Stampin' & Scrappin' with Karen

Letting the Stampin' Up! website go.....

2011-12-23T15:55:00.000-06:00

I'm pleased to announce that this blog will be my only stampin' blog. I'm letting my SU! website go. I rarely get orders through it, most people contact me directly so please make sure to do that if you want to order. I just can't afford to keep the site going if I'm not making any money off it. This blog, however, is a labor of my love of crafting and will remain.

I'll still keep my gallery at Splitcoast for those of you who use it. :-) I haven't added anything to it recently but it's still active.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Karen

Super Mega Rubber Stamp and Stampin' Up! Sale! Don't miss this sale!

2011-10-25T18:52:00.000-05:00

Love rubber stamping and Stampin' Up! products? You CANNOT afford to miss this SALE! I've cleaned out the stamping room and I have discounted items 50% to 80% below the retail price. Need Christmas gifts? Many stamp sets have never seen ink! All are premounted for you. Tons of designer patterned paper, retired ink colors and accessories! Lots of hostess sets and Sale-a-bration stamp sets, ribbon, and retired cardstock! Join us on Saturday! You'll love the deals!

Saturday October 29

1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

At 515 East Tyler Street

Eau Claire WI 54701

JOIN US!!!

Magical Reindeer Food

2011-10-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

Magical Reindeer Food

Hello there!

I thought I'd publish some reindeer food. The verse is hard to see but says:

"Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle on the lawn,
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn.
The smell of oats and the glitter path will guide them on their way,
And you'll wake up to Santa's gifts next morn on Christmas Day!"

In the baggie is Quaker Quick Oats cereal. Instead of glitter make sure you add red and green cookie sugar along with some regular white granulated sugar so if the little guys taste it they won't get sick ... and they will taste it.

Have fun!
Much love and joy,

Feeling a little Fall-ish!

2011-09-21T21:43:00.000-05:00

I was feeling a little autumnal today and decided to whip up a quick card using retired stamp sets. The bold leaf image lends itself to the Rock n Roll technique using rust and burgundy. The little squirrel is from an old set called Wildlife Reserve.

I haven't been stamping much lately. Life got in the way but I hope I'll start posting with more frequency as the weather cools and I can't be outside as much.

Thanks for stopping by!
Much love and joy,

ooops! I guess it's summer!

2011-08-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

The summer is getting away from us! I haven't posted much but then ... I haven't made much to be posted! I'm busy filling myself with life experiences and summer "stuff" for the day job which is writing. I'll try to post at least a once each month and will shoot for twice each month as soon as I start stamping this fall. Hate to admit to being a seasonal stamper but there it is.

Hope all of you are well!
God bless!
Love and Joy,

Friends Scrap page only one this time...

2011-05-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

Here's the final page that I've completed in my Friends Scrapbook.

I was excited to find such an awesome use for the spinner hands. I LOVE using those things.

I've had NO time to scrap and because I'm a card maker it takes me hours to create ONE scrapbook page to say nothing of a two page layout.

I used Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, and Early Espresso on this page. The sentiment is an old SU set from about seven or eight years ago. I love it. You can see that I used the top note to cut designer paper for an accent to the right of the photo. I like the way this book is turning out. HOpe it continues that way!
THanks for stopping by,
Much love and joy,

More friend pages in my Friend Scrapbook

2011-05-02T12:16:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Here's another two -page layout for my friend scrapbook. These were taken by a friend's hubby, just before we attended a good-bye bash for them because he was attending school in the east.

The flower is the daisy 2 die from Stampin' Up! and I put a chocolate chip corduroy button in the center. I like the look of this page.

I hope all is well on your end. I need a scrapping day but haven't had one lately. Maybe I'll have to schedule a retreat ... or convention.

Take care dear friends and see you soon.
Much love and joy,

scrappin' pals page

2011-04-26T15:32:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple more pages for my friendship scrapbook. You can see evidence of the Big Shot in the trim and in the lettering as well as the dry embossed letters in PALS. I'm not sure how I feel about the hard flowers in the corners. Everything else has an older, more corduroy feel, like the kraft button, then suddenly, WHAM, here are some hard plastic items. I wanted a pop of color but maybe should have gone with an alternating color of satin flower or even another corduroy button in a bright shade. What do you think?

This time of year is so crazy busy! I'm lucky if I get any scrapping or cardmaking done! I only sent ONE Easter card this year to someone who sent me one. I always have time to send Easter cards! Hmmm. Time to re-evaluate the schedule. A little too much on the hamster wheel it seems.

At any rate, I hope your day is going well.
Much love and joy,

The Friend Photo Album

2011-04-05T08:49:00.000-05:00

good morning!
I'm working on a scrapbook and thought I'd share it with you over a the next few posts.

Here's teh first page ... and yes, we were having beers. I'm the one on the right.

I used a variety of items here including some vintage accessories. I have some antique buttons, some lace ribbon, a mini tag and flowers that were punched with a retired punch that I still love and use.

The alphabet for the word Friends is the Go Go Boots alphabet. You can tell the Big Shot was used to die cut the pinked edges near it. I used a tiny touch of peach/orange as my "pop" color.

Hope you enjoy,
See you soon,
Much love and joy,

Mini Backpack

2011-03-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun 3D project ... a mini back pack.

There are tons of patterns with SCS so take a look to find one that meets your needs. I used Real Red cardstock and satin ribbon for straps.

I used the Tart and Tangy stamp set and used Crystal Effects to give the apple a glossy finish.

The Top Note and Scallop Envelope were the Big Shot dies I used along with a circle brad for the clasp. The top is kept shut with a velcro dot. I cased the idea of scaling own the envelope so the red piping showed. Thanks backpack gallery person!

Here's a shot of the back. You can see I used the jumbo eyelets. I didn't really like mixing the silver circle brad with the antique eyelets but antique on the front looked funny with the fresh spring colors, and we don't have silver jumbo brads. I should have pulled the straps out so they look more even. ONe must be partially in the pack because it looks so much shorter.Ah well. You get the idea.

Any hoo, I think it turned out cute. The paper is some leftover picnic dsp I had from an old SU! catalog. Hope you enjoy the project!
Much love and joy,

Spring is Blossoming Promotion

2011-03-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I've been playing with some of my older supplies lately. I have tons of leftover designer paper and and cardstock that is retired. Well ... River Rock is back! Hope you can use the idea for the paper you have in stock!

Since we're going to be hitting another retirement time I thought I'd use a few items up ... yeah right! Like I'm even CLOSE to using anything up! ;-)

I just purchased some amazing designer paper that is part of a spring promotion. You'll have to see the criteria for the promotion on my website (I've listed it ... roughed out ... below). The paper is gorgeous!! I LOVE it.

Isn't this just beautiful??

I'll post another pic of the other designs but it won't be the greatest since I'm not a professinal photographer.

You can't really see the colors, they are so intense and rich!

Here's a photo of the stamp set in the promo:

I'm so excited to label jars with these! They match the punch of course!

Here's the 411

It's called
Spring is Blossoming Promotion
Promotion dates: April 1-30, 2011

Spring is Blossoming with Sneak Peek products from the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog. You can get these brand-new products in one of two ways:

           •Spend $20* on any Stampin' Up! products and become eligible to purchase both the Four Frames Set and Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper.

          •Host a $350* workshop and get the Four Frames Set and Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper for FREE!

*Net sales before tax and shipping

Customer order option:

     •Orders may be placed on any order type (customer, demonstrator, workshop, or online). •Customers must spend $20 to be eligible to purchase the Four Frames stamp set and/or Paisley Prints Designer Series Paper from the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.

    •Both items can be purchased once the $20 minimum is met; there is a limit of five per product once the $20 minimum is met. Ordering another $20 of Stampin' Up! products resets the limit and allows the customer to purchase another five Designer Series Papers and/or stamp sets.
PRICES
Four Frames Stamp Set

Wood mount: item 123440
$20.95

Clear mount: item 123442
$15.95

Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper

item 122367
$9.95

Hostess option

•Orders must be placed on a workshop, customer, or demonstrator order to qualify. Online orders are not eligible for this part of the promotion.

•Customers will receive the Four Frames and Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper FREE if they host a $350 workshop (net sales before tax and shipping).

•There is a limit of one Four Frames Set and Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper per workshop.

•Workshop must meet $350 minimum to be eligible for sneak peek products. Reward is for reaching the $350 level and is not incremental.

•Hostess may choose either the wood-mount or clear-mount set. Clear blocks are not included in the clear mount set.

At any rate. My website will have it all cute and button-y come the beginning of April. However, I can't tell you how cute this stuff is!

Also, the Summer Mini will be out soon. You can get an on-line copy of that on my website as well starting May 1.

That's enough for me.
Have a great day,
Much love and joy,

My book is out!!!! Children of Light by Karen J. Olson

2011-03-05T09:23:00.000-06:00

Yippee! My book is finally out! I apologize that I haven't been posting as regularly as I was. My bad. I was so busy with work that I couldn't get to it. No excuse ... just that season of my life, I guess.

If you read my column or like my Chicken Soup for the Soul stories you'll love this book too! It's a labor of love.

Here's an excerpt:

Chapter 2
A Child of Light

You may not have experienced the NICU and the roller coaster we were on, but if you have a child with special needs, you've been at the amusement park. We all hang on to the sides of our seats when our child's life, or happiness, hangs in the balance. We can't help but ask "Why?" "Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong to deserve this?"

If you're interested in seeing more, or ordering a copy, please go to the publisher's website at http://www.casparapublishing.com/ and click on "store" to order a copy ... or two. ;-)

I'll be back with scrapbook pages and cards soon!
Much love and joy,

Sending Sweet Thoughts

2011-02-02T10:59:00.000-06:00

I haven't gotten my shipment yet with SAB items so I'm making Valentine's from older stamp sets. This stamp is one of my favorites from last year. I used markers to color the stamp then applied it to whisper white cardstock. The other colors are Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake and Ruby Red. Ruby Red retired but it was one of my favorite reds. I had the leftover DSP so decided to pair them.

The scallop edge is a punch that I love. The ribbon is chocolate chip as well.

Hope you can use the sketch with your new sets. I'm going to use the flamingos and hearts in the new set, Definitely Valentine so redo this cards. Any ideas on a new red. I sooo love Ruby Red that I'm having trouble replacing it. Any ideas are appreciated.

Take care and have a great day,
Much love and joy,

For a Sick Friend

2011-01-24T08:08:00.000-06:00

Feeling punk? How about some chicken soup?

This card was made for a sick friend using the Circle Scissors Plus and the word window punch. The colors are Real Red, So Saffron and Night of Navy. I used snow swirls tone on tone to create the steam from the soup.

The bowl was stamped with a background stamp and a mini stamp I had from an old set.

It's a simple card but a fun one. Hope your day is healthy and happy,

Much love and joy,

A Day at the Beach

2011-01-10T17:30:00.000-06:00

I really love this set. I've totally been into it lately. Summer by the Sea. I know it's retired but I seem to go back to my retired sets a lot lately. Nostalgia? Who knows?

I must be feeling nostalgic because I'm missing some of the retired colors too! The blues, the purples and the caramel colors. I LOVE the new colors but still can't part with my old stuff.

Hope all is well with you.
Much love and joy,

Peeking Penguins

2011-01-04T08:01:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,

Wow, this one barely shows up! Sorry about that. It's an older set called Wild About You that retired last year. I used a reverse mask technique for the bashful blue squares so that I didn't get my penguins all colored, or the rest of the white card.

I love black gingham, or gingham ribbon in general, so miss it. Hoping that SU will have it again sometime.

This card is soooo cute if you could see the edges. It's a 4 1/4 square size.

Hope your days are warm and toasty!
Love and Joy,

Summer by the Sea

2010-12-27T09:05:00.001-06:00

Good morning all!

I apologize for my sadly neglected blog! I just wanted to immerse myself in Christmas and I did! Plus the kitchen was repainted and I've been dealing with book issues sooooooo .... all that to say, I've been so busy I haven't stamped at all! Egads!

No stamping = nothing to post! That's not good. So I'm posting an older cards that I love, made with a set I adore. Wish SU would come out with more of these. By changing skin tone and hair you can make it unique to any person of any culture or race because there are no facial features. I LOVE that. In my family it's important.

I hope to post weekly now so stay tuned!
Much love and joy,
Karen

More Flower Soft

2010-12-10T08:26:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
Here's another Flower Soft card. It's hard to see it on the stamped image but you can see it on the flower area coming out of the pot.

The pot is curled and raised and the stems are sold by the same company. I was trying for fall weeds but made them too short. The Christmas stmap is obviously SU!

HOpe all is well with you. I've got a stomach bug today so am wrapped in a blanket blogging. One drawback working for yourself ... no going back to bed. The show must go on!

Take care and talk soon!
Much love and joy,

Flower Soft

2010-12-06T09:40:00.000-06:00

Hi there,
I don't know if you can see this but I received some Flower Soft as a gift with matching placecards. Aren't they adorable? I added the Stampin' Up! cardstock as a mat and matched the greeting which is also SU!

The flower soft is on the foliage part near the candles.

I can't decide is I should hand write the name, stamp it or script it with our Cricut. What do you think?
Have a great week ladies and I'll see you soon!
Much love and joy,

Free Shipping Weekend!

2010-11-26T08:21:00.000-06:00

Good morning,

Happy Black Friday for those of you cyber shopping and figuring out the best deals. This is a free shipping weekend with me so contact me at Karen's Free Shipping so we can get the orders placed by Monday. I'll place the order at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday so please be ready with your order by then.

This card uses an old Sale-a-bration stamp set. It's such a simple card but the punched stars add so much because they tie in with the stamped image. The set was So Many Scallops. If you love it let me know. I have a few extras for sale. They're only $10 for four stamps.

Have a great weekend and good luck with that Christmas shopping!
Much love and joy,

Matchbox Dresser

2010-11-18T11:18:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

I've posted a little dresser today made using the Big Shot die cut machine.

I had it in a box and it crushed a little (sigh) but it seems okay.

Here is the top of it. The stamp set is Great Friend. I used retired DSP and Cameo Coral cardstock. I cut the DSP Top Note die and then trimmed it at the perforation marks.

The butterfly in cameo coral was a punched butterfly but the the blue stamped one I hand cut. The greetings were punched out using punches and die cuts.

The blue is Baja Breeze by the way. Love it all together.

This is how the little drawers pull out. They're made with the Matchbox die and I put Rhinestone brads through each one for drawer pulls.

I decided to wrap the tic tacs in matching DSP but wanted you to see how it all looked and fit.

This drawer has a pad of post its in it. I used yellow because they were more saffron shaded.

These are Hershey Nugget candies and I wrapped them in matching DSP like I will with the Tic Tacs.
The drawer fits four perfectly. The bowed out front of the drawer is caused by getting somewhat crushed by other projects in my hat box.

The final item I put in was a votive candle in the same coral color (it's one of the reason I went with this color scheme.). I also wrapped paper around the metal portion but will warn the recipient to remove the paper before using it.

Use sticky strip when adhering the drawers and tops on. There will be less chance of it falling apart. You can see there was some impact here but it still held.

And that's it. It's so easy it's criminal! I'm hoping to make some using Christmas paper and colors. Maybe I'll post those later.

Take care friends,
Much love and joy,

Note Kit

2010-11-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

Boy, it's been a week since I've blogged and I realized that I may have to do a weekly project instead of a daily one.

I bought a bulk paper pack of this design so I have a ton of it. The colors are Old Olive, So Saffron, Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla.

Here is the inside. It's a Note Kit. There are cards in the back section, 3x3 notes in the front right and tags in the front left pocket. I attached a few yellow post it pad notes but you could certainly add more if you'd like.

This is one of the tags.

This is one of the plain 3x3 note cards.

These are some of the note cards. I got the idea from someone very talented on Split coast but can't remember who ... I'm so sorry I can't give you credit for the note kit design. There may be a pattern on Split coast with directions for it.

That's it for me ladies. Don't forget to get you orders in for Christmas or Hanukkah cards. It takes a little longer around Christmas to get your order.

Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you soon,
Much love and joy,

Post It Holder

2010-11-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

Hello there!

