Build-a-Bear Birthday

Happy birthday, Madison! I made this card for my best friend's daughter's birthday party last Sunday. Today is the actual birthday so I just wanted to send a quick shout out to her. The party was at Build-a-Bear and, as always, Rachel has a great time! We have had so many Build-a-Bear events that when I saw this set in the SU mini catalog I knew I had to get it! I colored the cute little girl bear with Copic markers and cut her and her A Muse Sage mat with Nestabilities. The background paper is Doodlebug, as well, as the cute brads. The Vintage frame punch is McGill and the Cupcake punch is Martha Stewart. I finished it off with some May Arts ribbon and Stardust Stickles. I was so excited that the A Muse sentiment went well with the confectionery theme of the card! Hope everyone has a super weekend. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Go Pink Popsicles

With the end of October came the end of Y6 Girls Soccer. This year due to the fuchsia jerseys, the girls named themselves the "Pink Popsicles"- super cute! Although score is not officially kept at this age level, these little gals were on fire this year, not only in scoring goals but supporting their team and showing awesome sportsmanship! I give credit for this to our head coach, Susan, who, also, happens to be one of my bffs! Not only did Susan coach our team BUT she coached her daughters team AND her twin sons team while homeschooling and remaining very active in her church- a truly incredible gal! To show our appreciation to her, the parents took a collection for a gift card which I put in this card I made. The one thing that stood out about the card was that the little stick figure did a fair job at representing each team member. While it did take me a bit of patience lining up all the arms, legs, bodies and heads from this SU stamp set, it was definitely a labor of love for my good friend! The alpha stamps are, of course, A Muse- my favorite-little Polka dot lower case small and the sparkly Popsicle is a Quickutz die.

Here is a photo of a very proud Rachel receiving her trophy for this year from Coach Susan! Remember it's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Colors to Pretty to Resist

This is a card that I made last week for SCS CC174. When I saw the challenge- Groovy Guava, Barely Banana and Chocolate Chip- I simply could not resist. The DSP, Afternoon Tea, was perfect for this combo and I teamed it up with the beautiful silhouette set, Plant Prints, by Artful Inkables. I love the versatility of this set to use with different techniques and for this particular card I combined both the rock-n-roll technique with a bit of stampin' off. I love Barely Banana but it truly is a very light color so by rolling the already inked stamp in a bit of Groovy Guava the details of the stamp really come through (Barely Banana is, also, a difficult color for me to photograph apparently, the image is a bit bolder IRL.) The background is Barely Banana CS which has been punched with a MS scalloped border punch then adhered to a piece of DSP. The entire panel was embossed via a Cuttlebug folder. I stamped off the images then stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip and framed it with a metal frame from WRMK. The butterflies are a MS punch, the ribbon is May Arts and the jumbo brads SU. A quick card but I was pleased! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

CC174 recipe:

Stamps: Artful Inkables- Plant Prints

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Gauva, Barely Banana, DSP- Afternoon Tea, Curious Iridescent- Poison Ivy

Ink: Barely Banana, Groovy Gauva, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Martha Steward butterfly and scallop border punches, Nestablities, Cuttlebug, May Arts ribbon, WRMK hardware, SU Jumbo pewter brads

Leaving Tomorrow

Yes, the Thomas family leaves tomorrow to visit the Nation's Capitol! We've not told anybody we are coming- I'm afraid Rachel would be considered a risk to National Security- LOL! Seriously, Hubby will be working just across the line in Maryland while the girls and I tour D.C. I'm fully aware of the heat that faces us and have tried to plan our schedule with both that and small kids (Rachel) in mind. There will be some of the "big" sights that Mary Elizabeth will have to miss but I really don't think the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier want Rachel to compromise the solemn tradition of the ceremony- KWIM! I am not sure about the opportunity I will have while away to post here at A Stampin' Good Time. I do have a couple of challenge card posts that will be pre-dated to post and I will pop in when I get a chance!

So for today's card... I finally took the opportunity to bust out the Carousel notecards and the coordinating DSP, Afternoon Tea from the SU Occasions Mini Catalog. The only time I played with the DSP was for our stamp camp in May and the notecards had been shamefully neglected! I first selected a Soft Sky notecard for the card base. Next, my Coluzzle was used to cut a circle from the DSP. To mat the DSP, I used my Magic Matter disc set to trace around the DSP circle on Chocolate Chip CS, then cut it out with scissors. The sentiment element, started with a piece of Neenah Classic White CS. With Artful Inkables, Pressed Petals, I "stamped-off" Groovy Guava and Soft Sky. I then stamped the sentiment from the set in Chocolate Chip and die cut it with a circle Nestie. The mat is Groovy Guava CS cut with a scallop circle Nestie, the little brown clip is Heidi Swapp and the ribbon is SU Stitched Wild Wasabi. For the floral spray along the side, I stamped-off/the 2-step stamped the flowers from Pressed Petals, traced along the center swirl with Sakura Quickie glue pen then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds. Each flower was cut out then adhered either with glue dots or Stampin' Dimensionals. Finally, stitched ribbon "leaves" were added.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and an awesome next week! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Carousel notecard recipe:

Stamps: Artful Inkables- Pressed Petals

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky Carousel notecards, Neenah Classic White, DSP- Afternoon Tea

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guarve, Soft Sky

Accessories: SU Wild Wasabi Stitched ribbon, Heidi Swapp clip, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, American Craft brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Magic Matter disc set, Coluzzle

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

Where does the time go? It's Tuesday once again and that means time for another Jacksonbelle Embellishment Design Team Challenge. This week is a color challenge that is one of my all time favorites- I guess it should be 'cause I got to choose this month- teeheehee. The colors I picked are Real Red, Bashful Blue and Black. We would love to have you play with us! If you do, use JBE009 in your keycode on SCS when you upload. That way we can see all of your beautiful cards! Be sure to visit the other JE DT blogs and see what awesome creations they have made with this color combo.

• Amber Hight
• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Elezebeth Neumann
• Erin McKinney
• Kisa Peters
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict

Now a few details about my card. From the first time I saw this Inka flower stamp at JBE, I was completely intrigued by it. Whether it took me back to my childhood playing with a Spirograph (did I just age myself) or just the fun whimsy of it, it was a stamp that I new eventually I would have to have. I would consider it with every order, putting it aside for things I "needed" until finally one day, I just said "for goodness sakes, it is less than 6.00, go ahead and get it," thus my little Daisy Blossom stamp came to live with me. Now we won't mention that I've had it for many weeks and this is the first time it has seen ink- just knowing it was in the drawer with all my other Inka stamps made me happy! This evening I inked it up with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and stamped it one Bashful Blue cs. I cut it out with a circle Nestie then matted it with Black cs cut out of a scalloped circle Nestie. The center is a little white brad my American Craft. The little ladybugs are from Inkas Patterned Bugs set. I stamp "her" first in black and cut it out, then repeated this step in Real Red only cutting her body out this time. I then adhered the red body to the black image with a glue dot. Everything else is pretty self-explanetory. I'm pretty critical of my work and it is rare that I say this but I absolutely love this card! Oh my goodness, I didn't drop over dead and the world didn't end when I said that!!!! Maybe I should practice liking my creations a bit more!!!

Now, bits and pieces of news:
Lindsey has tons of things going on over at JBE!!! She has added more items to her clearance section and oh my, you have just got to check it out! Over the weekend, she added a company to the store, October Afternoon! She started with about 10 different styles of double sided PP and 4 different acrylic stamp sets. I am so... glad that I got my order placed because one of my "must have" stamp sets is already sold out and the other "must have" only has 2 left! We are keeping our fingers crossed that the wood mounted holiday stamps from Inkadinkado will arrive sometime tomorrow and the acrylic holiday sets sometime mid-July. Wasn't that nice of them to spread it out so it wouldn't be so much out-of-pocket at one time- teeheehee. If you would like a peak at these awesome stamps check it out here. Finally, be sure to check out the JBE store blog for the details of our next ATC SWAP. I will be the hostess once again and have some fun and prizes planned to go along with a Summer themed SWAP. It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Bug Hugs recipe:

Stamps: Flower stamp,Lady bug (Patterned Bugs) both by Inkadinkado, sentiment Lizzie Anne Designs

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Bashful Blue, DSP- Summer Picnic

Ink: Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: American Craft brads, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Stampin' Dimensionals, Fiskers border punch, May Arts ribbon, Hero Arts rhinestones

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

Wahoo! Tuesday once again and time for another Jacksonbelle Embellishment Design Team challenge. This week it is Anything Goes- you gotta love that! We would be thrilled to have you play along so if you do, please be sure to use JBE008 in your keycode when you upload to the gallery at SCS. Looking forward to seeing your wonderful cards! Be sure to take a look at the other DT members blogs to see what they came up with today!

• Amber Hight
• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Elezebeth Neumann
• Erin McKinney
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict

First off, a quick disclaimer. My challenge card did not photograph very well. IRL, the yellow in the little bird is not as harsh. Hopefully, tomorrow I can take a better photo in the daylight to exchange for this one.

My Harmony Prima PP had been neglected for a while so I decided to pair it up with this new little Inka bird & frame stamp. After coloring the bird with Copic Markers, I die cut the image with Nestabilities and added a SU rub-on phrase inside the frame. The "thanks" sentiment and the little dotted flourish and flowers are rub-ons from the same pack (Love & Happiness from Sale-a-bration.) I had the most fun with the Prima flowers. The large blue flower is, also, from the Harmony line and the little mesh flowers (are those cute, or what) are brand new from my lss, Once Upon a Scrapbook. The centers are clear button from AL topped with a little piece cut from Prima lace. FUN, FUN! I stamped the kraft colored piece of PP with a CHF Polka Dot backgrounder (I so {{{{LOVE}}}} the CHF backgrounders) using MM paint. The rest is pretty self explanatory. TFL!

I got a bit of a late start this evening on my card because we celebrated Mary Elizabeth's 11th birthday this evening. Our family along with her 3 bffs went to the local Mexican restaurant (ME's fav.) for supper. It was truly a delightful, fun time for everyone. Just wanted to share a couple of photos of my girls when the wait staff came out and placed a huge sombrero on the birthday girl and sang to her! Feel free to click on the pics to see the fun the girls were having!Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Way to Go Wednesday. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Inka bird card recipe:

Stamps: Inkadinkado, CHF Polka Dot backgrounder

Paper: Curious Iridescent Crycogen White, PP- Prima Harmony

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Ink-Brushed Cordoroy

Accessories: MM paint, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Copic markers, SU rub-ons, Prima flowers, AL clear buttons, Prima lace, K & Co. ribbon, American Craft brads

Techniques: Stamping w/ paint, alcohol markers

Scrappin' Sunday

Hello, it's Sunday once again and time to share with you a scrapbook LO. In honor of my Mary Elizabeth's birthday this past week, I decided to share my favorite 12 x 12 LO with her as my focus. Please ignore the peek of my chipboard storage case in the back. I'm still trying to come up with the best way to share these larger projects with you. These photos were taken 2 years ago at my niece, Stefanie's wedding. I can remember how proud Mary Elizabeth was to be asked to be her Junior Bridesmaid and how sweet she looked in her dress and up-do! It was a beautiful, memorable occasions!

The LO is made with all SU supplies, many of which have been retired since. I hope that everyone has a super week! Be on the watch for Jacksonbelle Tuesday Challenge and Way to Go Wednesday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for happy mail both from Jacksonbelle Embellishments and Artful INKables to keep my fingers inky this week {{{{grin}}}}! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Fabulous (Flowers) Birthday

I told DH that I had to stamp something for FUN today. My sanity depended on it. Okay, I'm only kidding myself, my sanity is far too gone to be saved but it's always a good bargaining chip to have in your bucket. I was fortunate to get a few precious afternoon minutes to make this bright, sparkling card for my hubby's grandmother's birthday! It has been very dreary here today. The temperature has dropped and clouds cover the sky. Drab, drab, drab. So when I sat down in my craft room, I decided that I (along with the recipient) needed something that said warmer, sunnier days! The flowers are all from Fabulous Flowers and the leaves are from Wild Rose. There was quite a bit of cutting involved, you folks know that I'm just silly about paper piecing so this was just up my alley! The centers of the Sky Blue flowers are MM Pearls that I colored with a Copic Marker so that they would coordinate with the rest of the colors.

