New Occasions Catalog Sneak Peak!

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, surrounded by family and friends. I know that I did. I feel blessed beyond measure and very, very spoiled! We had an unusually warm Christmas for CNY, Christmas Eve topped out over 60^o F! That has NEVER happened here in my lifetime! Today, is an entirely different story! Snow, sleet, and freezing rain have made it’s way here. Dreadful driving conditions, that’s for sure. Anyhoo, It was beautiful for the holiday and I truly enjoyed the day this year, and I pray that you did too.

Now, I’m back to work at my “real” job as a Clinical Informatics nurse and back at my craft room desk creating. As you may know, the new Occasions catalog goes live January 5^th, and as a demonstrator, I get to order a little earlier so that I can make a few things ahead to share and so, here is a sneak peak of one of the most adorable stamp sets in the catalog! I just love this set and there are some awesome sentiments that come with it!

 

So, what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. I got the inspiration from a bag design in the catalog. I hope to have a few more sneak peaks before the New Year.  I can’t wait for you to be able to see the catalog, once again, Stampin’ Up! has out done themselves….there are so many wonderful stamp sets and dies and punches and accessories and the list goes on. If you would like a catalog and you have not placed an order with me in the past, feel free to send my your contact information and I will be sure to get one out to you right away. This is definitely a MUST see.

Have a wonderful day and I will see you soon!

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

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For a Friend

 

Well I had a special request from a friend at work. She asked me to make her up some Thank you cards with a Christmas theme. Hmmm, a challenge! So, I pulled out my Christmas stamps and my Thank you stamps and began to ponder. She mentioned that she “loves poinsettias”, so, here is what I came up with:

I began with a Garden Green card base cut 5 ½” x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼”. Then I punched out 8 large petals, with the Festive Flower punch, from Real Red cardstock and 4 smaller petals and 2 of the double petals also from Real Red cardstock.  I then punched out 3 of the large petals from Garden Green cardstock for the leaves. I stamped the Thank you from the One Big Meaning stamp set found in the annual catalog, onto a piece of Whisper White CS cut 5 ¼” x 4” and adhered that to my card base. I then stamped all of the flower petals with Real Red ink and the leaves with Garden Green ink. To build the flowers, I punched 2 circles from Real Red cardstock with a 1” circle punch. I applied Fast Fuse adhesive to the first circle and began adding the larger petals. To get a nice fullness to the flower, I first folded each of the petals to add dimension. I then began placing them onto the circle. I started by placing them into a + formation then placed the remaining 4 petals in-between in a pin-wheel like formation. I then added Fast Fuse to the second 1” circle and added the 4 smaller petals, also in a + formation and adhered that on top of the larger petals off-set using a Stampin’ Dimensional. I then added the 2 double petals also with a dimensional and placed the Garden Green leaves onto the back of the completed flower using Fast Fuse. I then added 2 flower centers, off-set using Crushed Curry cardstock that I punched using the Festive Flower punch. I then added the flower to the front of the card using 3 Stampin’ Dimensionals. And finally, I added 3 tiny pearls to the center of the flower.

So, that’s the card for today. I hope you like it, please share you thoughts with me at the bottom in the comments section, and I wish you all a great day. See you Saturday!

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Purple Majesty

Well Christmas is barreling ahead, are you ready? I’m not ready yet, but I am working on it. Yesterday was my husbands’ birthday. I grabbed a cake on my way home from work last night so we could at least recognize his day with a birthday cake and I made him a nice dinner. I think he liked everything. Next up, our 22^nd Anniversary, followed by MY birthday, Christmas and then my sister-in-law and my great nephew’s birthdays. Phew, I’m exhausted just writing all this!

Anyhoo, I managed to sneak into my craft room for a bit and played awhile, and this is what I came up with:

 

I used a retired stamp set for the sentiment because I just love the scripting of the font. I think it’s so pretty. I also love the dark Blackberry Bliss ink with the Basic Black ink. I just seems so majestic to me, hence why I’m calling it Purple Majesty. Yeah. I know…not too creative but it fits.

This is a really easy card to re-create, I used the Lovely as a Tree set, Blackberry Bliss cardstock of the card base, a layer of Basic Black and stamped the image onto Whisper White cardstock using the new Basic Black Archival ink. I then sponged Blackberry Bliss ink starting at the bottom, working my way up, over the stamped image. That helped me get a heavier color on the bottom and gradually lighten as I worked my way up.

