Spooky Halloween!

  Happy Halloween everyone!  We'll have a chubby little pumpkin and a goofy penguin running around here later on a total sugar high.  What kind of creatures do you have running amok at your house today???

  I made this card a while back and couldn't decide if I should show it on my blog or not.  There was just something missing and I kept looking at it and putting it away, then looking at it again, then putting it away.  I kind of liked the usual cheerful hot air balloons kind of looking dark and gloomy for Halloween.  And the birds which I imagine to be bats again like in this post were kind of fun.  The black satin ribbon wasn't original and once I added it then the card felt more finished.  Still slightly spooky but dressed up.

  I think this layout or color combination was from a challenge back sometime but I have no idea where or when.  If it seems familiar let me know and I'll update with the information.

  The base is Rich Razzleberry.  The balloons are Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie.  I added the stitched overlay stamp in Basic Black to each one to add to the spooky Halloween feeling.  The hanging black flags are also in Basic Black along with the "bats".  The balloons are cut out and  popped on dimensionals.  I added a strip of black scallop border punches to each edge of the Whisper White panel and then of course the black satin ribbon to finish it off.

  Now on the inside is where I thought I was cute and clever...you be the final judge.  I was just messing around with the sentiments that came in the Up, Up and Away set trying to come up with something that would work for Halloween because really, you can't send this card for a birthday.  Birthdays can be depressing enough without getting a creepy card in the mail from some strange stamper that you know!  This is what I came up with using some creative omitting and giving my Stamp-a-ma-jig some love.

  I inked up the stamp with my black marker and left off the "irth" from birthday and added 2 punched circles which are supposed to be eyes and make up "Happy Boo-day to you". 

  I'm off to go carve pumpkins with  my sons kindergarten class...should be interesting and messy!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?





Stamps: Up, Up and Away


Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry

Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie (inside)

Accessories:  scallop border punch, black satin ribbon, dimensionals, circle punches (inside)

Flowers of Hope

  Just a quick post tonight....we're busy watching hockey on TV.  Go Flyers!  I made this card the other day for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  The month long challenge to create cards for the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas is almost over and I haven't gotten to nearly as many cards as I had wanted to.  Hopefully tomorrow after church I can get a few more cards made for this great cause.  For this particular challenge the hostess wanted you to use green and yellow which represents Hope and brown which represents Comfort.

  Here is my green, yellow and brown card.

  This "3 Across" layout is one that I use a lot and works for a variety of different stamps, big, small, solid image, line art...you name it it will look great in this layout.  My exact colors were suggested by my Color Coach.  Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, So Saffron and More Mustard.

  I stamped my Field Flowers first in So Saffron and then added the detail stamp over it with More Mustard.  I stamped the centers in Chocolate Chip and then punched 3 out with my scallop square punch.  I oriented them each a bit differently in the punch so they wouldn't be completely matchy matchy.  I sponged the edges of each square with a bit of Chocolate Chip ink.

   The 3 flower panels are mounted on a piece of textured Garden Green and a strip of Whisper White that was punched with the scallop edge border punch and sponged with Chocolate Chip is added at the bottom.

  To give the sentiment a little bit of punch I first stamped the detail flower stamp with Chocolate Chip ink.  Then I stamped the sentiment in Versamark right over the flower and embossed it with white embossing powder.  I tend not to get rid of retired sentiment stamp sets as you just never know when you'll need a certain phrase or font.  The set that this one came from, Whimsical Words, retired some time ago but I think it works perfectly for this card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Field Flowers, Whimsical Words

Ink: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, More Mustard, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green(textured)

Accessories: square scallop punch, scallop edge punch, white embossing powder
 

Cold Frosty Morning

  No it's not a cold frosty morning here in Central Virginia yet.  Though being originally from Connecticut I don't think it ever gets as cold here as it does up north.  Some Richmonders would disagree with me on that though (thin blooded that they are).  I don't really consider 40 degrees that cold.  You know it's really cold when you walk outside and the inside of your nose freezes after taking one breath.  I don't think that has ever happened to me in Richmond thus it's not really that cold!  Ha!  And I know those of you up in Canada just laugh as us southerners!  Anyway back to the real reason we're all here...stamping.

