It's Scrappin' Saturday!

Good morning everyone!

We're scrappin' a birthday calendar and today I'm showing you the month of August.

You'll remember I posted this as a card too. So today I'll post September too!

You can use any leaf set. This one is Autumn Fest. The colors here are Really Rust, Sage Shadow and More Mustard (which Ch Chip grosgrain for an accent). I used Very Vanilla to soften the background behind the leaves. If I made this card today I'd use Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze and More Mustard.

I'm on the fly today so ... take care!
Much love and joy,

It's 3-D Friday!

Good morning!

It's 3D Friday and I'm deciding on some hostess containers. Here's the first one.

Here's the first one. Using Baja Breeze and Whisper White, pearls from the Pretties Kit and a Rhinestone brad. I topped it off with taffeta ribbon.

Here's the second one.

It has more of a vintage look with the paper. I punched  out an oval and put acetate behind it so I could put in something colorful that would show through. I'm thinking a spot and incentive stamp, some buttons and ribbon ... not sure yet. I'm a little undecided on embellishment for this one too. I thought about a ch chip button. It would be decorated similarly to the one above. Maybe even a white Fleurette ... oooohhh, I like that idea. What do you think?

The clasp on the bags is a velcro button. People really seem to like how easily the velcro closes it all up again.

I'm hoping to make the hostess gift's appeal be that the items are exclusive to hostesses. Do you think I'm crazy for demo'ing something I can't sell? Or like incentive stamps, will the little scallop bag make the hostess gift that much more special?

Waiting to hear your opinions...

Much love and joy,

Birthday Cheers

This is a guy card for my brother's birthday. I like the Soft Suede and Crushed Curry (ret) look together. It looked more like a beer color to me. I used DSP in Soft Suede as well and tied linen thread through the saffron button. The greeting is Go Go Boots alphabet run through my Big Shot in suede. It's an easy and fast card.                                                                                                                                               

Have a good rest of the day,

Much love and joy,

Razzleberry Vintage Flower Burst

Good morning!

As you can see I've been playing with blogger. I wanted to go with a more vintage look on my site. I found a template that had old world maps at the top, like our new designer paper! How fun is that? Plus I needed a visual rest from the pink. I loved the old template (thanks, Debbi!!) but like most of us, I like to switch things up a bit now and then. Plus, I wanted to show off some of my flowers!

Here's today's card.

It's done in Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black and our Newsprint DSP. I ran the same Razzleberry through the Big Shot using the Flower Burst Embosslit and adhered them to the card for a monotone embossed look.

I tied a knot in black satin ribbon and taped it under the newsprint (which was matted with black, by the way). I put a Vintage Trinket (safety pin) through the knot and tied Victorian lace around an arm of the pin. I stamped the greeting and fleur de lis from Tiny Tags and punched them out with the mini tag punch. I put a Vintage Trinket metal button brad through the tops and used a glue dot to adhere them to the same black satin knot.

Here's a better look at the greeting. I also edged each of the tags in black to make them stand out a little more.

Not sure how I feel about this one. I got the idea for the Flower Burst in the same color from another demo but I forgot who! Thank you unnamed person! I think it might have been Chat? If I'm wrong I apologize! I'd done that technique with punched items but for some reason forgot to try it with die cuts!

My vertigo seems to have left me for the time being, thank God. I was careening into conversations all day long yesterday. I told someone it's kind of like the Blue Angels when they roll their planes. That's what it feels like. Erp! At any rate, it's left me. Yippee!

Remember, if you want to book a party, now is the time. During the month of August SU will have extra benefits for hostesses. I'll post more on my blog and website soon. With all the great items in the new catalog it's easy to come up with a wish list, isn't it?

Also remember that outside orders boost your total tremendously. Pass your catalog around! Need a catalog? I have three or four left.

Take care and we'll see you soon!

Much love and joy,

Poppy Parade Bird with Scallops

Good morning!

Hope all is going well with you. I'm homebound today with vertigo. Nuts. I get it every once in a while but haven't had it in months. I'm so dizzy that walking is an issue and driving is out of the question. It's so uncomfortable, I can't tell you. Like being on a ride at a carnival, I'm nauseous with the spinning. Erg!! Fortunately, I have a good support system so people are helping by running my son to his activities today. At any rate, I'm usually back in business in a day or two.

Today I've got a CASE from our new IB&C. I'm trying to duplicate a few projects from those pages. I switched the stamp set and used Pun Fun. The colors are Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip.

I used the Dotted embossing folder, the scallop punch for the scallops under the bird and aquapainters to color the little bird.

LOVE that Poppy Parade! It's great to have a red that's not Christmas/Valentines red. I have to admit I predicted this one. I wanted an orange red and thought SU! would come out with one soon.

That's it for me. I may have to lay down for a bit. Thanks for stopping by.

Much love and joy,

Concord Crush Elements of Style

Good morning everyone!

My apologies for posting a little late. I had a Summer Salad that I had to make. It's easy but involves a lot of chopping.

Here's the card for today. Using Concord Crush, Concord Crush DSP, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. I stamped Elements of Style with StazOn Black and then colored it with daubers and Concord ink squished into the lid of the pad. I used Pear Pizzazz for the leaves. Then I ran the entire thing through the Big Shot using my Lattice embossing folder. I punched out the trim with the lace border punch, punched out a circle in b-black to mat the punched greeting.

You can barely see it but I also put a black mini library clip on the circle and attached 1/4 inch black grosgrain ribbon. Both the white and the concord layers were matted with black.

Have fun!

Much love and joy,

Clean and Simple Vintage Map card

Hi there,

Here's another stab at vintage. I imagine that way back then, there was a woman like me who liked things neat and clean. Here's "our" version of vintage. Very Vanilla cardstock spritzed with Log Cabin Smooch Spritz. Early Espresso cardstock punched with an Eyelet border punch ... an antique brad, a little lace and a pretty little map of the new world. I tiny bit of espresso ribbon around the lace knot.

No, I didn't rip up the map or "distress" it. I like the detail and like to be able to read it. I didn't curl the edges of anything ... I've decided that some of my vintage cards just have to have an old fashioned look without the "shabby, cluttered" look. I'll get there. Hang in there with me. Right now, I need a few clean vintage cards. :-)

Have a wonderful sunny Sunday! See you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

It's Scrappin' Saturday!

Happy Saturday morning my stampin' pals!
How are you? Well, I hope. Today I continue with the Scrappin' Saturday birthday calendar!

This is the August page. I'll be posting a different month each Scrappin' Saturday for a while. We're on the second of twelve Saturdays for obvious reasons so if you missed last week you can just page back in the archives. I didn't start with January because I thought some of you might want to make cards out of the pages or use them in summer scrapping so most of my calendar pages will be out of order.

I used Chocolate Chip, Really Rust and Summer Sun for the cardstock. I have some retired DSP for the patterned Kraft paper and some Watercolor paper where I stamped the image. These can easily be adapted to Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight and Kraft paper (Crumb Cake) run through the Big Shot with a texture plate of some design.

The flower was made using the Daisy #2 die and the Flower Burst sizzlet die for the Big Shot. I used a sponge dauber to darken up the petals with Ch Chip. The little sunflower and pot image is from A Flower for All Seasons stamp set. I colored the image with Stampin' Write markers and bled them with aquapainters. I love that look on WC paper! I roughed up the edges of the WC paper as well. The leaves were cut with the Little Leaves sizzlet. I hope SU! gets more leaves of various types in for their dies. I love this one and use it all the time.

Next week I'll post another calendar page for you. Take care and happy stamping!

Much love and joy,

Bits and Pieces Flower Bouquet

Good morning everyone!

Jury's still out on this one but I like the crisp lines. Honestly the Little Sizzlet leaves were an afterthought because I caught an edge on one of the stamps and wanted to cover it up. Now I like the added dimension.

The cardstock here is Concord Crush, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz along with Whisper White for the background on the stamped image. The set is a Level III hostess set called Bits and Pieces. Technically I bought it for someone, my son, but I'm making samples too!

The ink is all the same as above but add Early Espresso for the flower pot. I put in Certainly Celery brads to pop the flowers. As I said before the leaves are the Little Leaves Sizzlet that I ran through my Big Shot. The little flowers are punched with the little punches in the Summer Mini Catalog and accented with the Bitty Buttons. I tied a little crochet thread through them.

The striped paper is from the Level I hostess paper pack.. It's all In Color patterns so I've been going crazy with it! Remember all of the In Colors are staying around for two years instead of one.

Have a wonderful day and we'll see you tomorrow ..... go stamp something wonderful this weekend!

Much love and joy,

Litte Robin

Good morning everyone,

I copied this from the new IB&C. I made a couple of changes but the catalog this year has some amazing samples you'll want to copy too!

I used the set, Peace Within for this card. The cardstock is Textured Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Night of Navy, More Mustard, Crumb Cake and Watercolor paper.

I used my ink pads and an aquapainter to paint the line art then used my Color Spritzer with a Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker to get the fine dots on the watercolor cardstock. I changed the bluebird to a robin, and added the cute vintage trinkets button brads instead of regular brads.

The label on the bottom is a Sissix die from the Matchbox Die that I ran through my Big Shot. I have to tell you I used the Big Shot a LOT more than I thought I would! The Cajun Craze cardstock has texture from the Dotted embossing folder. I ran that through the BS too!

That's it for me today. It's rainy here so it may be a stamping day. The beginning of the week was gorgeous so we, of course, ran like rats! We saw the Sorcerer's Apprentice at the Drive In theater last evening. The beginning was good but I thought the end was a tad dark for kids. Heck, it was a tad dark for ME! Nicholas Cage was awesome, I think he's a terrific actor and takes on such quirky roles.

That's it for me! See you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

Vintage Vogue Pink and Gray Lace

Good morning everyone!
I'm up and at 'em today! Much to do and needing to get to it. I took my second 50,000 IU of prescribed Vitamin D treatment yesterday and needed to adjust. I hope it makes a difference this fall. My rhematologist thinks it will so I'm very hopeful. It's always nice when they have a lab test to check things.

Here's my card for today .... a little Vintage action, thank you!

I think I'm getting the hang of this vintage thing. Not totally, but kind of. I wanted to do a vintage card that didn't use so many dark colors and I still ended up using some gray. Ah well!

This card used the Basic Gray cardstock as a base. I used Blushing Bride DSP from the Hostess Level I paper pack for the top portion. It's such an old fashioned wall paper design. I stamped the image from Friends Never Fade on the bottom portion of the card. I have to get this set! I used a friend's when we were stamping together!

I die cut a Top Note in Blushing Bride cardstock and trimmed off a portion of it for a different look. I put Victoria lace across the card and an Antique Brad at the edge to hold it, otherwise the stickiness came through. I strung more lace through a silver ribbon slide and used a glue dot to stick it to the upper portion of the card along with a vanilla half pearl from the Pretties Kid. The sentiment and F are from the set Vintage Vogue and the small word 'friends' in script is from Tiny Tags. I adhered the tag with a brad in Basic Gray from the new Neutrals brad collection.

You can barely see it but I punched out a teeny tiny heart in gray with the new heart border punch. Don't ask, I just thought it was so doggone cute! At any rate, here's my vintage card for the week.

Take care!

Much love and joy,

Animal Stories Birthday Owls

Hi everyone!

I got the idea for this from the IB&C (Idea Book and Catalog). Isn't it sweet? I changed the color, the leaves, and a few other things too but I think it turned out okay. This is for my son's God daughter who is turning three this fall. (I hope I remember where I put this card when the time comes!) When you make something this early it's easy to lose it!

I used Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and Pear Pizzazz. I cut the leaves with the Little Leaves Sizzlit and my Big Shot. The hearts were created by stamping the owl from Animal Stories in poppy, blush and pear, then using the small heart in the Heart to Heart punch.

The Very Vanilla Circle was cut with the Circle Scissor Plus and trimmed. The number three was a die cut I made using the Go Go Boots Alphabet and the Big Shot. The Designer Series Paper was from the hostess In Color Paper Pack for Level I. I adhered that to the front of the card which was 3x6, which means I had enough DSP to make two cards.

The sentiment is from On Your Birthday and stamped in Chocolate Chip.

The card was a little fussy but fun to make. I love having all the options the Big Shot die cut machine gives you. I use so many more of my scraps, especially with the alphabet or smaller flowers. Overall, a fantastic tool for me. I'm doing more scrapbooking because it makes it so easy!

That's it for me today. You have a fantastic day! If you want to see how I used the Sissix to organize my pantry jump over to my other blog, Life on the Exceptional Side. It's super organized! Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

It's Manic Monday!

... and time for a CAS card! Clean and Simple, my friends. Gotta love 'em!

This is More Mustard combined with Cherry Cobbler cardstock along with WW. I put the mustard through my Big Shot using the new Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. Yummy! Keep in mind this is a 3x3 mini card so the design is truncated.

