Open House

Hi Stampers! I am inviting everyone to a Stamping Open House in my home on Tuesday April 28th, 2009 from 6:00 - 8:00pm. I will have various product samples, a FREE make-and take, door prizes and will be selling my retired sets, papers and accessories at a discounted rate. Light refreshments will also be served. Stop by and see some new project ideas, meet fellow stampers and get some great bargains on stamping supplies.

Orders placed that evening will be combined and a "mystery hostess" will be selected from those placing orders. It's a great chance for you to earn some FREE items and have a fun evening out.

Please RSVP ( 727-232-1557 or via email) to let me know you will be stopping by so I can be sure to have enough make-and-take projects available.

Happy Stamping~

Patchwork Card with Top Note Die

Hi Stampers! If you have a quilter or a sewer in your life then I have the perfect cards for you! I saw these cards done all over SCS and on several blogs I browse regularly and knew I needed to try them for myself. I am so glad that I did. They are some of the cutest cards and can be so versatile. By switching up the sentiments you can make one for any occasion.

For this card I used the new designer paper from the Occasions Mini catalog called Walk in the Park. The colors for this are so fabulous and so springy! (Basic Grey, Kiwi Kiss, Cameo Coral, Baja Breeze, So Saffron)

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I used the textured die plates with my big shot to give the background some added interest. I also used the Top Note die to cut out the main panel and then ran it through the Big Shot with the same textured plate. It really makes it look like a quilt!

I also used some of the SAB designer paper called Delicate Dots. (since I have so much of this on hand!!!) I sponged all the edges of the Top Note die cut with Sahara Sand ink to make them stand out more.

These cards also gave me a chance to use one of the new stamp sets and punch from the Occasion Mini catalog. The stamp set is Oval All and I Paired it with the new Scallop Oval Punch. Add a little bit of ribbon, a few dimensionals and the cards are complete.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Oval All

Ink: Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Stampin' Write Markers

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Certain Celery, Bashful Blue, WW, Delicate Dots DSP, Walk in the Park DSP

Other: Scallop Oval Punch, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Textured Die Plates, Dimensionals, sponges

Very Versatile

Hi Stampers! Today's card is one that I have been waiting to show you for a few weeks now. I made this card for a demo's only swap I was in. I love swapping with other demos and stampers. It is a great way to get samples of new sets and ideas for new stamps. It gives me an opportunity to provide my customers with a variety of new samples to see without having to purchase all the new stamp sets coming out.

Anyway...this is the card sample I sent to the swappers in the last round. It uses the new stamp set Very Versatile from the Occasions Mini catalog (pg. 5). I can see so many possibilities with this stamp set. The sentiment sayings that come with it are perfect and give such a wide selection. This set could be used for just about any occasion.

I colored with my Stampin' Write Markers directly onto the rubber of the stamp, huffed on it (this always sounds so wrong to me), and stamped it directly onto a piece of whisper white card stock. The edges were then sponged with chocolate chip ink before layering onto summer sun card stock and chocolate chip card stock. The base of the card is summer sun followed by a layer of chocolate chip and a layer of Good Morning Sunshine DSP. I used the eyelet border punch to punch a strip of chocolate chip before adding that to the card base under the image panel. I used the mat pack and paper piercer tool to add some decoration to the corners of the card base. The sentiment was stamped in chocolate chip ink under the image panel and a piece of Apricot Appeal was tied in a single knot and attached with a mini glue dot.

I was so happy with how this card turned out and am looking forward to making even more with this set.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Very Versatile
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Write Markers
Card stock: Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, WW, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Other: Mat pack and paper piercer, Eyelet border punch, 1/4" Apricot Appeal Grosgrain Ribbon, sponges

Preserving Memories

Hi Stampers! Toady's project is a quick and easy way to help display some of your pictures while also preserving some of your memories. I found these scrapbook frames on sale at Michaels a few weeks ago and thought how awesome it would be to use to preserve some of the boys memories in Tae Kwon Do. I plan to make one of these for each of the colored belts they have each received (white, yellow, green, blue, red and black).

When we get tired of seeing them on the wall I can always convert them into a 12 x 12 album for each of the boys to commemorate their journey through Tae Kwon Do. These will be keepsakes for them to hand down to their kids.

Happy Stamping~

An Easter Activity

Hi Stampers! It's Spring Break here so I have been spending a lot of time with the boys this week. I decided that one of the activities we would do was to dye Easter Eggs. We haven't really done this activity in a few years. I thought the boys were getting too old for it, but Nathan proved me wrong. DJ on the other hand was too old and "too cool" to attempt such an activity. His loss!

Nathan and I had a great time today with this. We used a white crayon on some of the eggs before we dropped them into the dye. It warmed my heart to see the smile on Nathan's face when we pulled out the egg to see the dye had not taken to the areas where he drew with the white crayon. I think that was his favorite part of the whole thing.

Recently I have started going threw my stacks of pictures to try to get them somehow organized. While looking through them I realized that I didn't have many of the boys during Easter time. I definitely did not have any of them coloring eggs so I thought today's activity would give me a perfect chance. I plan to use these pictures soon on a 12 x 12 scrapbook page.

It's times like this that make me realize just how fast they are growing up. It seems like just yesterday I was holding them in my arms and rocking them, having them depend on me for their every need. *sigh* Appreciate the time you have with your kids while they are young. The years fly by faster and faster as they age. Take time to do the activities with them when you can because before long they won't think it's "cool" to hang out with mom any longer!!!

