rubber resist take 3

I'm not a huge fan of this one, but I wanted to show you what an opps looks like. I used to do Pysanka, which is a specific method and style of creating wax resist Ukrainian Easter eggs. I haven't done any in years, and apparently I have forgotten all about layering colors over each other. For this card I made the base and embellishments first and then decided to create the background piece using rubber resist. Sadly for me I wasn't really thinking about colors mixing when I created this. I was going for yellow and blue, but what happens when you mix yellow and blue? you get green. opps. So this is a lesson in what not to do.


Stamps: Party Hearty
Inks: Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red, Hoppy Memories DSP (retired)
Misc: 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Large Tag Punch, Extra Large Tag Punch, Top Note Die, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Brights Brad

Hip-Hippo-Ray!..... I'm only a week behind

Well sort of. I had the best intentions to post some more cards last weekend, but then life got in the way again. I had fun at a national scrapbook day crop, thanks Becky.

This is a card I did way back in December for my niece's birthday. I try to not use pink a whole lot if I can help it, but since she loves pink I decided to go all out! Would you ever have though to use Christmas DSP not only for a birthday card, but for a PINK-licious card? I never would have, but my son picked up a scrap and said it looked perfect and to use it, so I did... it's a scrap of Holly Jolly DSP.






Stamps: Pun Fun
Inks: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink
Papers: Watercolor Paper, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Holly Jolly DSP, Cottage Garden DSP (retired)
Misc: Aqua Painter, 3/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Sponges, Dimensionals

I hope I've inspired you to use some of your supplies or DSP in a way you didn't think of at first.

lookie here....

This time when I blinked it has been less than a week.... makes me actually believe things will get better. I am so far behind posting its not even funny. This is from last months (I think) monthly stamp club. I love making clean and simple cards and then finding ways to add a little touch to them to make them pop. In this case it is the sanded background stamp in the same color as the cardstock. I love that stamp and I swear it adds the perfect touch every time. If you don't own any background stamps you are missing out!! If I'm having a hard time figuring out what I want to do I'll grab a background stamp that piques my interest and go from there.




Stamps: Perfect Punches, Sanded
Inks: Marina Mist
Papers: Old Olive, Marina Mist, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Misc: Wide Oval Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Lattice Embossing Folder, Brights Button, Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Mini Library Clip

Today seems to be a good stamping day. I made several cards today, got ready for a class, managed to get my fingers completely covered with reinkers, and now I'm posting on here..... lets hope tomorrow is as good to me as today was. Now I'm going to try and get some digital scrapbooking done.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

First off I want to apologize for not posting anything the last while. We were insane trying to get everything ready for our Christmas Vacation, and then we were on the road for 2 days, then spent 5 days and we were on the road again for 18 hours. We finally arrived in Logan Utah this morning and have had a great day with family here. We will be leaving again tomorrow around noon for another 14 hours of driving before we end up in Mesa.

Before we left I made a card (a huge card) for Sevastian's Kindergarten class to sign. It ended up being 6x9, and the focal point on the card was 4x5.5. I took it into class for the class party and had all the kids sign it before we tucked the gift card for the teacher and gave it to her at the end of the party.

I love this set, and think it is a great kids set. I also decided to go a little over the top with it, and put shimmer everywhere. There is Dazzlin' Diamonds Glitter pretty much everywhere on the card. I also used Vanilla Smooch Spray to spray the background Bashful Blue piece after I embossed it with the Petals a Plenty embossing folder, and then I used Frost White Shimmer Paint to emboss the top of the petals and topped it off with 3 small Basic Pearls. I also added Rhinestones to the top of several trees.





It's late here, and I am working on almost no sleep, so I'll come back and post the recipes later.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and an even better time with family.

Vintage Snowflake take 2

I told you the other day that I'd post the other version of the snowflake card I did, so here it is. I wanted to see what it would look like with less white and more blue. What do you guys think of it? Which is your favorite and why?


Stamps: Christmas Punch
Inks: Sahara Sand
Papers: Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue
Misc: Snowflake #2 Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Dazzlin Diamonds Glitter, Sponges, Wide Oval Punch, Antique Brads, Snowflake Punch, Dimensionals

Again I used a slightly different Antique Brad for the middle and for this one I put some Dazzlin' Diamonds glitter in the middle of it too. To get the depth between the two snowflakes I placed a dimensional between them and another under the last one so the whole thing would pop up from the card base.

Vintage Snowflake

I'm not the biggest fan of Vintage Style, but it's growing on me. I was over at my Grams place a while back and saw one of her doilies, and it totally reminded me of a snowflake. I wanted to do something with a very vintage feel to it that looked like a snowflake, so I started with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder from Stampin' Up! I went to SCS and I searched for it, and found a beautiful card by Lee Conroy that used it and the Snowflake #2 die. I fell in love with it and had to CASE it. I changed very little, only the sentiment and the blue snowflake shape. I did a few of these up for my SAS in October, and used several different Antique Brads. Depending on the brad you pick, it totally changes the mood of the card which is wonderful.





Stamps: Christmas Punch
Inks: Sahara Sand
Papers: Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue
Misc: Snowflake #2 Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Dazzlin Diamonds Glitter, Sponges, Wide Oval Punch, Antique Brads, Snowflake Punch, Dimensionals

I also did another slightly different version of this card which I'll show you next time. And a quick tip for you, when you care deciding which way to cut your cardstock for a particular card keep in mind what you will be making. This card is quite front and top heavy, so it would have a tendency to fall over if I cut it to 8.5x5.5 and scored it at 4.25, so I cut it to 4.25x11 and scored it at 5.5, that way it folds at the top of the card and is less likely to fall over.

CAS Seasons Greetings

I have a hard time doing CAS (clean and simple) cards for some reason, but this one pretty much can only be called CAS. It's hard to tell, but the Pacific Point is actually layered onto Whisper White cardstock. All I did for this one was emboss the card front with the Norther Flurry Embossing Folder, and then go over it with a bit of Whisper White ink, add a couple Rhinestones and a greeting and Voila, done.

Stamps: Many Merry Messages
Inks: Whisper White
Papers: Whisper White, Pacific Point
Misc: Rhinestones, Northern Flurry Embossing Folder

I actually managed to get the Christmas Tree up tonight. I offered to take my sister in laws kids for a sleep over, and they had so much fun putting up the tree at their house that we did it here too. It was awesome. I barely had to do anything, except the top part of the tree, since none of them could reach it. Hubby was thrilled that all he had to do was get the tree down, plug in one cord, and put the topper on (that's tradition around here). We are making homemade tortillas and scrambled eggs in the am for breakfast, so I'd best be going to bed. I need to be up early with this many kids in the house.

Many Merry Christmas'

One of my all time favorite Christmas stamps is called Many Merry Messages. It is fantastic for both the outside and inside of any Christmas card. I use it at pretty much every Christmas SAS I do and most club nights that have anything to do with Christmas too. The rest of this card uses the new Northern Flurry embossing folder and the Level 1 hostess set from the current mini. If you like these stamps you need to host a qualifying workshop or party before Jan 3rd. I still have a few dates available, so contact me today.




Stamps: Many Merry Messages, Northern Hearts
Inks: Pacific Point, Crushed Concord, Whisper White
Papers: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Crushed Concord
Misc: Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Rhinestones, Sponges, Dimensionals, Rhinestone Brads

I'm not sure you can see it real well in the photos, but the ribbon of paper with the saying Merry Christmas is actually curved outwards, and does not lay flat. I love the look it gives the card.

Northern Flurry...

Sadly that about sums up our weather lately.... cold and snowy!! I am really not a winter type of gal.... I think that snow is the worst of the 4 letter words, and about this time every year I wonder why we live in a place that gets winter for 6 months at least every year. I really do want to move somewhere (someday) that only has 1 season.... warm! The only good thing about snow and winter is that is makes for really pretty cards. If we never had snow, we would not have snowflakes to stamp and emboss onto cards, and that would be a shame. I was playing around with the Tags til Christmas stamp set the other day and made several cards with it, and then I decided to see what it looked like paired with this new embossing folder. I really do like how it turned out. Sometimes when you are just playing around with no particular idea in mind you end up with surprising results, and this time the surprise was a nice one.


Stamps: Tags Til Christmas
Inks: Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Papers: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive
Misc: 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponges, Decorative Label Punch, Northern Flurry Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones

Step it up, card 3

Here is card 3 as promised. I had a great afternoon with some great people today, and I will be doing this class again tomorrow and Monday night. I love Christmas, and I love making cards, so these classes are a ton of fun for me. This card is pretty easy to see what I did to change it up. I sponged Real Red onto the top of the embossed part of the card.

Stamps: Tags Til Christmas
Inks: Old Olive, Real Red (markers)
Papers: Very Vanilla, Old Olive
Misc: Petals A Plenty Embossing Folder, 5/8" Real Red Satin Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch

So can you tell which idea was mine, and which was hubby's? Card 2 or 3? I am totally spoiled by hubby. I know most husbands don't even look twice at the stuff their wives make, let alone help out with ideas. And not only does he help out with ideas and tell me his opinion (when I ask) he also is great about me buying tons of stuff for my addiction/hobby. And even better, he looks after the kid when I am teaching, and when we go to Arizona and I want to get together with other demo friends. Talk about lucky right?

I am off to bed, I have to get up tomorrow and help mom with a quilt for the kids bed before I teach another class in the afternoon. Hope you all are having a great weekend so far.

Step it up, card 2

Well it took longer than I thought to get back on here. It's amazing how hectic life can get as soon as the road conditions are not great and snowy. Here is card 2 of 3. This one only has a slight change, but I love how much more the tag pops because of it. I punched out the Decorative Label Punch in Real Red and Old Olive and cut the pieces in the corners and added them behind the original one. Just that little bit extra makes the card that much nicer.



Stamps: Tags Til Christmas
Inks: Old Olive, Real Red (markers)
Papers: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Real Red
Misc: Petals A Plenty Embossing Folder, 5/8" Real Red Satin Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch

I am off to teach a Christmas Card Class, but I will post the 3rd card later tonight. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Step it up, card 1

I was making Christmas cards the other day and this one popped into my head. As soon as I was done with it I immediately figured out how I could make it look better. I decided to go ahead and turn it into a step it up card. My hubby was in the room with me, and looked at it and said, why don't you try this, so I did both. I will show you those tomorrow, and the next day. You will have to guess which idea was mine and which was hubby's.



Stamps: Tags Til Christmas
Inks: Old Olive, Real Red (markers)
Papers: Very Vanilla, Old Olive
Misc: Petals A Plenty Embossing Folder, 5/8" Real Red Satin Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch,

Decked out with Tinsel

The new Tinsel Trim from the current Holiday Mini is FANTASTIC!! You can use it for so many things, and hanging the ornaments is just one of them. In case you missed one of my earlier posts, I LOVE the new Jewels too! both the rhinestones and the pearls. They add the perfect touch to any project and are cheap too!



Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Snow Swirled
Inks: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Papers: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DSP
Misc: Silver Tinsel Trim, Ornament Punch, Rhinestones, Boho Blossoms Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

primary colors....

I am on a huge primary color kick! I have actually had to make a concerted effort to stop using these colors, esp when I was designing the Christmas cards for my recent round of Christmas Stamp-A-Stacks. This is a card we did in out monthly stamp club, along with 2 other really cool cards, one full of candy! I will be posting those on my stamp club blog soon with all the measurements, and instructions, so those of you who missed class can still make these at home. I hope you love the bright colors as much as I do, they have been the only bright things I have seen most days since it is dreary weather here.


Stamps: Apple Blossom
Inks: Real Red, Daffodil delight, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point
Papers: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Misc: Linen Thread, Brights Buttons, Square Lattice Embossing Folder