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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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

Blooming With Kindness for Fab Friday

TGIF! Wow! It has been a long week and I'm glad that Friday is finally here. As the end of the school year approaches, life has gotten busy, busy, busy. There are so many activities and field trips and programs! Add to that my son's soccer schedule, and it seems that I run all week long. Speaking of running, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to become an actual runner (not just a crazy mom running all over the place) and I am proud to say that I have actually met my goal. On April 27th, I ran in my first ever 5k and it was wonderful! I had never been a runner before and when I started, it was definitely a struggle. I used the Couch to 5k app on my iPhone and it really helped me reach my goal. Here is a picture of me just after I crossed the finish line. My official time was 33:59 (a personal best by over a minute).

And here is a picture of "Team Josh". We had special shirts made and ran in memory of my dear friend, Josh, who sadly passed away this past December. He was a great inspiration to me in my journey to get fit and we miss him terribly. The airplane in the background is a C5 military jet. The race was held at the Air National Guard base that is practically in my backyard.

 OK, enough personal stuff. You visited to see my card for Fab Friday and here it is...

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Blooming with Kindness, Papillon Potpourri
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Soft Suede, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, 2013-2014 In Color DSP stack (retiring)
Ink: Soft Suede, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit
Accessories: Big Shot, Apothecary Accents framelits, Fancy Fan embossing folder, small butterfly punch, Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon, pearls

To make my flower have a little extra dimension, I stamped it once and then moved the stamp slightly and stamped again without re-inking. I really like this flower done this way. I did this card as a class card because it could easily be used for lots of different occasions simply by switching the sentiment.

The challenge this week is a color challenge. Check it out...

Isn't it a pretty combination of colors? I hope you will come on over to Fab Friday and play along with us!

 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

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Teacher Appreciation Week

Hello! Were you beginning to wonder if I would ever post again? April was an exceptionally busy and crazy month at our house and blogging, stamping, and a whole lot of other things had to get pushed to the back burner. I don't like it, but it's life. We are all back to normal now, so I hope to be posting a little more often.

Did you know that it is Teacher Appreciation Week? I am a former teacher and I just don't think it is possible to thank teachers enough for all that they do for our kids. I made a couple of little handmade gifts to kick off the week and thought I would share them with you. The picture above is a set of ten thank you cards that I made for my son's Kindergarten teacher and aid. I used five different color combinations (two cards of each combo) and the one shown is one of my all time favorites- Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, and Pear Pizzazz. If you look back through my blog posts, you will find this combo used more than once! I used the marker to stamp technique to get the different colors on the stamped image. Don't you just love Stampin' Up's markers? They are so versatile!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: So Many Thanks
Ink: Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz markers
Paper: Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Accessories: Cello Bags, Big Shot, Top Note die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, 1 3/4" circle punch, 2 3/8" scalloped circle punch, 2 1/2" circle punch
Techniques: Marker to Stamp



This is the gift that I made for my son's specialist teachers. I know that they sometimes get forgotten so I always try to do a little something for them as well. I made this bag topper using the Petal Cone die in my Big Shot. The white circle layer was punched using the 2 1/2" circle punch. The sentiment is from "Thank You Kindly" set. I filled the bag with M&M's and put a little poem that I found on splitcoast on a slip of paper inside the bag. Here is the poem:

Green is for the inspiration you give each day.
Blue is for your patience in showing the way.
Orange is for your warmth and caring style.
Yellow is for the way you always smile.
Red is for the lives you have touched this year.
You're a very special teacher, that is clear.
You place knowledge into our children's hands
And melt into their heas and lives forever.


Supplies Used:
Stamp: Thank You Kindly
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Cello Bags, Big Shot, Petal Cone die, 2 1/2" circle punch


Have a great evening! I'm so glad that spring weather has finally arrived! Hope you're enjoying it too!

~Marla Pin It

Blue and Gold Baby Thank You

Hello! I hope that you are having a great weekend. Mine has been a blast! I had a card class on Friday night and there were eleven fun and fabulous ladies here andwe had a wonderful time.

My kiddos were away overnight last night, so I stayed up late and did some stamping. A friend of mine requested some baby thank you cards for her little one that is arriving this spring. She and her hubby graduated from WVU and are huge mountaineer fans, which inspired the color combo for this card. I used Night of Navy and Daffodil Delight to create the Mountaineer Blue and Gold. This is what is so nice about making your own cards- you can customize them to fit your personality!

This is a pretty quick card to make, which is the perfect type for mass production. The little baby outfit is from the level one hostess set in the Occasions mini catalog called "Slice of Life". I colored it with a blender pen in Night of Navy and Daffodil Delight ink. The card base was run through the Big Shot in the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I really liked the way this sweet little card turned out and I'm glad my friend did too!