I've been messing around with my Zutter BIA (Bind it all) and excess DSP from the past. I promised myself that I wouldn't buy ANY more DSP until I used up, or at least made a dent in, what I had.

I love this Lovely Letters Alphabet. It's one of my favorites.

This is a post it holder for 3x3 post its.

My note pad got stuck on a little over to the right. My bad. The DSP is stuck to two square coasters with the edges clipped using the corner punch.

These make great stocking stuffers with a matching pen.

That's it for me! I'll see you soon! Don't forget to order your supplies for Christmas or Hanukkah cards. The time is slipping away.

Take care. Much love and joy,

Pun Fun Sheep

2010-11-01T21:15:00.000-05:00

Good evening,

Yep! It's evening and I'm blogging. My mornings have been filled with appointments and meetings so I finally decided I neede to blog when I found the chance.

This is a cute little box with 3x3 notes in it. I used Pink Pirouette cardstock and used leftover DSP and Kiwi Kiss. I dug out an old SAB stamp set for the scallop circle and five petal on the front. The little sheep cards are made with the stamp set Pun Fun.

Here's the card image. The sheep wasn't colored in but I spread two way glue on it and Dazzling Diamonds glitter It's such an easy design. I also matted the image cardstock in black but only gave it piping instead of a larger mat.

I use the box to store these little notes and when I need a "thank ewe" I grab one along with one of our mini envelopes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Much love and joy,

3x3 Mini Gift Cards and Tote

2010-10-24T07:35:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted! Work is still crazy and shows no sign of letting up. Stamping, right now, is a distant memory.

It rained Saturday and I planned on getting out the supplies but had to convert my closet from summer to winter apparel first. By the time I got that done, I was pooped!

However, when I was in the closet I found an entire hat box full of 3D projects I'd made so thought I'd post some of those! This cute little note box uses the scallop edge envelope Big Shot Sissix die with Designer Series Paper (DSP). I then stamped the flower, used the five petal punch to punch it out, the Sissix die Little Leaves for the leaves and adhered it with a Build-a-Brad using the same paper as the insert.

Then I made a series of four cards using the same DSP and the Trendy Trees stamp set.

I just love these little trees! They're so versatile.

I used brads for blossoms on this one. (Hint: I've used red brads for apples in the fall cards!)

I also used the scalloped edge punch for the white scallop.

This one has some sponging on the edges too. I put a flower brad in the center of the stamped image and used the scalloped edge punch in a different way here.

Just slip the little notes (they are 3x3 notes) into your little carrying case and you're all set with a quick gift. Our Stampin' Up! Love Note or Mini Envelopes fit this size of card beautifully. They're so awesome with gifts, care baskets, or as a hostess gift.

I probably won't blog again until next weekend. Until then, have a wonderful week!
Much love and joy,

Gratitude image

2010-10-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

You might have noticed that I'm not blogging daily anymore, that I am blogging every couple of days. That's because work has been crazy enough so that I'm not getting stamping time in quite as much. However, never fear. I'm still here!

Today I wanted to show you the amazing stamp set Gratitude. Look at the larger stamp here! I colored the image with Stampin' Write markers in More Mustard, Old Olive, andn Cherry Cobbler. There is a tiny bit of Early Espresso on the dots near the center of the image. The card is Early Espresso and I rolled the matching Jumbo Wheel across it with the Early Espresso ink.

A pearl in the middle and some satin ribbon, plus a greeting ... I haven't finished the card or I'd show it to you. Call this a sneak peek. ;-)

Have a wonderful day and we'll see you soon,
Much love and joy,

Time to Bloom

2010-10-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I haven't had time to stamp so this is a fairly old project.

I used the It's Time to Bloom set along with some hodgepodge hardware. Instead of using the second brad I used an epoxy brad on the bottom. The patterned paper went well with Very Vanilla cardstock and really popped the red color.

The ribbon was red satin. The ink colors Old Olive and Real Red.

Thanks for stopping by!
Much love and joy,

Stamp set for sale

2010-10-13T20:03:00.000-05:00

Stamp Set for Sale

Hello,

Sorry about the sporadic entries in the blog but work is insanely busy and I haven't had much time to stamp! :-(

Today I'm offering this stamp set and card for sale for $6.00. If you can't pick it up then shipping is the small priority flat rate box at 4.95. The set was originally $11.95.

This is a retired set and I only have one of them so when it's gone, it's gone.
Contact me at Frames Stamp Set.

I also have a variety of retired Idea Books/catalogs available for $1 each. Shipping applies if you can't pick them up. I'll post more information on the years available on my next post.

Talk to you soon,
Much love and joy,

Daisy a Day

2010-10-09T09:08:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

How are you? We're fine. We had a great day at the river yesterday. It was 83 degrees and that's saying something mid October in Wisconsin. Today and Sunday are more of the same.

This card was a happy accident. I die cut a daisy with my Big Shot and the Daisy Flowers #2 die and realized that my paper had been off and only cut one of the flowers part way. Duh, right?

Well, when I laid everything down I liked the look of a partial die cut on the page, kind of like when we stamp partially off the page. Sooooooo.... I first ran about an inch of the base card through my crimper leaving it smooth on top and for about a quarter to half inch on the bottom. I then secured a printed window sheet with dots in Night of Navy. I put the large white flower from the Pretties Kit on the dotted window sheet and overlaid a small daisy with a pearl embellishment.

I took my partial daisy and mounted it with a large white brad. THe finishing touch was a Whisper White taffeta ribbon. I love the 3D look of it with all the textures and embellishments. I haven't put a greeting on it but I'm thinking all occasion.

Have a wonderful day!
Much love and joy,

Brayered Snowflakes

2010-10-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

Hi there,

Boy, have we been busy! How about you? I've been taking a stamp class on line and haven't even had time to make the projects!

This one uses the same brayer technique that I'm so stuck on! lol. It's going to be my Christmas card this year I think. Whisper White paper really pops with the blue ink.

I ran a piece of WW cardstock through the Big Shot using the Northern Flurry embossing folder. I ran the brayer through Night of Navy ink and ran it across the embossed piece (embossing side down). I attached it to the WW cardstock base, stamped Merry Christmas and used Dazzling Diamonds along with two way glue to give the card some Christmas glitz.

You can see that I added the crystal rhinestone stickies to the centers of the snowflakes too for extra bling.

A fun and easy card!

This is the same card in Bashful Blue but I put a New Years greeting on it.

I'm off to enjoy the day ... 80 and sunny ... in October. Not something that happens in our neck of the woods every year ... it's Indian Summer and GORGEOUS!

Hasta luego!
Much love and joy,

Summer Beach

2010-10-06T08:38:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I was fiddling around with my glossy paper and decided to get out the old Sparkling Summer stamp set for a little crayon resist!

The card base is Bashful Blue and the Designer Series Paper is a retired piece. I took a piece of glossy cardstock, stamped the image with StazOn ink and let it dry. Then I took a white crayon and colored the umbrella and chair. After that I applied the Barely Banana, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa ink using the direct to paper method.

I used a paper towel to wipe away the wax from the crayon and then matted the entire thing with white to make it pop. The saying is from an old word set. I used brads to offset the greeting.

I forgot how much fun crayon resist can be. I'm also trying to revisit some of my old sets to rediscover the joy of using them.

Hope you have a great day!
Much love and joy,

Birthday Whimsy stamp set for Sale

2010-10-04T09:20:00.000-05:00

Good morning.

The weekend was wild so I didn't get much blogging, or stamping, done. Fall is crazy around here.

I wanted to post this stamp set called Birthday Whimsy along with a card idea. I'm selling this set for $6.00 (plus shipping unless you pick up here) let me know in the comments section if you're interested in purchasing it.

I have more than one set so the set I'm selling is not the one I used and is brand new! I did mount if for you because it's an older set and would've needed cutting with special scissors.

Have a great day and see you tomorrow!
Much love and joy,

Top Note Bag

2010-09-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

Here's a fun idea for the top note die. I used a Sale-a-bration set from a while back and made this with Purely Pomegranate and Kiwi Kiss. I'm almost out of both paper and need to remember to match them before I use the last piece.

