Washi Tape for Fab Friday!

Wow! Those two weeks just slipped away from me! In the past two weeks, both of my kiddos have celebrated their birthdays (and my hubby's is tomorrow) and school has started! We have had a skating party, a family party, and a trip to the American Girl store. Is it hard to believe that my stamp time has been extremely limited?!? My youngest started Kindergarten on Monday so I am adjusting to my new routine and schedule as a SAHM with all of her kids in school. I have to say that so far, I'm not loving it. Sure, I have more time to myself and am able to get more done (and much more efficiently), but my house is just SO quiet. I miss my little rascals during the day. I told my husband that I may have to resort to watching trashy daytime TV just to have a little bit of noise in the house!

So, anyway, my apologies for not posting, but at least now you understand the reason. It is time for another challenge at Fab Friday! Yay! It is a sketch challenge this time. Check it out!

I see lots of possibilities for this sketch. It is a pretty versatile one! I am teaching two classes today all about washi tape, so I have it on the brain and decided to use it for my card. I think this card could easily fit many occasions by simply changing the sentiment.

 

 

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps: Chalk Talk, Hearts a Flutter

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla

Ink: Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Big Shot, Hearts a Flutter framelits, Large Heart punch, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Season of Style washi tape, Epic Day washi tape

Technique: double bow

 

Isn't that bow pretty? I saw a youtube video about how to tie them and decided to give it a try. It wasn't hard, but I will have to do it MANY more times before I can do it on my own.

 

OK, now it's your turn! Come on over to Fab Friday and play along with us!

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Swappin' Convention Style

Hey there, stampers! I am home and trying to recover from my trip to Salt Lake City for Stampin' Up Convention. It was a wonderful, crazy, and completely overwhelming experience. This was the 25th Anniversary for Stampin' Up and Convention was a HUGE celebration and party. There were about 5,800 demonstrators from all over the world in attendance. I'm so glad that I was blessed enough to go. I had an awesome roommate, Mindy, and we had a blast together. I also met so many wonderful new stamping friends and got to visit with old friends as well. It was truly an amazing experience!

Below are the four designs I used for my convention swap cards. I did two organized swaps and then made fifty more for general swapping. The first is for an organized swap organized by Lyssa Zwolanek. I participated in this swap at convention two years ago and got the best swaps then and this year did not disappoint either. They were all beautifully made. Here is mine...

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Simply Sketched (hostess), En Francais
Paper: Crumb Cake
Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush pad and marker, Melon Mambo marker, Pistachio Pudding marker
Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection framelits, white embossing powder, Very Vintage buttons, linen thread, Strawberry Slush ruffle stretch ribbon, stamping sponge

I love this stamp set, but to be honest, I am not great at coloring. I searched for a good technique for coloring in this gorgeous flower and decided to try the technique used by my friend, Jennifer Timko, on this card that she made for a convention swap last year. I was very happy with the way it turned out. I have to admit that this is not a typical card for me. I just sat down one day and started playing and this card happened. It is much more vintage than the cards I usually make, but I like it.

I made the next card for a swap with the Fab Friday design team. What a fantastic group of stampers they are! I loved getting to meet everyone. This was the sample card we made at my birthday card class earlier this month. My swap was the same except that I used the "You're too kind" sentiment from the Too Kind stamp set instead of this birthday one. I had a hard time getting a good picture of this one, my apologies.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Too Kind
Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, 2013-2015 In Color DSP stack
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants die, 2 1/2" circle punch, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Pistachio Pudding ruffle stretch ribbon

The  next two cards were my general swaps. I try to make general swap cards that are easy to duplicate, but that are nicely designed and stamped well. I hope that these accomplished that goal.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Remembering Your Birthday, Positively Chevron, Birthday Candles wheel
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Very Vanilla, Birthday Basics DSP
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green marker, Basic Gray marker, Summer Startfruit marker
Accessories: Big Shot, 3" circle die, dimensionals

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Zoo Babies, Petite Pairs
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White
Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush
Accessories: Big Shot, Alphabet Press EF, Smoky Slate Chevron ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, rhinestones, pearls

OK, that's all I have for today. My post convention goal is to blog more often and have a stronger online presence. Wish me luck! :) Pin It

FabFri22: Chalk Talk

Hi stampers! Long time no see! I'm so sorry for not posting much lately. Life has been CRAZY! Between having two kids home all day everyday, wanting to make the most of summer, and getting ready for Stampin' Up convention next week, I just haven't had much time to stamp. I have been doing a little bit of stamping for my birthday card class tonight and a few swaps for convention (which I will post after convention). Be sure to check back soon to see all of those cards!

Well, it's Friday and time for another Fab Friday challenge- yay! We have a color challenge for you this week. Check it out!

I decided to do a birthday card for my design team card so that it could also be one of the cards for tonight's birthday card class. I think this is a great color combination for masculine cards. Here is my card...

 

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Chalk Talk
Paper: Basic Gray, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk framelits, Houndstooth EF, Epic Day washi tape, small silver brads

I really like the Chalk Talk stamp set and matching framelits. I used three different framelits from the set on this card. The Real Red layer is the first. The Tempting Turquoise layer was made by using two of the top halves of the long, thin label. The stamped image was cut out using a third framelit. Another fun, new product I used it the diagonal striped washi tape in the background. If you have never tried using washi tape, give it a try. It is so easy to use and there are so many ways to use it. I especially love that it can be torn and that it is repositionable!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to play along with us this week at Fab Friday! I can't wait to see what you make.

Marla  Pin It

FMS90: Simply Sketched

I just love the new hostess set called Simply Sketched. I think that all of the hostess sets are great, but this one is definitely my favorite. I got a chance to stamp for a few minutes this afternoon while the kids played outside. It was gorgeous here today- 75 and sunny! They were disappointed that it was too cool to swim, but I was happy that it wasn't terribly hot or rainy. :)

I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my card.

And here is my card...

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Simply Sketched
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White, 2013-2015 In Color DSP Stack
Ink: Strawberry Slush marker, Pistachio Pudding marker, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Scalloped Oval punch, Oval punch, pearls, sponge dauber

I wasn't totally sure how to color in this stamp. I did the marker to stamp technique, but it looked too plain without a little added color on the flower and bud. I decided to try sponging a little color on using a sponge dauber and I really like how it turned out. It was quick and easy and I like the contrast of the Strawberry Slush outline with the Crisp Cantaloupe sponging.

Thanks for stopping by! Pin It

FabFri20: New In Colors

Woo hoo! It's Friday! Time for another fun challenge at Fab Friday. We have an awesome color combination for you this time. The challenge is to use all five of the new 2013-2015 In Colors. When I have my new catalog party each year, I try to use all five of the new in colors on a project. Sometimes it is a real challenge because they don't always work well together. This year, however, they are BEAUTIFUL together. I really love this group of colors! Aren't they gorgeous?

 
And here is my card...

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Mosaic Madness, Chalk Talk
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Backed Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Backed Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories: Big Shot, Modern Mosaic EF, Mosaic punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Large Oval punch, linen thread, rhinestones

I hope you like my card and I also hope that you will play along with our challenge and link up your project so we can see what you do with these awesome colors! Pin It

New Goodies!

Hey there! A post that isn't for my Fab Friday design team- can you believe it? I made this card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge #89, but of course, I missed the deadline to link it up. Oh well! At least I stamped! I really want to take a little more time to stamp for fun this summer. We'll see how it goes.

I used some brand new goodies for this card. My first order included new colors and two new birthday sets- Sketched Birthday and Remembering Your Birthday. I used both for this card. I love making birthday cards and I LOVED this fun sketch, so I combined them. I thought the banners were perfect for a birthday card. What do you think?

 

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps: Sketched Birthday, Remembering Your Birthday

Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, 2013-2015 In Color DSP Stack

Ink: Black Staz On, Coastal Cabana marker, Strawberry Slush marker, Crisp Cantaloupe marker, So Saffron marker

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Square punch (for making the banners), White Baker's Twine

Technique: Paper Piecing

 

Did you notice how I "colored" the cake plate? I used the paper piecing technique and used one of the designs from the In Color DSP stack to color the plate. I originally tried to use my Pistachio Pudding marker, but I'm not the best at coloring and just couldn't get it to look good. This is a great option if you are better at "fussy cutting" than you are at coloring (like me). Here is a close-up of the piece of cake and the plate so you can get a better look.

 

 





My kids and I went on a mini vacation to my parents' cabin in the mountains of West Virginia over the weekend. It is a great place to get away. There is no cell phone service, no internet, and no cable or satellite. We stay busy by going for walks (or runs), fishing, building campfires, and seeing the beauty of our home state. Here is a picture of the kids and me at Blackwater Falls in Davis, WV. I have crazy hair and no makeup and the kids have goofy faces, but this was the best we got. :) Summer fun!

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to come back on Friday for the new Fab Friday challenge! Pin It