiful Designer Series Paper is called Spice Cake and let me tell you every single sheet of this paper is stunning!

So I have done so much posting on here lately that I am tired of typing, lol. I will point out a few details and then if you have any questions just ask. The Oval Frame was created using the new Designer Frames Impressions Folder and I just tore around the edges. I also used some of the very yummy Spice Cake Designer Fabric, and used much like I would ribbon. The sentiment is from my new favourite set Pursuit of Happiness.
 
Supplies used:

Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness, Day of Gratittude

Paper: River Rock, Pool Party, Soft Suede More Mustard, Spice Cake DSP

Ink: More Mustard, Pool Party, Soft Suede

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Impressions Folder, Designer Frames Impressions Folder, Mini Library Clips, Neutrals Buttons, Linen Thread, Spice Cake Fabric, Vintage Trinkets, Scallop Heart of Hearts Embosslits, Full Heart Punch, Wide Oval Punch
 

Have a great day and I will be back on Wednesday with my Stampin' Royalty DT sample and the 8th day of the Artisan Blog Hop!

Thanks for stopping by,