The alphabet is Lovely Letters and I used circle punches as well as the scallop circle punch to pop the monogram.

This is two top notes with a cut off white lunch bag in between. I used Sticky Strip for the adhesive since the bag added extra weight.

Have fun creating!
Much love and joy,

Autumn Mouse

2010-09-29T09:18:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I know, I know ... another mouse. I just thought he was soooo cute! I used Watercolor paper and stamped the image in StazOn ink. The card is Really Rust, the mat is Ballet Blue. The brads are More Mustard.

I colored the image with my Stampin' Write markers and gave the mouse some shading by bleeding his fur color with my aquapainter.

I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the leaves for a crisp fall look and made his little cheeks and nose pink with cold. Okay, I'm into it a little much. I love images like this!

That's it for me today. My son is not feeling well so is in bed needing me. Take care and stamp, stamp, stamp!

Much love and joy,

You're a Classic

2010-09-28T08:21:00.000-05:00

Good morning,
I've been a little sporadic about posting lately and for that I'm sorry. It's been so crazy around here it's bordering on ridiculous. One the fall settles into a routine we'll be fine.

Today is my brother Dave's birthday so a shout out to him, although I doubt that he's reading my card blog.

This is a card that I made some time ago with a set I wish I would've kept. (I sold it after it retired and now want it back you know?) I hate that when that happens. I did save the wheel however and use it a lot. The colors are Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel and black. I used the Rough Jumbo Wheel and the You're a Classic stamp set. The spiral punch finished off the mat in a fun way too. It would be a great card with the pickup in the apple set in the new catalog. I can't remember the name right now and I'm not near my catalog.

If you're one of my "constant customers" please contact me for an amazing deal. It's a surprise so I'm not putting it on here.

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow,
Much love and joy,

Happy Birthday Train

2010-09-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I am definitely behind today! Here's a card I made with Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. I needed a quick card for a two year old's birthday. The caboose is, of course, Real Red! I've been using a lot of wheels lately and rediscovering them. I remember now why I like them so much!

Well, I'm off! See you tomorrow!
Much love and joy,

Little Tag Birdie

2010-09-23T10:13:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I didn't get a card made for today so I thought I'd post one from the Stampin' Up! Regional Conference a few years ago. I made it, it just wasn't my idea!

The kraft paper you see is an envelope. You seal it shut then use your paper cutter to cut off the end. The belly band is designer paper cut to fit. The Soft Sky card inside the envie is decorated at the top in Soft Sky ink. A cute litte button pattern. The corners of the card were rounded with the corner rounder punch.

The knotted ribbon is positioned with a glue dot and the metal edge tag was stamped and adhered in the same way.

This is soooo easy. People love the idea!

Have a great day and we'll see you soon,

Much love and joy,

Karen

ASL Noel

2010-09-22T09:11:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

Hope you are all doing well.

This one was totally fun! My son is profoundly hard of hearing and orders equipment from Harris Communications. For a while they had the American Sign Language hand signs in rubber stamps. Naturally we ordered them!

This card uses the retired set Little Layers Plus as the background, the hand signs stamped for Noel. I had to use the cutter for the smaller squares. Wish Stampin' Up! would come out with some smaller square and circle punches for alphabet letters like this.

The hands were colored with a Blush Blossom marker and I added Dazzling Diamonds just because it was a Christmas card.

Then I added the black and white gingham ribbon to finish it off.

Have a great day and see you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

Concord Crush Snowman

2010-09-21T08:28:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I missed blogging yesterday which was sooooo unusual for me. Life got in the way again. I hope all is well with you!

This card was a fun one ... aren't they all? It's made with Whisper White and Concord Crush cardstock and Concord Crush ink.I stamped the image and punched it out with the circle punch, then mounted it on the scallop circle. I'm beginning to think I NEED this set, you know?

You might be able to see that I used two way glue and hit the snowflakes and snow banks so I could use Dazzling Diamonds glitter on it. I think it added something.

I adhered Concord Crush DSP from the Level I hostess paper pack to the bottom of the card.

The ribbon is 1/4 inch white grosgrain. I rolled one of the mini triple wheels through the concord ink and rolled it on the ribbon for a little something extra.

That's it! Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Crab Happy

2010-09-19T07:42:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

How are you? We're crazy busy now that Fall has started but that's life.

This is my good bye card to summer. The colors used are Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie. The crab image is from Crab and Company and the background flower is from Baroque Motif. The alphabet is from Jumbo Outline Alphabet.

I layered the letters and colored the bottom portions in pumpkin and the top in summer sun. Everywhere the letters intersected, I left the letters white. The ribbon is Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain. I used Flower Fusion felt flowers in pumpkin and some pumpkin brads.

Have a wonderful sabbath and we'll see you soon,
Much love and joy,

A Tiny Touch of Autumn

2010-09-18T13:45:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon,

I'm on the fly once again so will post quickly. This card is ridiculously simple but one that I love. I uses WW cardstock and a dab of Pear Pizzaz. I first colored the stamp image on Three Leaves with my Stampin' Write markers, using Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzaz, Peach Parfait and Cherry Cobbler.

You can see that I just touched up the leaves with a bit of alternate color. I then punched out the image with my 1 1/4 inch square punch, followed by a square in Pear Pizzaz punched with the 1 3/8 inch punch.

I used Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere the art and tied a tangerine colored ribbon (SU, but retired) around the top.

This card can be seen on SCS in a few days as the Index Card for this set in the Stampin' Up! gallery.

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,

Friendly Flower

2010-09-17T07:33:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

It's ANOTHER rainy day! Sigh. I need to run errands this morning and I'm tempted to make one of them an errand to get a decent slicker. I'm tired of getting wet!

I hope to get time to stamp this weekend. I'm feeling the "need."

This card was super simple. It's Whisper White cardstock with the Hostess Level 1 In Color designer paper pack. I used a page of the Poppy Parade. The little flowers is from the Hostess Level 2 set Cute by the Inch. It's colored in Old Olive and Poppy Parade with markers on the stamp. I mounted an Itty Bitty Button on the flower but I am, however a little disappointed the button on the flower didn't pop more.

Here you can see that I put linen thread through the button and attached it with a glue dot.

I matted the square with Old Olive using a square punch. I finished off the card with Olive Satin ribbon and with more linen thread to tie the bow to my focal point.

Hope your day is amazing.

Much love and joy,

My Little Mouse with Owie

2010-09-16T10:20:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

Okay, so the image isn't Stampin' Up! but the rest of the card is! You know how I am about my little cartoon mice. I had to get this since I've been on crutches since my hip surgery. It's even the correct leg!!

I used Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake and Watercolor paper. The image was laid down with Black StazOn ink. The images were colored with Stampin' Write markers and bled with an aquapainter. The mongo huge button is from the Holiday Mini catalog. I liked using Vanilla so I would have contrast with the Kraft taffeta ribbon, they had Crumb Cake colored buttons too though. Either will work.

Isn't a precious look with the button being to scale with mice?

I'm on the fly this morning so I'll catch you later. Have a great day, and for pity's sake, STAMP something.

Much love and joy,

Peach and Pear Bird

2010-09-15T10:02:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I'm getting a late start today. Just out of sync I guess.

Here's today's card. I used the new Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait colors and the level 2 hostess set, Cute by the Inch. The DSP is the level one hostess paper pack.

I colored the stamp directly with the Stampin' Write markers and then punched it out with my 1 1/4 inch square punch and matted it in Pear Pizzazz textured cardstock by punching that out with my 1 3/8 inch square punch.

You can see that I used textured cardstock in pear for the ribbon.

I used the same technique here and put this stamp design on the side squares, making the bird my focal point.

I finished it off using the edge punch and brads.

All in all it turned out well I think. I love the new In Colors. The pear and peach are dustier versions of celery and apricot. While I detested the apricot, I really love the peach. It has a subtle pumkiny, peachy, guava-y type of look.

All of this was mounted on WW cardstock.

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Fall Pumpkins

2010-09-14T09:26:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

As you can tell, I've been into the Harvest Home stamp set. I stamped the images on Whisper White cardstock, except for the main image, which is on watercolor paper, and matted them with Basic Black. I used Black StazOn ink so ink so it would bleed when I used water to blend the colors.

I used Stampin' Write markers to color the image and an aquapainter to blend them. I put Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the pumpkins for frost. and tied a narrow taffeta ribbon in Daffodil Delight in the corner. I also very lightly sponged Bashful Blue on the sky (I miss Soft Sky!)

The leaves were stamped with Black StazOn and colored with markers. I blended various colors that were in the main image.

The sentiment was done by coloring directly onto the rubber stamp and "huffing" to remoisten the ink before laying down the image. I matched the colors to the brads.

These Glimmer Brads are available in the Holiday Mini and a LOVE them! I find that with fall and winter cards they really add that frosty look.

It was a fun card to make. I like the line art and playing with the images. I guess I still like to color, you know?

Have a great day

Much love and joy,

Harvest Home Corn

2010-09-13T07:45:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I'm playing with fall cards and this one is made with the Harvest Home stamp set. I used Marina Mist for the base card, Baja Breeze for the mat, which I ran through the Big Shot using the Dotted embossing folder. I then cut out a Top Note with the Big Shot in Daffodil Delight and ran it through again with teh flowers embossing folder.

The stamp art is Harvest Home and on Watercolor paper with StazOn ink. It was colored with Stampin' Write markers and bled with aquapainters. I mounted that on Old Olive and added the Glimmer brads from the Holiday Mini catalog.

The leaf was cut in the Big Shot as well using the Leaves die.

The inside has another leaf and more daffodil cardstock.

The color combination was directly from the New Color Coach. I added some of the accent colors.

Have a great day!

Much love and joy,

Pheasant in the Weeds

2010-09-12T07:52:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I brought out my autumn sets yesterday and made a few fall cards. This one uses the Autumn Days set. Love that pheasant! I made him colors that matched the weeds. The color combination came from the Cajun Craze page of the new Color Coach, which I love. They are Cajun Craze for the base card, Baja Breeze, and Old Olive. I accented with Crumb Cake on my own, primarily because my fall wheat in the image was that color.

I did cut out an extra pheasant and mask the image so that I could have wheat and weeds behind him. I used Crumb Cake taffeta for the ribbon. I haven't purchased many new buttons yet so used a retired Kraft Corduroy one next to the ribbon. You could use any color you had on hand.

That's it for me today. Join me again tomorrow for another project.

Take care of yourself!

Much love and joy,

Halloween Flip Flop Card

2010-09-11T08:29:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

We're still on Halloween here! This next card was made with the Wicked Cool stamp set and Wicked Fun DSP. It also features the Bat punch. The base card is Old Olive, one of my go-to colors most of the time, but especially at Halloween.

I stamped the web in Old Olive ink all over the inside of the card.

Here is whta the fold looks like. It's a regular sized card, cut the long way, then I cut off about 2 -2 1/2 inches on the front. I cut a smaller version and reversed the fold. When you close it, close the olive first and the Rich Razzleberry flap over it.

The front of the Olive flap is where you put the designer paper.

Then I started with the matted stamp image. The hat and word Spooky were stamped on Shimmery White paper which doesn't mean much in photos but shows up beautifully IRL.

I double matted the image in Cajun Craze, and black to highlight all the colors in the DSP. I punched out a bat and stuck it on there and stapled three kinds of ribbon to it. You can barely see it but I pierced the corners of the black mat. Then mounted it on the front of the razzleberry card.

The inside of the card has the witches feet stamped and another punched bat.
Honestly, the card is cute but the stamped images aren't coordinating the way I like. I'll be playing with this and finding a more striking image for the front and inside. I love the stamp set, it's just not making it for this card. I think perhaps some line art. hmmm.

Have a great day.
Much love and joy,

Paper Piece Witch

2010-09-10T07:53:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Here's my little paper pieced witch. I used Wicked Cool Designer Series Paper (DSP) and mounted a background piece on the Old Olive cardstock. I stamped the witch and cat images from Fangtastic on the Olive cardstock, then mounted it on Basic Black, taking care to cut enough extra black cardstock for the Shimmery Brads (Holiday Mini).

I scored the black piece above the brads to make the entire witch portion hinged.

Then I put an extra piece of olive cardstock inside with the letter for the word BOO. The letters were cut out of black cardstock with my Big Shot die cut machine using the Go Go Boots alphabet.

The witch's orange dress and hat, plus her razzleberry stockings were stamped on other pages of the Wicked Cool DSP and cut out with my snips to paper piece onto the card.

Finally I added a teeny bit of black lace ribbon.

We'll see you tomorrow, I might have one more Halloween card for you ...

Until then ....

Much love and joy,

Batty for your Fangs

2010-09-09T07:33:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

It's Halloween card week and here's another one. This card uses Wicked Fun Designer Series Paper, Old Olive, black, Rich Razzleberry Textured and Cajun Craze cardstock. If you look carefully at the DSP those ore the colors that fleck it so I pulled color out that way.

The sketch is obvious. I creeped up my bat from Batty for You stamp set with black jewels (Holiday Mini) in the eyes.

Part of the little gluey thing came off with one jewel so he looks like his one eye is all matted up or he's crying. I'll have to clip that off, it bothers me.

The ribbons were Dusty Durango Polka Dot (RET) flipped over, black narrow taffeta, razzleberry grosgrain (1/4 inch) and black lace.

The razzleberry circle was punched with the new large 2 1/2 inch circle punch (Holiday Mini catalog).

This little Fangtastic stamp set with the vampire and witch actually belongs to my son, who scrapbooks too. We started it as art class during homeschool and it became so much more. It's a way for him to articulate his feelings and display emotions, huge in a child with disabilities.

That's it for me! See you tomorrow for another project!

Much love and joy,

Wicked Cool Candles

2010-09-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

This week is the week of the Halloween card I guess. This one is so easy it's ridiculous. Shimmery White cardstock matted on Basic Black. The base card is Rich Razzleberry. The stamp set is Wicked Cool, the inks are razzleberry and black.

I embellished with two black brads, some jewels from the new catalog and some thin black taffeta from the new catty as well. It was fun and WAAAYYYY easy ;-)

Here's a close up of the brads and jewels.

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Spider Web Halloween Card

2010-09-07T07:45:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone!

Today I'm using my new brayer technique on this Halloween card. Isn't serendipity great? First run a piece of black cardstock through the Big Shot using the Spider Web embossing folder in the Holiday Mini. It will look like this.

You'll notice the the ridges of the spider web are facing up.

You want to turn the cardstock over so you get the obverse, the ridges need to be facing your protected work surface.

You can see that the creases are facing down.

Now, ink up your brayer with Whisper White craft ink and roll it back and forth over the cardstock. You can re- ink if you need to, it didn't seem to make any difference with lines or anything. Then let it dry.

I don't know if you can heat set it. I brayered mine then left for a while so don't know how long it took to dry. It has a chalky texture that's kind of funky.

The little spider is from the stamp set Batty for You. He is stamped on Cajun Craze cardstock and I've used a couple of the black jewels in the Holiday Mini Catalog to make his eyes creepier. I also matted the circle with black cardstock, and tied a black lace ribbon (available in the Holiday Mini) at the top.

And there you have it, a creepy crawly Halloween card!

Have a great day,

Much love and joy,

A update of free shipping weekend

2010-09-04T19:32:00.000-05:00

The free shipping special is MY special, not a Stampin' Up! special so you must:

Order through me
The merchandise comes to my home
You pick up the merchandise here.

Thanks for ordering! There are soooo many awesome stamp sets and accessories, I'm having a hard time choosing ... I want it all!

See you soon,
Karen

FREE SHIPPING WEEKEND! plus A Double Slider Blossom card

2010-09-04T07:43:00.000-05:00

Good morning and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

I know I told you I was on the fly today and I am but I'll quick post a double slider card for you! Quick description. I used Aways Artichoke and So Saffron cardstock. THe flowers are painted with Watercolor crayons.

For those of you waiting .... SU has experienced some delay with crayons. Apparently the company that manufactured them built a new location and only recently went back into production. We're hoping to hear something soon, but still haven't heard an availability date. Thanks for your patience.

This is the card in its open state. It looks lopsided because it's nearly impossible to take a picture of it standing up! LOL.

Open your card the long way so the fold is on the bottom and the open portion is at the top.
Stamp your background on the front
Take the Word window punch an go in as far as you can from the left side. Punch the window
Move the punch slightly to make your window longer and punch again.
Approaching the card from the right side do the same, lining it up with the holes on the other side so they're directly across from each other.
Punch 4 circles with the 1/2 inch circle punch.
Put a Stampin' Dimensional on two of them and put them on the inside of the card so the sticky part of the dimensional comes through your word window.
Adhere the other dots on the front side of the dimensional. This is your sliding portion
STick the bottom portion of your small insert (in this case, the blossom defiinition) onto the dots with more adhesive, I like mini glue dots here.
Open the card and line up the large portion (with the flowers and bee in this case) of the card and use glue dots to stick it to the very back of the 1/2 inch dots.
Adhere the front portion with just flowers in place on the front to hide the word window slots.
I used the little slot punch to attach the ribbon along with a brad.
You'll notice I sponged the background of each art piece wit a very light blue.
SCS has a tutorial with photos too if you're interested.

It's a FREE SHIPPING weekends. Email your order to me (or call) by Monday at 5:00 p.m. and you qualify for free shipping on your order! Contact me soon!

Have fun and we'll see you soon,

Much love and joy,

Embossing Folder Brayer Technique

2010-09-03T08:42:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Our card today features the new Vintage Wallpaper, the Square Lattice embossing folder and the new Pear Pizzazz ink. The card is pretty self explanatory except for coloring the embossing portion.

First run your piece of Whisper White cardstock through the Big Shot with the wallpaper folder. Then take it out and lay it on your protected work surface upside down. What I mean by that is, lay it down so the raised images are on the bottom, you want the part in between the images to be the raised portion you're going to color.

Ink up a brayer in Pear Pizzazz and roll it over the image, back and forth, until you get the uniform color you want. Then mat it in black.

The next piece of Whisper White is run through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice embossing folder. I left mine white but you could certainly ink yours up too.

I discovered this technique just playing around and it's waaaaayyyy easier than inking up an embossing folder.

This is the greeting using the thank you stamp from Just Because I Care, a Level I hostess set. The sentiment is stamped on white and punched out with the Word Window punch and matted in pear with the Modern Label punch. I accented it with the Filigree Designer brad and some satin ribbon.

That's it! So fast and easy and the look is MY style of vintage!

Have a great day. Check in on Sunday. I have a full schedule tomorrow so am giving myself the day off blogging ... unless I stamp ... then I'll blog .... I'm hopeless!

Much love and joy,

Blue and Olive Baroque Kindness

2010-09-02T07:51:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I've been using Baroque Motif a lot lately again and this card is one of my favs. I made it using Soft Sky (Baja Breeze or Bashful Blue would both work too) and Old Olive. The stamped image uses the same colors on Whisper White cardstock.

I put a strip of olive cardstock at the bottom of the white and pierced it in a double row. You may have to expand the photo to see the piercing, I'm not sure. I stamped the letter Kk from the Defining Alphabet in blue then stamped the corresponding definition from the Define Your Life set (Kindness) The word 'kind' came from the Baroque Motifs set.

I tied a 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon at the top and I was done! This card, btw, is cut the long way so the fold is at the top.

Have a great, if rainy, day.

Much love and joy,

Mirror Image Fall Trees

2010-09-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I hope the days finds you healthy and happy.

Today I've got a mirror image card for you. The cardstock is Soft Sky but you could easily use Baja Breeze. I used More Mustard and Whisper White as well.

I stamped the Lovely as a Tree image onto the cardstock in Always Artichoke. Then I inked the stamp again and stamped my Stamp-a-ma-jig. While the ink was still wet I flipped the image and set it down on the cardstock, gently rubbing to make sure I got each image. I also offset the trees just a little in the "water" image.

The trees were sponged with various yellows, oranges and reds and the grounding near the tree bases was sponged lightly with artichoke ink.The sky was sponged very lightly with the cardstock blue. With a mustard ribbon and the word Autumn, my card was done.

That's it for today! See you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

Baroque Motif with Shadowing

2010-08-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning stampin' pals,

This card uses River Rock and Wild Wasabi ink. The cardstock is the stame with the addition of Very Vanilla.

I first stmaped the image from Baroque Motifs with River Rock. Then, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I loved the image over a little and stamped wasabi, a variation on the shadow technique.I stamped River Rock on the River cardstock and Wasabi on the wasabi belly band.

Vanilla taffeta ribbon and antique brads in the cut out flowers from the set finished it off. One of the flowers was stamped full strength and the other was stamped off once. The center was river rock and punched out with the 1/2 inch circle punch.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Much love and joy,

Bunch o' Bugs

2010-08-30T07:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

Here's a card using Wild Wasbi, Pacific Point and Pumpkin Pie. The DSP is leftovers. I took my cutting tool and laid the DSP on my cutting mat, I swirled a cut, which was amazingly easy then mounted the paper with a slight gap. Bugs and Kisses is the stamp set. I used Hodgepodge Hardware for the greeting.

I love this little bug set. It's so great for scrapbooking boys.

Take care,

Much love and joy,

Pirate Invitation

2010-08-29T07:50:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

So sorry I didn't check in yesterday, life got in the way, you know?

Today, I'm showing you a birthday invitation made with Ahoy Matey (RET). The image was stamped in StazOn ink and colored with Stampin' Write markers, then bled with an aquapainter. The card fold is unique as well. Here is a pic of the inside.

This is the inside middle. I stamped a light image of the ship in the background and the information labels to the side.

This is the top portion of the inside

This is the bottom of the inside and held three "Pieces of Eight" that could be redeemed for pirate treasure at the party.

All in all, everyone loved the pirate themed party. It was silly and fun!

I promise, I'll stamp soon and get some more current sets on the blog. I've been so insanely busy that stamping just hasn't been an option with the new colors. I don't really know how to blend them yet, I need to work with them for a while.

Have a great day!

Much love and joy,

Sending Warm Thoughts

2010-08-27T08:19:00.000-05:00

Good morning my stampin' pals,

This is a card I made for a loved one using the Wandering Words set. I colored the set with Stampin' Write markers and huffed on it. It's laid done on Whisper White cardstock, double matted with Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake. The base cardstock and DSP are Ruby Red, one of my fav reds.

The ribbon is 5/8 inch chocolate chip grosgrain. The card is a 3x6, one of my favorite sizes.

Again, easy easy easy!

Have a great day,

Much love and joy,

Welcome Christmas

2010-08-26T08:58:00.000-05:00

Good morning stampers,

This card is another easy one. It uses Black StazOn, Pacific Point and Pink Pirouette Ink. I masked the bottom of the Whisper White cardstock and put the pink on with a sponge. Then I tore another post it to cover the center portion of pink.

I sponged the blue on then stamped the tree grouping. I removed the post-its and stamped on the final pine tree and the sentiment. The card was Pacific Point and the mat is Basic Black.

That's all there is to it. Maximum impact, minimum work!

Have a great day!

Much love and joy,

Fall Trees

2010-08-25T07:57:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

It's absolutely gorgeous today and I have to work all day .... sniff sniff. At least I love my work.

Today I'm felling a little fall-ish. This card uses Close to Cocoa, Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White. I stamped the Lovely as a Tree image in Mellow Moss, More Mustard and Elegant Eggplant with moss grass and cocoa tree trunks.

I colored the rubber stamp with Stampin' Write markers then "huffed" on the inked stamp to remoisten I stamped the image then used two way glue to dot on the tree and glitter (RET) from SU.

The ribbon is Elegant Eggplant 1/4 inch grosgrain and I added a small piece of silver cord sold in last years holiday mini.

All in all, a very fall-like image.

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow for another project.
God bless,
Much love and joy,

Sweet Centers Halloween Treats

2010-08-24T09:22:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I'm making sweet treats! This one is made with Rich Razzleberry textured cardstock, Basic Black and Whisper White. The fun fill is actually granola with craisins. The punches for the greeting (stamped with Teeny Tiny Wishes) is the word window and the designer label punch. The ribbon is black gingham (RET) and the brad is Old Olive as is the feature art which is stamped with the Sweet Centers stamp set. What fun!

