In Stamping Mode

Thursday, January 29, 2009

So many sketches pt.2 and a winner!

So in my previous post, I had mentioned that I was working on completing 9 sketches for Taylor's Year of Cupcake Challenges. Being true to myself...I finished them at the last minute! hah! This first sketch was my favorite! I'd been wanting to do a scallop circle card for a long time and finally hunkered down and got it done! This follows the sketch from Monika Davis, which you can see here. All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Eastern Blooms
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Scallop circle bigz die, Eyelet border punch, Simple flower embosslit, Pretties half back pearl, Paper Piercing tool kit, word window punch, Chit Chat rubons, white taffeta ribbon, Valet ribbon originals


For this sketch, I used the new hostess Level 1 set Comfort Food....it's soo cute! The sketch I used came from Sherrie Siemens here. This is a 4 x 4 square card. All supplies Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Comfort Food
Ink: Versamark, Regal Rose, Creamy Caramel
Paper: Regal Rose, Sweet Always dsp, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Accessories: Pink fine supernova glitter, crystal effects, paper piercing tool kit, Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon, dazzling diamonds


For this next card, I used Comfort Food again...how many times have we felt "sick" and wanted to milk it for all it's worth? lol After I uploaded these (at like 1 in the morning), I realized that I really should use a darker background with white cards...NOTED! Anyway, I followed Jami Sibley's sketch here. All supplies Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Comfort Food
Ink: Staz on, Bashful blue, Sahara Sand
Paper: Whisper White, Bashful blue, Sahara sand, Sale a bration ' 09 dsp
Accessories: White taffeta ribbon, coluzzle, white gel pen, blender pen, Texture plate Backgrounds I






And for the final card, I followed the sketch on Ana Wolfhart's blog here. All supplies Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Embrace Life
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip craft, Versamark
Paper: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Urban Garden dsp, Chocolate chip
Accessories: Pretties kit, Chocolate Supernova glitter, Clear ep, Texture plate Backgrounds I

I'm LOVING the new glitter out of the catalog. I had to have it all! I mixed the chocolate glitter with clear embossing powder when I stamped the flower. It looks so neat in person, but pictures just make it look so....flat. So here's a closeup!



And finally....what (at least 20 people) have been waiting for, lol! The winner of the blog candy is....



Congratulations Abby! Please email me privately with your address so I can send it in the mail to you.

Thanks to everyone that visits my blog and for all the very wonderful comments. I read each and every one of those embarrassing moments and they were AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing ladies. :)

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Sooo many sketches...

....and sooo little time. I have a lot to show today! It started last weekend with my goal to complete 9 sketches from Celebrating a year of cupcake sketches with Taylored Expressions. I began the project late last week, and I've finished over half of the cards. This first one was used in a shoebox swap I participated in over the weekend. It follows the sketch you can see here. All supplies are Stampin' Up! in this one. I embossed the heart from the new Sale a Bration set, "Polka Dot Punches" in white on So Saffron cardstock. I then cut it out and then punched another piece of cardstock and used the new glitter around the edge of the heart...popped the embossed heart on top and voila! It looks very pretty and sparkly in person. The bashful blue piece of cardstock was embossed with the next Texture plate and I also used a small strip of designer paper (also from Sale a Bration) at the top punched with the new lace edge punch. The saffron ribbon is also a Sale a Bration "set." Whew! Lots of Sale a Bration in there! :)

I've only completed 4 more of the sketches (I'm running out of time!!!), but I decided to use these sketches to make a set of cards to give to my son's teacher as a little pre-Valentine's gift. Here are the cards and the sketches they follow:


This one follows Taylor's sketch here.

This one follows Jackie Pedro's sketch seen here.

This one follows Vicki Chrisman's sketch seen here.

And finally this one follows Donna Baker's sketch here.

I wanted to create something to present these cards in and decided to use the template I had purchased from Papertrey Ink called All Boxed Up. It's an AWESOME little box and sooo simple to make...and only 5 bucks! Anyway, I created the box and here's the outside cover.



And here it is open with the cards inside. :)



Isn't it cute?!?! I think she will love it and I'm so excited to give it to her! I used the Valentine key Ingredients for all of the cards.

Thanks for sticking with me if you've made it this far! Don't forget to leave a comment in my previous post HERE to win my blog candy! Until later...thanks for getting "in stamping mode." :)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Ok, let's celebrate!

As promised, I've got some candy to give! First, let's start with a little eye candy. I got my Stampin' Up! order a couple of days ago and IMMEDIATELY had to play. This is my "Wish Big" birthday card following the layout from Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #212. All supplies are from Stampin' Up! I used the new Parisian Breeze Specialty designer paper, and let me tell you this paper is AWESOME! It's textured and super thick cardstock weight. I ran my background Baja Breeze cardstock through one of the new texture plates (harlequinn pattern) and then took a white gel pen at all the intersections...I love doing this for interest! I also ran a piece of the Baja Breeze cardstock through the Simple Flower embosslit, but wasn't happy with the "flat" look it had. I wanted some texture, so I ran another piece of baja cardstock through my texure plate with woodgrain look. Voila! This made my cardstock look like textured cardstock (without paying the extra $$!) I then ran a small piece of that through the embosslit and it kept the texture! I was just tickled with my little discovery. :)

See the goodies over here on the left? That is the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set, Best Yet hostess set, package of Flirty ribbon, and Loves Me designer paper (only missing 1 sheet.) Be sure to leave me a comment on this post telling me your most embarrassing moment!! (I expect some good laughs) :) You will have until Wednesday, January 28th at 11:59 PM to leave your comment and I will announce a winner on Thursday. Good luck!


Lastly, I wanted to share some awesome hand-stamped birthday cards I received. Enjoy!


Created by Valeria Sequeira.


Created by Anitra Tovar


Created by Rosie Hughes

Thursday, January 22, 2009

A Mojo Birthday!


That's right...I am officially one year older today! To celebrate, I will be having a delicious candy offering! I promise it's coming...I'm working on getting a photo of it. :)
In the mean time, I got to use another new stamp set from Verve Stamps, and although I didn't get to use my most favorite sentiment from it, I was still a happy stamper! This card followed the Mojo Monday Sketch #70. It also serves a purpose! I am sending this to a friend who is having a rough time in her personal life. I hope that she likes it. Can ya tell I'm totally loving the Bittersweet designer paper by Basic Grey? I actually spent a long time on this card...a REALLY long time, lol! The greeting is actually stamped on vellum in chocolate craft and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I had every intention of layering it over a piece of designer paper, but it was just too busy. I ended up layering it over a piece of the solid designer paper that came in the set...go figure! My scalloped circle was cut with a Nestability and then run through my Big Shot with the Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder. I then placed it back in the Scalloped circle die and embossed the outer edge. I sponged Creamy Caramel on top and still wasn't happy with it, so I took Liquid Pearls in Platinum and put them at all intersections. I then randomly put them on the strip with hearts. Whew! That was a mouthful! Cardstock used was Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red.

I was also recently given this award from Pamela with Firecracker Designs. Thanks Pamela! So sweet of you to think of me for this! I'm now supposed to list the Five things I obsess over. This is a toughie!

1. Being "connected." Oh man, I LOVE being online. I constantly check email, CNN, People, Google Reader, and the Anthropologie website. It doesn't help that I got an Iphone for my birthday and a netbook to tote around the house.

2. I have a hard time just sitting and doing nothing. Like, if I watch TV, I either have to be folding clothes or on the treadmill. That's just the way it goes.

3. Jagged nails. I can't stand it. I have nail files all over my house....and in my car too.

4. Candy. I'm such a sucker...literally.

5. Games. I love to play games...primarily console or computer games. I tend to get a little obsessed with winning too. :)

If you've made it this far...bless you! LOL! Thanks for stopping in.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Smile!

There are lots of things to smile about. The new Stampin' Up! catalog was released yesterday, for one! There are soooo many things from it that I'd love to have...that darned thing called "money" just holds me back! I did place an order though and I'm crossing my fingers and toes I have it by Friday. If you would like to see the new catalog, just click on the catalog over there on the sidebar ----------------------->
As a matter of fact, all the goodies, ie, Specials, Decor Elements, link to ORDER NOW FROM MY WEBSITE *cough* should be there. :)

In the meantime...
Lookie what I just found at my local Archiver's?! Have you seen any of the stamp sets from the new stamp company, Our Craft Lounge? Well my Archiver's finally got them. They are just so cute I had a REALLY hard time just picking one. I decided on the set Anna Mae. Too cute, huh?! :)
The sketch I used was from the latest Sketch For You to Try over at I{heart}2stamp. I am also entering this in for a MONDO blog candy that is hosted there. You can see all the details here. There is over $450 of stamping goodies that you_could_win!! All you have to do is send in a blank card! Now, I never win anything, so I don't expect I will this time, but at least it's for a good cause!
Have you looked at the color combination on my card and pondered...what was she thinking?!?! I'm still laughing at myself! I love the colors of the cute Gymboree outfits my daughter wears, so I headed on over there for inspiration. Here's the inspiration and ...yeah, I totally wound up with something....else. I have no idea how I ventured to these colors, but they turned out being Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant, and Pretty in Pink. I challenge you to make a card with these colors!!
Now, I can't do anything without some sparkle. I added clear Spica glitter to her shoes and the flowers. I just can't get enough of those pink rhinestone flowers, so I used those too. I colored Anna with Copics.

Now for something to REALLY smile about...my birthday is in a couple of days, so be sure to check back for something extra sweet!

As always, thanks so much for stopping in!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

In Stamping Mode...seriously!

Title says it all. I was in the mode to stamp...seriously! The mojo was definitely a-flowin'. I got some shiny new stamps in the mail the other day from Verve and I could_not_wait to play with them. I got three stamp sets...one of which I won for free! How awesome is that?! Anywho, this card is for the Sketch for you to try over at I {heart}2 stamp. If you haven't been there, you need to go! She is hosting a contest that will net the winner over $450 worth of stamping supplies! We all need more stamps, AMIRIGHT?? :) Ok, so back to the card...I used the new stamp set Meditations from Verve. Oh yeah...I also got color inspiration from KWerner Design's Color Inspiration #38. The colors to use were Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White. Sooo pretty together! Now, you can't see it from this picture, but there is plenty of sparkle!

I used a new (to me) Twinklette marker from Marvy to color in the Pumpkin Pie part of the flowers. These markers are pretty awesome! The sparkle is just amazing. I also added some bling with little flower rhinestones from Kaiser. I also added clear Sakura glaze on the pink parts of the flowers. The stamp that I used for the background on the Pretty in Pink layer is a stamp from Inque Boutique's French Quarter.

But this is not all I have for you! I also wanted to participate in Taylor's latest Cupcake Challenge...since I also just got my first Taylor stamps in the mail. :)
I put Christmas Red Stickles on the large heart as well as the hearts next to the sentiment. I also paper pieced Cupcake's 'bottom' with the same polka dot designer paper as the background. See the scalloped punch with teeny hearts in it? I'm so excited, but that is a brand new Martha Stewart Valentine punch I just bought at Michael's...with a coupon, of course!
Such sparkly cards today! I hope all this sparkle gave you a bit of a smile. :) Thanks for stopping in!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Sale a Brate 08 sneak


I have a couple goodies to share with you today. This first features a stamped heart from an upcoming Sale a Bration set called Polka Dot Punches. The set is so super cute and coordinates with another Sale a Bration "set", if you will, pack of Designer Series Paper...which then coordinates with a Sale a Bration ribbon pack. Whew! I made this card very simply...sometimes less is more, right? :) I embossed the heart image with white embossing powder and then cut it out...there will be a coordinating heart punch in the catalog! I used two stylized silver hodgepodge ribbon holders on the sides and then filled them with crystal effects and microbeads. I then took a Pretty in Pink marker to the beads after they dried for a subtle pink effect.

My next card was made using the latest Splitcoast sketch challenge. A friend of mine had a baby girl this morning and I needed to come up with a card quick! This card isn't exactly quick, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I used a retired oldie but goodie SU set called Buggies and Booties. It's such a classy baby set, I don't know why they retired it!

Anyway...I finally got my new Stampin' Up! catalogs in yesterday and I'm just chomping at the bit to place an order. I'm so excited for all the new stamps, accessories, ribbons, glitters, and dies...oh my! If you haven't pre-ordered your catalog, do it...like yesterday!!

All Supplies Stampin' Up! (unless otherwise noted)

Love You card
Stamps: Polka Dot Punches, Short & Sweet, Polka Dot background
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Versamark, Riding Hood Red
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Sytlized Silver HodgePodge, Pink grosgrain, Pink duo beads, White embossing powder


Babies are Bits of Stardust card
Stamps: Buggies and Booties
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Ranger Distress Ink in Tattered Rose
Paper: Kraft, Pink Pirouette, Confetti White, Basic Grey's Bittersweet designer paper
Accessories: Pretties flowers and half-backed pearls, Kaiser small pearls, Cuttlebug Paisley embossing folder

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Cuppie Valentine

Valentine card made for hubby? Check! I just recently received my very first Taylored Expressions stamp set in the mail, called Love is Sweet. Her stamp sets are so adorable and ALWAYS sweet! :) I couldn't wait to get my hands on them! I used Julee's Mojo Monday #69 sketch for inspiration and I just love how it turned out!! All the supplies you see on the card are made using Taylor's Key Ingredients (which I can't find on her site right now), but included matching cardstocks, designer papers, heart brads, diamond glitter, and yummy ribbon. The only pieces I added out of my personal stash were the pearls (a girl's gotta have pearls!) and the blue glitter paper behind the "love is sweet" circle sentiments. The glitter paper is AWESOME and can be found at Target in the Scrapbooking section. Thanks Julee for enabling! :)


I also added some pink Sakura Jelly roll pen to the tops of the chocolates...mmmm.! I took at least 30 pictures of the card and none of them do it any justice! Can't say I didn't try! Be sure to click on the images and you can probably see a better photo (more detail).

Thanks for stopping by and getting "in stamping mode!"

Monday, January 12, 2009

Mojo Monday Challenge

I REALLY wanted to participate in the Mojo Monday Contest because the sketch was just AWESOME! What a bummer it took me a whole two days to come up with something. Don't get me wrong...I stamped at least 20 different layouts that are now sitting in my trash can. :( I just suffered a complete stamper's block. I finally overcame and came up with this card using the retired Dream Come True stamp set. I must say...I'm pretty happy that I've been using a lot of my "old" stamp sets and supplies. Nice to know they aren't collecting dust TOO long!

Using the Stamp a Majig, I stamped the solid heart image in Pink Pirouette, rotating each time, as a background. I then went in with my white gel pen and made little dots...matching the theme of the dotted dsp. The row of hearts were stamped in Riding Hood Red using the Stamp a Majig, once again, for placement. I then colored in the hearts with my red Spica Glitter pen. You can get a better idea of the sparkle here.

I also used the red Spica pen to highlight the word "love" :) The cord that I used to tie in a bow on the upper left side of the main image was simply silver cord that I colored in with one of my Copic markers. Man...those Copics REALLY come in handy! I was just tickled with how that turned out. The little pink hearts on the sides of the silver hardware are merely punched out 1/4" hearts with a handheld Fiskar's punch. I then put Crystal Effects on top of them to make them look like those super-cool Epoxy hearts that seem to be sold out everywhere! And I'm spent! Until later!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Busy busy bee


That's what I've been! I'll get to the "bee" part later though. :) First, I wanted to participate in KWerner's latest color challenge. These colors are so cute but, what a doozy! I think I blankly stared at them for a couple hours.
Either way, I had a goal! I have a baby shower to attend this weekend and the mom-to-be doesn't want to know the gender! These colors are perfect, in my opinion. So I came up with this Sweet Little One card. I stamped the main image quite a few times! I stamped with Chocolate Chip craft on Baja Breeze cs and embossed with clear embossing powder and punched that out with the scallop circle punch.

The same embossing was done on the Old Olive piece as well. I'm quite fond of my custom polka-dotted background! I took my Polka dot background stamp...and since I don't have a Baja Breeze marker, inked the entire stamp with the full pad. I then went over each dot with Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive markers. The Pumpkin Pie and Baja Breeze kind of get muddy together, so I'd simply swipe off the Baja ink with my finger before applying the marker. And of course I couldn't do this layout without using a challenge. I'm still participating in Verve's Looking For Love Release Challenge and this was #2. I'm a day behind, so I needed to complete Challenge #3 here.