I stamped the coffee cup from Pun Fun and colored it with More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso (but you knew that didn't you? ;-) Stampin' Write markers. I finished it all off by tying an espresso ribbon from the new ribbon collections! I love mini cards for gifts! This is going to a friend who overslept brunch the other day along with a packet of coffee. Our sense of humor I guess!!

Take care ladies. The day is gorgeous and I'm ready to play!

Much love and joy,

Pretties Vintage

Okay, this one is really out of the box. I decided I'd try to combine Newsprint DSP with Pretties flowers, pearls and other doo dah. I wish I would have put more black behind the Friends image. At any rate here it is.

I love the new Cherry Cobbler ink and so far it's another one of my go-to colors. Both pretties were colored with aquapainters, one in cobbler and one in various shades of chocolate chip. I spritzed the newsprint with Smootch Spritz.

The ruffle is Newsprint DSP, punched with the heart border then rumpled and folded until I had this little mess. That's one of the reasons I should've put black card stock behind more of the focal. Hmm. I may have to revise this.

At any rate, I'm still struggling with the vintage look. I'll keep plugging away! Stay tuned!

Much love and joy,

July Birthday Calendar Page

Hello stampin' pals!

I've been posting 12x12 scrapbook layouts on Saturdays but I wanted to do a birthday calendar so decided to do that on Saturdays for a while instead. This week is July. Next week will be August and so on. I didn't want to start with January.

This was a change up on a cased card but I love it dearly. I made tons of colorful men cards and one gal had me make her a bunch to send.

It uses Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive and Really Rust cardstock, although Cajun Craze could easily be substituted. I used Pocket Silhouettes to make the kelp looking weeds and a retired summer set from SU for the fish. Wish that set was still active. It seems like they retire summer sets so quickly! Or maybe its me and I want the summer sets to stay around forever. We in the northland pack a lot of livin' into those three warm months and want to scrapbook it all!

I sponged the background in summer sun (you could use Daffodil Delight in the new colors), olive and turquoise. Just make sure not to sponge too much or you'll get mud. I colored the fish with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an aquapainter. The cut out three and hung them on linen thread from a turquoise brad, like a stringer.

The word July was stamped with Full Calendar, a must have set in my opinion. And that's it! Look for the next calendar page next Saturday.

God bless,
Much love and joy,

Artistic Etching with a Crisp Look

Good morning everyone,

Here's another attempt at the vintage style for me. Even my vintage seems to have crisp lines. I just can't go shabby. I promise I'll think outside the box with my next card! I need to say to myself, "Smooch Spritz does not equal Vintage."

Cardstock used here is VV, BB, and Crumb Cake, Inks are the same with the addition of Cajun Craze, which for me is becoming a "go to" color along with Cherry Cobbler. Stamp sets here are Artistic Etchings and Tiny Tags. I used a Cajun Craze Stampin' Write marker to color the black border. It accents but you have to look closely to see it. I used a black mini library clip, taffeta ribbon and a Mini Vintage tag. Also, of course, Smooch Spritz. Tee hee.

I hope you day is lovely. The cicadas are singing outside here as are the locusts and crickets. Truly deep summer and I'm loving it!!

See you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,

Vintage Cajun Artistic Etchings

Good Morning!

Many of you know that I'm struggling with the vintage trend of card making. It's not that I don't like it, it's that I just don't seem to have a handle on how to make a decent looking card.

Here is a first attempt in Cajun Craze and Bblack. I used Newsprint DSP and VV card stock as well. I stamped the images from Artistic Etchings on the VV, then sprayed it with Log Cabin smooth spritz. I adhered the newsprint to the Cajun colored base then ran the card through my Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing folder. Unfortunately, but serendipitously, it left an inch on the right of the card without the pattern. (Operator error I'm sure). So I refit the card into a second embossing folder for the blank section and ran it through again. I LOVE the effect!

I tied on VV Taffeta ribbon and the shimmery thread you see tied around the knot is actually from the Mini Vintage Tag. I cut it off and tied it on the knot instead. I stamped the Vintage tag with a flourish from the Tiny Tags set and put a black brad through the hole.

That's it! What do you think? Can I use this for a class or club? I'm so unsure of myself with vintage I need honest comments. Please let me know what you think of this card by leaving comments. It'll help me grow into this genre of cardmaking.

