if friends were flowers

Good morning! Here is another Spellbinders (TM) project that I can share with you. I love this card because what inspired it, was the patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket (Girl Friday). I wanted to mimic the flowers on the paper in a larger size. I was also able to mimic the vine, by using my new favorite dies, Classic Paisley. :) Simple, but fun to cut out all the layers. Its also a great way to use up scraps. I keep all my scraps because you never know when you can die cut a shape!

Enjoy your Tuesday and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders (Classic Circles Large and Small, Blossom, Classic Paisley, Labels 8, Labels 4) Patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket (Girl Friday, Lil Man), Stamps (Taylored Expressions), Ink (Colorbox Chalk Chestnut Roan, Creamy Brown), Twine (May Arts), Buttons (Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey, Autumn Leaves)

dive in

Well, this just seems silly with winter approaching! :) This past summer we bought the little man an inflatable pool, with an attached giraffe slide. It provided many hours of fun, for both of us! After his initial hesitation (he is so cautious), he literally raced up and down the slide. This layout is a Spellbinders (TM) project. I cut five Classic Circles Large Nestabilities ® from cardstock. I stamped and then glittered the wave images from Fancy Pants. To add just a little more sparkle, I cut out three of the smallest Classic Paisley Nestabilities ® out of blue cardstock. Glitter was applied and I used them to look like splashes. SO cute! I have found more uses for the paisley then I ever imagined!! LOVE that set!!

Hope you had a marvelous weekend and your Monday is starting the week off right. I am bringing green bean casserole to Thanksgiving dinner, so we are off to the grocery store today. Think there are any fried onions left? :) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders die templates (TM) (Classic Paisley, Classic Circles Large), Patterned paper and stamps (Fancy Pants), Journal stamp (Crafty Secrets), Glitter (Sparkle and Sprinkle), Sewing Machine, Colorbox Chalk Ink

Get Sketchy and Pink Persimmon

Today Pink Persimmon and Get Sketchy are joining forces! Check out the great sketch over at Get Sketchy and have fun playing along!

When I saw the “hill” looking part to the sketch, I knew I had to run with the idea. I flipped through my Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly pad and found the two papers you see. I tore the snowflake paper and then glittered the top before adhering to the 5x5 card base. I also added some ink distressing to the edges. I stamped the adorable house, from Little Christmas Cottage, in an unusual color. No, its not a weird color, but its weird for me. I am pretty see it as it is. You know, the house should be brown and trees should be pine green, that whole thing. In a silly way, I am proud of myself for embracing the colors of the papers and being ok with an aqua house. LOL! :) The trees got glitter along with the entire roof of the house. And because I had already made a huge mess, I continued by glittering the snowflakes. Isn’t it great when you have fun making something? :)

Supplies: Stamps (Pink Persimmon-Little Christmas Cottage, Holly Wreath), Patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream), Ink (Colorbox Chalk-Sour Apple, Memento Tuxedo Black) Glitter (Sparkle and Sprinkle), Gems (Hero Arts), Spellbinders die templates (Create a Flake 1 and 2)

Before I announce the winner, just let me say how much fun it was for me to read all about your first purchases!! I laughed at all the “goofy” buys and embarrassing projects that resulted, only because I could relate! Thank you for sharing a bit about yourselves with me!!

And now to announce the winner of my 300,000 hits blog candy…drum roll….its Lisa808!!

lisa808 said...

Congrats on 300K hits! That is so sweet that your MIL bought you the stamp for your wedding invitations.
My first stamping purchase was the SU Frosty set along with Basic Black and Real Red ink pads. A friend of mine was having a SU party and I knew absolutely nothing about stamping at the time. She even mounted the set for me when it came in! I used that purchase to make my very first Christmas cards.

Congrats Lisa!! I will be emailing you shortly!!!

need a lift?

The little car on this card came from a pile of left-overs sitting on my desk. I had cut more than one half of my Spellbinders Nestabilities die templates© Label 9 shape off for something else and when I looked down, I thought, hey it looks like a little car! It worked perfectly with the sentiment from Papertrey Ink’s Everyday Button Bits, so I naturally grabbed buttons to make the wheels. The little exhaust is cut from the smallest die in the Spellbinders Nesties (TM) Labels 6 set. The windows were hand drawn, which might be painfully obvious. Hey, that is why I stamp, I don’t draw! LOL! :)

At any rate, I hope it inspires you to look at your scraps and bits and your dies in a whole new way!! Don’t forget to put your name in for the blog candy I am giving away. (The details are on my previous post.) Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders die templates (Labels 6, Labels 9, Paisley Impressabilities), Patterned paper (Sassafras Lass Sweet Marmalade, October Afternoon Weather Vane), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Rustic White), Stamps (Papertrey Ink Everyday Button Bits), Ink (Memento Tuxedo Black), Buttons (Papertrey Ink True Black)

FUN!

Today is about having some fun! But it starts with me being thankful. SO thankful for not only the blessings in my real life, but the blessings from all the online friends I have had the privilege of getting to know. I can’t believe it, but I passed 300,000 hits early last week!! I am totally amazed! And its all thanks to you!! So, in honor of the milestone, let’s bring out the blog candy!

The first part of the candy includes 2 Spellbinders Impressabilities. Spellbinders not only makes fabulous products that unleash my creativity, but they are truly wonderful to work for! I am thankful for the opportunity to create projects for them! Words could never express my thanks to Spellbinders!!

Also included is the stamp set, Vintage Greetings from Pink Persimmon. Another company that is wonderful to work for! I am thankful that Darcy and Judi have allowed me to work with their fabulous modern vintage images!

Stampendous is yet another happy place to be a part of! Talk about creativity and generosity!! And some clever products!! I have included two Fun Flock jars from them.

Ah, the new Elmer’s Scrapbooking glues, Painter Pens, and the never out of reach X-Acto knife. Adhesives are good and seeing as I love to cut pieces out of patterned paper, the knife is also very good!

And some more random knick knacks like, My Mind’s Eye die cut shapes and journal spots, SEI stamps, two clear scraps albums, Basic Grey stamps, Creative Imaginations rub ons, and a handful of Glitz glitter and gem stickers. Yes, all of this paper crafting goodness will be sent to the randomly drawn winner! Wahoo! That looks like a ton of winter fun!! :)

Here is my first rubber stamp ever, from Stampendous. It was given to me by my mother-in-law to stamp our wedding invitations. This is where it all began. Add in an embossing ink pad, gold powder, and a heat gun, and the passion began. Sure, it was put on hold for a while, but somehow, it came back, and I am thankful it did. What an adventure paper crafting has taken me on in my life!

And that is how you can win the candy; Leave a comment here telling me about your very first stamp or you very first paper crafting purchase. You MUST answer the question (hey, its fun to read your stories) and you MUST MUST MUST leave me your email address at the end of your post. If you omit this information and I draw your name, you won’t be chosen as the winner. And that would make me sad. You may enter once and you have until 10 pm CST on Thursday, November 19, 2009.

thanks for listening and as always, thank you for stopping by!!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday

"It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC42)! This week Silke Ledlow is our challenge host. Silke is challenging us to a sketch she has designed. As far as sketches go, there is not much of an explanation necessary. You can turn it and modify the shapes to fit your size card, but in the end, it should still look like the sketch. Thanks for a great sketch, Silke!!! We cannot wait to see what you all create!"

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Dee Jackson

Makiko Jones

Silke Ledlow

I don’t think there is much to tell about this card, except it was another fun one to make! (and Silke’s sketch was fab!) I colored the image first and then found that the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses papers worked perfectly. I adore the wood grain background and the little poinsettia patterns seemed to fit perfectly also.

I wanted to show you a close up of the coloring on the card, just because I added Spica Glitter pens to accent all the images. It just adds that perfect sparkly Christmas touch!

Tomorrow I have some serious fun planned, so be sure to stop back and see what it is all about, ok? :) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Flourishes-Winter Bouquet, Holiday Greetings), Cardstock (Flourishes Classic White), Patterned paper (Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses), Ink (Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Watermark), Lace (May Arts), Embossing Powder (Stampendous White Detail), Copics (Flourishes Collections-Dahlia, The Fields, Fuchsia, Green Grass, The Meadow, Hyacinth, Spica pens), Spellbinders die templates (Classic Squares Large)

Pink Persimmon Sketch Challenge

Happy Monday morning!! Today the Pink Persimmon Creative Team is bringing you a sketch challenge. The wonderful Julie, designed a sketch, a great sketch, a really great sketch! To see it and to find out about the fabulous prize up for grabs, head to the Pink Persimmon blog. Make sure and check out what the rest of the team designed:

Samantha Sibbet

Kelly Schirmer

Kristie Larsen

Julie Detlef

Linda Beeson

For the card, I started with cutting/embossing a Spellbinders Nesties (TM) Circle from cream cardstock. I stamped the Santa face on it and colored him with a blending solution-filled water brush. (For more details on this technique see HERE.) The scalloped border along the bottom was stamped onto patterned paper and cut out. The Ho, Ho, Ho sentiment was stamped using the Carnival Alpha Small set and a small star from Little Red Wagon. The twine was colored with a Copic to add a touch of green.

Can’t wait to see what you create! Oh, fun stuff this week….tomorrow is Flourishes Timeless Tuesday, Wednesday I have a little bit of fun, no a LOT of fun planned, and there are cards coming all week! Yay! :) Hope that you had a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!

And a very happy birthday to my mom, yesterday! :) (((HUGS)))

Supplies: Stamps (Pink Persimmon-Holly Wreath, Little Red Wagon, Vintage Cupcake, Carnival Alpha Small), Patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream), Ink (Memento Tuxedo Black, Stewart Superior Palette L’Amour), Copics (R29, C01, G07, E11, E31, RV11), Twine (May Arts), Spellbinders die templates (Classic Circles Large)

soaring by to say hi

You know, I really don’t know how this card came together… :) I guess the starting point would be the darling brown patterned paper with the birds on a wire. Its from Cosmo Cricket’s new line, Earth Love. CUTENESS, but a large piece of it just wasn’t working for me. Continuing through the pad of paper, I grabbed the cloud-looking blue paper and figured it would make a much better background.

The frame was made using Spellbinders Nesties (TM) Die Templates. The first shape cut/embossed was the Classic Scalloped Square Large, from kraft cardstock. Then, I found a smaller Classic Square Large a size smaller and cut/embossed the same piece of kraft cardstock again. The patterned paper was adhered to the back of the frame. MUCH better to have a smaller piece.

Add a Spellbinders Shapeabilities © Die Template bird and Paisley for a wing, some twine, a sentiment, and there you have it. :) I guess I must have needed a little bit of spring. Which is sad because winter hasn’t even started! LOL!

Have a marvelous day and thanks so much for stopping by!!

Supplies: Spellbinders (TM) Die Templates (Classic Scalloped Square Large, Classic Square Large, Classic Paisley, Nested Bird), Patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket Earth Love 6x6, Boyfriend 6x6), Ink (Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown, Stewart Superior Palette Dark Chocolate), Twine (May Arts), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Kraft, Dark Chocolate)

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday

“It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC41)! The blog design team is celebrating Flourishes release week with you. We are sharing with you today, Fancy Labels, one of five sets to release this Friday! Dee Jackson is our challenge host this week! In keeping with the Fancy Labels set, Dee Jackson is challenging us to Boxes and Bags! You decide if you want to make a stamped box or a stamped bag to house anything from homemade treats to knitted mittens! We cannot wait to see what you create!”

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Dee Jackson

Makiko Jones

Silke Ledlow

Today the Friends of Flourishes are getting to share a sneak peek of a new stamp set available on Friday night,called Fancy Labels. Its a fun set with wonderful flourishes and “handmade by” sentiments. I love that I could get the images to fit with some of my favorite Spellbinders die templates.

On this card, I used one of the flourishes on the bottom of my die cut square. I added in a sentiment from Holiday Greetings.

This box was made from Crystal Cardstock from Flourishes. I love their acetate!! It is thick. Thick enough to be a sturdy card base and to take score lines from my Scor Pal. This little box will be perfect for a mini card set, candy, homemade treats, or any other little trinket.

thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Flourishes-Fancy Labels available Friday, Holiday Greetings), Cardstock (Flourishes Crystal Cardstock, Flourishes Classic White), Patterned paper (Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses), Ink (Palette L’Amour, Landscape), Ribbon (May Arts), Spellbinders die templates (Labels 4, Classic Squares Large), Other (Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Kraft), Buttons (Papertrey Ink New Leaf)

simple Christmas

I can’t believe that I used the word Christmas on a post! Yikes! :) But, I guess it is that time…

Playing along with the Hero Arts challenge for last week (and hugely honored and thrilled that this card was chosen as the winner for the week! wow!) I wanted to create cards that were simple, classy, and easy to mass produce. For the first card, I stamped the Stunning Snowflake design block on a piece of Ocean Tides cardstock with watermark ink. On the Aqua Mist card base, I stamped the celebrate the season sentiment on the top, again in watermark ink. To cover up the line between the cardstocks, I applied a piece of ribbon.

The snowflakes were punched out of cardstock and heat embossed. Gems were added to the centers. The sentiment was heat embossed on the bottom.

Tip: If you have a watermark-inked background and you are going to heat emboss an image over the top…let it dry overnight, otherwise, you end up with embossing powder sticking to the background. (Click on my card, you will see….) I tried heating it with an embossing gun, to speed up the drying time, but it didn’t work.

