Eeek! A Halloween Card!

Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  When I was younger I loved it and watching all of the scary movies went right with the spooky day.  I think as I've matured (a sophisticated way of saying I'm getting old!) I have seen enough real scary things that the make believe scary just isn't 'fun' anymore. Add that to the meanness that seems to surface more at this time of year and it just doesn't have much appeal now.  I still enjoy helping my kids dress up and visit family and close friends for Trick or Treating and the girls and my husband always try to 'out do' last year's pumpkin carving.  Having said this, I did like the spider web embossing folder (I know...doesn't make sense, especially since I do not like spiders...) I really liked the idea of being able to ink the raised image or distress it with sanding.  Plus, it makes a great 'Wow! You're old' card too!  Hope you enjoy my 'spooky' card!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, basic black, rich razzleberry DSP (brights collection), Ink-whisper white, rich razzleberry, Stamp Set-Sweet Centers, Accessories-spider web embossing folder, 1 3/4 circle punch,1 3/8 circle punch, rich razzleberry ribbon

Yet another wedding card!

Wedding cards are not usually in my stash because we haven't had much call for them in recent years.  But next month we have two weddings to attend.  I have already created a few cards, but I seem to gravitate towards my stamp from Word Play to see what else I can create.  I'm pretty sure this will be the last wedding card for a little while (I think...).  This card was really basic and simple to make, but I think it still has the elegance that a wedding requires.  Of course, this stamp requires a little bit of bling! This could also easily be an anniversary card too.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-very vanilla, baja breeze, Ink-baja breeze, Stamp Set-Word Play, Accessories, very vanilla satin ribbon, basic rhinestones, elegant lines emb. folder, 1 3/4 circle punch

Rebuilding My Card Stash

I've actually had a little time over the past weekend to play around with my stamps.  I needed to get caught up on my birthday and anniversary cards for family and also needed a few sympathy cards, since I didn't have any on hand.  As much as I love ordering and using the new stamp sets, there are some retired sets that are still well loved, especially if I'm not preparing for a class or club. All Wrapped Up is probably my favorite retired stamp set.  There are so many choices and options with this set.  Today's card is a design for my nephew and great nephew.  They are at the age where catching frogs ranks pretty high on the fun meter (my oldest daughter is in middle school and still loves to catch frogs!) I love the lid tipped on the jar and that smile makes me think the froggy is planning his escape! I am sure they will love their birthday cards.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-kraft (non SU), whisper white, chocolate chip, Ink-basic black, wild wasabi, Stamp Set- All Wrapped Up (ret) and a non SU alphabet set, Accessories-square lattice folder, pastels

Getting personal and My first club project!

Today was my birthday (29 again!!) and it was a fabulous day!  Fridays are my early days at work and I'm usually finished by 11:30.  My wonderful husband took a half day of vacation and took me out to eat at a little Italian restaurant for lunch.  Then in the evening, my Mom called to sing Happy Birthday before our family went to our local Dairy Queen for dinner.  An entire day without having to cook or do dishes! Woo!Hoo!  I am feeling so blessed to have such a wonderful family to share this day!
I don't normally share much personal information on my blog because I figure most people come here to see ideas, but I also feel that my blog is an extension of me.  I've also made some wonderful friends through my blog.  I jokingly call them cyber friends since I have never physically met them, but we still get to know each other and share our love of creating with paper and stamps.  Sometimes we even motivate each other just by leaving a little comment.  I love my blogging friends! OK, I'm finished being all personal and mushy, so on the the creativity!

This weekend is my first club's first meeting and I am so excited.  Before becoming a demonstrator, I belonged to a club formed by my upline.  It was such a fun experience and it really encouraged me to use my supplies more often and in different ways.  I know we are going to have a wonderful time!  Since the summer mini ends in a few days, one of our cards features the stamp Sail Away.  I love this stamp even though I have never been on a sailboat!  I will be sad to see it go since it is such a great image for masculine cards.  I'm just glad I have it!!  Anyway, on to the card...

Originally, I knotted the twine in the center, but wasn't sure I liked it that way.  So I made another where it is just wrapped around and the knotted in the back where it's not visible.  I really wish I knew how to do some sailors knots...

Card Recipe: Cardstock-real red, whisper white, pacific point, Ink-jet black stazon, Stamp Set-Sail Away, Accessories-square lattice folder, top note die, white bakers twine, pastels

Holiday Mini Peek-Take 2

I love the way Stampin' Up makes my job as a crafter so easy!  So, was there any doubt that when they put a new stamp set that coordinates with punches in the Holiday Mini, that I wouldn't HAVE to have it? In my last post you can see the Halloween image that coordinates with the decorative punch and today's card shows the Christmas image from this set and the latest punch!  The ribbon and the embossing folder are also new!

How cute is this? Wouldn't this make a great Baby's 1st Christmas card? And so much NEW stuff on one card, I'm feeling a little giddy!! So are you just dying to see the new Holiday Mini yet?  I think this might just be my favorite mini so far!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-crumb cake, whisper white, pear pizzazz DSP (in colors pack), Ink-jet black Staz-on, markers-crumb cake, pear pizzazz, and poppy parade, Stamp Sets-Gift Givers, Word Play (I only inked the joy part of the sentiment), Accessories-early espresso quilted satin ribbon (Hol. Mini), Snow Burst embossing folder (Hol. Mini), and Stocking Builder Punch (Hol. Mini)

A Holiday Sneak Peek!

As promised, I took a break from my 'old' stamps to show off some really new supplies.  As a matter of fact, these are not even available for purchase until September 1st (unless you are a SU demonstrator-have I mentioned lately how much I love this job????).  I haven't played at Stamping 411 in a while and the sketch this week intrigued me. Here it is...


and here is my card...

I changed my card a little and after playing with the layout, I felt that it just looked a little too 'naked' without the bow. I used a stamp from the set Gift Givers (Holiday Mini) and used watercolor pencils and a blender pen to color the image.TFL!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, basic black, pumpkin pie, Ink-jet black staz-on, Stamp Set-Gift Givers, Accessories-pumpkin pie satin ribbon (ret.), decorative label punch

One last inking...

If you saw my last post, you know that I'm currently in the process of cleaning out my stamping/scrapping supplies! Today's post is about a stamp I decided to remove from my 'collection'.  I also have a huge supply of various scraps of paper.  So I challenged myself to make these cards using only my scraps.  I did have to break out a piece of whisper white cardstock, but other than that, these are completely scrappy.  I'm not sure I love these cards, but the whole plan was to use up what I have, so here they are...

My SU supplies used were pretty in pink and bashful blue ink and the sentiment is from Word Play.  There is also a piece of retired DSP on one of the cards, but I can't remember which set.  I loved this little footprint stamp when I bought it, but I don't think I have used it more than once (on a scrapbook page, long ago), so it will be joining the other stamps in my remove pile.  I'm going to take a break from 'the old' tomorrow and play with some of my 'new' supplies from the holiday mini that will be available September 1st. Thanks for visiting!

Cleaning and Playing

Well, I'm finally doing it! I'm cleaning out my stamping supplies and trying to make some room for new goodies that I want to get! I decided that until I got rid of some older stamps, I wasn't going to order any more new sets. Quite the incentive!! Anyway...some stamps went straight into the remove pile without a second glance, most went into the maybe pile, and some stayed in the keep pile.  Since there were so many that were 'maybe', I came up with a solution.  I will either stamp a few cards w/ the stamp (set), stamp several images to be used later, or play around with it for a week then decide.  After an evening of playing, I moved several sets to the remove pile and only 1 went to the keep pile (if you know me at all, you know how major that is for me!!).  I am not finished w/ my maybe pile, but at this rate, I should be finished sorting by the end of the week. I have several friends who are just getting started in stamping and I'm giving them 'first look' at my remove pile, then whatever is left will be for sale. OK, I just realized how much I have rambled about what I'm doing (not really what you come here to see...) and not enough of what I made (hopefully, what you came to see :-).  So, here is a card that I made with the one stamp that I decided to keep!