Enter my little Bee friend...and ANOTHER sneak peek to a new Stampin' Up! set, soon to be released in just a couple weeks!


Awfully tiny is she, eh? Well, the image is actually bigger, but I stamped her on Shrinky Dink, colored her in and put her in the oven! I think she turned out sooo cute!

I went back in and used a Spica clear glitter pen on her wings and Sakura yellow glitter pen on her body for a little sparkle. I colored the main image in with Copics and went back in with a colorless blender for those little "dots." I wanted a little texture on the hive...and if it looks odd to you, I'm still learning! I used rub-ons that were laying on my desk on the ribbon. I'm on the fence of how that looks, but whatever! The border punch on the bottom is one of Martha Stewart's punches (I can't remember the name!) I added some little baubles to the center of each flower for added interest.

Thanks so much for visiting and have a GREAT day! :)

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Stamp something!


I keep up with a LOT of blogs in my reader...106 to be exact. And in keeping up with every. single. one of those blogs, I end up clicking off to other sites...be it an online store, or another blog. That's when I stumbled onto the Stamp Something blog and decided to play along with their challenge. Stamp something using something new. How easy is that?! I'm always buying new things, lol! Anyway, I coupled that with Verve's Looking For Love Release Challenge over on Splitcoast for the chance at winning one of their new release sets....*DROOL*. That challenge involved using the colors Blush Blossom, Riding Hood Red, and Kraft. The "something new" that I used was my Liquid Pearls in Petal Pink from over at Ellen Hutson's online store. Yes...I filled in all the little holes from the Doilie edge punch with Liquid Pearls in white and pink. You HAVE to have a steady hand for this! I was laughing at myself shaking...it almost made me want to cry. ANYWAY! This card is so much more beautiful in person....the Bella Toile background stamped so perfectly in white craft on the Kraft, it just looked stunning alone. I didn't want to cover it with a whole bunch of "stuff" so I went minimal. A good friend of mine is having a baby (we're crossing our fingers for a girl), and I think this will be a perfect card for that occasion..so I'm waiting to stamp it. :) It's kind of shabby chic, right?!

I also worked on a project for my club members' 3d item. They will be making this cute lollipop holder. For a full tutorial on how to make this, you can visit Carolina's Creative Pad here and download her awesome walk-through! So, to you club members out there, be sure to "oooh and ahhh" and act completely stunned and surprised and overwhelmed with joy when you see this in person. :D

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

A Sweetheart pull box tutorial


You may remember this little treat box I posted a couple of days ago. Well, I've had a request to share how I made it and I was happy to oblige! :)

Now, before I begin, I actually found this box on Splitcoast (so I'm not inventing anything new!) but I looked high and low for a tutorial on how to make it and couldn't find a thing! I was able to read that people had just modified Beate's tutorial on "Pull Treats" from Splitcoast here. This is merely my translation and what I did. I hope you find it useful!


Step 1: Cut your cardstock to 4" x 7 1/4", stamp and score at 3/4", 3 1/4", 4" and 6 1/2"

Step 2: Fold along score lines and place one line of sticky strip on one OUTSIDE flap and one line of sticky strip on the opposite INSIDE flap.

Step 3: Adhere the pieces together, where one flap overlaps the other. Your box should look like this now. (I was able to find the Sweethearts candy boxes already available at my local Dollar Tree)


Step 4: Now take your slot punch and punch a hole on one end, about 1/2" down and centered. Do the same for the opposite side


Step 5: Measure approximately 18" of ribbon. This is what ends up being tied around your box


Step 6: Take that ribbon and run both ends, from inside to out, through the box. You should have a loop at the inside that your Sweethearts box will "sit" on.


Step 7: Slide your Sweetheart box in so that the bottom of the box sits on the bottom of your ribbon.



Step 9: Now you can tie the ribbon to the top of your box and, using the tied part, pull your box up and slide it in and out with ease.


Finish decorating and voila!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or shoot an email and ask. I love comments and email. :)

Thanks for getting "in stamping mode!"
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