So here we are in 2008! It is so hard to believe. I remember ringing in the new millennium, it seems like only yesterday, yet here I am with a new husband, new family, new home, renewed Faith- so much in such a short time! While I don't usually make specific "New Years Resolutions," I have realized over the last couple of months that my life has become so busy that I am unable to cherish the truly important parts of my life. There will definitely be some changes made this year. I hope some of you will stand by to share the trials and tribulations as I simplify, reorganize, re prioritize, delegate and just plain learn how to say NO assertively. A Blessed 2008 to all. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Fabulous Flowers card recipe:

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, Wild Rose, PTI- Faux Ribbon sentiment

Paper: Lavender Lace, Whisper White

Ink: Groovy Gauva, Soft Sky, Lavender Lace, Old Olive, Night of Navy

Accessories: Groovy Gauva Stitched ribbon, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, MM pearls, Copic marker, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scalloped edge scissors

Merry, Merry Penguins

Took a quick moment to post yet another Christmas card. I'm not particularly in the Christmas mood (don't want to rush glorious Autumn along) but I am playing to see what design I would like to use for mass production for my Christmas card list- you can't start too soon! I made this card the other day but forgot about it with all the chaos of last week and this past weekend. Anyway, these little penguins are called Penguin Games and they are from the Penguin Pals line by Stampendous. I colored the image with Copic Sketch markers then added Fun Flock, pompoms and Dazzling Diamonds to the image. My PP are Paper Salon that I won at the auction held by The Rubber Stamp Lady (lss) a few weeks ago. The bottom light blue paper is the reverse side of the plaid run through my Cuttlebug in the snowflake embossing folder then I added some Dazzling Diamond to some of the snowflakes with a Sakura Quickie Glue pen. The trim is by MM and the little gem brad is SU Ice brads. A pretty quick and straight forward card! A Stampin' Good Time to All!

Merry Merry Penguin Games card recipe:

Stamps: Merry, Merry, Stampendous- Penguin Games
Paper: Barely Banana, Shimmer White, PP- Paper Salon
Ink: Night of Navy, Adirondack- Pitch Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Cuttlebug, ribbon-MM, Ice round brads, Circle punches, Dazzling Diamonds, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Fun Flock, white pompoms from HL, red line sticky tape

Today's Color Challenge & a Sweet Thank-you

After getting off work in the wee hours of the morning, I was so excited to see that today's Color Challenge over at SCS was already posted and what yummy colors - Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Old Olive! I had not participated in a color challenge for awhile (since time is limited and I have to pick and choose, I will usually prefer the sketch challenges) but since I was still pretty keyed up after my shift AND the colors were so wonderful, I decided to give it a go! For me, challenges are a wonderful way to get my creative juices flowing and I find it a great way to pick myself up form a creative slump- find my mojo, so to speak. My image, from my most fav new SU set, Garden Whimsy, was initially stamped in craft Regal Rose on vellum CS than heat embossed with clear EP. After cutting along the bold lines of the image, I adhered it to a second stamped image so that the fine details would still be visible AND the image would have dimension. I love this technique! When I remembered that the challenges colors could be found in the DSP, Petals & Paisleys, I was excited because I had not used that cute paper in a while. I took the 2 PP pieces, glued them together, then ran it all through the 'bug. I punched a large oval out of the PP panel then stamped my sentiment on the CS base

(tip: after I punch the shape, I lay it on the piece of CS that I will be stamping the sentiment on and draw its outline with a pencil. Then I stamp the sentiment within the pencil lines and erase the pencil when I am done. This way the sentiment show up in the correct spot.)

The embossed panel was layered on the PIP CS base and there you have it.
It's a very simple card but the color combination will definitely go down as one of my favs!


A few weeks ago, I received a REALLY terrific surprise in the mail. This beautiful thank-you card from none other than the most wonderful Julee Tilman of Poetic Artistry. I was so thrilled to be the recipient of this beautiful card from such a talented gal, I almost sent her a thank-you card for the thank-you card! It made me think of an episode from Ruby & Max (2 little bunnies on Nick Jr. for those of you without small kids) where Ruby was making a thank-you card and was just sure her Aunt would love it so much that she would send her a thank-you and this would continue until Ruby ran out of sparkles (of course, I would never run out of sparkles.) Thanks, Julee- you made my day. Until I return, Take care!

Pink & Olive Garden Whimsy card recipe:
Stamps: Garden Whimsey
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Shimmery White, Vellum CS, Petals & Paisleys DSP
Ink: Regal Rose craft & classic, Regal Rose Stampin' Write marker
Accessories: Scalloped punch, corner rounder punch, Large Oval punch, Mat pack, white gel pen, clear EP, heat tool, rose ribbon

Technique Club Magic

We had the July meeting of our Technique Club this past Thursday, so now I can show you the project that I shared with the group. Our topic was Making the Ordinary the Extraordinary. My partner in crime and amazing up line Yazmin shared a bleaching with stamps technique with the group and I hope to get to make her beautiful 12 x 12 scrapbook page in the near future to share with you. My project introduced the group to Gamsol Magic technique. It is such an awesome coloring technique but I am essentially the first one in our group to give it a try. It truly is a technique that does take a bit of practice but it is certainly worth it when you see the results. I slipped in a couple of other techniques with this card (a little bonus for my friends), as well. The layout for this card is the Joy Fold card that the most awesome Beate John's used as her weekend sketch challenge the weekend before last. The other technique comes from the oh-so-talented, Julee Tilman at Poetic Artistry for homemade Stickles that you see on the wings of the little firefly (I refer to him as "Evanrude-not sure how spell it but like the boat motors which the little firefly from Disney's The Rescuers was named after.) All the techniques seemed to be a big hit. I have had several e-mail wanting the info. of where to get the supplies and I have referred all to Inky Antics for the Gamsol. I could not find Gamsol or any brand of orderless mineral spirits in our local area. Hobby Lobby has the blending stubs from Taiwan (yes, these actually do work better than the ones from China on SU Whisper White CS.) Okay, okay, DH is coming in to fuss at me about going to bed. I have to make a trip to Birmingham (about 1 1/2 hours from home) to pick up oldest DD from a visit with her Aunt and Uncle. My friend Dianne is going with me and we are going to make a stop at 2 different paper craft stores so tomorrow hopefully, I'll have some new goodies to share! Take care!

Gamsol Unfrogettable card recipe:

Stamps: Unfrogettable

Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst

Ink: Staz On black, Apricot Appeal, Stampin' Write marker Almost Amethyst

Supplies: Gamzol, Prismacolor pencils, blending stubs, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal effects, circle punches, ribbon, stapler, Stampin' Dimensionals

Plum Garden

Yippee! My Garden Silhouettes arrived today! I was a little late ordering mine, right at the deadline, actually, because I just couldn't make up my mind. This was my favorite of all the level 2 & 3 sets but did I want to spend the money for it or save my $$$ for more in the new catty? Well, I caved and I am so happy that I did. This delicate little cherry blossom limb was so fun to play with! I colored the image in Stampin' Write markers then I stamped a second image just paying attention to the flowers which were cut out, sponged with Van Dyke Brown, enhanced with my Sakura Clear Stardust pen and adhered over the flat flowers with Pop Up Glue Dots. The Perfect Plum panel was stamped with Fine Lace BG using Perfect Plum classic ink. It is difficult to see in the picture but the end of this panel has been pierced using an Onare template. The Pale Plum panel was wheeled with Rough Texture in Pale Plum then the corners were cut with the Ticket Corner punch. I placed a piece of shimmery olive ribbon around the edge of the Perfect Plum panel then tied both plum panels together with a brown & white striped ribbon (I thought that particular style of ribbon added nice contrast to the very soft look of this card.) Well, I should be in bed. Long day ahead. Take care!

Plum Garden card recipe:
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Warm Words, Fine Lace, Rough Texture wheel
Paper: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Old Olive
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Chocolate Chip, Van Dyke Brown, Stampin' Write markers in Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Sponge, Sakura Clear Stardust Pen, Pop Up Glue Dots, paper piercer, Onare template, Mat pack, Ticket corner punch, ribbons by May Art

Replaced Make & Take

I haven't had much time for card making. Saturday, I got my supplies for the Once Upon a Scrapbook (lss) design team and I have been working on a double page layout for that. I was given Elsie Flanigan's "Love Elsie- Roxie" papers and rub-ons. I have loved this papers, from afar. I was a bit intimidated by the whimsical, funky style which is very different from my usual style (not that I am positive what my "style" is, maybe I need to get the Find Your Groove book by Kitty Foster & Wendy McKeehan. I almost purchased it today at The Rubber Stamp Lady (lss) but I figured it implied that you had to HAVE a groove in the first place.) Anyway, Elsie's papers have a lot of quirky doodling style images which is something that is out of my comfort zone- doodling. Sure they say practice makes perfect, but I am a doodler, been doing it all my life- talking on the phone, keeping awake during school lectures etc. What is amazing it how so very bad my doodling looks! I am working on what I refer to as "designer doodling," but you can tell by this little card and a couple of others here on my blog that I have a ways to go. This is the original card I made for the Open House make & take. I rejected it due to the amount of time it would take to complete it. It was the first card I made with Zoofari and the first tent topper card I ever made, as well. I originally had no doodling on this card but I felt since the monkey was anchored by his tail to the ribbon that the other animals needed to be anchored to something as well (not too many floating snake or zebras other there)! This is a very straight forward card. Pretty much cut, paste, stamp & color. The scalloped circle for the topper was made by cutting a doughnut using slots 3 from the inside and 5 from the inside of a circle Coluzzle template. Then placing the slit punch in the center and punch the outside of the circle with the slits. Pretty easy, really. I am so loving scallops of any kind! Hope to finish this layout soon. Take care!

Zoofari card recipe:

Stamps: Zoofari, Wild About You, Typeset Alphabet Lower
Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Taken with Teal, PP- Petals & Paisleys
Ink: Basic Black, Stampin' Write markers- Regal Rose, Old Olive, Taken with Teal, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Light pink ribbon, slit punch, Coluzzle

New Catty Bliss

Kicked off the SU Fall-Winter Collection 2007 with an Openhouse on Sunday at our local library. We had make & takes, LOTS of doorprizes, retired stamps for sale, yummy food and, of course, the honoree of the afternoon our NEW cattie! A special preview party for this past year's hostesses took place about an hour and half prior to the openhouse with an additional make & take and a hostess appreciation gift for each one (a SU Stampin' Store container with a healthy sprinklin' of a the new Rhinestone Brads in both colors and styles- it pays to be a hostess in more than 1 way- teeheehee.) My upline, Yazmin, was in charge of the make & take for the hostesses. It was the cutest card card using Pick a Petal as a lady bug! We've promised each other that we will get together and to make each others projects since we didn't have time to plan this event together. Hopefully, I'll have my own copy of this great card to share with you soon! As for the make & take for the Openhouse, that was my job. I originally planned to use a card that I made with Zoofari. I was pleased at the results of this card BUT I soon realized that it involved way too much coloring and that always tends to slow down a large group. We needed something clean and simple. When I checked out Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #8 on Friday prior to going to work, I was totally inspired (as always when I check out any of her art work.) I decide that to CASE her card with a bit of my own twist would be just the project we needed. Awhile back SCS, had a Try Something New challenge that suggested making little 3 x 3 warm up cards and which would be perfect for our time frame. I love making these little cards because they are quick, they get my creativity flowing and you have a nice stockpile of gift cards when you need one. So here is my end results. Participants really loved it and were able to complete the card pretty quickly, giving everyone more time for eating, socializing and the all important shopping for stamps! I had the worst time trying to photograph this card. I couldn't get the lighting right and then I couldn't hold my arms steady. Not sure what THAT is about but I would suspect it has something with not enough rest! I'll share my Zoofari card in the near future. Take care!

Recipe for Kind Brocade card:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky, River Rock

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Supplies: Magic Matter, circle punches, Soft Subtles brads

Self-Imposed Quarentine

I have to apologize for my lack of posts lately. My family brought back a souvenir from vacation- a stomach virus. It has hit, particularly, my youngest child pretty hard. I placed us under self-imposed quarantine, much to my older (and healthy) daughter's disappointed. I mean, she had not seen her friends in over 1 week, my goodness. All you mothers can rest easy now that I am no longer in the race for "mother-of-the-year" lol. To make up for my lack of stamping time, I would like to share 2 of the projects for the May meeting of our Technique club. This was the first out of 2 meetings titled Passionate for Pearls. We used the techniques of Heated Pearls and Poppin' Pearls. Both tutorials were from the SCS resource section and both were created by the talented Beate Johns. This was my first attempt at using these techniques and, essentially, the first time to play with Pearl Ex for Yazmin (my upline and general partner in crime) and me. We both fell in love with the Pearl Ex, and while sadden that it didn't make the cut in the new Idea Book and Catalog, it does allow us more freedom for purchasing the different colors from Michael's and Hobby Lobby without worrying if the color is offered by SU. Hope to create something tomorrow- NEED to create something tomorrow. Yazmin and I are having a new Idea Book & Catalog Kick-Off party at our local library on Sunday and we make lots of homemade gifts as some of the door prizes. Last year this event was a huge success! It can be rough to set a high standard-heeheehee! Take care!

Poppin' Pearls recipe

Stamps: French Scrips, Print Pattern, Finest Flourishes, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Versamark, Gold Encore

Paper: Really Rust, Whisper White

Supplies: Wide Organdy Ivory Ribbon, Gold Embossing Powder, Super Russet and Aztec Gold Pearl Ex, Gold Zig Painty






Heated Pearls recipe

Stamps: All I Have Seen, All-Year Cheer I
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Certainly Celery, Glossy White, Blush Blossom, Whisper White
Supplies: True Blue & Spring Green Pearl Ex, Ivory Wide Organdy Ribbon, Oval Punch, Rich Regal Embossing Stacks, Crystal Effects, Soft Subtles beads, Clear embossing powder, sponge daubers

The image on this card used the Melted Pearls technique.

Wild About Baby

The time of our trip to Knoxville was chosen due to a baby shower for my neice. This is the card that I made the evening before we left. I got to play with 2 new items- Fun Flock and Onare dry embossing/paper piercing template both from Ellen Hutson store. Both were easy to use and brought about terrific results. I just wanted to make a quick entry so that I would have something to post while I'm "on the road." There are too way cool LSS, one in Knoxville and one in my sister's town of Brevard, NC (about 2 hours from Knoxville) that I can't wait to visit! Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to share some great stories about those store. Until then... Take care!

Recipe for Wild About You card:
Stamps: Wild About You, Warm Words, TT- Girls We Love
Paper: Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Real Red, PP- Deja Views
Ink: Real Red, Barely Banana, Green Galore, Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal
Accessories: Punches, ribbon, Fun Flock

Passionate for Pearls, session II

Here is one of the cards we made for our technique club this morning. Our topic was Passionate for Pearl, II and the techniques included Painted Pearls, LuminousPearls, and mixing Pearl -Ex with water and gum arabic to make a Sparkle Spray. Here is the card that we used to demonstrate the Painted Pearl technique. The background is actually one that I CASEd from Beate Johns. I really like this background. I started off with a More Mustard 4 x 5 1/4 panel of CS and tone on tone Stamped it with the Canvas BG. Now it is ready to stamp the really neat word stamp down the left hand side of the card (I'm sure going to miss this set.) The focal point of the card is the 2 small images in the middle- the flower & the butterfly. After heat embossing them with gold EP, we painted inside the lines using a direct aquapen to Pearl-Ex technique. The aquapens were actually filled with Future floor wax. Such an easy technique with such a big impact! I'll share the other card using the Luminous Pearls technique tomorrow since I have to go in to work tomorrow evening and won't have much time for stampin'! Take care!

Recipe for Natural Beauty

Stamps: Natural Beauty, Canvas BG

Ink: More Mustard, Basic Black, Versa mark

Paper: Brilliant Blue, More Mustard, Garden Green, Ruby Red, Black

Supplies: Gold embossing powder, heat tool, Powder Pals, Pearl Ex, Aqua pen, narrow black organdy ribbon

Answer Hello to Sketch Challenge

Here is my first answer to Sketch Challenge 127 at SCS. I really wanted to play with some of the stamps from the Spring Mini before they get pushed aside for the new rubbah! Since we won't know if these will make the BIG book until January '08, I'll be tucking these sets away for a little bit. Doodle Alphabet will probably stay out 'cause I love my alphabets for scrapbook pages. Not quite sure about this card. It came together real quickly which was good but it's not falling into my comfort zone. I do like the way the Cranberry Crisp accentuates the colors in the Petals & Paisleys DP and you cannot see it in the pic but the 3 Pretty in Pink paisleys at the bottom of the card are cut out to make scallops. I will definitely try that idea again but this time make sure that is makes more of a statement. I hand doodled around the "hello" panel but it is difficult to see with this picture- operator difficulties this late at night *wink.* I DO like the sketch and hopefully, will have time to use it again tomorrow. I've already got an idea brewing! Take care!

Doodle-Dots Card Recipe

Stamps: Doodle Alphabet, Polka Dots & Paisley, EDFP
Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Cranberry Crisp, Cool Caribbean, DP Petals & Paisleys
Ink: Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp, Cool Caribbean, Stampin' Write Markers Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Quickutz (file folder tag), Micron Black Pen, stitched Cranberry Crisp ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Marvy Uchida Paper Trimming Buddy- scalloped blade
Techniques: doodling

Pocket Fun

Finally, after a night of drying, I'm able to finish my Ways to Use It challenge card. I'm not overly thrilled with it but I'm ready to move on. I'm hoping to receiving some new goodies today via snail mail or Mr. Brown so I'm ready to play! Yesterday's challenge was to use one of the retiring sets from SU and I chose Pocket Fun. Although not a new set to SU, it is a new set to me and a birthday gift from my dear friend, Chris, so this is one set that I am definitely keeping! The black and white ribbon is May Arts and one that I'm loving these days! I've purchased it at a lss, initially, then I ordered more- a bit more, from StarLit Studios. I may need to see about getting a whole spool for this one! Take care!

Pocket Fun Card Recipe

Stamps: Pocket Fun

Paper: Almost Amethyst, Whisper White, Palette o Prints

Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Rose Red, More Mustard, Old Olive- I used the last 2 inks in place of So Saffron and Certainly Celery because they show up better on WW

Supplies: Earth Elements brads, May Arts ribbon, Ribbon Originals Sweet Shop, corner rounder, Stickles, Sakura clear Stardust pen

Birthday Lady for today's Way to Use It challenge

Hello! With my one month anniversary approaching, I am getting together Blog Candy for a giveaway! I hope to have a photo for these neat surprises up and running by this weekend. How do you win? It's simple, each comment that I have received during this first month of blogdom will go "in the hat" for a random drawing, ie. the more comments you have made the better your chances are of winning! Okay, yesterday I promised more information on the fiber paper that I used on the challenge card. The paper is made by Shizen Design . If you get a chance, take a look at their other beautiful papers. They can be purchased in large sheets, something like 22 x 30 or you can get a sampler pack with a variety of smaller pieces. Mary Elizabeth is going to a birthday party this afternoon and today's Way to Use It Challenge to make a card using a small stamped image was perfect for a 9-year-old girl's card. I stamped the little ladybug from the SAB set Very Punny onto Whisper White CS, taking care to mask away the sentiment that goes along with it. I colored the image with a Rose Red marker and highlighted the dots with a black Gelly Roll Glaze pen. Next, I got out my trusty Coluzzle and cut out the lady bug image using the 3rd circle template from the center. The scalloped flower that surrounds the ladybug is a piece of Apricot Appeal CS that I cut into a "doughnut" shape using the 3rd and 5th from the center circles of the Coluzzle template. Taking my Slit punch into the inside of the "doughnut," I,then, punched slits all around the outside. Now the fun part, I ran a pieces of 4 x 5 1/4 Cool Caribbean (boy, am I going to miss that color), Rose Red, and Apricot Appeal CS through my Cuttlebug to emboss them with the little circle flowers. The stamped image and Apricot flower were adhered to the embossed Cool Caribbean. Using the 3/4" circle punch, I cut out embossed flowers from the Rose Red and Apricot Appeal and placed them randomly on the Cool Caribbean CS, taking care to line up the same embossed images . I added a piece of ribbon from Happy Trails by K & Co., my sentiment from Hip Hip Hooray, and attached the whole thing to a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of Rose Red CS. A very simple card but I liked using the bright colors for this young girl's card. If you haven't tried the challenges on SCS , it is a great way to get your creativity flowing. That's all for now! Take care!