Thanks!

Much love and joy,

Pet Sympathy Card

Hi everyone,

I made this for a friend who recently lost a pet. It's not my best work, but I didn't want it to be frilly and over the top. I tried to make the paper look a little dog-chewed. I used Ch Chip, Old Olive, Natural Ivory, and Sahara Sand cardstock. I used Sahara Sand and Chocolate Chip ink.

The stamp sets are D is for Dog and the one with the cross is God Messages. I stamped Chocolate Chip pawprints on the Ch Chip cardstock for a pattern before I adhered the natural ivory topnote.

I hope that it gives some comfort. I know our dog is a family member and we don't look forward to losing her.

Hope your day is awesomely fantabulistic!

Much love and joy,

Pendant Park Hello

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd get to stamp yesterday, then life intervened. I had it on the agenda for today but life is tickling my side, wanting attention, so we'll see what happens.

Here's another Pendant Park card.

Cardstock is Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, More Mustard and Very Vanilla. Ink is Old Olive and Choc Chip. I used More Mustard Brads on the tree. I used the Word Window punch to cut out the word hello, and cut the squirrels off the bench to put on each side of the greeting. I used the Modern Label punch to mat the greeting in mustard and then used the Movers and Shapers to mat that one in Bashful blue. 

Kind of a whimsical card. Hope your summer is as delightfully filled with outside activities as mine seems to be this year. With my new hip I'm a party animal!! (read that, I actually exit the house!)

Take care

Much love and joy,  

Baroque Motif and Stamped Pretties

Good morning!

How are you this morning? I'm hoping to stamp today so am trying to clear the decks so that actually happens. Seems like we hit Monday and I've got a million things to do! I want to start making some vintage cards.

As you can tell, I'm using up old card stock and ribbon before I move on full force into the new stuff. I placed an order on July 9th so I'll get my new toys soon. Then look out!

This card uses Blue Bayou, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla card stock. It uses Blue Bayou and Chocolate Chip Ink. Those are pretties from the Pretties Kit. I painted the flower with an aqua painter then when it was dry stamped it with The Define Your Life sentiment for Kindness. I then distressed the smaller flower and stamped it with dots from the Three for You stamp set. You could use the Dotted stamp in the new catty if you love the dotted look. I know I'll be using this look again in the new vintage trend cards.

The piece behind the pretties is a Close to Cocoa Scallop Punch circle. The ribbon is double stitched grosgrain in Blue Bayou. The stamped images are from the set Baroque Motifs.

Well, I'm off to see if my goodies have shipped from SU! Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

All in the Family

Hi Stampers!

This card uses the All in the Family stamp set. I was so glad to see the office stamp accessories come out ... it'll be so much fun! I used Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Whisper White and So Saffron card stock. I also used the small star punch, the oval punch and the oval scallop punch. The brads are from the now defunct Soft Subtles collection.

The little gal is colored with Stampin' Write markers.

Easy peasy people! You can make this one in your sleep!

Much love and joy,

So Sorry Game NIght card

Here's a card I made with the Game Night set and the So Sorry portion of So Sorry to Hear of Your Loss stamp from a retired set. I haven't had much time to play with the new stuff. The weather has been gorgeous, the fair is on, it's perfect weather for things like the Drive-In Theater, the Farmer's Market and road trips, you know? So we've been living our lives and taking photos to scrap during the long cold days of winter.

I didn't really make it with a person in mind but I liked the way it all matched up with the DSP to create a great card if you offended someone. Trust me, we all do that at some time or another. I hope I never have to send it but if I do ... I have it ready to go!

I used Kraft card stock, Whisper White with Real Red ink. Red Gingham ribbon finished it off.

Thanks for stopping by my cyber craft room. Have a marvy day! We're off to the Farmer's Market and then ... who knows?

Much love and joy,

Feeling Icky?

Ok, so this stamp isn't SU but the rest of the card is. Isn't he cute? I'm sending this to a friend who has an awful summer cold. I used Really Rust and Naturals Ivory for the card stock. I used Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Summer Sun and Really Rust Stampin' Write markers. I love this whimsical type of stamp, don't you?

I'm signing off. We went to the outdoor theater last night and I'm exhausted. I could've had a couple more hours of sleep. Needless to say I didn't get it and will be in bed with the chickens tonight. Have a great Friday.

See you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,