So that’s my card for today. I hope you like it. Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it. Please feel free to leave me any comments in the comments section below.

Happy Stamping!

Katrina

 

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Christmas is in the Air!

Hi all. I hope everyone is recovered from their turkey coma. I finally have and now I have my house filled with the Christmas spirit. I finally got my tree up Sunday and all of the inside decorations too. All that’s left is the outside and I will be done with that. I still have to finish my Christmas shopping but I did get a good start on that too awhile back I really hoping I am going to have my first “stress free” Christmas?? I hope anyway. I am usually running around like a chicken Christmas week trying to finish up the Christmas shopping, and this year I made myself get an early start. I had my great niece and nephews all done before Halloween! And now I just pick away at someone every week or two. I will let you know after Christmas how that works out for me.

Anyway, I have a cute Christmas card to share with you that I put together. I am really happy with how this card came together. I started with a left over card “kit” that I had cut for a class last year! I challenged myself to pull out left over kits and make something out of them. I have several different kits from several different classes that are just sitting there waiting for something to be done with them, hence my challenge to myself and this is what I came up with.

 

I started with a piece of Early Espresso cut at 6”x6” scored at 3” for the card base, I then stamped Happy Christmas from the  Oh What Fun stamp set in the lower right hand corner of a Very Vanilla piece cut to 2 ¾”x 5 ¾” using Real Red ink. I cut 2 of the small round ornaments from the Delicate Ornament Thinlits dies in the Holiday Mini catalog and I used the new Precision Plate, one from gold foil paper and one from Real Red foil paper and adhered them to the left side of the card using the new  Fine Tip Glue pen also from the Holiday Mini catalog. I tucked a piece of gold cording behind the Very Vanilla and strung it to the red ornament and added a bow from the cording to it using a glue dot. I adhered a second piece of Very Vanilla card stock cut to 3”x5 ¾” inside the card base and then I made a matching envelope from the Neutrals Envelope paper from the Annual catalog using the envelope punch board. My paper was cut 7 5/8” square and I made the first score and punch at 2 ¾”.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I truly appreciate you taking the time to spend with me here. Please let me know what you think of the card by leaving a comment down below.

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!

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Quick and Easy Gift Card Holders

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I got to do it twice. Thursday I spent the day with my mom and dad and dinner with them since hubby had work. We had a great day together, then Friday, while the masses were out shopping til they dropped, I cooked a complete turkey dinner for my husband so he could enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. 

Wow, is it me or is Christmas coming at full speed ahead or what? Did you realize Christmas will be here in 28 days? Yep, that’s right, 28 days until Santa and his eight Reindeer arrive bearing all those gifts. Will you be ready? I’m working on it. 

Today, I have a quick and easy gift card holder for you. Yes, really, you can whip up a dozen of these in no time.

Start with a medium Whisper White envelope and score it down the middle.

Cut the flap through the middle and tuck the right half into the envelope and then adhere the left side down. It should look like this:

It is in the right side you will slip your gift card.

You will then need a 2 ¾”x5 ¼” piece of Designer Series Paper. I used paper from the Merry Moments Designer Paper Pack, but you can use whatever paper you like. Now adhere that to the front of the envelope turned gift card holder.

Using a scrap of Whisper White cardstock I stamped the Christmas Image from the Among the Branches stamp set using Cherry Cobbler Ink and punched the image out with the 2” circle punch and punched out a scrap piece of Crumb Cake using the 2 3/8” scalloped circle punch and adhered the  two together. I then wrapped a 16” piece of Cherry Cobbler ribbon (retired) around the card holder  and tied it into a ribbon off to the side and placed the punched image over the ribbon using 2 Dimentionals straddling over the ribbon.

There you have it, a quick and easy gift card holder. Change up the images and the paper and ribbon for a completely different look. How about for a birthday? Lots of ideas and options. Go ahead and give it a try.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave a comment and let me know you were here and what your thoughts are. Happy Stamping!

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Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever?

I never could get that wives tale right? Who knows it? Please share! Anyway, I decided to “feed a cold” and made these cute Get Well cards. I love this stamp. It’s in the Annual catalog and is a singular wood block stamp and it makes me think of chicken soup every time I look at it so this is what I came up with and wanted to share it with you.

So, I started with a sheet of Island Indigo cut to 5 ½”x8 ½” scored at 4 ¼”, I added a piece of the Island Indigo designer paper from the Regals paper pack (the paper I used is retired, however there is a new pack available with fresh designs) cut at 5 ¼”x4” and I round the 2 opposing corners, top right and bottom left of the card base and the layers.

I stamped the image onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock cut at 4 ¾”x3 ½” using Momento Tuxedo Black ink pad and I masked off the heart in the center of the bowl with a 1” circle I punched from a post-it note to avoid getting black ink on it. I then colored the heart in using the Island Indigo Stampin’ Write marker, I huffed on the stamp, and stamped the image onto the white cardstock. I then colored the “soup” with the Hello Honey Stampin’ Write marker and the rest of the image was colored using the Rose Red Stampin’ Write Marker. I adhered that down to the designer paper layer after rounding the apposing corners to match the others and then attached them to the front of the card base. I then added 3 Rose Red Candy Dots to the bottom right corner.

I cut a second piece of Whisper White cardstock 5 ¼”x4” and added to the inside of the card and stamped the get well sentiment from the Fabulous Four stamp set, also in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.

I created the pocket for the inside front cover using a piece of Island Indigo cardstock cut at 3 ¾”x5” and scored 3 sides at ½” and ¾” using the Stampin’ Score board. I folded all of the score lines and cut away the “corners” created by the score lines, added adhesive (I used Fast Fuse, my favorite adhesive) and attached the pocket to the inside front cover. I popped a packet of instant Chicken Noodle Cup-o-Soup into the pocket and there you have it, a heart warming, cold feeding get well wish for someone special.  

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you like today’s card. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Happy stamping!

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Scraps! Scraps! Everywhere Scraps!

Are you over-run by scrap cardstock? Do you hate to reach for your scraps when you need just a small piece? Do you find it just easier to cut another full size sheet rather than look through that pile just to find the right size and color? If your answer is “yes”, and I’m sure for many of you it is, then you have come to the right place!

I have been there! Up until very recently that is. Now, I don’t claim to be a professional organizer, nor do I profess to be a great organizer, but I do keep trying new ideas until I find one that works for me, and finally I have found what works for me and I am now consistently reaching for my scraps to find what I need BEFORE I cut another full size piece of cardstock!

I can’t tell you how many things I had tried that just didn’t work for me because it would be too numerous to count; just know that they did not work for me. You see, for my workflow, I need my supplies conveniently located and easily accessible and organized. If I need to paw around too much, that doesn’t work and only causes me stress and aggravation…no good for a crafter! Our crafting is supposed to bring relaxation and joy right? So I would just cut more cardstock and make MORE scraps to store. I couldn’t bear to throw away a perfectly good piece of cardstock but I would never use it because it was too hard to find or too time consuming to find it. Hence, my continued search for what would work for me.

As I mentioned, I did finally find a simple system that worked for me and I wanted to share it with you. Now, I understand this may not work for your space and workflow, however, I find it works really well for me so here it is:

 

The best part…it is so simple it’s crazy! I just labeled the manila folders with the color names and I grouped “like” colors together, like Basic Black and Basic Gray with Smoky Slate in one. I did make a separate folder for Whisper White because I always have lots of white scraps. I placed all the folders standing up in a plastic “tote” and I can not tell you how well this has been working for me. I have been using this “system” for just over a month now and I am finally using up my scraps! It might look a little messy here because I was actually working when I took these shots, but now, when I need a ½ sheet or smaller, of whatever color I need, I pull the folder containing the color I need and quickly leaf through the scraps to see if there is a piece that I can use, and most of the time there is. I’m no longer wasting my cardstock and feel that I am getting much more value from it. So, if you too are struggling to find a convenient storage solution, give it a try. It’s inexpensive…I had everything laying around the office/craft room and I just repurposed them.

If you give this a try, please leave me a comment and let me know how it’s working for you. In the meantime, Happy Stamping!

Those Dirty Little Photopolymer Stamps!

Have you gone to your craft room to make some cards or other paper craft, pulled out your favorite photopolymer stamp set, only to be disappointed and dismayed to find that it will no longer stick to your clear block? I know I have…it’s a sure sign of all the lovin’ you’ve been giving that set! And I have a tip for you to fix that issue!

First, get a bowl of warm soapy water. I like to use Dawn Dishwashing liquid, I’m sure any will do, I just happen to prefer the blue stuff for my pots and pans so that is what is in my kitchen. Anyway, drop those dirty little stamps right into that bowl. Now let them sit for a minute or two. I like to swish them around a bit too. Then I take a soft cloth and wipe off the backs of the stamps with it and place them face down onto a towel and allow them to dry. I wouldn’t suggest drying them with the towel as you don’t want to transfer any lint onto them.

At this point, I also clean my clear blocks and to be honest, my favorite way to clean them is with hand sanitizer and a terry cloth. The hand sanitizer does an amazing job of cleaning the blocks. It removes any sticky adhesive residue and cleans any dirt and oils and ink from them too. I use the terry as a soft scrubber and that works well for me.

Now that you have cleaned and dried your stamps and your blocks, you should have perfectly “sticky” photopolymer stamps again. I hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask below in the comments section.

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!

Peaceful Pines

There is some truth in that stamp name. You can often find peace and solace walking through the woods, observing Gods amazing creations, and around here, there are lots of pines. I don’t know about you, but I love walking through the woods, of course, my husband and I pretty much live smack dab in the middle of the woods here in Upstate NY, so I guess I should love it.

Anyway, I created this card using the Peaceful Pines stamp set and coordinating framelits. It’s pretty simple and I really like how it came out.

 

All supplies used can be found below.
Instructions: I started with a Whisper White card base cut at 5 ½”x8 ½” scored at 4 ¼” I stamped the detailed pine tree onto a scrap piece of Whisper White with the Mossy Meadow ink and cut it using the coordinating framelit. I also cut a scrap piece of Smokey Slate using the same framelit. I then cut a scrap piece of Real Red cardstock using the Circle framelits (the 4^th one counting from the outside in) and I cut a piece of DSP from the Merry Moments paper stack (found in the holiday catalog) to 2”x5 ¼”

Once I had all of my pieces cut and stamped, I adhered the DSP using snail adhesive ( I ran out of my favorite Fast Fuse – I can’t wait for my order to arrive!) I then layered the Real Red circle a little to the right of center again using Snail adhesive. I then cut a Tea Lace Doily in half, then folded that in half and tucked it in behind the Real Red circle. I placed the Smokey Slate tree onto the Real Red circle, also with Snail and the stamped tree I placed a little lower than the other and popped that up on Dimentionals. I stamped the verse, also from the Peaceful Pines stamp set in the lower right hand corner of the card with the Mossy Meadow Ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look. Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!

 

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A Cozy Christmas

Well, I hope wherever you are, you have been experiencing the beautiful fall weather that we have been enjoying here in the Northeast. Unusually warm temperatures and lots of sun…not normal this time of year in these parts but I sure will take it and be grateful; it won’t be long and old man winter will be here putting us into the deep freeze. Brrrr, I shutter at the thought, however, A Cozy Christmas does warm me up. I love this stamp set and couldn’t wait to use it.

 

Here is my take on this beautiful stamp set and how I did it:

I cut an 8 ½”x11” Whisper White CS at 5 ½”x8 ½” and scored at 4 ¼”

I cut the 12”x12” Glitter paper to 5 ¼”x4”

Night of Navy panel is 5”x3 ¾”

Using the Circle Framelits, counting from the outside in, I cut the Night of Navy with the 3^rd framelit and the Whisper White with the 4^th framelit.

I stamped the cabin from the A Cozy Christmas stamp set onto the Whisper White circle using Basic Black Archival Ink. I punched a 1” circle from a sticky note to create a mask for the moon and placed it over the smoke stack created by the cabin stamp; I then sponged Night of Navy ink to the “sky” area around the cabin. I stamped the flying Santa Sleigh from the stamp set using the Basic Black Archival Ink, added glue from the glue pen to the snow covered roof, the ground and the snow covered trees and sprinkled with the dazzling diamonds.

I adhered the Night of Navy panel to the Glitter paper using Tombow Mono-adhesive (green glue) and adhered them onto the Whisper White card base using the same glue,

Once the Dazzling Diamonds glitter was dry, I adhered the stamped image to the Night of Navy circle with Snail adhesive, and then adhered them to a paper doily with the same. I then popped them up with Stampin’ Dimentionals and adhered them to the card front.

The sentiment that I used comes from the stamp set, To You and Yours Too, also from the holiday catalog. The ink that I used is retired, it is the Silver Metallic Ink from last year’s holiday catalog, however, it is easily found at your local craft stores. That’s it, very simple and yet elegant with all the sparkle. So, what do you think? Leave me a comment below and let me know what your thoughts.

Thanks again for stopping by my little corner of the web and I wish you all a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping!

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Stamping on Tile

I shared a photo of some of the tiles I had stamped on Facebook, but wanted to share them with you here with a mini tutorial on how I made them. These make great little Christmas gifts and are rather inexpensive to make.

 

I started by visiting my local Lowes Home Improvement store to purchase the tile. What I found and worked well for me was a box of 9 Tumbled Granite tiles. Some of the tiles were as smooth as can be and were easily stamped directly onto the tile, while others were lumpy and bumpy with little moon craters throughout. Those lumpy bumpy ones, I couldn’t stamp directly onto them so to get around that, I stamped my pattern onto cardstock that I cut using the square framelits and my Big Shot. I then colored the images and adhered them to the tiles using ModPog after cleaning the tiles with a soft cloth to remove any loose dust. The ModPog worked beautifully. It not only adhered the cardstock to the tile, but it also provided a protective coating so that the tiles can be used as  coasters and holds up to any moisture that may occur due to condensation from cold drinks. In order to use ModPog, you will need to stamp your image using Momento Tuxedo black ink and color your images with an alcohol based marker such as Copic or Spectrum Noir. I will be honest, I used the discontinued Stampin’ Up! Blendabilities, but any alcohol marker will work; then I added a heavy coat of the ModPog. If you try to use a water-based marker or ink, it will run when you apply the ModPog…..don’t ask how I know this!

 

Now, for the smooth tiles, I just wiped them free of loose dust and used Stazon Jet Black ink to stamp the image directly onto the tile. I allowed the ink to dry for a bit and set it with my heat gun. I then colored in some of the images with my Stampin’ Write markers. These are a water-based ink marker, however, I sealed these with an acrylic spray sealer and there was no running of the color so it worked out fine.

I hope you enjoyed this and give it a try for yourself. Please leave me any comments below and let me know what you think.  In the meantime, happy stamping!

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A Cool Tip for Cleaning your Stampin’ Scrub

Well, as I mentioned to you in my last post, I have a cool little tip for you on cleaning your Stampin’ Scrub and getting it back in business lick-ity split! Yep, you heard me…lick-ity split, pronto, right away!

First, I pop the fuzzy squares from the plastic case and wash them under warm running water and add a little dab of Dawn dish liquid and rinse until the water runs clear. Then, using the palm of my hand, I push as much water down and out of the fuzz as I can.

 

Now, here is the part that gets you back to creating right away…..using your carpet shampooer, the furniture attachment? Yeah, the piece attached to the hose? Suck the remaining water out of your fuzzy squares until dry! That’s it! Easy, fast and dry! You can’t beat that! Now, pop those fuzzy squares back into the case and you’re back in business.

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My Top 5 Most Important Stamping Tools

I don’t know about you, but I have 5 tools that I consider my must haves when stamping beside the obvious paper, ink and stamps/blocks.

The first tool on my must have list, is my Stampin’ Trimmer! This trimmer is by far the best paper trimmer I have used, and trust me, I have used several. A few years ago, when I was first re-discovering my love of paper crafting, I went out and purchased a rather in-expensive rotary cutter. Ugh, the saying, “you get what you pay for”…I think it came from someone who bought this very rotary cutter….I couldn’t cut a straight line to save my life! It was awful! So, off to one of the big box office supply stores I went. There I found myself a rather pricy guillotine paper trimmer; that should work! Until I got it home that is….Immediately, when I pulled it out of the box, I could see that the swing arm was bowed out and sure enough, I couldn’t cut a straight line from that either! Finally, I decided to purchase the Stampin’ Trimmer. I was so excited when it arrived, but also prepared myself to be known forever to make crooked cards. I pulled it out of the box. It looked good. So, I pulled out an 8 ½” x 11” piece of cardstock and made my first cut at the 5 ½” mark, and there it was, a perfectly cut card base! It was beyond belief so I had to check it again….and sure enough, my eyes were NOT playing tricks on me! Wahoo! I found my new best friend in the craft room!

The second “must have” on my list is the grid paper from Stampin’ Up! This is the perfect desk protector and allows me to ensure perfectly straight placement of sentiments, lines etc. The grid allows me to line everything up to ensure straight even designs. Remember…I can’t eyeball a straight line…see aforementioned love of the Stampin’ Trimmer!

