First Snow

We woke up this morning to find snow on the ground...and covering all the trees and houses and streets. I love the way the trees look with fresh fallen snow that hasn't blown off the branches yet. It reminded me of this card.

It's hard to see in the photo, but I used 2-way glue and Dazzling Diamonds to add a dusting of "snow" to the branches of these trees.

Supplies: Lovely As a Tree, Many Merry Messages, Bravo Burgundy ink & cardstock, Sahara Sand ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, 2-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

A Little Birdie Told Me...

I'm catching up on birthday cards today. Why is it I'm always "catching up"? Sigh. One of these days I'll be ahead of the game...I hope! Anyway, here's a new card using Stacey's Jewelry Color Challenge colors: Brilliant Blue, Rose Red, Taken with Teal, and Kiwi Kiss.

This was a fun color combination...the blues reminded me of the Little Birdie set, so I dug it out of my cabinet and dusted it off. I watercolored with an ink pad lid and blender pen. (Push down on the cover of the ink pad to pool ink in the lid. Then pick it up with the blender and watercolor!)

Supplies: A Little Birdie Told Me, Taken with Teal ink & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock, Rose Red ink & cardstock, Brilliant Blue cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Blender Pen, Scallop Edge Punch

Happy Holidays Card

I didn't get up at the crack of dawn, but I did go to the mall for some bargain shopping today. It was a ZOO! But we got the few things we wanted and the kids got to ride of the carousel.

It was a little surreal to turn on the radio in the car and discover it is time for 24/7 Christmas songs on my favorite station. Is Christmas really less than a month away?!

Here's another holiday card to kick off the official (!?) start of the Christmas season.

You may recognize this layout, which I used earlier this fall for this butterfly card.

Supplies: Holiday Trinkets, Polka Dot Background, Sincere Salutations, Real Red ink/marker & cardstock, Old Olive marker/ink & cardstock, Kraft cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Gold Brads

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a quick Turkey Day project I CASEd from fellow demonstrator Liz Orr. I used a several punches to create this little turkey.

With a York Peppermint Patty inside, it's the perfect little 3-D treat to leave at the dinner table. You can also omit the second scallop circle and use this turkey on a card or scrapbook page.

I hope you are enjoying good food with your family or friends today! Happy Thanksgiving!

Supplies: Earth Elements cardstock with these punches: Scallop Circle (body), Large Oval (feathers), 3/4" Circle (head), Boho Blossoms Punch (waddle & feet), 1/4" Circle (eyes, dotted with Basic Black marker), 3/4" Square (cut into triangle piece for nose), Stampin' Dimensional (under head)

Viewfinder Card Tutorial

I just love the Viewfinder card! I made a similar one two years about with another seasonal set. I thought that Season of Friendship was the perfect set to remake it again. (The Viewfinder card is also a great way to do a party invitation -- with details about party (date, place, etc.) with each turn of the wheel.)

Click here for Viewfinder Card Tutorial (.pdf)

Instead of taking a picture of the card with each turn showing in the window, here's the "wheel" that's on the inside:

Supplies: Season of Friendship stamp set, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Baja Breeze ink, Kiwi Kiss ink, Pink Pirouette ink, Kraft cardstock, Sahara Sand ink, Whisper White cardstock, Coluzzle, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Cirlce Punches, Crafters' Tool Kit, Gold Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

KWerner Color Challenge Cards

Kristina posted her Color Inspiration Challenge for this week and it just so happens that I have not one, but two cards already made using this color scheme (Riding Hood Red, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, and Whisper White). I already posted the first one (Always Anniversary Card) on Sunday. Here's the second one, a Viewfinder card we made in Stamp Club this month.

As you turn the wheel on the right, a new image appears in the window on the front of the card. Click here for step-by-step directions to make this card.

Supplies: Season of Friendship stamp set, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Kraft cardstock, Sahara Sand ink, Whisper White cardstock, Coluzzle, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Cirlce Punches, Crafters' Tool Kit, Gold Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Baskets & Blooms

In Stamp Club this month, we used the Big Shot Baskets & Blooms die to make these two projects:

One cut with the die produced the pieces to make the basket, the tag, and all of the flowers. I pre-cut the Top Note die to use on the card. We embellished the two smaller flowers and the basket with white rub-ons from the Hidden Garden rub-ons. You can get 20% off all rub-ons with a $20 purchase in November. Click here for details.

Supplies: Best Yet (hostess set), All Holidays, Top Note die for Big Shot, Baskets & Blooms die for Big Shot, Frosty Day DSP, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Close to Cocoa ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Hidden Garden Rub-Ons, Chocolate Taffeta ribbon, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Sticky Strip

Always Anniversary Card

My sister and brother-in-law celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary last week and I am just now getting around to making their card. (Sorry it's so late!) We called them and they know we were thinking of them on their special day. But I still wanted to send a special card. I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge for this card using the Always stamp set and Bella Rose DSP.

Supplies: Always stamp set, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Sahara Sand ink, Kraft cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Bella Rose DSP, White Taffeta ribbon, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals

50K Blog Candy Winner

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my 50K Blog Candy post! I enjoyed reading how you found my blog and which projects you have been enjoying most! I wish I could send "candy" to everyone, but that's just not in my budget! I used Random.org to generate a random number.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 15
Timestamp: 2008-11-24 04:24:19 UTC

The 15th comment on the Blog Candy post is...Lee Ann! Congratulations!!

Lee Ann said...
Congrats on your success! I was linked to you blog through the forums at SCS and love looking at your projects for ideas. One that I really liked was the mini Bermuda album you made from the mini envelopes. Keep up the inspiring ideas!! Lee Ann
November 17, 2008 10:03 PM

Lee Ann, please email me with your mailing address and I will mail you goodies to you this week!

JV Argyle Birthday Cards

Last week I made up some birthday cards using supplies I had out on my desk. I was using up pieces of the Junior Varsity DSP I had cut for another project. Each birthday card turned out a little different. Here are a few of them:

Supplies: Pun Fun, Sincere Salutations, Junior Varsity DSP, So Saffron marker & cardstock, Bashful Blue marker & cardstock, Rose Red ink/marker & cardstock, Kraft cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Basic Black ink, Scallop Die for Big Shot, Silver Brads, Flower Fusion (felt flowers), Bashful Blue striped grosgrain ribbon

Holiday Wishes Card

Here is the first card I stamped up with the Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit. I CASED this layout. I just love the way Barb used these "negative" chipboard pieces from the scallop square frames in the Something Seasonal chipboard set. I used a sponge dauber to ink it up with Chocolate Chip Classic ink.

Supplies: Holiday Collection stamp set, Ski Slope DSP, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink, Whisper White cardstock, Rhinestone Brad from Pretties Kit, Scallop Frame Chipboard piece, Stampin Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber

Snowflake Gift Tags

I started my Christmas shopping over the weekend, and although I haven't started wrapping anything yet, I did make up some gift tags!

I used the Big Shot to create all the snow flakes for some cards, but then used a stamp instead, so I made up these quick tags to use up the snow flakes. I adhered them to Baja Breeze cardstock punched with the 1-3/4" circle punch and added some silver cord.

I used the Top Note die to make a bag topper and used stamps from the Country Living Holiday Collection stamp set to stamp the topper and the tags.

Supplies: Country Living Holiday Collection Kit (stamps), Snowflakes & Top Note dies for Big Shot, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink pad, Silver Cord, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, silver brads, Pretties Kit (rhinestone brads), Medjum Cello Bags

Sunset Trees Card

Ah, another KWerner Color Challenge. You know I'm hopelessly devoted...I had to sneak in minutes here and there and finally finished my card for this week's challenge just an hour before leaving for Springfield.

With such beautiful fall colors like these, I just had to break out my all-time fave "Lovely as a Tree". I got this stamp set in my Demonstrator Starter Kit 6-1/2 years ago! I love that row of trees!

I used my Aquapainter to drag and blend each color across the watercolor paper (a MUST for soaking up all the water I used to get the right blend). I used So Saffron on the bottom, Pumpkin Pie in the middle, and Elegant Eggplant on top. My first try looked too "stripey" so I tried to blend the color more and let it drag down on the sides to avoid hard lines.

Supplies: Lovely As a Tree, Wonderful Words, Watercolor Paper, So Saffron ink & cardstock, Close to Cocoa ink & cardstock, Pumpkin Pie ink, Elegant Eggplant ink, Aquapainter, Jumbo Eyelets, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Crop-a-dile, Twill Tape, Cutter Kit (Distresser tool)

My Stamp Room

Yesterday I cleaned my stamp room and I took pictures of this rare moment in time so that I can later remember what my floor and my desk look like! (wink!)

My space certainly isn't as big as I would like it to be, but I'm happy to have a "room"! My stamp room/office is off of the laundry room, near the large family room/play room. When I have stamping events in my home, I pull tables out in the family room. So my stamp room is where I keep all my stuff and where I sit and create. (Not pictured is the other side of the room with my desk and computer.)

I have two large cabinets on the right wall (only one is pictured here). One cabinet stores my cardstock and my stamp sets; the other cabinet stores business supplies, DSP & 12x12 cardstock (both kept in 12x12 Paper Holders (#105528, $7.95), and other miscellaneous accessories. For now, my Big Shot and dies are on top of the cabinet with my stamps. I put all the dies in a shoebox size plastic box.

I keep my ink pads on my table so I can quickly pick out what colors I want to use. I store them in the Color Caddy (#104335, $59.95) with the Extender Kit (#107063, $14.95) to accommodate all 48 colors plus neutrals and In Colors. It has a tray on top to store reinkers.

Here's a closer picture of the Decor Elements on the wall behind the table:

"Life is good." Especially when I'm in my room stamping! I love this Decor Element (#114138, $7.95). I jazzed it up a little with some of the bulk buy flowers available to demonstrators. (You can get your hands on some of these little flowers by placing an order with me this month!)

On a separate note...the color of the walls (kind of a celery/gable green cross) was already done when we moved in. I didn't dislike it enough to paint over it (yet). I don't know what color I would choose if I was picking it myself.

Between the cabinet and the wall is where I keep all the fun stuff!

All of my punches are easily accessible on BYGEL rails from IKEA. The hanging baskets to hold the smaller punches and handheld punches are from the same line at IKEA.

The metal shelf underneath is from Walmart. Top shelf holds Forget-Me-Not-Keepers (#105525, $11.95) with adhesive on one side and finished cards on the other. There's a basket on top of the right box with my SNAIL, scissors, bone folder, and other "use often" tools. My markers and leftover Make-&-Take materials are in the middle. Second shelf holds two plastic shoeboxes: one with embossing supplies, one with brads/buttons/eyelets/etc. Crafter's Tool Kit and Crop-a-dile in the middle. Bottom shelf holds Craft Keepers (#104181, $6.95/3) with my cardstock scraps sorted by color family (and by color within that).

The punches and items on the shelf are within reach when I'm sitting at the table creating.

This jar, featuring another Decor Element, holds all my ribbon scraps and sits on the ledge by the window.

Also not pictured are two closets in the room. One of them is filing cabinets and office stuff. The other one stores stamping stuff...alterable items, old catalogs/Stampin' Success mags, card samples, bags, extra cardstock....everything! Hanging on that closet door is an over-the-door wire rack that holds my Ribbon Keepers (#107636, $17.95/2). The rack was something the previous home owners left behind. It's pretty handy! I'll take a picture of that another day....

50K Blog Candy

Earlier this week, I passed 50,000 on my blog hit counter! I remember being excited about 1,000 hits. It took me a month to get that far, and here we are, just 4-1/2 months later with 50,000! Wow!!

I'm always looking at the "numbers", so for those of you who are also interested, here are some more blog stats, as of today, 11-16-08:

• Days Blogging: 200
• # of Posts: 175
• # of Hits: 52,300
• Stamping Top 500 Rank: 296

I have really enjoyed sharing my stamping creations with you over the last few months. Thanks for visiting my blog and showing your love with your feedback and comments! To celebrate this milestone, I'm giving away my very first "Blog Candy"! Check out these goodies:

50K Blog Candy includes:

• So Many Scallops stamp set
• Love & Happiness Rub-Ons (includes one sheet in each color: Black, White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive)
• Prints Designers Series Paper (five 6x6 squares in each color: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Rose Red, and Almost Amethyst)
• Purely Pomegranate Love Notes & Envelopes (10)

To be entered in the drawing for this blog candy, please leave a comment on this post and tell me how you found my blog and which project you've liked the most. (Don't forget to include your name with your comment.) I'll draw one winner on Sunday, November 23rd at 8:00 pm (Central Time).

Two Challenges, One Card

What a perfect day! My stamp room is CLEAN (pictures to come tomorrow), all three kids napped at the same time, and I got to stamp! I started with Stacey's Jewelry Color Challenge (a challenging combination this week: Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Only Orange). I would never have put these colors together, but I pulled it off and even managed to work in some of the gold!

My original idea for the card didn't goes as planned, so I turned to Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I really love this sketch and will definitely play around with it again! Maybe for my Christmas Card class...

Supplies: Enjoy Every Moment, Only Orange ink & cardstock, Mellow Moss ink & cardstock, Always Artichoke ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Gold Brads, 3/4" Square Punch

Baby Cards, Part 3

I didn't get a chance to pull the blog candy together today. Maybe tomorrow... and now that I have mentioned it several times and built the anticipation, I better make it good, right?! (wink!)

Today I have more baby cards to share. This first one is one I made to send out. I think I may have finally caught up on baby cards!

Supplies: Punches Three, Brocade Blue ink & cardstock, Chocolate Chip marker, Whisper White cardstock, Bella Rose DSP, Blender Pen, Whisper White Grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch

And here are some more of the cards I received for Ms Elise. These are from some of the stampers in my stamp club. Thank you, ladies!

From Michelle:

From Kathy:
From Trina:
From Paula & Molly:

Inspired by Nature Thank You Notes

I made up these thank you notes for everyone who placed an order with me in October. I'm still catching up on thank you's for baby gifts, so I kept these kind of simple. Inspired by a card by Jeni Allen, I clear embossed the flowers from Inspired by Nature, added a strip of DSP and the greeting punched with the Wide Oval punch.

I think the Baja Breeze was my favorite. Here it is up close:

Supplies: Inspired by Nature, Enjoy Every Moment & Sincere Salutations (greetings), Urban Garden DSP, Not Quite Navy ink & cardstock, Old Olive ink & cardstock, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, White Oval Punch, Versamark ink, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

RUBbing ON Scrapbook Page

Now that I've pulled out my rub-ons for this month's promotion, I can't stop using them! My latest project with the Love & Happiness Rub-Ons is this 6x6 scrapbook page that I whipped up for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge. I used the rub-ons on cardstock and punched out circles to go down the side of the page. I also used them directly on the twill tape that I tied around the bottom!

Yesterday I passed 50,000 hits on my blog and I promise I'm working on some Blog Candy to celebrate. First, I need to finish up and send out my overdue monthly newsletter. So stay tuned! I promise it will include a package of these fabulous rub-ons.

Supplies: Love & Happiness Rub-Ons, Really Rust cardstock, More Mustard cardstock, Cameo Coral cardstock, Chocolate Chip cardstock, Old Olive cardstock, Twill Tape

I have a problem...

I'm seriously addicted to Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenges. From the moment I see her post, I'm planning my card in my head and thinking about it constantly until I get the time to stamp and make it. I'm obsessed!!

But it's a healthy addiction, right!? Stamping makes me happy. And participating in a stamping challenge is fun! I really think it helps me "stretch" creatively and try new things. So here's my latest color challenge card. It was in my head for a whole 30 minutes, until I could manage to get Elise down for a little nap and the kids entertained with a computer game while I set to work...what a great way to start the day!

Supplies: Embrace Life stamp set, Love & Happiness Rub-Ons, Manchester DSP, Sahara Sand cardstock, Old Olive ink & cardstock, Certainly Celery marker & cardstock, Earth Elements Buttons, Cutter Kit (Edge Distresser Tool)

Purse Tin with Rub-On Cards

I found this cute little purse tin at Hobby Lobby and thought it would be perfect to hold cards. I decorated the front with one of my sample Decor Elements (get one free when you place an order with me in November).

Decor Elements are very similar to Rub-Ons. They are larger, made of vinyl, and especially suitable for applying to walls.

See more Decor Elements in action here. Click here for instructions on applying Decor Elements.

The cards inside the purse all use the Love & Happiness Rub-Ons from Sale-a-bration 2008. Did you miss out on these colorful rub-ons? I'll be giving some away very soon as part of my first Blog Candy! Watch for details later this week!

Supplies: Love & Happiness Rub-Ons (Olive & Black), Junior Varsity DSP, Rose Red cardstock, So Saffron cardstock, 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon

Very Merry Card

As I was driving back home from the post office Friday evening, I passed a house in my neighborhood that had a Christmas tree lit up in the front window! I couldn't believe it; it's only the first week of November!! It's happening earlier and earlier each year. I actually saw Christmas items going up on the shelves at a store at the very beginning of October!

Today's post is in honor of my anxious neighbor -- and all of you who are getting an early start on your holiday cards!

This 3" x 6" card uses a very clean layout. You could easily substitute a different image and greeting from the Short & Sweet (#109369, $15.95) stamp set and change the colors to make a card for almost any occasion!

Supplies: Short & Sweet, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Kraft cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Bashful Blue ink & cardstock, Brilliant Blue ink & cardstock, Lavender Lace ink, Small & Large Oval Punches, White grosgrain ribbon, 1/8" Hole Punch

Wild About You Card

I was going to save this card for tomorrow, but I just realized the deadline for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge is tonight. So here you go! Two cards in one day. Don't you feel special? This week's colors (Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, and Whisper White) inspired another boy card. This time I used Wild About You.

To color the lion, I inked the stamp with Tangerine Tango. Normally, I would use markers for this, but we don't have a Tangerine Tango marker, so I used the ink pad and then used a Blender Pen to remove the Tangerine ink from the lion's mane. I cleared the ink on my scratch paper as I went. Then, I colored the mane back in with a Chocolate Chip marker. Huff and stamp.

Supplies: Wild About You, Taffy Alphabet, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Tempting Turquoise ink & cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink/marker & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon

Congrats Star Card

When I sat down to make this card, I was trying to use this sketch from SplitCoastStampers.com. However, I couldn't get it to look right and I ended up going in an entirely different direction. I really like the way it turned out, so I'm giving up on the sketch.

Supplies: So Many Scallops, Nursery Necessities (star), So Saffron cardstock, Pretty in Pink ink & cardstock, Regal Rose cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Versamark, Winter White embossing powder, Georgia Peach DSP, Scallop Square Punch, Small Star Punch, Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, silver cord

Baby Cards, Part 2

Here are some more baby cards from my fabulously-talented downline. Speaking of my talented group, you can find links to their blogs at the bottom of the left column. Not all of them are bloggers (yet). Here's the next batch of baby cards.

Jessica's card is adorable and very appropriate as part of her pumpkin-themed gift for me and Elise. I'm still in awe at the sheer number of "pumpkin" things she found for us! Check out her blog for all the details on her card (the big leaves are die cut with the big shot!). Although she doesn't mention it in her post, I think the background of little pumpkins is created with the Poppin' Pastels technique. (Click here for instructions.)

This next card is from Maureen. I can't remember the name of this retired stamp set, but I always thought it was super cute. I love her use of the Scallop Edge Punch.

Janet used the Scallop Edge Punch on her card too! And I love that she used an alphabet set (Short Order Alphabet) to personalize the card with Elise's name!

Unfortunately, this picture of (my sideline) Beth's card didn't turn out very well. My flash really washed it out. I love the simplicity of a plain white card. If I ever get caught up on thank you notes, it's going to be with some simply stamping like this.

This last card is from Mary, another sideline. I guess in the "family tree" of our group, I would be Mary's aunt... Anyway, her card is just oozing "baby girl" -- I love it!