You Are The Best...

Just a quick post... Here is a little ATC that I made for a swap hostessed by Tracy Durcan a little while back. At the time, I was so intent on getting these made and sent, that I forgot to take a photograph of it! So better late than never... Here are the deets:

Cupcake ATC:

Stamps: Inkadinkado- Birthday Cupcake, sentiment- Karen Lockhart

Paper: Barely Banana, Curious Iridescent Cryogen White, PP- Daisy D's

Ink: Memento- Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen by Ranger

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dot fold, Nestabilities, Large oval punch, Copic markers, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Treading Water border punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds, ribbon- PTI Sweet Blush satin,paper piercer

We should be home late Sunday evening. I'll be busy getting ready for the Jacksonbelle Embellishment DT challenge for Tuesday and in celebrating our return home, you might want to be on the look-out for blog goodies in the very near future *wink*! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Simple Card

I couldn't stamp anything new this evening. Hubby is helping me make some storage improvements in the Craft/Homeschool room and we couldn't quite get finished today. Needless to say, things are a bit of a mess. I hope to share some pics of some new shelving and a couple of other storage solutions soon! Anyway, this simple card came about the other day as I was practicing with my Copic markers. I consider myself still in the "getting to know you" phase with this awesome line of markers but I'm slowly improving. I, also, added some stitching to this card, something else that I'm just beginning to learn! My mother is an excellent seamstress (not to mention a wonderfully creative gal) but patience is not her strong suit. I remember her giving me 1 sewing lesson as a teen to make a very simple pair of elastic waisted shorts. I did make it through that one pair but next thing I new I had 3 more pair from that same pattern that Mom made herself and sewing lessons were not discussed again! My favorite thing about this card is the use of the CHF backgrounder stamps! I love these stamps! Initially, I would use an acrylic block to mount them but Debbie Olson shared with me that she left the EZ Mount repositional side covered and used without a block. These stamps are so well cushioned and have such a wonderful deeply cut image that this works GREAT! Leave to Debbie to have such a super idea- this lady is AWESOME!!!! The image is Karen Lockhart and it is die cut and mounted using Nestabilities. The sentiment is PTI and the 3 little embellis are from a bottle of Dew Drops from Jacksonbelle Embellishments (who by the way is having a sale on 98 % of all the goodies in her wonderful e-store)! Since I cannot stamp, I might as well sleep (novel idea)! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Hello, Sweet Pea!!!!

. This is a quick baby card I made for my husband to take to a co-worker who recently had a very sweet baby girl. The main image for this is Sweetpea from Lockhart Stamp Company colored in with Stampin' Write markers that coordinate with the Little Girls PP ( Regal Rose w/ Creamy Caramel layered on top of it, Ruby Red, Garden Green, and Sage Shadow.) This is such a sweet 8 x8 paper kit from Cosmo Cricket! The main image and the mat are punched with Marvy Uchida punches. The layout for the card is last weeks sketch challenge at SCS- these are fun, beautiful and perfect when you need to put together a quick card. I did twink it a bit because in the sketch the main image is shown as a square. I felt the circle with the scalloped edges softened the layout a bit- perfect for a baby girl card. All edges have been sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. I used my craft knife to cut out the little flowers on the lower right hand corner to act as a "photo corner" then added some faux stitching and a little brown velvet brad in the left hand corner for balance. The ribbon is Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain. The next few days will be very busy. Besides the Thursday GS meeting, the Simply Southern Scrapbook Convention is coming to my home town this year. It will take place this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (October 4th -6th.) I am assisting my upline teach 2 classes and she and I are taking 1 class and participating in a crop together. I am so... excited about that because she and I rarely get to craft for fun together! And I can't forget the vendors on Friday and Saturday!!! So I may not have time to show cards or pages BUT definitely stay tuned. I will be offering details for blog candy in honor of World Card Making Day on Thursday evening.


Hello Sweetpea Recipe
Stamps: Lockhart- Sweet Pea, PTI- Paper Tray
Paper: Very Vanilla, PP- Little Girls by Cosmo Cricket
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Write markers- Regal Rose, Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, Garden Green, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Velvet brad- Creative Imaginations, paper piercer, Mat Pack, Chocolate Chip 5/8" ribbon, sponge, craft knife, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scalloped circle punch, circle punch

Sneakin' in Some Stampin' Time

I actually was able to sneak in a quick Autumn thank-you card in between chasing after Rachel and helping Mary Elizabeth with her studies. Just have time for a short rundown on a few of the deets. The main image is the new Pumpkins in Wheelbarrow stamp from Lockhart Stamps. It is colored with both Copic Sketch markers and Copic Spica markers to some sparkle (IRL the sparkle looks much better and more clean.) I am still getting used to my Copics and wish I had more time to practice. The faux stitching is from CTMH Simple Stitches and the sentiment is Inkadinkadoo. I, finally, got a chance to use my Mellow 6 x 6 PP from BG. I love that line! I have an order of the 12 x 12 collection that I will be getting in my hot little hands on Saturday (all day crop at lss) so I can't wait!!!