I will be back tomorrow with another project I have been working on. I love how awesome it turned out and it is another way to help preserve memories!

Happy Stamping~

Another Easy Birthday Card

Hi Stampers! Here is another quick and super easy birthday card. In the previous posts I used the stamp set Fifth Avenue Floral. That set is very elegant and for today's card I wanted something more on the whimsical side. I pulled out my new stamp set Garden Greetings. I wanted to show you that this layout can be used with any type of floral stamp.

I added some doodle dots with my white gel pen to give it more depth and also used several of the floral stamps from this set to create this card. Once again the card uses 2 colors of card stock and ink, and one embellishment.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Garden Greetings
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Pacific Point
Card stock: Pacific Point, WW
Other: Scallop Border Punch, 5/8" Pacific Point Grosgrain Ribbon, White Gel Pen

Thinking of you...

Hi Stampers! I decided that I needed to play a little more with the Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper. I just love the texture and weight of this paper. It really adds a lot to your cards when used. While looking over the paper one of the designs jumped out at me. The background paper on this card reminded me of the floral image in the Thoughts & Prayers stamp set.

The colors on this card are once again Chocolate Chip, WW and Baja Breeze. To give more interest to the image panel I used my mat pack and paper piercer to give some definition. I love the way it ties in to the holes in the scallops made by the eyelet border punch.

After making the first card I decided that I wanted to change the card slightly. I pierced holes in the corners of the image panel and left off the ribbon. I can't decide which one I like better. Any thoughts?

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Thoughts & Prayers

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Card stock: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Parisian Breeze Speciality Paper, WW

Other: Mat Pack & Paper Piercer tool, Stampin' Write Markers, Eyelet Border Punch, 5/8" Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Congratulations!!!

Hi Stampers! using the layout and card style from yesterdays card I also made a few congratulation cards as well. This simple layout and style adapts itself to just about any type of card.

I used Riding Hood Red and Whisper White for this card. To add more interest in the background I chose to add some white doodle dots with my gel pen. I think it gives the card a more completed look.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Fifth Avenue Floral, Congrats
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White Craft Ink
Card stock: Riding Hood Red, WW
Other: 5/8" Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, White Gel Pen

Simple Birthday Wishes

Hi Stampers! While surfing the web trying to find some inspiration and mojo I stumbled across a few cards that really caught my eye. For the life of me I can not find these cards to link them here so if you recognize the card layout and style please let me know so I can add a link here.

Sometimes while stamping we forget that less is more and that some of the most elegant cards are the simple ones. This is the case of today's card. I am one who loves to make quick and easy cards to have on hand and give out. With the style of today's card you can whip out a ton of these cards in a short time. There are only 2 colors of card stock, one color of ink and one embellishment. That's it! Easy- easy- easy!

I stamped one of the floral images from the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set (I am telling you this set is a must have this year!!!) in white craft ink randomly across my layer of Pacific Point card stock. I let the ink dry a bit before adding the white centers of the flower with my gel pen. This made the flowers "pop" more of the dark background. I used the scallop edge punch on the base of the piece of pacific point card stock, added some ribbon, stamped my sentiment on the card base and I was done!

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Fifth Avenue Floral
Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink, Pacific Point
Card stock: Pacific Point, WW
Other: Scallop Edge Border Punch, 5/8" Pacific Point Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, White Gel Pen

Sympathy Card

Hi Stampers! Here is another card I made for my card stash since I was low on sympathy cards. The background papers on this card are the new Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Paper. This stuff is to die for. It is a heavier weight than Stampin' Up!'s regular designer papers. It's more like the weight of card stock and also has a textured feel to it. I am so glad I decided to order this to see what all the fuss was about. I will be ordering more in the future.

The colors of today's card are Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. I once again used the stamp set Thoughts & Prayers for this card. This set is a very useful one. Sympathy cards are always a hard one to make, but with this set you really can't go wrong. The sentiments that come along with it are all heartfelt and are something you would write yourself.

To accent the colors of the card more I decided to add one of the new Corduroy buttons to the lower left side of the image panel. I love the feel and texture of these too - in the other colors.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Thoughts & Prayers
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze
Card stock: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, WW, Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper
Other: Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons

Get Well Soon

Hi Stampers! I finally had a chance to sit down and play a little with some of my Sale-a-Bration goodies that I got FREE! Sale-a-Bration ended on Tuesday, but have no fear- it will be back again next year. While trying to organize my card stash I realized that I really was in need of a few types of cards. I found I didn't really have many "Get Well", "Sympathy" or "Masculine" type cards so I set off on my journey to try to rectify this situation. Here is what I came up with for a "Get Well" card.

The Card base is done in Sahara Sand with a layer of the Delicate Dots (SAB Patterned Paper). I used my new eyelet border punch to add a layer of white with some of the Certain Celery Ribbon (also from SAB) wrapped around. The main image is stamped in Certain Celery and the sentiment is stamped in Sahara Sand. All edges of the main panel are also sponged with Sahara Sand.

This was a quick and easy card to get me back on track again.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Thoughts & Prayers

Ink: Certain Celery, Sahara Sand

Card stock: Certain Celery, Sahara Sand, WW, Delicate Dots DSP (SAB)

Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Certain Celery Ribbon (SAB), sponges