There is not a lot of SU product on this card.  I used some cardstock that was left from a scrapbooking project I created a while back and I honestly have no clue who made it.  Neither the leaf nor the sentiment are SU either. I did however use SU inks (pretty much the only kind I have!) and the twine is also from SU. The pic is a little fuzzy, but you get the idea! I love autumn and knew that the leaf stamp needed to showcase nature's beautiful fall colors.  I used  pumpkin pie, soft suede, cherry cobbler, and crushed curry.  Next time, I will share some cards using a stamp that will be finding a new home.

Gifts and a fun project

Yesterday, I posted the card I made for the hostess appreciation day held by my upline's upline, Tiffany.  Today I have pictures of the make n' take that we made and the gift she made for us for attending and helping.  I also won some super cute felt flowers! My upline, Kelly, won the card contest with an awesome card that looked like a bra (it was all lacy and fancy). Then when you turned it over, it was a thong w/ a little tattoo peeking out! I did not get a picture of it, sadly, but if she puts it on her blog, I will post it here. It was really too cute and funny! Here is the make n' take we made...

I thought it was such a great idea! The little pockets are made from business size envelopes! And here is my gift from Tiffany...

I love it! The two flowers are magnetic to hold notes, wish lists, or sketch ideas! Thanks, Tiffany for a great day and some wonderful gifts!

Another Scrappy Card

I must be on a scrap using kick! Yesterday, my upline's, upline (does that make sense?) had a Hostess Appreciation Day.  She asked all of us to attend and also help out. There was a card, scrapbook page, and 3D item contest.  I knew I wanted to make at least one card to take along.  As I was trying to decide what to create, I saw a zip bag of scrap pieces of brights DSP. It was such a happy, summer combination that I decided I needed to use them.  So I pulled out my Four Frames stamp set and got busy. Several posts ago, I said that I was going to start decorating the inside of my cards more often. I haven't been doing this a lot, so I decided to try it again on  this card.

Card Recipe:  Paper-Whisper White cardstock, pumpkin pie, melon mambo, & daffodil delight from the brights collection DSP, Inks-pumpkin pie, soft suede, Stamp Sets- Four Frames and Precious Butterflies (sent.), Accessories-daffodil delight 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, basic rhinestones, decorative label punch, extra large tag punch

I'm Baaaaack!

Over a week since posting! I think that's a new record for me! Our family took a mini vacation to visit family near Chicago this past weekend and I'm just now caught up on everything and able to play again! I had to laugh when I got a message from my cyber friend Lisa wondering if everything was OK. Guess my DH is right, I do spend a lot of time online... Thanks for checking up on me, Lisa!! Anyway... I have to share a fun picture from my trip. My SIL and I always have a great time when we get together and this time was no exception.  We made a trip to Archiver's and also stopped at this yummy gelato shop! But one of my favorite stops is visiting the wine shop that she works at part-time and doing a tasting! I even met this distinguished guy who couldn't keep his eyes off of me. So I had to get a picture with him!

Isn't he the cutest?? My oldest daughter says he creeps her out!
I have this shoe box of various scrap on my shelf that was calling to me today. So my card is almost completely made of scraps (only the base was a full sheet of paper!) My upline (and super crafty friend), Kelly, had a card similar to this on her blog and it is the perfect layout for using scraps!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, various pieces of patterned paper, Ink- basic black, (black, peach parfait & creamy caramel markers), Stamps-Tags So Much (ret.), Accessories-large & extra large tag punches, chocolate chip ribbon (ret.), stapler