Love You a Latte

I made this card for Michelle's TGIF Sketch Challenge 6.

I dug into my new designer series paper collection again to start off the card, and I chose Autumn Traditions. I paired that with Soft Suede, More Mustard and Ruby Red.

The image is stamped from Pun Fun in Soft Suede ink. I used my aquapainter with Soft Suede classic ink to shade in the cup, then coloured in the hearts with my Ruby Red Stampin' Write marker. The corners of the stamped piece are punched with my paper piercer and mat pack.

To finish off, I wrapped some Soft Suede polka dot ribbon around the card and added a Pretties flower (died Soft Suede) with a Ruby Red brad through the middle.

Hope you like it!

Blessings to you,

Elegant Suede

I made this card for Denise's Pick 3 Challenge. I chose to use white with only one other colour (Soft Suede), dry embossing and beads.

This was a very simple card to make. I used the new SU! Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, then added some silver beads to the centers of the flowers using Tombow Mono Adhesive. I layered that on the Soft Suede card base and tied some Suede polka dot ribbon around it.

And voila! I love how elegant the embossing folders make your card look with so little work!

Thanks for reading today!

Blessings to you,

Basic Butterfly

My wonderful husband gave me a day of stamping today, so I've been holed up in the basement all morning playing with my new stuff! It's been a long time since I've participated in any challenges, so that was my goal today! I'll post the cards I came up with throughout the week.

For this card, I combined two challenges: Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge (WSC90), hosted by Laurie this week, and Stamp Something's Bug's, Butterflies and Other Winged Somethings Challenge.

I know this was sketch was supposed to be a square card, but I altered it to standard card size so I can mail it easily if I need to.

I pulled out some Nouveau Chic designer series paper (isn't it gorgeous?) and paired it with Basic Gray for this card. I inked the edges of the dsp with to give them some texture and used the Ticket Corner punch for the corners. I wrapped some Whisper White Taffeta ribbon around the whole thing.

For the butterfly, I used my Beautiful Butterflies bigz die. The top layer is Whisper White, stamped with the flower stamp from Razzle Dazzle in Basic Gray (I stamped it off first). Then I used the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I layered that onto a Basic Gray butterfly and put some Pewter brads from the Vintage Brads collection through them both. I attached them to the card with dimensionals.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, punched with the Word Window punch and layered to a Basic Gray piece that I punched with the Modern Label punch.

This card was a bit of a departure for me colour-wise! I've been making a lot of bright cards with In Colors lately, so it was nice to use some neutrals for this one. Thanks for reading!

Blessings to you,

A White Circus!

This is a direct CASE of this card by Jenn. I love how simple but colourful it is! All you do is stamp a bunch of circles from Circle Circus in various colours (I used Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Lovely Lilac and Sage Shadow), then punch them out with their corresponding punches.

Then the circles are layered on a Whisper White card, tied with some Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon and voila! The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I also notice that I'm getting very close to 40 000 hits, so stay tuned for some upcoming blog candy when it reaches that number!

More Razzleberry!

Did I mention that Rich Razzleberry is my new favourite colour?!

Here's another simple card I made using Baroque Motifs, stamped in Soft Suede on Whisper White. I layered that on some Soft Suede cardstock, wrapped some Soft Suede polka dot ribbon around it and adhered it to the Rich Razzleberry card base.

I cut out a Rich Razzleberry flower with my Simple Flower Embosslit die, then added a half pearl from the Pretties kit with a mini glue dot. I adhered this to the ribbon with a dimensional, then I stamped the sentiment from Short & Sweet (another new favourite!) in Razzleberry.

I'm almost through posting the cards I made from my day of stamping at the beginning of July, so hopefully I'll get another day! My husband is marking Provincial Achievement Exams this week, but he promised that next week I'd get a day off from the kids, and then I'll go down to my stamping room and hide out there until I have another slew of cards! Isn't he a great husband?!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings to you,

Deal of the Week - July 20 - 26

Okay, I've been horrible about posting these on my blog, but here's this week's amazing deal of the week from Stampin' Up!:

Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware is on sale for only $26.99 CAD (regular price$41.95)! This is such a great deal!
If you'd like to order this or anything else, just go to my website and click on "shop now" or email me!

Razzleberry Bird

Just a quick post today, in keeping with trying to blog more often! I've been eying the Bird on a Branch stamp set for months, and I finally broke down and bought it! I just love it!