Have a fantastic Sunday! I have more cards that I will try to get posted over the course of the week. Check back soon!

~Marla

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Slice of Life, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, 1/8" Daffodil Delight taffeta ribbon, Blender Pen
Techniques: Watercoloring with a Blender Pen Pin It

Because I Care Thank You Card

Hello! I hope that you are all staying warm and enjoying the winter weather! It is VERY cold here, but we haven't had much snow, so we aren't snowed in (which I am very happy about)!

I made this card this afternoon for a friend who requested a collection of thank you cards. I absolutely love this stamp set. It is called, "Because I Care" and it is a level one hostess set. It is my favorite of all our great level one hostess sets because it is so pretty and versatile. This image is great for lots of different types of cards.

I decided to try something a little different for this card. I have seen several cards online where people made a background by inking up the clear blocks that are used with our clear mount stamps and stamping with the block itself. I had never tried this technique... until today! I made the rectangle in the background by inking up Clear Block E with Crumb Cake ink and stamping it onto my Very Vanilla cardstock. I think it gives a very nice effect. What do you think?

To stamp the hydrangea image, I colored directly on the stamp with my markers- Cherry Cobbler for the flower and Pear Pizzazz for the stem and leaves. I stamped the flower again and popped it up with dimensionals. I finished the card by adding a knotted piece of Early Espresso satin ribbon and the "thank you" sentiment from the set "Thank You Kindly". I was really pleased with the way this card turned out, and I hope that you like it too!

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to have more cards to post soon!

~Marla

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Because I Care (hostess), Thank You Kindly

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (pad and marker), Pear Pizzazz marker, Crumb Cake pad

Paper: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Clear Block E, Early Espresso satin ribbon, dimensionals

Technique: Stamping with Clear Blocks

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A Color Challenge!

Hello! I woke up super early yesterday morning and this is what I worked on. It is my customer thank you card for November, so if you have attended one of my events or placed an order with my in the past couple of weeks, keep an eye on your mailbox!

This card was inspired by one done by Julie Davison that I saw on Splitcoast. I changed the colors for my card to make it fall-ish and to make it fit with the color challenge #295 on Splitcoast, which was to use Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, and Cajun Craze (plus neutrals). I just bought the set called "Just Believe" that was new to the latest catalog and I love it! I have had my eye on it for a long time, but hadn't ordered it. I'm so glad I finally got it. It is a really lovely and versatile set.

Thanks for stopping by! See you again soon!

~Marla

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Just Believe
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilly, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Ink: Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Accessories: Scalloped Circle punch, 1 3/8" Circle punch, Word Window punch, Early Espresso satin ribbon Pin It

In Color Thank You Notes

Hello! I hope that you are experiencing the cooler Fall temperatures where ever you are! It has been so nice here the past few days. Fall seems to have finally arrived! After a long summer of many days of 100+ temperatures, the change is definitely welcome!

I made these cards to send to my customers who attended my recent birthday card SAS. It was a fun event with a great group of ladies. I really enjoyed it even though I was coming down with a little cold that day. If you were able to join me for this event, watch your mailbox for one of these cards! They should be arriving in the next day or two.

These were very quick and simple cards to make. They are made using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder in the Big Shot. I brayered over the ebmossed images with three of our new in colors- Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, and Concord Crush. You can brayer the ink onto either side of the embossed image, depending on which look you prefer. The two different ways are displayed in the first picture. I punched out the scalloped oval to make a little window for the sentiment. Easy, peasy- you've got to love that!

I hope you have a wonderful day and week! Thank you for stopping by!

~Marla

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Thank You Kindly

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade

Ink: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Scalloped Oval Punch, Large Oval punch

Techniques: Dry Embossing, Brayering

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FINALLY!!!!

I finally got a chance to sit down tonight and stamp. Each day this week, I hoped to get the chance and it just didn't happen. Now that we have a week of school behind us and are settling into our new routine, I am hoping to get more opportunities to stamp.

This is an official Marla Reed original! I didn't CASE this one- can you believe it? My sweet boy started Kindergarten last Monday and I intended to make a card to send for his teacher and her aide on the first day, but it just didn't happen. I am going to send these in on Monday to thank them both for helping him have a great first week of school. I used the set from the Summer Mini catalog called, "First Day". I think it is such a cute set and I bought it mostly for scrapbooking, but it makes great teacher cards, too. If you are interested in ordering this set or any of the others from the Summer mini, please contact me as soon as possible because Tuesday, August 31st is the last day that we can order from the mini catalog. The Holiday mini starts the following day, September 1st. If you would like a copy of it, please leave me a message, give me a call, or email me and I will arrange to get a copy to you.

I hope that you enjoyed the card! I hope to have lots more for you in the near future. Take care until then!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Thank You Kindly, First Day
Papers: Real Red CS, Old Olive CS, Whisper White CS
Ink: Staz On, Real Red marker, Old Olive marker, Blush Blossom marker, Early Espresso marker
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 3/8" circle punch, Scalloped Circle punch 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

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

New Colors!

Hello again! It is day four of VBS week and I am having a great time, but I'm so exhausted! I sat down this afternoon and made these two cards for our VBS coordinators. I hope they will like them and I hope you do, too!

These cards are direct CASE's of some cards that I saw on splitcoast. They were made by flowerbugnd1 and cjoman, but I don't know who had the original idea. These look like they would be difficult (or at least they did to me), but they were actually quite simple and quick to put together. The flower petals are made with the 3/4" circle and large oval punches. I punched the circle first and then punched the oval so that the circle was off centered. I made six petals and then layered them to make my flower. The yellow circle in the center was punched with the 3/4" circle punch as well.

These are three of our new core colors- Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, and Daffodil Delight. They can be ordered starting tomorrow when our new catalog year begins. I'm really excited about all the color changes that have taken place. The new color collections are all so pretty and work so nicely together. Can't wait to get all the colors!

If you are coming to my new catalog party on July 10th, you will be getting these cards as a little gift from me to thank you for coming and I will even show you exactly how they are made!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Thank You Kindly
Paper: Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 3/4" punch, Large Oval Punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, 2-way glue pen Pin It

Quilted Top Note

Hello Stamping Friends! I just love this card. If you know me, you know why- it's because I LOVE purple! It is my all time favorite color and I think the shades in this paper look so pretty together. My inspiration for this card came from one I saw on Stampin' Connection made by Jennifer Weide. I just changed a few elements to make it my own. That is called CASE (copy and share everything) and I do it a lot. I love to see what other stampers are making and find my inspiration in their work. It's encouraged in the stamping world!

I've been seeing these Top Note quilts for a while, but this is my first attempt at making one, and here's how I did it. I took 1 1/4" squares of Cottage Wall DSP (which will be retiring in June- boo hoo!) and used SNAIL (adhesive) to attach them to a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of cardstock (the color doesn't really matter because it will be covered, but I used Orchid Opulence) so that the entire piece of cardstock is covered with DSP scraps. (You will use four scraps across and three up and down, so you need twelve squares to cover the cardstock.) I then centered the cardstock on my Top Note die and ran it through my Big Shot. Once that was done I ran it through the big Shot again, but this time I used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (it's a little hard to see the dots in the picture) and centered it on a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Orchid Opulence cardstock (which is retiring in June and currently being sold while supplies last) and layered that piece over my Rich Razzleberry card base. I stamped "You're too kind" from the Whimsical Words set (a set that was only available during Sale-a-Bration) in Rich Razzleberry classic ink and punched it out using my Large Oval punch and layered that over a piece of Orchid Opulence cardstock that I punched out with the Scallop Oval punch. I popped that up in the center of the card using dimensionals. The cute little butterfly is from the set called "For All You Do" (a personal favorite) and stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink and cut out and popped up on dimensionals. I didn't take a picture but I stamped "thank you" and another butterfly from "For All You Do" on the inside of the card on W. White cardstock.

I got lots of stamping done yesterday while my little one was napping and my bigger little one was at Nana's, so I may post two cards today. We will have to see how the day progresses! Have a great one and if you like what you see, please leave me a comment. I love to know that you are visiting my blog!

Marla Pin It

Thank You!

Hello! Thank you for stopping by my brand new blog! For my first posting, I decided to show you the thank you card that I made for the teachers at my son's preschool. It was my very first attempt at making an "ornament punch rose" and I think it turned out nicely. The base of this card is a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and folded in half to create a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card (this is a standard sized card and the one that I make most often). I layered a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Old Olive cardstock over the card base. The top layer is a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of designer series paper (DSP) from the Sweet Pea paper stack, which is sadly no longer available for order. The sentiment is from a set called "Thank You Kindly" and it is stamped using Old Olive classic ink onto Whisper White cardstock. The sentiment is punched out with the Scallop Oval Punch and layered over a piece of Rose Red cardstock punched out with the Wide Oval Punch. The petals for the rose were punched out of Pretty in Pink cardstock with the Ornament Punch and then I sponged Regal Rose ink onto the edges of the petals to give them some depth. The leaves were cut freehand from Old Olive cardstock. If you go to splitcoaststampers.com and search the gallery for "ornament punch rose", you will find a great tutorial for making the rose. I tried to post a link, but I couldn't get it to work.

Thanks again for stopping by! I am very new to blogging and somewhat technologically challenged (just ask my husband!), so bear with me as I attempt to figure this out!

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