Off to the beach...

Hello friends! I haven't posted much this week because I have been crazy busy getting ready to go on vacation. We leave tomorrow for the beach, so I won't be blogging until at least next Monday (August 9th). Everyone have a great week! See you soon! Pin It

Birthday Invitation

Oops! I didn't get this posted yesterday as I had promised! Sorry!

My daughter will turn two and my son will turn five in August (sniff, sniff)! I can't believe how quickly time is passing. Anyway, because their birthdays are one week apart, we are having one big party for both of them together. This is the invitation I made. I used the Sweet Scoops set from the Summer Mini catalog. I love this set! Isn't it so cute?

This invitation could easily be made into a birthday card. I have to admit that the patterned paper I used is not Stampin' Up. It is from a stack of paper that my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday and I loved the bright colors and knew it would be perfect for this invitation. It reminds me of the Island Oasis DSP from the Summer Mini catalog, so that would make an excellent substitution if you want to make your own version of this card. There was a good amount of cutting involved in making this card, but I had my mom and my sister here to help. Thank goodness for them!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Sweet Scoops, Afterthoughts (level 1 hostess set)
Paper: Marina Mist CS, Pumpkin Pie CS, Whisper White CS, non-SU patterned paper
Ink: Old Olive, Marina Mist, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Real Red
Accessories: Stampin' Write markers Pin It

Mascuine Birthday SAS #5

Hello! This is the fifth and final card from my card class on Friday. It is a very simple masculine birthday card. I always try to include a masculine card in the mix when I do classes because I find them to be a bit of a challenge to make and when I need one, I don't always have one on hand. I CASE'd this card from one made by Bard Mullikin that I saw on splitcoast (of course!). It went together very quickly and easily. I love this pattern in the Greenhouse Gala paper because it isn't flowery and works well for masculine cards. Enjoy!

I worked on the invitations to my kids' birthday party (their birthdays are one week apart, so we can get by with just one party, how lucky is that?). I will post it tomorrow. Until then, have a great day and try to stay cool!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Perfect Punches

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White CS, Greenhouse Gala DSP

Ink: Real Red

Accessories: Wide Oval punch, Big Shot, Lots of Tags Sizzlit, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack

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SAS Card #4

Good Morning! I had my card making class last night! It was great fun! This is the fourth card that we made. It is yet another CASE from a card I saw on splitcoast that was posted by a poster called mahodgman. I loved the simple layout. It was perfect for a class! This is a nice, quick, simple card with just a little stamping, a little cutting, and a little layering. That's about it! Hope you like this one!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Baja Breeze CS, Early Espresso CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Whisper White CS, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Ink: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso
Accessories: Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, 1/8" Early Espresso ribbon, Dimensionals Pin It

Pendant Park Hello

Hi there! Isn't this a cute little set? I've had my eye on it for over a year and I finally ordered it. I love that it is one of the few older sets that they made available in wood mount or clear mount. I am a sucker for squirrels (even tiny ones like these!) so I knew it was only a matter of time before this set would be added to my collection.

I CASE'd this card from one posted by a posted called LYP on splitcoast, but I did change mine up quite a bit. I used different colors and made my card landscape rather than portrait. I love the little strip behind the main image panel. It is made from one of the stamps in this set. It is only about 4" long, so not long enough to make it all the way across a card front, but I solved that problem by stamping it, cutting it out, layering it on a piece of Soft Suede CS, and then cutting the strip in half before adhering it to the card front. With the image piece layered on top, you can't tell that it is cut.

I also used a technique called masking on this card. Do you see that the tree does not show behind the bench? I did this by stamping the bench on the CS, then stamping it again on a post-it and cutting it out. The post-it is then stuck directly over the bench on the CS. I then stamped the tree and the part that is covered by the post-it is left clean. Lift up the post-it and it looks like the bench is blocking the view of the tree. Cool, huh? Sorry if my directions are a little confusing! Leave me a comment or send me an email if you want clarification. :-)

I think this card turned out cute and is a nice, somewhat masculine card. (I always need masculine cards!) The sentiment could easily be switched with one from Teeny Tiny Wishes, so if could fit any occasion. Well, hope you like this one! Card #4 tomorrow! Stop back by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Pendant Park
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive
Paper: Very Vanilla CS, Old Olive CS, Soft Suede CS
Accessories: Small Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch
Techniques: Masking Pin It

SAS Supply Storage

Hello! I know this isn't a picture of a card, but I found these great bins at Wal Mart in the kitchen storage section and thought I would share them. I think they could be very useful for storing craft supplies. I also thought that my demo friends might like them for storing supplies for SAS's. Each bin in the picture is holding all the supplies needed to make each card. When it is time to make a card, I can remove the bin from the stack and everything is in there and ready to go. These are loaded with supplies for tomorrow's SAS. Best of all, they were very inexpensive. They were only $4.97 for a three pack, so I paid less than $10 for all six of these bins. Hope you find this helpful!

I'll be posting card #3 later today! Have a good one until then! Pin It

Love that Greenhouse Gala Paper!

Hello again! Can you believe I'm posting two days in a row? Hehe! Here is card #2 from my SAS this weekend. This card is a CASE of one made by Kerin Sylvester. I saw hers on splitcoast and had to try it for myself. The main thing that I changed is that her stamped image is a circle with a scalloped circle behind and for mine I used the Scalloped Rectangle Clearlit to back my image. I think it worked well for this stamp. I did have to leave part of the flower off when I colored the stamp with markers. Otherwise, it wouldn't have fit on this fairly small rectangle.

One other thing I wanted to point out is that I created the little sentiment tag by using the small oval punch and then I made the little semi-circle for the ribbon using the scallop trim border punch. If you take the end of the small oval and line it up with the scallop in the border punch, it will give you a great little cut-out that is perfect for a little piece of ribbon. Anyway, I hope that you like this one. It's a fairly quick card to make.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Early Espresso CS, Crumb Cake CS, Cherry Cobbler CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Whisper White CS, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Scalloped Rectangle Clearlit, Small Oval punch, Scallop Trim Border punch, 1/8" Early Espresso ribbon, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write markers Pin It

I'm Back!

Hello! Sorry that I've been MIA for so long! I was away visiting family and did no stamping. No stamping = nothing to post. I'm back now though and getting ready for a SAS (stamp-a-stack) that I am having this Friday. This is one of the cards that we will be making. It is a CASE from the front of the August Stampin' Success, which is a magazine that is published for SU! demos. I used the same layout and stamp set, but I did change a few of the elements of this card. The original had white satin ribbon and I didn't have any so I substituted a strip of Greenhouse Gala DSP for the ribbon. I also changed the colors so that I could play along with a recent color challenge on splitcoast. It was Baja Breeze, So Saffron, and Rich Razzleberry. I really like these colors together. I also added a tiny amount of Certainly Celery to make the stem and leaves for my flower. This is a pretty simple card, but I am happy with the way that it turned out. I hope that everyone coming to my SAS will like it too!

I have all my cards prepped for Friday, so I will have five cards to post this week. Check back often- I won't let you down! Have a great day! See you tomorrow!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: For All You Do, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Rich Razzleberry CS, So Saffron CS, Baja Breeze CS, Whisper White CS, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Accessories: Dimensionals Pin It

Sunny Flowers

Hello again! I have been a crazy stampin' fool this week. My most recent order consisted mostly of new color markers, ink pads, and papers as well as a few tools that I had never purchased. I finally got the Color Spritzer, which I used on this card. If you are not familiar with this product, it is a tool that puts little speckles on your project using a Stampin' Write marker. I blows ink off of the tip of the marker and onto your project. I may have over-spritzed this one a bit as I was trying to get used to using this brand new tool, but I still like the way it turned out.



This card also features one of my favorite stamp sets, "Inspired by Nature". I just love those flowers and the other image in this set is tall grass. It is very pretty. I colored directly on the stamp with Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso Stampin' Write markers and then stamped onto Whisper White.



Enjoy this bright and sunny card!



Supplies Used:

Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso Stampin' Write markers

Paper: Daffodil Delight textured CS, Early Espresso CS, Whisper White CS

Accessories: Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Early Espresso 1/8" ribbon, Color Spritzer Pin It

New Goodies!

Here is one of the cards that I made while playing with my new goodies last night. I think it turned out really nicely. This may be one of the cards that we make at my card making class on July 23rd. We'll see!

I "colored" the flower and the leaves by using the paper piecing technique with the new Greenhouse Gala DSP. I saw this idea on Connie Tumm's blog- http://connietumm1.typepad.com/blog/ I thought her idea was just brilliant and had to try it out for myself! For the background piece, I ran a piece of Baja Breeze CS through the Big Shot in my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I then inked up my (brand new!) brayer with Early Espresso ink and ran it over the raised sections of the cardstock. I love the effect this gives!

Aside from the cutting out of the flower and leaves, this card is very quick and easy to make. I had a lot of fun working with my new colors and supplies last night! Hope you enjoy this card!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Because I Care
Ink: Early Espresso
Paper: Greenhouse Gala DSP, Early Espresso CS, Baja Breeze CS, Whisper White CS
Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper emossing folder, Brayer, Large Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Early Espresso 1/8" taffetta ribbon
Techniques: Paper Piecing, Brayering, Sponging Pin It

Grab Your Scissors!

Hello! I hope that all of you had a safe and happy July 4th! I had a great time. My hubby had a five day weekend and we really took advantage of his time off. We went for a long family walk (not a small task with a 1-year-old and four-year-old in tow), went to see a movie at the drive-in, and went to my Father-in-law's birthday party where we set off a few fireworks. It was great fun! Now it's back to reality. I have my new catalog party coming up this weekend, so I am busy stamping and getting ready for that.

I made this card last night while waiting for my box of new goodies that arrived today. It is a thank you card for my parents, who very generously rented a beach house for our family vacation this year. It will be a full house with my parents, my brother and his wife, my sister and her boyfriend, and me and my crew. We are leaving in just a few more weeks and I can't wait.

Anyway, I made this little beach scene using the "Just Beachy" stamp set that was in last summer's mini catalog. I think it is the cutest set, and I haven't really used it much. I had to pull it out last night because it was perfect for this card! It's hard to see in the picture, but the sky is made from a torn piece of Whisper White CS that I sponged with Bashful Blue ink. The sand is Crumb Cake CS, and the water is a torn piece of retired Sweet Pea DSP. I thought the pattern sort of looked like ocean waves, so I went with it! There was a tremendous amount of intricate cutting involved in making this card, so I can pretty much guarantee that it will be a one of a kind (unless one of you wants to CASE it!)

Well, I guess I'll get back to playing with my new stamps that arrived today! I just love a visit from that big, brown truck! Have a great evening!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Just Beachy (retired)
Ink: Jet Black Staz On, various Stampin' Write markers
Paper: Whisper White and Crumb Cake CS, Sweet Pea DSP (retired)
Accessories: Scissors!!!, sponges
Techniques: Sponging Pin It

Sweet Scoops

Happy July 4th Weekend! I thought a birthday card would be fitting for our country's birthday, so here it is! I finally got this set a couple of days ago. It is from the Summer Mini catalog and is only available until August 31st, so if you love it as much as I do, order before it's too late. I wanted this set as soon as I saw it, but I had other things that I needed to order first. I think that this set will be seeing a lot of use because I make tons of birthday cards!

The idea for this card came from one that I saw on splitcoast, but I don't remember who posted it... sorry! I used the color combo of Crumb Cake, Regal Rose and So Saffron. I made a second card using Bashful Blue in place of the Regal Rose, but it is just a little too subtle. I think I will redo it with Marina Mist when it arrives on Tuesday. I also want to try using the new Crumb Cake ink for the cone. This card also used the Square Lattice embossing folder. I think it gives the card a nice look and the pattern in it sort of reminds me of an ice cream cone.

Hope that you like this one and that all of you have a fun and safe holiday weekend! Happy Birthday, America!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Sweet Scoops, Very Versatile (retired)
Ink: Regal Rose, So Saffron
Paper: Crumb Cake CS, Regal Rose CS, Whisper White CS, Close to Cocoa CS
Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Dazzling Diamonds, 2-way Glue Pen, Dimensionals, Wide Oval punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, 5/8" So Saffron Grosgrain ribbon (retired) Pin It