The next one uses Only Orange (Tangerine Tango would probably work), Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. The fill is Halloween M&Ms. I matched the Lovely Lilac grosgrain ribbon to the candy color, IRL it matches perfectly. Kiwi Kiss would've matched the green candy better but I used Old Olive ink to stamp the main image. I was on a roll with it. All that was topped off with a little black organza (RET).

Once again, friends. You can substitute color, ribbon and cardstock. I'm just not wealthy enough to trash all my retired supplies and move on to all the new color. I did purchase all the new color but will keep using the old until all my cardstock and DSP is used up. I'm sure you understand.

I'm kind of torn between using it up and moving on ... and being save-y with it because I'll never see it again. I know some of you are matching your cardstock to other papers. You can certainly ring in on it here. I did write to Stampin' Up! and mentioned your wishes for a new family with the older colors. I also gave them your wish list for stamps. I bet I'm their favorite flavor right now. ;-) but I wanted them to know how their customers feel.

I will not be using retired colors and the like for classes and clubs. I want you to be able to duplicate projects but for my blog, my board and cards I send I will use up my old supplies. BAD demo, right? It is, what it is.

Have a great day!

Much love and joy,

Inspired By Nature Embossed

2010-08-23T07:44:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Boy, the colors on this card just didn't show up well. The cardstock is Mellow Moss and the DSP is Always Artichoke. I stamped the image from Inspired by Nature on the DSP using VersaMark. I used white embossing powder and heat set the image.

A little WW taffeta ribbon and a filigree brad and voila! Tis done. As you can see, I'm into fast, easy and fun!

Take care and see you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,

Vintage Vogue Cajun and Gray

2010-08-21T07:54:00.001-05:00

Good morning,

Here's another vintage look for me. I've got Cajun Craze, Newsprint DSP and Basic Gray going here. I stamped images from Vintage Vogue on the background and on the newsprint in Cajun as well. I made sure that some of the images were stamped off to give it a different look.

I stamped the flower, cut it out and secured it with an antique brad. Then I stamped the sentiment on twill tape with basic gray ink and adhered it with a brad.

You know me, easy peasy is the way to go.

Take care and have a fantastic day,

Much love and joy,

May Birthday Calendar Page

2010-08-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Here is our final calendar page. It's done in Cameo Coral and Old Olive. I stamped the image from Bella Blossom four times and cut various parts to layer it (you can see it on the sample), then I dyed Whisper White taffeta ribbon with the coral ink. With a coral mat and a second mat in green I was done.

The most time consuming part, of course, was the cutting. But well worth it, I think! Especially for something you use every year. The months were all stamped with the Full Calendar stamp set.

Hope your day is filled with flowers and fun!

Much love and joy,

Karen

April Birthday Calendar page

2010-08-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Here is the April birthday calendar page. Everything except the stamp is SU. the colors are Real Red, Summer Sun and Really Rust for the little girl. The water and mat are Bordering Blue, a go-to color for me. I stamped the image in StazOn on Watercolor paper and used Stampin' Write markers to color. I bled the color with aquapainters.

The overlay is from a DSP set called Night and Day and I secured it with Bordering or Ballet Blue brads (I can't remember which). I thought it kind of looked like rain. I may have posted the card version of this little gal back in May. The sentiment on the card was "Friends are the umbrellas in the storms of life."

Hope you all have a great day! I need to run some errands and pick up a spoon I forgot somewhere last night! Honestly, I should just go out a buy a few more but alas, I don't NEED them, you know?

Take care,

Much love and joy,

March Birthday Calendar Page

2010-08-18T07:41:00.000-05:00

Here we are with the March Birthday Calendar page. The stamp set is from a hostess set called Country Morning. It's on natural cardstock, mounted on Really Rust and then on Crumb Cake. I stamped the sentiment on the Crumb Cake along the Rust mat on the right side. I'm not sure you can see it.

I used Blender Pens and squished Classic ink pads for the coloring. Some Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon and a mini library clip finished it off!

Join me tomorrow for another project!

Much love and joy,

February Birthday Calendar Page

2010-08-17T07:19:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Here is the February birthday calendar page. It uses Real Red, Old Olive and Whisper White cardstock with a touch of basic black to mat the white. The image is stamped with Stampin' Write markers in the same colors and the hearts are punched and the set is a retired Valentines Day set. Gosh, they retired so much stuff this year that nearly everything I own is retired.

Like you, dear reader, I live in a budget and am gradually building up my supplies again, starting with the new colors. Hopefully, by the time I finish showing you this calendar I will have purchased a new stamp set to show off!

Don't miss the cute little black Library clip or the gingham ribbon!

Take care and be good!

Much love and joy,

January Birthday Calendar page

2010-08-16T07:42:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone!

I'm posting another calendar page today, primarily because I haven't had time to stamp at all and those pages are done!

Here is the January Birthday Calendar page.

I used the retired set Flakey Friends, but you could use any snowman set you have along with any color of snowman paper. I used a couple of atypical winter colors, Sage Shadow and Ruby Red. I love Ruby Red, it's such a winter red.

I stamped the image using StazOn ink on watercolor paper and then used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the snowmen. The taffeta ribbon is strung through a hole made by the slot punch. The entire thing is set on Sage and mounted on Ruby Red although the photo makes it look like rust.

That's it for me. I hope to get to some stamping soon! I have a downline meeting on Wednesday and we have a shoebox swap so I'll have to get my beans in a row eventually! Don't forget to sign up to be a follower and my blog will show up on your dashboard!

Take care and have an extra special day!

Much love and joy,

December Birthday Calendar Page

2010-08-15T08:04:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I know it feels strange to look at a December birthday calendar page but there it is. I colored this with Stampin' Write markers, mainly in what used to be the Earth Elements family. Then I sponged the edges with NQN and added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to get that extra punch.

The set is called Sleigh Ride. I also used the ticket corner punch on the greeting along with some Bravo Burgundy to mat.

Thanks for stopping by, I'm running late for church so had better fly,

Much love and joy,

November Birthday Calendar page

2010-08-14T08:33:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Here's the November page of our birthday calendar. Isn't he cute? Like I've said before, 99.9% of what I use is SU because I LOVE the quality but once in a while, something touches my sense of whimsy or cuteness and I have to have it. I have a special softness for cartoon mice and snowmen!

This little guy was colored with last years In Colors, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and Early Espresso. The red is Real Red. I colored with Stampin' Write markers and bled the color with aquapainters. The scarf is full marker.

Remember to ground your image. I grounded my guy on espresso, even though he should have been on snow. Now that I'm looking I think that a blue would have been better. At least he's not floating in the air.

Have a great Saturday,

Much love and joy,

Party Hearty Cupcake

2010-08-13T07:58:00.000-05:00

Good Rainy Morning everyone,

Guess we don't have to worry about all those drought summers anymore. However, next week sounds amazing! High 70s during the day with sun, sun, sun! Speaking as someone short on Vitamin D, I NEED it!

Today's card is made with the Party Hearty Stamp set. It uses Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss ink and cardstock. I wish SU would have brought back Kiwi. I'm so used to using it withe the colors that came back ... ah well ... if wishes were fishes, right?

The punches used were the scallop edge punch and both square punches. The cherry is from Tart and Tangy. A little Dazzling Diamonds on the frosting and a couple of brads ... voila! You have a gift card ready to go!

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

Karen had a Little Lamb

2010-08-12T07:56:00.000-05:00

Good morning stampers,

Here's a cute little punched sheep card made with punches. I used Handsome Hunter and Blush Blossom, in addition to Whisper White and Basic Black, are the colors. I cut the green hills with my Cutting tool then outlined it in white gel pen. I stamped the hunter colored card stock with Eastern Blooms and clear embossed the flowers.

The ribbon is Whisper White tafetta and black gingham ribbon tied into a little knot and secured with a mini glue dot.

The sheep is made with punches:

I started a book for club members with two pages of punch animals, this darling sheep and a cute little owl.

Easy and cute! Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you need to order punches or you can order on my website. Make sure to designate me as your demo so you get preferred pricing.