My 3^rd “must have” in the craft room is my piercing tool. This little gem looks like it’s uses are pretty limited, however, it’s not just for paper piercing, mine gets used EVERY DAY, every crafting session. I use it to pick up rhinestones, pearls, candy dots, enamel dots, glue dots that need to be placed precisely. I use it to hold down corners that need a little extra glue drying time. I use it to hold down something I may be embossing with my heat tool to prevent burnt fingers…or should I say charcoal fingernails…that’s another story!

The 4^th most important item in my craft room is my Stampin’ Scrub.  This is the best stamp scrubber I have used and it’s soft and gentle on your stamps while many out on the market tend to be rough and scratch up your stamps. And personally, I don’t think they would be very good for your lovely photopolymer stamps. In spite of being soft and gentle on your stamps, it does a great job cleaning them with the Stampin’ Mist. These 2 products together are dynamite! And when the scrubber gets too dirty to do the best job that it can do, it is easy peasy to clean…just pop out the fuzzy pads, run them under water, let them dry and you’re back in business!  Don’t want to wait for them to dry 24 hours? Check back in a couple of days and I will share my little “trick” with you! You’re going to LOVE it!

And finally, the 5^th most important tool in my craft room is my paper snips! These little pointy scissors are an absolute must have in your stamping arsenal. They allow you to “fussy cut” with precision. They are comfortable in your hand, are great for trimming and cut ribbon like butter!

So, there you have it, my top 5 must haves in the craft room. What are your must haves in your stamping arsenal?

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All Stamps on Sale for 15% Off

 

Hey there, I just wanted to let you all know that Stampin' Up! has put ALL stamp sets on sale for 15% off! What a great deal that is! So, if you have been eyeing that favorite stamp set from either the annual catalog or the holiday catalog, now is the time to get it. This sale is only until Friday so be sure to not miss out. Just click the "shop now" button above and pick out your favorite sets!

While I am here, I have to tell you, I recently purchased the Lockdown Punch Holder from Stamp n Storage....OMG! I am so in love with this product. I can now easily grab the punch I need without toppling over all the other punches and not pinch my fingers because they are all packed into a basket. This is furniture quality and looks beautiful in my craft room. I have now placed an order for the marker storage and hope to soon get the ribbon holder and the combo ink pad holder...oh honey....I know what I want for Christmas!!!! I hope he can hear me! But if you're on the fence about ordering, don't hesitate. This company is fantastic and I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

 

 

A Beautiful Dove of Peace

Todays card was cased from the catalog. Sometimes, the Stampin' Up! Catalog and Idea book is the perfect place to get ideas from, and this is a perfect example of that.

This card uses dry embossing, fussy cutting, die cutting and a little bit of Blender Pen coloring and was a great deal of fun to put together. So, when you feel like getting crafty with your paper and ink, but aren't quite sure where to begin, begin with your Stampin' Up! catalogs. They're a wealth of ideas all in one place! :-)

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Haunt Ya Later!

Wow, fall has landed in CNY! The air is crisp and the trees are in full color. I have to say, I love the colors of Fall, the reds, the yellows, golds and oranges..all so pretty. I also love to see how others decorate for the season. Some go for the cutesy scarecrow's, while others lean more toward the haunted zombie cemetery lol, all of which is fun to see. I, myself lean toward the cutesy scarecrow look, but today's card comes from the Haunt ya Later stamp set from Stampin' Up! I love this set. It's so dang cute.. Feel free to let me know your thoughts!
Happy Fall Ya'll!

A Little More Christmas for Fall

Can you believe another month is coming to a close? I sure can’t. It still seems as though the snow has just left us and here we are preparing for more. I personally find it mind blowing. I do love fall and I adore Christmas but I could really do without winter. Hubby has been working hard over the last several weeks to get our wood in to keep us warm. He’s such a good guy. He makes sure Tucky and I are warm and toasty all winter long. Unfortunately, burning wood is messy and I don’t like messy. I run around behind him with the vacuum cleaner quite often but, I do like being warm so I try not to complain too much (wink).

Now, on to the card! I cased this one direct from the holiday catalog. I hope you like it. Please share with me your thoughts, and if you would like to see something in particular, please let me know.

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Getting Ready for Christmas

Well I've begun to work on my Christmas cards. Stampin' Up! has some fantastic Christmas sets in this years holiday catalog. So many to chose from, you can chose between adorable and just plain beautiful. Today's card that I'm going to share with you is in the beautiful category. What do you think?

If you would like to make this card, please visit my on-line store to pick up your supplies. The supplies used on this card are below.