This card has a watermark ink background using the Dots and Flowers design block. I also used the watermark ink to distress the edges. It adds a subtle touch. the row of little trees were stamped along the bottom of a piece of cardstock and a star gem was added to the top of one tree. Then I added a big, fun bow. Ok, so that isn’t so easy to mass produce or mail. But if you moved the sentiment to the center of the Rustic White cardstock, that would work, without the bow. :)

This last card is my favorite!! I wanted to stamp the little trees in a row again. Not wanting to use anything but stamps, I scored two lines to give the trees their own little space. Then I stamped the Designer Woodgrain design block above the top score lines and below the bottom score lines. It was easy to line the stamp up with the score lines. And another star gem. Love those!

Have you started making cards yet? Going simple this year? I confess that since having the little man, we have been enjoying picking out the photo cards. Its one of those silly things that I was waiting to get to do once we had a family! :) Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Hero Arts-Holiday Sayings, Stunning Snowflakes, Designer Woodgrain, Dots and Flowers), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft, Rustic White, Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy), Ink (Palette-Landscape, Dark Chocolate) Tsukineko (Versamark Watermark), Gems (Hero Arts), Ribbon (Offray (green stripes), American Crafts (multi-stripes)), Twine (May Arts), Button (Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy), Embossing Powder (Stampendous-Detail White), (Judi Kins), Punch (Martha Stewart)

thankful

Oooh, fun little update! This card was chosen for the Trigger Tuesday on the Moxie Fab World Blog. To see the photo that inspired this card, check out the post HERE.

Along with a photo for inspiration, this card started with me wondering if a “kissed” white pumpkin would show up on kraft cardstock, turns out, it does! :) I inked each pumpkin with Fresh snow pigment ink and then kissed the damask image to the pumpkin. The damask had Colorbox Black pigment ink on it. I tried using a dye-based ink first, but it got lost in the white pigment ink. By using pigment inks for both colors, the images were crisp, like I wanted. The grass under the pumpkins is a flourish image in Vintage Labels from Papertrey Ink, which is also where the damask image came from. The rest of the card stuck with the color palette of the images.

Spend a few minutes today thinking about what you have to be thankful for. I know how much I have been blessed with! Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!

Just a quick photo of our little tiger! LOL! Could he be any cuter? :) He has worn an Old Navy costume each year since he was born. This will be the last one. Tear. They are sweet and warm and fuzzy and too precious for words. :) On to Spiderman and Batman...

Supplies: All Papertrey Ink, unless noted: Stamps (Vintage Labels, Spooky Sweets, First Fruits), Cardstock (Kraft, True Black, Ripe Avocado), Ink (Palette-Fresh Snow, Noir, Ripe Avocado), Twill (Ripe Avocado), Twine (Rustic White), Button (Vintage Cream), Patterned paper (October Afternoon-Cherry Hill), Ink (Colorbox Black)

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday

“It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC40)! This week Kimberly Crawford is our challenge host! Kimberly is challenging us to a limited supplies challenge! Our challenge is to combine a colored image, texture or textures, and any shades of neutrals we want. You can pack on the layers and textures just make sure you include an image to color and use only neutral cardstock. Just so you know you can us any combination of whites, creams, blacks, browns, and grays! So make your cards pop with texture and a beautifully colored image! We cannot wait to see what you create!”

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Dee Jackson

Makiko Jones

Silke Ledlow

Today’s challenge was my idea. I was wondering one day what it would look like to make the entire card the same color and make the image colored. It forced me to get creative with my cardstock. I started by embossing my card base with the Flourishes Impressabilities from Spellbinders. Knowing that I could not add any more color, I used my Versamark Watermark inkpad and rubbed it over the embossed parts of cardstock. I also used it to ink the edges. Its a great tip to keep in mind, anytime you need to add depth, but don’t have the right color, use the watermark ink. I stamped each leaf on Flourishes Ivory cardstock and colored them with Copics. They were foam mounted to the card. To add one last touch, I grabbed my favorite May Arts burlap twine and tied it around the top of the card. Pretty fun, I must say! :) Challenge yourself. Limit your supplies and see how creative you can be! We would love for you to play along! Make a card following the challenge and link it up at the Flourishes Newsletter (blog). Each week we give away stamps! :) Can’t wait to see your projects! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Flourishes-Falling Leaves), Cardstock (Flourishes-Classic Ivory) Ink (Tsukineko-Versamark Watermark, Memento Tuxedo Black), Spellbinders die templates (Flourishes Impressabilities, Classic Long Rectangles Small), Twine (May Arts Burlap), Copics (Y21, Y34, Y38, E55)Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft)