Love Nest ATC

Ahh, another tiring Saturday! I worked last night and didn't get home 'til around 2:30 am. Could not for the life of me settle down and finally fell asleep around 6 am. My DD and I had tickets for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestras family series and it was wonderful! The music surrounded an animal theme and not only was the music beautifully played by the very talented HSO but there were costumed players and interaction for the kids. Following this we stopped by the lss and picked up an a muse special order that had come in yesterday- can't wait 'til I get time to play with those. Finally, we went to a local gift shop where my daughter wanted to purchase some more Bella Sara trading cards (horse trading cards that have an interactive website for girls.) Unfortunately, the store closed early on Saturday (4pm) so we ended up at our local Hallmark store for a new Webkinz (okay, my Canadian readers- someone up there is laughing all the way to the bank on that one.) All and all, a most wonderful mother-daughter day but when I got home, I made it to the bed and collapsed! So after that nap and some delivery pizza, I am somewhat rejuvenated and ready to post. Here is another project that I have recently made using Flourishes- Love Notes. These are for a SWAP which Tracy Durcan hostessed over on her blog Durcan Designs. I love the clean lines and simple elegance of Tracy's creations and if you have not had a chance to visit her blog, you are in for a treat! My color combo was inspired by the beautiful Memory Box PP, Aerial. The sweet little love birds were stamped and colored with Copic markers then cut out and adhered to a More Mustard CS Nestabilities scalloped circle. The little bow was stamped in Almost Amethyst then cut out and added to the cage. The sentiment is from Crafty Secrets Bird Notes and the little safety pin is MM. Ribbon is May Arts. It is all adhered to a Almost Amethyst ATC that I ran through the Cuttlebug using the new Swiss Dot Embossing Folder. Well, I'm going to go try to start relaxing so I can have a "normal" nights sleep! Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Stamps: Flourishes- Love Notes, Crafty Secrets- Bird Notes

Paper: Almost Amethyst, More Mustard, Whisper White, PP - Memory Box Aerial

Ink: Andirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dot embossing folder, Nestabilities, Paper Trimming Buddy, May Arts ribbon, MM safety pin, 1/16" circle punch, paper piercer, Copic markers, a muse rhinestone

A Birthday Celebration

This is just a quick post to let you know about the birthday celebration that is taking place for Jan Marie of Flourishes over at SCS . This is the card I made for the drawings that will be taking place throughout the day. Isn't sweet of Jan Marie to be giving away gifts for HER birthday! All images of my card are, of course, by Flourishes. These beautiful stamps are so versatile that I have actually combined images from 3 different sets to make this card and yet, they go so well together. The bird bath is actually a cake stand with an additional curve to give if depth. It is embossed with French Vanilla EP from MFT then filled with CE "water." I wanted to try to let the birds see their reflection in the water but the basin of the bird bath just wasn't big enough for it to look right. I used the Poppin' Pastels technique for the leaves on the branch and the hinges are elements that I cut from the Basic Gray Periphery PP. The sweet little fan brad is from Deja Views. So be sure to stop by the party at the Flourishes Members Company forum! It's ALWAYS A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Stamps: Flourishes- Love Nest, Flourished Words, Cake Decorating 101

Paper: Soft Sky, Old Olive, Basic Gray PP- Periphery

Ink: Soft Sky, Palette- Burnt Umber, Brillance- Graphite Black, Ranger- Antique Linen, Versamark

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, French Vanilla EP (MFT), Versamarker, heat gun, Stampin' Pastels, sponge dauber, sponge, May Arts ribbon, American Craft olive brads, Deja View fan brad, circle punches, Dew Drops, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday, Rachel!!!!

