Stamps, Paper, and Ink

Revenge of the pound dogs

Betcha that title had you scratching your head! My husband offered it as we are watching the Olympics and I decided it's perfect for this card! Let's just say it was for a masculine birthday for someone with a sense of humor.

Have you had a good chance to study the new catty yet? My girls and I love studying layout and details on those pages as well as the new sets! This card is a CASE of the card on page 29 that 's made with the Just Jawing set. I am posting it for one reason: to make sure you know that you don't have to have the set to get the look and feel of a card you like.

That's the value of stamping - versatility.  I kept the colors and layout the same, but substituted the Loads Of Love set, which has been around for awhile. When you do this, begin by analyzing what you like in the sample. I asked myself, "What are the elements of this cards' style?" Bold colors and images, especially the black ring which gives impact to the focal point. To go with the funky feel the strip of tangerine tango extends past the edge of the card. I decided to put the dogs in the driver's seat and stretch the ribbon across like a road just for fun.

This card's style fits right in with my life this past week - crazybusy and pushing on at full speed. Tonight is my Open House for the new catalog, wish you could come! If you live in the vicinity of Fayeteville, Hope Mills, Raeford, or Vass, NC -  contact me and experience the delightful time our group has stamping together.Thanks for uh, driving by and stopping in to say HI!

Stamps: Loads of Love and Accessories, Upsy Daisy
Paper: Kiwi kiss, Tangerine tango, basic black, whisper white
Ink: black staz-on, pads for watercoloring
Accessories: piercing tool and mat, Jersey Shore ribbon originals, gel pen

Wanna see a Card-Swapping Crab?

The Friday Challenge at Stamp Something is the theme of Summer fun, go on over and see the great designs and join us to play!

Summer fun brought to mind for me convention and the card Brent Steele showed us how to make where the bear (or in this case, the crab!) can move it's arms when you pull the tab at the bottom.  Now when I wondered what a crab could hold in it claws, cards came to mind and well,... card swappers! The 'shore do' sure did clinch (pun intended LOL) this idea and it was so fun to make!

Imagine pulling the tab and seeing the crab wave those cards back and forth. Sure to bring a chuckle.

Don't these sunny colors bring the look of summer? How about real sand? (well, as much as I could glue on, anyway.)

Here are the details -
Stamps: Crab & company, short Order alphabet
Paper: So saffron, tangerine tango, whisper white, kiwi kiss, baja breeze
Ink: black staz-on, tangerine tango, baja breeze, craft white
Accessories: silver brad, aqua painter and ink pads to watercolor, chipboard, circle punches

Wildflowers

It's Thursday, Emily's day! Here she is...

Black-eyed susans are one of my favorite flowers, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to see a great big, lovely STAMP of them! Just thrilled to pieces. This is my first card using this new stamp set - "Inspired by Nature." I'm thinking that these stamps will create LOTS of beautiful, effortless cards; wouldn't you agree?

Stamps: inspired by nature
Paper: more mustard, tangerine tango, chocolate chip, old olive, and whisper white
Ink: chocolate chip, tangerine tango; also chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, old olive, and summer sun markers
Other: scallop border punch, linen thread, color spritzing tool

Friend.ship

My display board sample #2

This card was so much fun to make and I can't wait to use the layout again even if it means getting out my sewing machine to stitch the pocket.= :-)

Here's the card with the tag pulled out...

I colored this with Stampin' Up! markers and my aqua painter. The heart is cut out of Purely Pomegranate card stock and tucked into a slit in the top of the boat. The button is prettied up with a rub on. If this floats your boat, let me know!  Thanks for being on board my friend.ship too, you make me smile!

For Mom

I promised that I would show you the cards and projects of mine that were on the display boards at Celebrate '08, the SU! convention.  In the next few days I'll show you my top 10 picks of my 13 designs displayed. Here's the first one done with Wild Wasabi textured card stock, Kraft, Cameo Coral and Whisper White (sorry for the bluish color cast of the photo, I just couldn't get it better than this.)   Leaves a la Carte was wheeled in white craft ink to make the pattern on the Kraft panel.  Other sets used were Carte Postale and All Holidays. Kraft taffeta ribbon is embellished with the ribbon slider from Styled Silver Hodge Podge Hardware.

These stamps go to my must-keep-retired sets shelf. Today I will be watching for the delivery of my first order. My excitement is so high for the ideas and stamp sets in the new Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog. Since today is the first day for customers to order, check it out online or contact me to get your copy. You'll be glad you did! 

Just a hint of pink

 

Becky's challenge on the Stamp Something Blog was to use blue, green, and pink. I love pink, ya know, but with the silhouettes my favorite combos have been blue and green.  So I came up with Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss and a hint of Pretty in Pink. Want to know how I got the hint of pink on the white flowers? I used pastels over embossing! If you have any questions about that, feel free to ask in the comments section. I was going to tell you the recipe but since Typepad is having major issues again, I'll stop here and see about a real recipe (as in dinner!) But just to let you know - This card uses the gorgeous new Upsy Daisy set soon to be unveiled in the new catalog. This is one of the sets that will be discounted beginning on August 11!

Stay tuned for more to come and have a great weekend!

Flight of the butterfly

It's Thursday, Emily's day! Here she is...

Well, Mom came home from convention on Sunday with her bags overflowing with goodies: the new catalog, new stamps, and new news, just to name a few! This is one of the stamps sets that she got free at convention - Flight of the Butterfly.

I used the faux batik technique for this card by embossing the bold butterfly image on mulberry paper and sponging so saffron and tangerine tango ink around it, then ironing the mulberry paper inside of a few sheets of paper to remove the embossing. (the heat of the iron melts the embossing out of the mulberry paper and into the printing paper) Then I stamped the dotted outlines and the small butterflies on top.

On the right side of the card, you can faintly see one of the curly quotes included in the set, to be used as butterfly trails of as sentiments...this one says "if nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies."

This new stamp set (and many others) will be available from Stampin' Up! on August 11th - don't miss it!

Stamps: flight of the butterfly, sweet serendipity
Paper: tangerine tango, whisper white, mulberry paper
Ink: versamark, so saffron, tangerine tango, kiwi kiss, pacific point
Other: sponges, clear and black embossing powder, styled silver hodgepodge hardware, vintage brads, scalloped border punch, designer label punch, mini library clips, black gingham ribbon

Beauties!

My photos of convention would not be complete without this B-yoo-ti-ful group of the Great Swaps
girls that met for lunch and a swap. Stampers are such friendly and fun people, KWIM?  These are special stampers to me and I loved getting to meet everyone face to face and chat a bit.

Speaking of beautiful, this card by my friend Ruth Ann took my breath away! In the next breath I asked her if I could share it with you all today. Isn't this a gorgeous layout? I can't wait to get some time to play with my new sets, and Happiness Always will be one of the first I'll grab.  Ruth Ann used the Bella Rose designer paper. Dazzling Diamonds added to the butterfly make it sparkle like a jewel! One very beautiful card.

Something wonky happened to my posts yesterday - did you see all those crazy question marks? I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
Wishing good things for you!

Still buzzing from excitement at convention! Chatter, photos and a surprise

The SU! Celebrate! '08 convention was all I dreamed it would be and so much more. Imagine three days of exciting demonstrations, new stamp sets, fun and interesting classes, new stamps, and did I say, new catalog?� Not to mention new friends and lots and lots of great ideas. The grand finale of it all was when men in brown uniforms and a UPS truck - which drove onstage - swarmed the arena and delivered stamp sets to 6,000 wildly screaming demonstrators!

I felt honored to work for a fantastic company! There are so many perks of being a demonstrator - the best is being reminded in so many ways of how they appreciate every one of us.

I had a sweet personal surprise at convention which made me so glad that I attended. As I surveyed the display boards, I found four of the cards I've been sending in all year on display. I was thrilled that they had chosen my work. Now it gets even better - after a good night's rest and further study - there were 13 of my projects posted on the display boards! (OK, 11 cards,one 3-D project and one scrapbook page.) I can't tell you how much that boosted my confidence! Check back in a couple days for photos of these.

Now, here are some photos for you!

Sue and I hit it right off from the start, here we are at the SCS dinner. Our friendship just kept growing.

Jackie has shared her fabulous work each month on my Terrific Tuesday Challenge, and I was so happy to finally get to meet her in person! She was so much fun to stamp with at make and take time, her laughter put everybody at ease - even me when I messed up! :-D

Last but most certainly not least, Kristina Werner sweetly took time to pose and chat for a minute! Meeting her was so special, and that's exactly how she made me feel too! She is friendly and so kind, she smiles often and is as delightful in person as she is on her blog! 

Little Red Riding Hood...

Little red riding hood strolled through the woods on the way to Grandmother's house and aren't you sure she was carrying a bouquet of flowers like these? I think this color combo is a great addition to my garden! I'm love, love, lovin' this new take on red white and blue.

The Challenge at Stamp Something this week is a card or project to say thank you. Here's mine with a big thanks to our coordinators and design team, and all of you who participate each week with us.

Stamps: Happiness, Fresh Cuts
Paper: whisper white, baja breeze, Bella Rose
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Baja breeze
Accessories: soft subtles buttons, pink gingham ribbon, three for you punch, piercing tool