  I had my lovely group of stamping ladies over Tuesday night and Wednesday morning for a Christmas/Winter Stamp-A-Stack.  This was one of the cards they made....Cold Frosty Morning.  While it doesn't show up well in the photo we lightly daubed a bit of Vanilla Shimmer Paint onto the trees and it makes them look like they are covered in a layer of ice and snow.  Add in the snowflakes stamped on the base of the card and the Northern Flurries die cut snowflakes and you have a regular cold snowy morning!

  The base of the card is Crumb Cake stamped with Serene Snowflakes also in Crumb Cake.  The frosty tree panel is Whisper White mounted on a piece of Not Quite Navy.  We used a clear block to stamp the Baja Breeze shape and then stamped the trees right over the top of it in Not Quite Navy.

  I already mentioned the Shimmer Paint ice on the trees but just a quick tip on applying it with the sponge daubers.  You don't want to soak your sponge dauber in the paint just pick up a little bit at a time otherwise you'll get blotchy spots, you just want a light little shimmer.  You can always add more but you can take it away once it's there.

  I pre-cut all the snowflakes for my ladies and poked out all the little pieces which was quite a job.  A tip on using the Glimmer Paper with the Northern Flurries die is to gently peel off one of the backing layers of paper.  It will then be a bit thinner and the die can cut the paper easier.  Punches generally work really well with the glimmer paper so that is an option as well.  We layered a Not Quite Navy snowflake with a Glimmer Paper one and topped it off with an adhesive rhinestone.  The snowflakes are adhered together and to the card with mini glue dots.

  Oh and not to forget...the right side corners are all rounded for a little bit of extra detail.

  Reminder!!  There are only a few days left to take advantage of the FREE Big Shot Promotion when you join Stampin' Up.  Click HERE for more details and give me a shout if you have questions.  The Starter Kit can be customized so you can get a ton of products that are on your wishlist along with the Big Shot (or $100 in product if you already have a Big Shot).  No obligation to ever sell, hold a club or even place another order.  How cool is that?  I've heard the Starter Kit described as the "I Want It All" Kit.  How funny is that....true but funny!  Don't miss out on the deal if you've been thinking about getting a Big Shot.

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Serene Snowflakes

Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake


Paper: Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Vanilla Shimmer Paint, adhesive rhinestones, Northern Flurries strip die, corner rounder, glue dots

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

  I woke up this morning to a great surprise in my inbox.  I was chosen as a winner in a stamping contest!!  Now this just isn't any old stamping contest but a contest that the Co-Founder and CEO of Stampin' Up! issues every month for anyone, not just demonstrators, to enter.  Shelli Gardner has a monthly challenge on her blog and she picks several winners and I happen to be one of them for the September Christmas Card Creative challenge.  There were so many super cute ideas that I'm totally floored to have been one of the few chosen out of all of them.  Click HERE to see the list of winners and HERE to see my original blog post with my winning Jingle Bell Elf Shoes project.

  On to a new project that I completed for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge.  This particular challenge was a sketch challenge that I used along with a color combination that I saw at church a few weeks ago.  You know you're a stamper when.... you go to church and come home with color combinations written down on your bulletin that you just have to try on a card!  I think the colors were probably better left on the church lady's dress but oh well....nothing ventured nothing gained right?  They can't all be winners!  Ha!

  I used the Circle Circus stamp set for the larger circle and the sentiment is from the retired set Happy Greetings.  My circles were cut with the Circle Scissors Plus as none of my dies or punches were quite the right sizes to work for this sketch.  This is a great tool to have for cutting larger size circles.

  The triangle piece of Basic Gray was embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  A length of Basic Gray taffeta ribbon goes under this panel and around the back of the card to tie a nice little bow at the side. 

  I added quite a bit of bling to this card.  I find myself kind of hoarding the long connected strands of adhesive rhinestones.  I don't know why....I have at least 3 sheets of rhinestones in my drawer at any given time, I can get more without a problem and they are very inexpensive for how many rhinestones you get per sheet so I decided that there is no reason at all not to be using them.   I put a strip of 8 under the sentiment and then used a whole bunch to form a circle on top of the larger circle  So, if you've bought some paper, embellishments or ribbons....don't keep them locked away, use them on a card and enjoy creating!  The person who receives the card will enjoy it as well.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Circle Circus, Happy Greetings (retired)

Ink: Island Indigo, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray


Paper: Island Indigo, Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Whisper White


Accessories: Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, rhinestones, Square Lattice embossing folder

Happy Friday!

  I hope everyone has a good Friday to start off the weekend!  We're going pumpkin picking this weekend so that should be fun.  The bumpy hayride to the pumpkin patch is the highlight for the boys I think.  Hopefully we can find the perfect pumpkins for carving.

  The cards I'm sharing today were made by 2 of my stamping ladies.  I don't get many hand stamped cards (I guess I need to make friends with more stampers who live far away!) so it's always exciting to get some fun mail and I wanted to share them with you also.

  The first one is by my friend Kristen.  Isn't this such a cute Halloween card?  I don't have this stamp set but I'm rethinking that after seeing this cutie!  Kristen has a thing for punches and she always puts them to good use on her cards!

 

  

This next card is from my friend Cory.  I love the colors she used for this card and I really like how she stamped the bird on the Old Olive cardstock.  I feel like I only stamp my focal images on Whisper White or Very Vanilla and I need to start doing it this way!  She did a great job layering all the elements and I like how she cut out the flowers and popped them up.

  Great job ladies and thank you for sharing your awesome cards with me!  They certainly brightened my day tremendously!

  Have a great weekend!  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Faux Buttons

  Just a quick post this morning since I have to go up to the elementary school in a little bit to volunteer at the kindergarten lunch.  They need all the help they can get...kindergarteners are sent to school with all sorts of stuff in their lunches that they can't open by themselves!  CapriSun juice pouches (I can't even get the straw in those sometimes!), tupperware, prepackaged crackers, cookies, cakes, candy, yogurt tubes (I know, gross right?) etc. that they can't tear open the packaging.  The last time I volunteered there was one little girl who couldn't eat a single thing in her lunchbox until a volunteered opened it for her.  Poor girl!  Whatever happened to plastic baggies??  You know when you walk in the cafeteria and they hand you a pair of scissors you'll be working!

  Today's card is another one I made for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  I hope you all aren't tired of hearing about this but it's a month long challenge for a great cause.  This card is for a challenge that used an inspiration photo of cupcakes decorated like women's torsos.  So think like neck to hips kind of thing.  Click HERE to see the challenge photo.  Since the HYCCT Challenges are all centered around breast cancer awareness this is a fitting challenge.  I don't have any boob stamps (don't think Stampin' Up! will be selling those anytime soon either) so I went with the next best thing...a dress form.

   I think I got the layout from a sketch challenge somewhere but I didn't write it down so if it looks familiar to you let me know where it's from and I'll edit to add that information.  I used the Sew Suite stamp set that retired over the summer as well as the Sweet Stitches DSP.  I was sad that this set didn't make the big catalog....but it's still cute so I will continue to use it when I can.  The dress form is paper pieced, colored and then I used a Vintage Trinket mini button brad in the corner.  I stamped the spool and then cut it out and colored it with Crumb Cake and wrapped some baker's twine around it.  One of the adorable mini safety pins from the vintage trinkets embellishments adds a bit of fun don't you think.  I made 4 faux buttons using the Sweet Buttons embosslit and covering them with a healthy layer of Cystal Effects.  You get the fun of a button but without the bulkiness.  A little 1/8" taffeta ribbon and a sentiment punched with the Decorative Label punch finishes this one off.

  A reminder to any of my local ladies...if you are making any cards for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges I will take care the postage to mail your cards to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.  Just let me know and I will include your cards in with mine.

   Also, only 13 days left to take advantage of the FREE Big Shot promotion going on right now.  If you're on the fence go for it....you've got nothing to lose and a whole lot of cool products to gain by signing up.  If you want to chat about just give me a shout!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sew Suite (retired), So Many Sayings (retired)

Ink: Black Stazon, Crumb Cake marker, Regal Rose (marker)


Paper: Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Sweet Stitches DSP, Whisper White


Accessories: 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Decorative Label punch, Sweet Buttons embosslit, Crystal Effects, Vintage Trinkets

Tools + Pink

   I hope everyone had a great weekend.  We we went to a Harvest Festival at a nearby park on Saturday.  We had a blast!  They had all kinds of old fashioned activities to do.  The boys and I made our own hand-dipped candles, the boys shelled black eyed peas, used a giant press to press sorghum, watched apple cider get made and a bunch of other fun stuff.  There was food and music and a hay bale maze and it was all free except for the food.  It was a great afternoon.  We walked home and then made a yummy dinner of Beer Can chicken, acorn squash and onion potatoes that we ate in the dinning room with the good dishes and crystal and with the candles we made that afternoon lighting the table.  The boys always think it's such fun to use the good dishes and have candles in the dinning room.  Sunday we were busy with church, a long walk at a different park, making some soup and odds and ends around the house.  Busy but not stamping busy so I didn't get any new projects done but I hope to have more time during the week but in the meantime here's a card I made last week.

  This is another card that I made for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge.  This particular challenge was to make a masculine card that used pink.  Wow!  This one took me a while to figure out.  First I don't have a ton of masculine stamp sets and then to use pink with one of them...well let's just say this project was started several times with several different ideas and this one was the best of the bunch.  Will it win any awards?  Certainly not but it fulfilled the challenge so here it is!

  I stamped the tools in Basic Gray and used my Marina Mist marker to colors parts of them.  I stamped the tape measure again, colored it in and then cut it out.  I used a small amount of Crystal Effects on the belt clip, tape measure thingy (yes very technical term there...my carpenter grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave or something!) and the little tab thing-y (again!!) that you push to lock the tape measure.  So that little details shows up way more in real life. 

  I punched out the heart from textured Rose Red cardstock and then adhered the jazzed up tape measure with a dimensional.  The words were stamped on scrap cardstock in Basic Gray and hand cut and glued down to the heart using Tombow Multi.  The whole heart concoction is popped up with a dimensional as well.

  The part that I was most excited about is the embossed line detail around the right hand and bottom edges.  I did that super quick with my Simply Scored tool.  Just set my markers zip, zip and then turned my cardstock and zip zip again!  4 perfectly scored lines in no time at all.  Who needs a tape measure or hammer when you've got a Simply Scored!!??

  I  hope you all had a great weekend!  Thanks for looking! 

  Did you stamp today?

  Stamps: Totally Tool

  Ink: Basic Gray, Marina Mist (marker)

  Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Rose Red textured

  Accessories: ticket corner punch, Large Heart punch, Simple Scored, Crystal Effects, Dimensionals

Sweet Morning Coffee

  I finally got back into my stamp room on Wednesday morning and got a few cards finished.  Here is one of them.  This was a combination of 2 different challenges over on Splitcoaststampers; the CAS (Clean and Simple) weekly challenge and one of the daily Hope You Can Cling To Challenges.  The CAS chalenge was an inspiration photo of a mug of coffee, some kind of yummy looking iced pastry and an apple----very fall-ish.  The HYCCT Challenge was to make a card using only paper embellishments.  Not using ribbon or brads is very hard for me to do....don't believe me?  Scroll through a few pages of my blog and you'll see how very hard it is!!

 

  I drew from the inspiration photo the colors and the coffee theme.  Since it was a clean and simple challenge this was a good one to leave off the embellishments to fit with the other challenge so I just went for some texture and interest with the the 3 strips of Early Espresso punched with the scallop edge punch and layered.

  For the image panel I stamped in Early Espresso and used my blender pen and Crumb Cake ink to just lightly shade the mug and coffee pot.  The edge of the circle is also sponged with Crumb Cake.  I used my Riding Hood Red marker to color in the heart on the mug and the adorable little hearts coming out as steam from the coffee pot.  The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso and punched out with the word window punch and adhered to the edge of the circle.  The whole thing is popped on dimensionals.

  Remember to head over to Splitcoaststampers and check out the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges all during the month of October.  Make some cards for the MD Anderson Cancer Center and help lift someone's spirit!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Morning Cup

Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red (marker)

Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Accessories: scallop edge punch, word window punch, Circles #2 die, blender pen, dimensionals

Witch's Purse Nugget Holder

  This is a super easy project for dressing up Hershey Nuggets.  I made a whole bunch of these to put in with my stamping ladies orders for September and to give away to the teachers at Alex's preschool.  I'm calling them Witch's Purses because 1) it's close to Halloween 2) they are black and 3) the nuggets are decorated with what I think look like bats.  So basically it's a purse that I've decided belongs to a witch...yes, the overactive imagination is at work again or maybe it's the power of suggestion since the musical Wicked is in Richmond this week.  Anyway, on to the project!

  I got the dimensions and scoring measurements from this blog HERE but there are tons of variations if you do "nugget purse" as a Google search.  Look around and find one that fits the supplies you have.  First, I scored my lines using the Simply Scored (took less than 5 minutes to score about 30!) then I ran the cardstock through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  Then I found the score lines and folded them a bit and then sprayed them with my Shimmer Mist (mix Shimmer Paint with rubbing alcohol in a little spray bottle).

Look at that shimmer!!

  I punched the holes for the ribbon handle and threaded the ribbon through.  I punched out little Silver Glimmer Paper (LOVE it!) flowers for the "clasp".  I used one of the Itty Bitty punches for that...it's the perfect size for something like this.  I had a ton of More Mustard brads left from before Stampin' Up! reconfigured the color families so I thought this was a good use for all of them.  The older brads are a bit more shiny than the new ones in case you're wondering about the differences.

  Next, I folded all my lines and adhered the flap down and attached my brad and flower to the front of the purse.  Now to prepare the nuggets!  I used some narrow strips of First Edition Specialty DSP that I stamped with bats.  Well at least I think they look like bats if you stamp them in black and are part of a project with the word witch in it and Halloween is right around the corner.  They are actually the little birds from the Up, Up and Away hot air balloon set.  What do you think???  Bats??  Good enough if you don't have a bat stamp?  Maybe if you squint your eyes and dim the lights??  Let's not get picky here people....the really important thing here is the chocolate nugget!
 

  The DSP around the nugget helps keep it from slipping out of the purse.  The nugget isn't adhered to the purse so you just slide it out when you're ready to eat it! 

One more photo since I was camera happy or something with this project!

  Don't forget about the FREE Big Shot for joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator during the month of October.  It's a deal that can't be beat and you aren't obligated to ever sell or hold classes or anything!  You get so much great stuff in the Starter Kit it's a no brainer to sign up to get the goodies as well as the FREE Big Shot!  Just leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you'd like more details on joining or what comes in the customizable Starter Kit.

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Up, Up and Away

Ink: Basic Black


Paper: Basic Black, Silver Glimmer Paper, First Ed. DSP

Accessories: Simply Scored, corner rounder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Itty Bitty Punch pack, More Mustard brads, 1/8" black taffeta, hand held small hole punch, Shimmer Mist, Chocolate nuggets!

Explosion Purse Hostess Gift

  I need to get back into the stamp room to create some new projects!  I'm running low on things to post.  Uh-oh!  I don't want you all to leave me!  Here is a cute little purse box that I made for my stamp club hostesses in September.  I filled them with some embellishments and ribbon for them to use on their own projects.  They were a huge hit at stamp club and everyone wanted to make sure I posted this project so they could make the purses on their own. 

  Fellow demonstrator Brenda Quintana (Qbee's Quest) is super generous with sharing her projects and regularly posts awesome tutorials for 3D items like boxes, bags and treat holders.  I saw this Explosion Box Purse tutorial that she shared and thought it would be a fun project to try with my new Simply Scored.  I did all the straight line scoring with the SS and then for the diagonal lines I just used a ruler and my bone folder.  Check out the tutorial link for all the details on how to make one. 

  What's so great about this box besides being so easy to make is that it is quite a bit larger than a lot of other boxes out there so you can fit a good sized gift or treat.  Brenda's original is so cute I just did the same kind of topper and "clasp".

  My base is Melon Mambo. The topper is a Top Note cut from the Letters to Santa DSP layered onto a Chocolate Chip Top Note base for sturdiness.  I made the "clasp" by punching a 1 3/8" Old Olive circle and then topping it with a Melon Mambo flower stamped from the Baroque Motifs sets.  In the center I used a Vintage Brad and the little loop is Chocolate Chip satin ribbon.  The same satin ribbon is for the handle too.  I used my Crop-a-dile to punch the holes for the handles and just threaded and knotted the ends on the inside.  To keep the whole shebang closed I added a small square of self-adhesive velcro under the flap. 

  Here's a side view!

  Thanks to Brenda for sharing this great box! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Melon Mambo


Paper: 12x12 Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Old Olive, Letters to Santa DSP


Accessories: Simply Scored, circle punches, satin ribbon, Vintage Brad, velcro (non-SU)

Ghost Halloween Treats

    Today I'm showing the third project we did at my September stamp club.  This is a super easy treat to make for Halloween.  It comes together in no time using punches and the new 1x8 cello bags from the Holiday Mini catalog.

 

  When I was designing them I couldn't decide which ghost face I liked better so I made one of each and let my stamping ladies decide which they wanted to do.  Most of them ended up combining the big eyes from one with the mouth from the other.  They looked super cute!

   The ghost is punched from the owl punch- it's his body with the feet trimmed off and flipped upside down.  The eyes and mouth are various combinations of the circles from the owl punch.  I sponged a bit of Concord Crush ink around the edges.  

  I punched a large scallop circle out of Concord Crush cardstock.  I sprayed it with a healthy amount of Vanilla Smooch Spritz and let it dry for a minute and then attached my ghost.  I used a handheld hole punch to make a hole for the ribbon to go through.  I used about 8 inches of the new dotted scallop ribbon in Basic Black and tied the tag to the M&M filled cello bag.

  There is a trick to filling the cello bags since they are pretty narrow and you can't poke your finger down to the bottom.  I used a chopstick to poke the first M&M down to the bottom.  You've got to make sure that first M&M lays flat and then all the others will stack up nicely right on top.  Some of my stamping ladies got all fancy and made cute little rainbow patterns with their M&M's but I'm more of the lazy type and just crammed in whatever came out of the bag!  But they did look super cute all in a rainbow!

  Also, don't forget about the awesome deal going on this entire month.  If you sign up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator you will get a FREE!!! Big Shot just for joining.  This is in addition to all the other great supplies that come in the Starter Kit---stamp sets, cardstock, inkpads, Stampin' Scrub, Stampin' Mist, ribbon and tons more!  Click here to get more details or leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you're interested in learning more about this awesome deal.  I'd love to have you join me on this Stampin' Up! adventure!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: None

Ink: Concord Crush

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Concord Crush

Accessories: Owl Punch, Large Scallop Circle punch, Smooch Spritz, scallop dotted ribbon, 1x8 cello bags, M&Ms

Love Chairs with Bling

  Here's another card for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  I'm excited to see how many cards I can get made for this challenge during October.  This challenge was called Bling Your Cling.

  The base of this Clean and Simple card is Crumb Cake.  I stamped the chairs in Early Espresso and punched them out with the wide oval punch.  I used my trusty owl punch to punch out 3 Melon Mambo hearts and then in keeping with the challenge I blinged them out with rhinestones.  The chairs are mounted on Early Espresso that was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I have just a hint of Pretty in Pink cardstock peeking out from underneath the Early Espresso.  The sentiment comes from Happy Greetings.

  Get your stamp on and create some cards to send to the cancer patients and their families at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.  Make someone's day a little brighter!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Have a Seat, Happy Greetings

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Owl Punch, Rhinestones, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Stamping for Breast Cancer Awareness Month - A Pink T. Rex!

  As many of you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  We will be seeing pink everywhere, from NFL football games, to commercials and even on food packaging all month long.  The stamping community on Splitcoaststampers is joining in on this great cause for the second year in a row.  The "Hope You Can Cling To" Challenge Forum is hosting a challenge everyday for stampers to create a card to send to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas to be used for their patients and patients families. 

  The very first challenge was to create a card with a pink critter on it.  So the following card is what I came up with.  Go to Splitcoaststampers to check out the challenge links and play along.  Let's shower those at MD Anderson Cancer Center with as many cards as we can...a handmade card is a hug with a fold in the middle!  Cheesy but true...how good do you feel when you get a handmade card in the mail?  Exactly!  Get stamping!

  I started this card out with the pink T. Rex of course which I stamped with black Stazon and then colored with a blender pen.  Her belly is Pink Pirouette and the rest of her is Regal Rose.  I added some of the flower punches from the Triple Layer Bouquet Blossom punch just along the edge of the dinosaur panel.  The sentiment was punched with the word window punch and adhered to the edge of the circle.

  Behind the image panel is a strip of Pretty in Pink DSP with some Whisper White satin ribbon wrapped around it.  I added some bling with a strip of adhesive rhinestones along the ribbon.  Behind this panel is a piece of Whisper White that was embossed with the Stripes embossing folder.  This piece was adhered to a piece of Regal Rose and black brads highlight the corners.  All of this pink goodness is mounted on a Pink Pirouette base.

  I hope you will all head over and check out these challenges and offer your support!  For my local stamping ladies, if you would like to participate I would be glad to mail any cards you would like to donate along with mine when I send them to the MD Anderson Cancer Center.  Just shoot me an e-mail and let me know!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp for a good cause today?

Stamps: Dinoroar

Ink: Black Stazon

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink DSP

Accessories: word window punch, satin ribbon, adhesive rhinestones, Stripes embossing folder, Triple Layer Bouquet Blossom punch

Day of Gratitude Gatefold & An AWESOME Stampin' Up! Opportunity!

  Happy Sunday!  Here is the second card that we made this past week at my stamp clubs.  It was a good way to introduce the new Simply Scored tool to my stamping ladies.  I never really liked doing crazy folds or 3D stuff since scoring can be so tricky and I have wasted some cardstock in the past.  Well the Simply Scored is simply soooooo easy to use.  Set the place markers where you want to score and then score away.  The place markers are especially helpful when you need to do multiples of sa project.  No need to keep measuring, just follow the markers.  For this card we did the gatefold technique which makes 2 little flaps that fold open to show the inside of the card.

    I used the same colors that are in the Spice Cake DSP in the Holiday mini.  I would never put these colors together on my own but they work wonderfully together.  The base is Soft Suede and then on 2 side panels I used Pool Party with First Edition Specialty paper.  I stamped the large medallion from Day of Gratitude with Soft Suede ink and then stamped again without re-inking the stamp.  I used some Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon on the right side and anchored the lower part with a Vintage Trinket button brad topped with an adhesive pearl.

  The center sentiment panel was stamped by coloring the flower stamp with markers.  The "thank you" is stamped in Soft Suede then punched with the wide oval punch.  The edges are lightly sponged also in Soft Suede.  I punched a scallop oval in Pool Party and cut it in half to frame the larger oval.  Put a dimensional on the back of the left side and adhere it to the left panel.  And there it is....a Day of Gratitude Gatefold card.

  Now on to the AWESOME deal from Stampin' Up!  If you join as a demonstrator during the month of October you will get a FREE Big Shot!!!  Now really, how cool is that??  What if you already have a Big Shot?  Then you can choose $100 worth of product instead! 

  And one of the best things about joining as a Stampin' Up! demo (besides the awesome products and 20% discount of course!!) is that you never have to sell a thing if you don't want to.  There are no strings attached to buying the starter kit or as I have heard it called "The I Want It All Kit"!  Seriously, what's not to love about this deal?  If you've got questions just leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll get back to you ASAP.  You can check out more details about this great offer and all the great demonstrator benefits HERE on my Stampin' Up! website.

  Thanks for looking!  Did You Stamp Today?

Stamps: Day of Gratitude

Ink: Soft Suede, markers- Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, More Mustard

Paper: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP

Accessories: seam binding ribbon, vintage trinket brad, adhesive pearl, wide oval punch, scallop oval punch, Simply Scored