This is a very simple card using Pumpkin Pie as the base. I layered some Razzleberry Lemonade designer series paper with Crushed Curry cardstock for the accents. I stamped the branch in Chocolate Chip, then used my Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry and Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write markers to ink the flower stamp, which I stamped over the branch. (I am so happy we have In Color markers now!) I stamped the bird on a scrap of Whisper White, cut it out, and popped it on the branch with a dimensional. The sentiment is stamped in Rich Razzleberry.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings to you,

Our Road Trip to Drumheller

On Thursday, we went camping for one night (that's all I can handle!). We decided to drive down to Drumheller for an overnighter. What gorgeous country! It's hard to believe there's a dessert in Alberta! It's about a four-hour drive, so we settled in with our slurpees and away we went. We arrived in Drumheller around 3:30, set up camp, and went to the Royal Tyrell Museum (a dinosaur museum). The boys LOVED it! We went back to camp around 6:00, roasted hot dogs on the fire and sent our grumpy, tired little campers to bed. Unfortunately, they were so wound up about sleeping in a tent that they could not settle down! They were overtired and excited (a bad combination!) and they went back and forth between tears, screaming and laughing. Ian and I ended up sitting in the tent with them most of the evening trying to keep them quiet so the other campers wouldn't be too annoyed!

That night, three thunderstorms rolled through! It was unbelievable! The canyon walls made the thunder echo so loudly, we couldn't believe it! The tent is waterproof, so we stayed dry, but we didn't get much sleep!

The next day, before heading home, we went to check out the hoodoos and the World's Largest Dinosaur (or so they claim!). It was quite a short, albeit memorable, trip!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings to you,

Razzleberry Delight!

This is a CASE of this card I made last year, but I love the sketch so much I had to make it using the new In Colors! It's pretty straight-forward, so here's the recipe:

Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade dsp, Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry cardstock
Accessories: Flower Blossom die, ticket corner punch, Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings to you,

A Couple of Animal Stories

I must admit I was sad that Wild About You retired this year. But Stampin' Up! totally redeemed themselves by adding Animal Stories to their stamp set repertoire! And the matching Tall Tales designer series paper is so adorable!

I CASEd the first card from a very talented stamper, Christy Harsch, who also happens to be my upline's upline! :)

I started with Brilliant Blue as the base since it goes so nicely with the paper! I added a strip of Old Olive and a layer of Whisper White punched with the Eyelet Border punch. Then I punched out a piece of the designer paper with the 1 3/4" circle punch and adhered it to a large metal-edge tag. I adhered that to the card with a dimensional. Quick and easy!

For the second card, I again used Brilliant Blue (it's such a happy colour!). The image is stamped in the same colour and layered on some Rose Red cardstock. I added a couple of Rose Red brads with a loop of Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon and adhered the whole thing to the card. I think these are really fun kids' cards!

Blessings to you,

Wonderful Watercolours

This is a stamp set I have that is woefully underused! The Wonderful Watercolours set landed on the dormant list this year, but I pulled it out because it's gorgeous!

This card is pretty simple, and I love the Perfect Plum/Mellow Moss combination. I stamped off the image three times in Plum and Moss, then stamped some Pale Plum spots from Itty Bitty Backgrounds around the edges.

On the Pale Plum background piece, I stamped En Francais in the same colour. Then I wrapped some Whisper White organze ribbon around it with a Hodgepodge Hardware piece and adhered the whole thing to the Perfect Plum card base.

Blessings to you,

Stampin' Addicts Win A Big Shot Contest!

I've recently discovered an amazing website called Stampin' Addicts, which features tons of projects and ideas using Stampin' Up! products, including the Stampin' Up! Big Shot! (It's kind of like Splitcoast Stampers, but with only Stampin' Up! stuff!) And right now, they're having a contest where you can win a Big Shot Five-Pack of dies which includes:

• Stampin’ Up! Thanks (Embosslits)
• Stampin’ Up! Final Press (Embossing Folders)
• Stampin’ Up! Perfect Details (Textured Plates)
• Stampin’ Up! Two Tags (Bigz Dies)
• Stampin’ Up! Fancy Favor (Bigz XL Dies)

All you need to do is go to their contest page (click on "Big Shot Five-Pack" above) and link their information to your blog! So this is my entry!

Head on over there and check it out (after you check out my blog, of course!).

Blessings to you,

Curry Circles

When I pre-ordered the Circle Circus set, I wasn't sure how much I would like it, but I absolutely love it! It is so versatile! I've made this card in many different colour combos now!

This one uses Crushed Curry and Soft Suede (which is one of my new favourite colours!). I added a bit of Soft Suede polka dot ribbon and a tag using the new Modern Label punch with the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, and voila!

Hope you like it!

Blessings to you,

July Stamp Club Cards

Look at this! I'm actually posting the Stamp Club projects before we have Stamp Club! How impressive is that?

I've wanted to try this Crimped Envelope Pocket Card for awhile, and thought this would be a good month to do it! I think my new favourite colour is Rich Razzleberry! I used that with the gorgeous Soft Suede for this envelope. I stamped the images from Razzle Dazzle on the envelope, then sponged ink around the edges before crimping.

For the topper, I stamped and sponged some more, then wrapped some Soft Suede Polka Dot ribbon around it. I cut a Soft Suede flower with the Simple Flower embosslit die and added a half pearl from the Pretties kit to the center.

For the card insert, I used Soft Suede Textured cardstock. I stamped and sponged some more on Whisper White and adhered that to the card base. I stamped the greeting with Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched it out with the Word Window punch. I then layered that onto a Modern Label Soft Suede piece.This second card uses the Scallop Square Medallion technique. I thought it would be cute with the new Animal Stories stamp set and Tall Tales designer series paper. I matched these with Crushed Curry as the card base. The whale is stamped with my Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry Stampin' Write markers, and the greeting is from On Your Birthday (in Bermuda Bay). For the ribbon, I used some 5/8" So Saffron grosgrain.
Finally, by special request, we are doing the Split Negative Technique. I have posted this card before, so you can check here for the details if you'd like.

Since we'll end up with two images, I don't want the second to go to waste! So we'll also be making this simple gift bag using the second piece. For the bag, I just rolled the Symphony jumbo wheel across the bag with Basic Black and matted the violin image from Music Expressions on some Real Red cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope my club ladies will enjoy making these projects!


Blessings to you,

Razzle Dazzle Durango

This is a card I made for Splitcoast Stampers' Sketch Challenge #234. I was very excited to play with my new In Colors! This one has Dusty Durango as the card base, layered with Razzleberry Lemonade designer series paper. I added some Little Leaves die cuts in Old Olive, then layered on the image from Razzle Dazzle in Crushed Curry. I stamped some Dusty Durango splatters from Itty Bitty Backgrounds around the image and added some So Saffron 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings to you,

New Catalogue Open House!

I will be holding my annual New Catalogue Open House and Rubber Garage Sale on Thursday, July 9 from 4 - 8 p.m. at my home. If you need my address or directions, please email me and I'll get those to you.

Here are some of the many things we will be doing:

• Door Prize Draw - over $75 worth of new catalogue merchandise, including a Level 3 Hostess set!
• Rubber Garage Sale - I will be selling my retired merchandise at a discount. Plus, for every $2 you spend on retiring product, you get $1 in FREE new catalogue product of your choice! (First come, first served - arrive early for the best selection of retiring products.)
  
• Make & Takes - come and make some great cards using new stamp sets and In Colors!
• Receive a FREE Idea Book & Catalogue with your order of at least $75!
• Receive a FREE handmade card for every $10 in new merchandise ordered - choose from my huge bin of samples!
• Sign up for a Stamp or Scrapbook Club and receive a free Idea Book & Catalogue plus a coupon for 10% off your first club order in the fall!
• Sign up as a demonstrator with me and receive an additional $25 in new product of your choice!
• Book a workshop and receive a free Idea Book & Catalogue and an additional $10 in free product of your choice at your workshop!

It's going to be lots of fun, and I hope to see you there!

Blessings to you,

Musical Split Negative

Has it really been over a month since I've posted? That's ridiculous! We've been looking to build a new house for the past few months, so that has pretty much been all-consuming! We finally found a lot and house we want to build, so we put ours up for sale last week. In between showings, keeping the house clean with two little boys and being a mom, I've barely had any time for stamping.

Luckily, my husband is a teacher, and he just started his summer holidays. So yesterday, I had a stamping day to update my samples to the new catalogue!

This is a card that my Stamp Club will be making this month. It uses the split negative technique, and I really like how it turned out with the Music Expressions stamp! This technique was actually easier than I thought. I just cut the white and black cardstock to the same size as the stamp block, then lined up the block overtop the cardstock pieces. That way, when I cut them in half and joined the opposite halves together, the stamped images lined up perfectly!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Music Expressions, Bird on a Branch (sentiment)
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Whisper White cardstock
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black
Accessories: Eyelet Border punch, white & black embossing powder

Thanks for stopping by today. Now that I've got some stamping done, I'll be able to post more frequently this summer, so I hope you'll visit again!

Blessings to you,