This weekend was so busy with my youngest DD turning 4 on Sunday and her Backyardigans birthday party with 6 of her little friends on Saturday. The December meeting of our SU technique club was Sunday afternoon and we had a yummy cookie swap as part of the festivities. To top it all off, my DMIL & DFIL were in for the birthday and we traditionally have the girls' pictures made with Santa while their grandparents visit so that made a trip to the mall and dinner out on Sunday. It was a marvelous weekend, but boy did I ever crash on Sunday night. Last night older DD spent the night with a friend that, also, homeschools (we will have to play catch up tomorrow with lessons) and younger DD went to pre-school. That meant I had to entire morning to myself. Wasn't sure exactly how to act- turned, and out of habit, looked for the kids a couple of times. I actually got some last minute Christmas shopping done AND got to go to a lss a browse at my leisure!! I guess I should have been home making some Christmas gifts that I have plans for BUT I can do those while the girls sleep! So instead, I thought I'd share a card I made a little while back using Flourishes stamps and Cosmo Cricket Wonderland 8 x 8 paper. This card is pretty straight forward. One interesting detail is the photo corners. Do they look familiar. They are actually the tops of the Christmas tree from this Flourish Christmas set embossed in gold. Not the best picture in the world. I have requested one of the fold-up photo cubes for Christmas. A new camera would be nice but I'm currently using the "big" Christmas gift to make this post- lol! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Stamps: Flourished Christmas Paper: Cosmo Cricket- Wonderland, Gold embossed paper (unk), Vellum, Brushed Gold CS Ink: Versamark, Close to Cocoa Craft ink, Chocolate Chip Accessories: Gold EP, Clear EP, sponge, May Arts ribbon, Circle punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Creative Imagination velvet brads

O Christmas Tree

Yahoo! Yesterday was a happy mail day. I received my O Christmas Tree set from Flourishes. If you recall, I went on and on about how much fun I had "playing" with their set Cake Decorating 101. Well, they did it again with this Christmas tree set! The versatility of both of these sets, allows for all kinds of creative inspiration! This needs to be a quick post, so I will just hit some of the highlights of this card. First, the sparkling garland is stamped with Cranberry Crisp ink then filled in with the same ink using a blender pen. To make it shine, I placed a drop of Diamond Stickles to each little bead. The star on top was stamped first in Gold Encore then colored in with a gold Copic Spica pen (love these pens.) I then masked it so that it "rests" on the peak of the tree. The tree skirt was stamped with Bravo Burgundy on Chatterbox paper then cut out and adhered to the bottom of the tree. For ornaments, I stamped the image, colored it in using Stampin' Write markers and the Copic Spica, cut it out then covered it with Crystal Effects. Finally, the sentiment ornament was made by first stamping on to Shimmer White them punching with the 1 1/4 circle punch. Then I punched out the 1/4" circle from a piece of gold CS then punched that out of the sheet with at 1/2 circle punch to make a "doughnut." The gold "doughnut" was then attached between the sentiment and an Old Olive 1 3/8" circle punch. Last, using the slot punch and the same gold GS, the base of the "handle" was punched and adhered to the sentiment circle. DH is working late so I have to get DDs ready for bed. Thanks for stopping by... Take care!

O Christmas Tree card recipe

Stamps- O Christmas Tree- Flourishes

Paper- Old Olive, Shimmer White, PP- Chatterbox

Ink- Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Bravo Burgundy, Stampin' Write Markers in Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Gold Encore

Supplies- Gold Copic Spica, Diamond Stickles, Blender Pen, Circle Punches, Slot punch, Crystal Effects, Zig Painty (gold end- around the edges of the Shimmer White CS), ribbon

DTGD with a Flourish

I received my order from the new web company (really new, the Grand Opening was Friday),Flourishes, today and I had to use them right away (well, at midnight once we finally called it a day on the remodeling.) Let me tell you, this set, Cake Decorating 101, is pure stamping fun and absolutely ZERO calories- teeheehee! I decided to use it in the DTGDJeanneS challenge of paper piecing because that is my all time favorite technique. The cake stand has been heat embossed with UTEE then crackled BUT I am so disappointed in the way my photo turned out. The cake stand looks so much prettier in person. Thanks, Jeanne for this awesome challenge! Take care!

Cake Decorating 101 card recipe:

Stamps: Cake Decorating 101- Flourishes, Cherubs- Crafty Secrets
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Infuse- BG
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories: Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, ribbon (Heidi Swapp ?), UTEE, heat gun, Liquid Pearls (white opal), Sakura clear Stardust pen