Take care and drive safely in the fog!

Much love and joy,

Tangerine Graduation Gift Card

2010-08-11T07:51:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I needed a quick graduation gift card and came up with this one. Unfortunately, I see that one of my circles is crooked and I didn't notice it before I took the picture. So sorry.

I can't seem to help myself ... I keep using Kiwi Kiss with the Tangerine and Pacific Point colors. This card uses Party Hearty stamp set and the scallop edge punch. I love the gingham ribbon to punch the greeting in black. It's a 3x3 gift card so the greeting runs off the card on both sides, which I like.

I can't believe that I didn't notice the crooked dot! The package is gone so it's too late to fix it too. Nuts! Oh well! Sigh. Maybe the adhesive let loose ... yeah, that's it! The adhesive let loose and it shifted ... right?

Have a wonderful day,

Much love and joy,

Sweet Stems Baja and Pink

2010-08-10T07:39:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I can't believe it's mid August already. The seasons fly by as I get older. My grandmother told me that it goes by quickly but when you're young you just don't believe it.

This card uses Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette and Rose Red cardstock. The image is from Sweet Stems and is stamped in Black StazOn on a piece of Whisper White. The flower is colored using a squished ink pad and a blender pen. The white cardstock was punched using the Designer Label punch and brads were added to secure the paper to the retired baja ribbon.

The edge was punched with the Eyelet Border Punch.The Baja DSP is retired as well. Like anyone else, Demos have to use up their retired items too!

The ribbon on this card looks deceptively easy but wasn't. Getting the right tension, then securing brads without going through the cardstock was very difficult. I think next time I'd just go through the cardstock and be done with it.

That's it for me. See you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

At the Beach June Calendar Page

2010-08-09T07:02:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I hope the day finds you healthy and happy.

I decided to put the June page of the birthday calendar up today. I miss these sets. This stamp is from Summer by the Sea. I used Creamy Caramel, Lovely Lilac and Sage Shadow along with Very Vanilla for the stamped image.

I used Stampin' Write markers to color the image and then bled them with aquapainters. The ribbon is Lovely Lilac 1/4 inch grosgrain and creamy caramel gingham, both retired.

I'll keep posting calendar pages. A few of you are working on calendars and wanted to see the ideas right away for each month. Thanks for letting me know.

Take care.

Much love and joy,

Tangerine Flowers

2010-08-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

This card is so easy it can be done in a snap. The colors are Certainly Celery, Tangerine Tango and Chocolate Chip. The stamp sets are Petal Pizzazz and Smarty Pants. The center flower is cut out, as is the word "yourself". The Jumbo eyelet was set with the Cropodile tool.

I had to use retired Tango ribbon with the celery and chocolate but you can sub something current if you want.

Like I said, this one is easy.

Take care!

Much love and joy,

It's Scrappin' Saturday!

2010-08-07T07:49:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

We're back to the birthday calendar this Saturday and I'm posting the October one. I love both of these sets but they are both retired. There are comparable sets in the catty, however, so if you don't have these, the new ones will work.

We have Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Almost Amethyst ( a go-to color for me at Halloween) and Whisper White Cardstock. The moon is punched out of Shimmery White cardstock. The stamp sets are Carved and Candlelit for the jack-o-lanterns and Home is Where the Haunt Is for the house, tree and witch.

I used the Rock and Roll technique on the pumpkins with So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie ink. The stems are Certainly Celery 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon. The house was stamped with Whisper White ink and heat set. You can emboss it to really set it but I liked the grayed out effect.

I hope your day goes well. We're off to the farmer's market to get sweet corn. We're picking now. Whoo hoo! I love my corn. We visited friends last night out of town so it was past my bedtime when we got back. Today needs to be in slo-mo for me. I love Saturdays for that reason. It's supposed to be sticky and hot this week and the first thing that crossed my minds was ... Stampin' Weather (caps intentional!)

Take care and we'll see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Buggy Birthday

2010-08-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Today I have a kids birthday card for you! It's using Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi and Pumpkin Pie colors in obvious places. The green stripe across the DSP is made by using the cutter tool and a cutting mat.

A trick I learned from one of my sidelines, Jacqui, is to pop up your greeting with Stampin' Dimensionals before you add the Hodgepodge Hardware. It works like a dream.

Have a fantastic day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Foggy Sunrise

2010-08-05T07:38:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

I've been admiring sunsets and northern lights lately and wanted to replicate what I've seen. This was sun burning off fog one morning on the flats near the place we used to live.

I used Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green and So Saffron cardstock. I used the Sanded background stamp on the base card. The sunrise was done on saffron cardstock to get a yellowish sun. The grass is in Chocolate Chip, the fog in both Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust. The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip and the brads are metal. The stamp set is Inspired by Nature, one of my all time favs.

Not a hard one but a fun one. Take care and we'll see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Pendant Park Vintage

2010-08-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

Good Morning,

I'm frantic for time today so will make this a quick one. The card uses Crumb Cake cardstock spritzed with Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, then run through the Big Shot using the lattice embossing folder. The I mounted Elegant Soiree DSP onto Soft Suede cardstock for the main body of the card and dropped down the word hello from Pendant Park on a wavy label square of Baja Breeze. I used the die cut from the word window for the little suede outline you see on it.

The ribbon is Crumb Cake taffeta, Victoria lace, Very Vanilla Taffeta and Suede grosgrain. The brad is from Antique brads. I can see I'll have to order more of those. I'm going through them like crazy.

I have a huge preorder coming with all the newest accessories. I LOVE accessories!

Have a great day,

Much love and joy,

Buffflo

2010-08-03T09:09:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I just dropped my laptop on the floor and am hoping its shock resistant. I have a wireless mouse with a flash drive and it fell squarely on the drive which bent and shattered leaving all the components exposed. Dead mouse for one. Hopefully its the only casualty. I set it on a wooden TV tray and it got bumped. Over it went. My stomach is still rolling a little. Boy I hate that.

I don't like using the touchpad. While I'm typing I inevitably hit it and end up with random edits. Guess it's off to get another mouse for me. Blech.

Today's card is a vintage card for men using my son's In the Wilderness set. The cardstock is Soft Suede textured and scraps of Night of Navy, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla. The Designer Series Paper is Elegant Soiree.

I took a piece of Kraft/Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon and laid a piece of NON grosgrain over it. I adhered the double ribbon to the card with Antique Brads. I stamped the buffalo on VV cardstock, and distressed it with tea stain ink from the distressing kit that SU is selling. I mounted the VV on Suede and then Crumb Cake mats. I stitched three times with linen thread and mounted it on a piece of NON that I ran through the Big Shot using the lattice die. The NON looks a little lighter because I distressed it with a sanding block from the distressing kit to give it some contrast.

The greeting is stamped on Very Vanilla with suede ink, then distressed with tea stain. I stamped off both the wolf and the eagle in the set multiple times before I stamped portions of them on the greeting. I ran the tea stain ink on the distressing block at the edges rather than matting the greeting. The card is 5 1/2 by 5 1/2.

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow!

Much love and joy,

It's Manic Monday!

2010-08-02T09:08:00.000-05:00

It's Manic Monday and time for a CAS card. This is so easy it should be illegal. I used the Tart and Tangy stamp set ... one of my summer go-to sets.

The cardstock is Bashful Blue and the DSP is in Old Olive. I stamped the apple in olive and punched out varying circles and scallops, I popped it with a Stampin' Dimensional and added the ribbon at the seam. The greeting is not SU but is soooo appropriate. The front says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" and the inside says, "an onion a day should take care of everyone else." Then I stamped Get Well Soon from Sincere Salutations.

That's it! I didn't post yesterday due to server issues. ERG! But hopefully that won't happen again. I even had trouble for a while this morning with Blogger. Finally, I think it's resolved with both parties.

Take care and have a wonderful, if rainy, day.

Much love and joy,

It's Scrappin' Saturday!

2010-07-31T06:17:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-07-30T07:33:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-29T09:47:00.001-05:00

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

2010-07-28T09:04:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-26T09:40:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-07-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-23T09:44:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-20T07:41:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-07-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

... 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

2010-07-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

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

2010-07-17T09:33:00.000-05:00

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,