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Don't Miss Out on the New Goodies!

Hey there, the one finger wonder here...yes, I'm still typing with one finger. The lovely pink brace has made my finger so big that I hit 2-3 keys at a time; hence, typing with one finger...yuk! Anyway, I wanted to let you know that the new holiday catalog went live on 9/1 and it is awesome!!!! I have to say, Stampin' Up! out did themselves on this one! I love everything in this catalog and I mean EVERYTHING!!! Take a look at this sample I put together. What do you think?

I added a battery operated tea light behind the flame to create a flickering effect. This card was a lot of fun to make and I combined a few stamp sets and framelits to create it.
Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Update

Well, went to see the hand specialist and got a fancy schmantsy splint that they custom made for my finger

Yes, I still have sausages for finger but I think I sport the pink splint pretty well, don't you? The pain is actually improving as long as I can stop bumping it, Why is that? Have you noticed that as soon as you injure a digit, whether toe or finger, rest assured you will bump it every chance you get. If anyone knows the answer, I sure would like to know! Anyway, I am hoping to be able to tolerate opening and closing ink pads by this weekend which means I will have some stuff to share by then. In the meantime, stay tuned for some sneak peaks of the upcoming Holiday Catty! If you would like one, just message me through the link above, and I will get one out to you ASAP!

Happy Stamping!

We Must Interrupt All This Stamping Fun.........

Hey, I've had to take a break from all this stamping fun due to having a bad cold that has caused me to cough myself into a pounding headache and in addition, I managed to break a finger. Yep, sure did. And a bang up job I did too. My parents always taught me, "if you're going to do it, you better do it right". Somehow,  I don't believe they meant it about breaking bones! This is really making typing difficult...I'm not a good one handed wonder! And as for stamping, the pressure incurred by my hand and finger attempting to open and close t.he stamp pads is extremely painful. Hopefully, that wont last long, but until then, I will be a little silent. Its the middle finger, first joint that is broke and no, those rings are NOT coming off....ugh....that would REALLY HURT.

Project Life "Remember This" as a Wedding Card?

Yes, today I have a wedding card to share! I mixed the Wild Flowers stamp set with the PL Remember This stamp set a little Blushing Bride and viola! Also, a little sneak peak of a punch coming in September with the Holiday Catalog! Wait until you see this! It will be a MUST have on your wish list! I created a mask using a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock and the oval framelits and then I sponged the Blushing Bride ink onto the center of the piece of Whisper White. I then stamped the image using two step stamping. I punched the corners added the ribbon slide and ribbon. I then stamped the verses and I really like this card a lot.

This is the final project in the PL Remember This series. Now pull this set off your shelf and give it a work out and see what great creations you come up with! Join me next week to see which stamp set we decide to use and see what we can come up with. In the meantime, Happy Stamping!

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Project Life "Remember This" - It's not just for Project Life

Here is a cute project I came up with to use this great stamp set...it does involve a photo, however, it has nothing to do with PL or scrapbooking traditionally either. Take a look:

I stamped the words "picture perfect" from the stamp set directly to the photo and placed it in the frame after I stamped the frame with the Butterfly Basics set using the fern image with Mossy Meadow ink. I also added a punched butterfly from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set in Lost Lagoon and cut the larges butterfly from the Butterfly thinlits and attached them with glue dots.

I hope this inspires you to go outside the box. There are so many ways that you can use your stamps and ink. Just open your mind and don't be afraid to try something. You never know, you just may come up with the best idea ever,

Happy Stamping!

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Project Life 'Remember This' beyond Project Life

Welcome back! This week, my focus is on the Project Life 'Remember This' stamp set. This is one of those sets you will find you will pull out again and again for more than just Project Life scrapping. Don't get me wrong, scrapping the Project Life way is absolutely an awesome way to document your families life, however, this stamp set will take you beyond the PL pages. Take a look at this card I created for a friends 50th birthday.....

With just a few additional supplies I was able to make a pretty glitzy card. What do you think? Be sure to check back on Tuesday to see the next project using this great stamp set. Until then, happy stamping!

 

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Endless Birthday Wishes #3

Well, here we are....the final card for the Endless Birthday Wishes stamp set. I truly hope you are enjoying these ideas. Please let me know.
And here it is:

This card uses only the Endless Birthday wishes but involves a little coloring ...I don't know about you, but I love to color. It goes back to when I was a little girl, I always loved to color and that has never changed, now instead of using crayons, I like to use markers LOL.

For this card, I created a basic card base from Tip Top Taupe CS, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" I then cut 2 Basic Black panels measuring 15/8" x 4 1/8" and 2 panels from the Cherry on Top DSP stack that measure 1 1/2" x 4" and adhered them together using Fast Fuse, I then adhered them to the card base staggering them using Fast Fuse. I then cut a Basic Black square, 3 1/8" sq.and a Whisper White square panel measuring 3" sq. Using Momento Tuxedo Black ink, I stamped the cake image from the stamp set into the upper left corner of the whisper white square and then I stamped the script "happy birthday" also in the Tuxedo Black ink toward the bottom right. I colored the cake using blender pens, Tip Top Taupe ink, Watermelon Wonder ink, and Bermuda Bay ink.. I added some Bermuda Bay sequins and a few Basic Pearls for a little sumthin' sumthin' and I adhered the square panel to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Here is the supply list:

 

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So that's it for the Endless Birthday Wishes. Pull this set out if you have it and see what you can come up with, and if you don't have it yet, what are you waiting for?? This set is just as the name indicates...Endless!

 

Endless Birthday Wishes #2

Getting this post out to you early because today's gonna be a long busy one for me...I'm working a 12+ hour shift today at my "real" job...I'm out of practice with these since I've been doing 8 hour shifts for the past 10 or so years. Oh well, helping out where I can. Anyway, I promised you a second example using the Endless Birthday Wishes and so here it is! Ta Da!

This one I did bring in another stamp set, the cupcake and the cupcake builder punch, but the Happy Birthday to you and the speckles are all from the Endless Birthday Wishes. And the DSP is also from the Cherry on Top DSP stack. So again, just a few supplies and viola! you have a completely different birthday card.
Again, I used the Tip Top Taupe CS cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" for the card base. I then cut a 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" strip from one of the designs from the DSP stack, Cherry on Top and adhered that down to the card base using Fast Fuse adhesive (I love Fast Fuse!) Then, using the Circle framelits collection, using the 5th circle counting outward from the center, I cut a circle from Whisper White CS. I used scraps to stamp the  cupcake using Watermelon Wonder for the "frosting" and Bermuda Bay for the bottom and punched out the pieces using the Cupcake Builder punch and adhered them to the circle using Stampin' Dimensionals. I then inked up the script "happy birthday" with Tip Top Taupe ink and stamped it under the cupcake, then I inked up the print "to you" and stamped that below the "happy birthday". Finally, I inked up the little "dots" in the Endless Birthday Wishes stamp set with Bermuda Bay ink and stamped it randomly around the circle. I then adhered the circle to the card base using Stampin' Dimensionals. Again, very easy, a few coordinating supplies and you can have a cute card to give to a birthday "buddy"
Here is the list of supplies:

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Endless Birthday Wishes #1

Welcome to my blog! Today, I am starting a new series here and I hope you will stop each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday to see what's happening. Each week, I will feature a new stamp set and I will show a new card or project for a total of 3 different designs from that stamp set. I will post the first design on Sunday, the second design on Tuesday and the final design on Thursday. My purpose is to share with you how a few products and one stamp set can create really cute cards and projects.
So without further ado, I present to you card #1 using the Endless Birthday Wishes stamp set

This set is absolutely adorable. You can create all sorts of birthday wishes with the multiple word stamps included with the set, some script and some print. I love this set! And check out the adorable designer paper! That's from the "Cherry on Top" DSP stack found in the catalog. It's so colorful and fun. I love it!

To create this card, I cut a piece of Tip Top Taupe cardstock at 5 1/2"x 8 1/2" and scored it at 4 1/4" to create the card base. Then, using the circle framelits collection, I used the 4th circle counting from the inside smallest outward and cut one circle from the Cherry on Top DSP, one from the Watermelon Wonder CS, the Soft Sky CS and the Whisper White Cs. I then inked up the cake image from the Endless Birthday Wishes using the Soft Sky ink and stamped it onto the Whisper White circle. I added Basic Rhinestones to the candles for a little bling and then I inked up the print "happy" with Tip Top Taupe ink and stamped it to the bottom left of the cake image, then I inked up the script "birthday" also with Tip Top Taupe ink and stamped it beneath the "happy".

Here are the supplies that I uses to create this cute birthday card. Please let me know what you think.

Have a great day and happy stamping!

 

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