Now, on a quick look at my organizational and storage feature. Today, I'd like to show you how I store ribbon that I purchase by the yard. Each ribbon is wrapped around a 1 3/4 x 3 Cropper Hopper ribbon card, then stored by color in a divided plastic container that I purchase from Lowe's for around 3.50. I've been using this particular method for quite a while and it works very well for me. I have just added more containers as my ribbon collection grows. Right now I'm up to 4 very full containers. Anyway, I can see the colors very easily and it is a relatively cheap storage method. Gotta run to the mall. Oldest DD is a Junior Bridesmaid in a wedding this fall and she and I are going shopping with her Grandmother for a dress with"the only specifics for the dress are that it is mostly solid (without a print) and that it is in the brown family of colors (chocolate is perfect) " so wish us luck! Take care!

Sweet Peas

Last month Karen Lockhart had a contest to make a recipe card using Lockhart Stamps. I made this little card for a recipe using baby peas and incorporated the Lockhart stamp's Sweet Pea and Itty Bitty Peas. After looking at some other blogs with entries posted, I chickened out about sending mine in. It just seemed too plain. I used Wild Wasabi, Blush Blossom and Whisper White CS and Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery and Basic Black Classic ink. The little scallop across the bottom was cut freehand after I stamped the Itty Bitty Peas across the bottom. Sweet Pea was stamped on Whisper White then colored in using ink pads and blender pen. Next, Sweet Pea was stamped onto a piece of Blush Blossom then cut out with my scalloped rectangle punch.

Finally, I glued the cut-out pea pod over the outline pea pod on the blush blossom. That way I still got the tiny details of the vine without having to try and cut them out. The ribbon is May Arts purchased from Jacksonbelle Embellishments (super, super customer service.) Hope everyone has a great weekend. Ours is quite busy but I hope to grab a little time to work on some paper projects. Take care!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #7

I seem to have really bad luck when a sketch challenge is presented as "simple"- lol! This little card with the seemingly easy sketch became a true challenge for me. I knew that I wanted to make a baby shower card for one of my scrapbooking friends that is expecting a baby girl in August. I was going to a crop Friday night so I looked up Beate's Weekend Challenge for inspiration ahead of time. Now I LOVE to get together with friends to work on scrapbook layouts and cards but I must admit I do a lot more socializing than anything else! So after the crop, I essentially had the start of about 3 cards. For this card, I had completed the main image including matting it with the scalloped Lavender Lace CS but that was it. This was my first attempt at the Gamsol Magic technique. It is a technique that will take a bit of practice but the results are so nice that it is worth it. I will definitely use this technique again (and again.) Tonight I sat down and, wanting to participate in the challenge, knew I had to get it done. The rosebuds on the little jacket were my inspiration for the rest of the card. I searched through my "ever growing" collection of patterned papers but could find nothing that I felt went with my stamped image so I turned to my SU stamps for help. A great selling point for SU is with all the coordinating papers and inks, you can always come up with a patterned paper to fit your needs! The little rosebud from Wild Roses was just the ticket. I used a stamping off technique for the 2 step stamping and I added a little Stardust clear pen for a bit of sparkle. After clearing the PP hurdle, I had a bit of trouble deciding on ribbon but that was minimal. My final struggle was the sentiment. Part of my problem, I realized, was my main image was too large for this particular layout. It took several mis-tries before I decided on the oval surrounded by the Quickutz rosebuds. I'm not sure that this will be my shower card but, as far as this challenge goes, I am finished! Take care!

Sweet Pea Card recipe
Stamps: Wild Roses, Warm Words, Lockhart - Sweet Pea
Paper: Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Lavender Lace, Gable Green, Palette- Noir
Accessories: Oval Scalloped Punch, Oval Punch, white gel pen, paper piercer, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending stubs, Sakura clear Stardust pen, Quickutz, SU oval punch, Magic Matters, ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals