Baby Elephant

This sweet baby elephant isn't new to this years catalog but he's still super sweet and super cute!  I just love him!  He makes the perfect baby card for boys and girls. *You might notice this is a girl card because the elephants toe nails are painted Rich Razzleberry.*  I colored him using our ink pads and blender pens.  I love love love our blender pens!!!

Remember when you watercolor an image make sure to add your own shadow on the ground.  It gives it depth and you don't get the 'floating' look.  A floating elephant would be bad don't forget the shadows :)  I used some of our new chevron ribbon on this card, but didn't want the chevron look, just the stripes.  Isn't great, you can get 2 ribbons for the price of one!  Our busy week is almost done!  Logan's been in a day camp this week and it feels like we've just been going non stop! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Washi Tape Love

I'm slightly obsessed with our Washi Tape :)  what about you?  Have you tried our washi tape.  There's about a million uses for it, card making is just one of the few.  I saw this card on Pintrest and wanted to make my own version.  I used Stampin' Up!'s Gingham Garden Washi tape, I love the color combo.  I used my dies for the letters, and randomly placed rhinestones all over to add just the right about of sparkle :)

The part of this card that I love the most is the ruffled ribbon.  It was so easy too!!!  Our ruffled ribbon is so nice and easy to use.  Plus it's stretchy and flexible making it so easy to glue around the heart.  I put a line of SNAIL Adhesive around the back of the heart then stuck the ribbon to that following the curve of the heart.  It was really that easy!  I hope you give washi tape and the ruffled ribbon a try!    

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Pearl Madness!

Are you like me?  Do you hoard your pearls and/or rhinestones?  I am a pearl hoarder, I'll admit it!  Sometimes it's not because I don't want to use them but I find that sometimes those itty bitty pearls are hard to use.  They're pretty small, so if you want a big accent they won't work.  But for this card, I just needed a little something in the background.  So I used my diagonal plate on my simply scored tool and scored in both directions at every inch.  Then where they intersected I added a pearl.  The tiny ones were perfect.  They're subtle enough not to overwhelm the card, but enough to add the perfect touch to it. 

I'm loving the vanilla and white together.  If you had asked me a year ago to use these two colors together I would have thought you were crazy!  But I love love love these colors!  The pop of Strawberry Slush for the heart really makes the card pop!  I just love it!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Good Thoughts

Good thoughts, I hope that's what this card brings :)  This is one of the new sets from the new catalog.  I have to admit I'm a sucker for flower and butterfly sets.  I have way too many and I keep getting them.  This one is so pretty though and it's a two step stamping one.  So you get amazing results with little work.  Gotta love that!!!!  Two Step Stamping is when you stamp one image then stamp another, usually an accent or outline directly on top.  In this case the larger part of my flower was stamped in Coastal Cabana, then I stamped the details on top in Bermuda Bay.  The two colors makes the flowers pop and look more realistic.  There's shading in all the right spots and it's so easy!  

 

I'm LOVING the new candy dots!  Don't you just LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!!!  I love that you can use them alone or with the brad backs.  I did experiment with them a little though and found that you can make your own rhinestone brads too!!!  Whooo hooo!!!!  The largest of the rhinestones, in the package with 3 sizes, fits perfectly in the brad backs for the candy dots.  Just another reason to add them to your wish list!!!  I added the rhinestone brad here but it would also be great with any of the other colors! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Well.....

Well I wish I could say I had a fun project for you today, but I don't.  I have been stamping this week though, I got my cards planned for my Punch Art class in July and THEY. ARE. A-MA-ZING!!!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!  Here's more details on my punch art class. There's still plenty of spots left.  Save yours today!

July 13, 2013 at 9:30am

Get Punchy With Me!

Back by popular demand! Come create cards featuring animals, people, or anything created using our punches (and maybe a die or two)! We have a few new punches with this catalog so it should be fun!!! This class is always popular so make sure you sign up early! You'll make 4 cards, this class is FREE with a $35 catalog order placed the day of the class or $20. Please RSVP by July 8th.

I'll be back Monday!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Late Swaps

 I am finally sharing the swaps from our meeting our last meeting was during our vacation to Disney World so I missed the meeting.  I did still however, participate in the swap.  You can see my swap here.  Because I missed the meeting I'm not sure who did what swap.  Most of them are labeled.  There's a few that are not though.  So here are the cards. 

 

This one is not labeled.  But I love the sparkly glitter paper!!!  It looks like the greeting is done in MDS, gotta love those hybrid cards!

This is Cassie's.  I love the rose, that's from our new clay and mold.  LOVE THAT!!!  I also love the use of the washi tape.

This is Nicole's.  I love the colors!!  I know I've said it before but I LOVE OUR IN COLORS!!!  I love the flagged banner under the greeting too!! 

This is Kay's card.  She threw in some of the new This and That DSP on the back.  I LOVE that DSP!! 

This is Amber's.  I love how she used the negative image of the framelit.  Don't you just love that mosaic set!!!?!

This is Karen's, yes it came with the candy bar.  But that's not even the best part of this card.  She sewed it!!  The little checkered blue pocket is actually sewed onto the card.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Label Love

Our final set at stamp camp was Label Love.  I have loved every card with this set.  I just love all sets with coordinating punches though :)  The first card is mine.  I love the layered circles and the little arrow clip!  Adorable!!!  The DSP on this card is also from one of our new packages.  The bright colors are so fun!!!

This is Amber's card.  We both used the new ruffled ribbon on our cards.  I LOVE THE NEW RUFFLED RIBBON!!!!!  If you haven't used it you must run, I mean RUN and get some!!!  I love that Amber used the punch as part of the background too.  If you didn't get a chance to attend this years stamp camp, make sure you join us next year! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!

Mosaic Madness

Do you have this set yet?  This was an incredibly popular set at stamp camp!  But who wouldn't love this set.  The images are great and there's a coordinating punch and embossing folder.  Really it's all you could ask for!  This first card is Amber's.  I just can't get over how much I LOVE this years In Colors and the Strawberry Slush and Crisp Cantaloupe together are just YUMMY!

But let's not leave out Coastal Cabana, a HUGE favorite of mine!!!  This is my card, the inspiration for this card came from a card I saw on splitcoast.  I love my card.  The Early Espresso and the Coastal Cabana make such a classic color combo!!!  Love it!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Summer And Fall Class Schedule!

I'm thrilled to announce my Summer and Fall Class Schedule! 
Make sure you sign up early, space is limited. 

All my classes are held at St. John's Cathedral, 318 Silver SW on the corner of 3rd and Silver.

 July 13, 2013 at 9:30am
Get Punchy With Me!
Back by popular demand! Come create cards featuring animals, people, or anything created using our punches (and maybe a die or two)! We have a few new punches with this catalog so it should be fun!!! This class is always popular so make sure you sign up early! You'll make 4 cards, this class is FREE with a $35 catalog order placed the day of the class or $20. Please RSVP by July 8th.

 August 17, 2013 at 9:30am
Makin' Cards For Men
Need ideas for masculine cards. Are the men in your life the hardest to stamp for? This class we'll make 5 cards all designed for men. No girly ribbon or glitter here! This class is FREE with a $35 catalog order placed the day of the class or $20. Please RSVP by August 12th.

September 14, 2013 at 9:30am
It's My Birthday Blowout!
It's my birthday this month, celebrate with me as we make 6-yes 6-great birthday cards! No birthday party would be complete without prizes and cake! This class is FREE with a $35 catalog order placed the day of the class or $20. Please RSVP by September 10th.

October 12, 2013 at 9:30am
Christmas Card Stamp a Stack
Come make 20 Christmas Cards for only $20!!!! Prepayment is required for this class. More details TBA!!!!

 November 2, 2013 at 9:30am
Christmas Gifts Card Holder Class
Need a special gift card holder for that special gift card? This is the class for you!!! This class is FREE with a $35 catalog order placed the day of the class or $20. More details TBA.
December 14, 2013 at 9:30am
TBA

Stamp Camp Highlights

Every single year I take my camera to stamp camp.  Every single year I fail to take pictures.  I don't have a single picture from stamp camp :(  Even though there's not pictures we had a great time.  Our guests all got to make 6 fantastic cards using all new stamps and accessories.  And of course our retired stamp set sale was a huge success!  I have lots left though, some at rock bottom prices!  Check it out, if you want to purchase any let me know.  Amber and I do stamp camp together, we choose 3 sets and we each design a card with that set.  Our cards are always so different and that's part of the fun!  Our first set is a hostess only set, Simply Sketched.  It's a great set if you love to color!  The line images are so pretty!  The fist card is Amber's and I love it!  I love that she used the new candy dots!  I can't wait to play with those!

This is my card.  Two very different looks, yet we still used the same colors.  Pistachio Pudding and Baked Brown Sugar (that we did not plan).  On my card the image was colored using blender pens.  They're so fun and they really make you feel like an artist in the ease of a marker!  LOVE those things!!!  Over the next 2 days I'll share our other cards.  Keep checking in! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Looking For a Retired Set????

I don't normally do this but thought I'd try it out this year.  I'm listing all my retired stamps and accessories that didn't sell at stamp camp.  Prices are marked, shipping is extra (unless you're local).  Prices are in US dollars, I will only ship within the US. If you're interested in anything let me know. You can leave a comment or email me for more info. 

A Beautiful Thing $2

A Little Birthday Cheer $2

A Word For You (c) $10

Always Elegant $2

Animal Stories $2

Awash With Flowers $6

Best Dad Ever $11

Bloomin' Marvelous $10

Bordering On Romance $16

Broadsheet Alpahbet $26

Button Button (c) $11

Christmas Greeting $2

Cottage Garden $5

Curly Cute (c) $9

Dot Dot Dot $2

Elements of Style $16

Faith in Nature $5

Flowers in Silhouette $1

Four The Holidays $4

French Foliage $12

Fresh Vinatage $5

Friendly Phrases (c) $9

Got Treats $15

Greenhouse Garden $5

Hello Again $2

Hodgepodge Happiness $2

Itty Bitty Backgrounds $1

Just Believe $20

Just For You $4

Kiddodles $14

Kindness Matters $7

Love and Care $5

Love You Much $2

Madison Ave $10

Many Merry Messages $19

Mouthwatering $12

Moving Forward $12

Nature Walk $15

Oh Whale $14

On Your Birthday $5

Outlined Occasions $5

Party Hearty $2

Perfect Punches (c) $11

Pretty Petities $10

Pretty Postage $7

Scentsational Season $11

Serene Snowflakes $6

Smarty Pants $5

Strength and Hope $3

Thank You Kindly $4

Three Little Words $2

Tiny Tags $14

Tricky Treats (c) $9

Upsy Daisy $5

Vegetable Garden $5

Wacky Wishes (c) $11

Word Play (c) $17

You and Moi $2

You're a Gem (c) $2

Yummy $1



Accessories

Beary Boy Sizzlit $1

Bees and Blossoms $3

Birthday Wheel $3

Build a Brad $3

Candle Crazy Wheel $3

Candy Wrapper Die $19

Clear Circle Die $13

Dresden Die $19

Flower Folds Die $25

Funky Forest Wheel $1

Glitter Assortment $8

Gogo Boots Alphabet Sizzlits $20

Ovals Die $13

Pastels $10

Petal Card Die $13

Petal Card Punch $10

Pillow Box Die $13

Posy Party Wheel $3

Scallop Circles Die $9

Scallop Rectangle Sizzlit $4

Scallop Square Duo Die $13

Shimmer Paint $4

So Many Stars Wheel $3

Square Punch $10

Texture Jumbo Wheel $1

Thoughtful Friend Wheel $3

Window Panes $1

Interested-email me stamperrdn@q.com
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Hoppin' With New Stuff!

Welcome to this month's blog hop!  If you've just arrived from Michelle's blog, WELCOME!!!!  If this is your first stop, don't worry you can join in the hop here.  This month our theme is 'New Products'.  With an whole new catalog to choose from this was a fun theme!  One of my favorite new stamps in the catalog is Chalk Talk.  I love the fun sayings and the fun shapes.  Plus this set has coordinating framelits!  I can't wait to use them with the new magnetic platform!!  I hope you're as excited about that as I am!  I can't wait to get it!!!  But back to the card :)  I'm really loving the new In Color Coastal Cabana.  I'm finding that it coordinates with almost every color.  For this card I paired it with Crushed Curry and Baked Brown Sugar. 

I stamped the label and punched it out with the Oval Punch, then I embossed a small crushed curry flag with the polka dots folder (if you're a follower of my blog you know how much I LOVE this folder).  I stamped the larger label on the white cardstock and splattered some crushed curry ink all over it.  I love the look of splattered ink, it can change the whole look of a card instantly!  Of course all the layers are popped up on dimensionals, would you expect anything else from me :)

Now it's time to continue on the hop.  Next up is Amber!  I know you'll love what she has to share!  In case you get lost along the way here's the line up of bloggers. 

 

Ruth Norton YOU ARE HERE!!!!

Amber Wilson

Nichole Gonzales Jaramillo

Kay Jantz

Liz Kay

Carmelita Wasson

Cassie Rogers
Michelle Carrion

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

It's A Tie!

I know, I know, I know this set is retired!  But I couldn't help it I had to make one last card with it before it goes up on the sale table this Saturday at Stamp Camp.  If you didn't get a chance to sign up for stamp camp you can still shop the sale.  The sale will be open to everyone at 10:30am.  If you're attending Stamp Camp you get to shop the sale early at 9am, then head into stamp camp at 10am.  If you want more info on the sale or attending stamp camp let me know, there's still time to sign up! 

Back to the card.  The ties are stamp and cut out, then just hung over the hanger.  Cute right!?!  I saw a card similar to it on Pintrest.  I loved the idea of the hanging ties.  How stinkin' clever!  I added a quick 'Happy Father's Day' greeting and that's it, a fun Father's Day card! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Side Sided Father's Day

Father's Day is Sunday!  Did it sneak up on you like it did me?  It's been challenging to catch up after being gone for a week.  I hate that.  I *think* though I'm caught up and things are almost back to normal....whatever that is.   I love this new hexagon stamp set and punch.  This card was inspired by this one on Split Coast.  I know that some of you might struggle with masculine cards, don't worry I do too.  But the things that I've learned with cards for men is to keep it simple.  Clean, sharp lines are always popular.  And keep accessories to a minimum.  There's nothing Dan hates more than a card covered in glitter and ribbon :) 

For this card I started with the washi tape, we have some wonderful new selections of washi tape in the new catalog!  Keeping with the colors of the washi tape I tried to find similar patterns in the stamp set.  With the washi tape and the coordinating punch this card can be put together quickly. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Swap For You

Last week was our demonstrator meeting.  I sadly missed the meeting, we were on a family vacation to Disney World last week :)  Don't worry you'll see LOTS of MDS pages soon :)  But since I was missing the meeting I really didn't want to miss the swap.  The theme was New Catalog.  That means anything new!  Colors, stamps, accessories!  I used the new set Label Love and the new DSP's Soho Subway and This and That.  They're both vintagy and go so well together.  I love the label on the large circle, I love it even more that it off center. 

The inspiration for this card came from Kimberly's blog.  I am loving her style of stamping so much!!!  I just want to CASE all her cards!!!  I hope to share the rest of the swaps sometime this week.  We're still adjusting to being back and catching up on sleep :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Oh My Goodness!

Megan is my trouble child.  You can't leave her alone, not even for a minute.  She's a master at getting into trouble.  Most recently she decided to dump an entire bottle of baby powder all over the floor.  She was covered in head to toe, there was a nice thick layer all over the carpet.  I had my phone in my hand and took a quick picture, right where she was standing.  The mickey ears behind her are just a coincidence from a Minnie Mouse bag on the table.  This page is fun and simple, though I'm not loving the medallions, I may go in and change it :)  That's it today!  Have a great day!!!! 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

More Punches!

Can you believe it, two punched creations in a row!  Who would have thought!?!!!  After I made the Mickey and Minnie card from yesterday I really wanted to make another punched card.  I needed a baby shower card so again I turned to splitcoast and searched for punched baby shower, this sweet gem from Ellen's blog showed up.  Ellen truly is the QUEEN of punch art.  Just go to her blog, you won't be disappointed.  I used lots of new DSP on this blog and tried to keep the mom to be in mind while dressing her :)  Plus I really love this DSP.

Punch art is soooo much fun, I just love it.  Who would ever think that with just a few circles and ovals you could have this!?!  Ellen describes the punches used and where on her blog so I won't go into that.  I will say though, that when you do punch art, the thing that can make or break your punch art is the sponging.  I know that sounds silly, but sponging can add so much depth and texture.  Every piece on here is sponged lightly and some not so lightly in Crumb Cake.  I sponged a little darker where I knew there would be shadows.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Getting Punch With Mickey And Minnie!

Today is Dan's birthday.  It's no secret that we both love all things Disney, we did meet at Disney World after all.  We were both on internships in college and were working at the Studios.  So for his birthday I thought I'd make him a Disney inspired birthday card.  I did a search of Mickey on Splitcoast and this card popped up.  Well obviously I loved it!!!!  Plus unlike all the other search results that used Mickey stamps which I didn't own, this one used punches which I do own!  It took about an hour (usually I don't spend that much time on a card).  But I had to figure out what punch was used where and how and then put it all together. 

 

On Melissa's blog she lists all the punches that she used.  So I pulled out all those punches, the colors I wanted to use and got to work.  I didn't use any punch she didn't mention, though now I'm not sure where I used what punch :(  Opps!  I'm going to attempt to list them below, and I hope I get them right :)  The only substitution I made was the Heart to Heart punch.  I don't have that one anymore, so I use the smallest heart in the heart framelits, I also didn't use the corner rounder punch she mentions.  I assume that was for trimming edges.  All trimming I just did by hand. 

Small Oval-Shoes

Owl-Bodies and Mickey's shorts

1/2" Circle-Minnie's shoulders on her dress

Heart framelit (smallest)-Hands

Window Label-Arms

Modern Label-Bow 

Large Oval-Minnie's Dress 

1 1/4" Circle Punch-Heads

3/4" Circle Punch-Ears

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Last Day of !st Grade

Logan's last day of school was a few weeks ago.  I'm so far behind on MDS this year!!!  Though I've been really horrible about even taking pictures-that's even worse!!!  I'm hoping to make up for it this summer :)  But I did manage to snap some pictures on Logan's last day of school.  He worked really hard and did a great job!  I used a sketch that I found on Pintrest to start this page, since I don't have many pictures to scrapbook (or the time), I haven't been on in a while :( I needed some creative mojo, so I started with a sketch.  Didn't you love Kim's pages yesterday?  Kim used to have a blog, but as it does, life gets in the way sometimes.  I'll invite her back.  She does great work and should share it!!!  

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Guest Blogger

I asked my good friend and fellow demonstrator Kim Madrid post today. 

I hope you love her pages as much as I do.  Enjoy!!! 

 

WOW!  That’s all I can say about being asked to guest-blog for my friend, Ruth Norton.  My first reaction, quite honestly, was fear!  You see, I’m Ruth’s number one fan … she prefers to use the word “stalker” but hey, do we really need to label my obsession?  I think not!  Anyway, my first reaction was fear because, to me, Ruth’s shoes are REALLY BIG shoes to fill!  What on Earth can I possibly create that will be “Ruth’s Stampin’ Corner worthy”? 

So I debated and stressed and debated and stressed some more and finally decided I would go in a direction that was originally inspired by Ruth anyway … Scrapbooking!  (And, more importantly, scrapbooking with My Digital Studio)  All of you already know that Ruth is insanely talented when it comes to MDS and scrapbooking.  Over the couple years I’ve known her, I’ve learned A LOT from her.  I am in no way an expert like she is, but I thought it might be fun to try doing some scrapbooking for my guest-blog spot.

So then I thought … what pictures shall I use.  I could use pictures of my family, but most of you are Ruth’s “viewers” and don’t know my family so probably don’t care.  So then I decided to heist some pictures off of Ruth’s Facebook page.  (I know … just another reason it’s not safe to post pictures on Facebook … I might heist them.)  But I wanted to find a couple pictures that I thought were really fun pictures AND that I hadn’t seen Ruth scrapbook yet.  So I found one picture of Meagan and one of Logan.

 

I tried to stick with just one MDS digital kit “Be Yourself”.  I thought Meagan’s pictures was perfect for the “Express Yourself” stamp from the “Be Yourself” kit.  She is making such a cute face in this picture.  On Facebook Ruth noted that they had just had some free samples from See’s Candies (you can see the chocolate on Meagan’s face) and that’s why I added the journaling about See’s Candies.  For Logan’s page, I loved this picture of him making a funny face.  The picture I heisted from Facebook actually had BOTH Meagan and Logan in the picture but since I already had one of Meagan I just cropped her out (oh, the humanity!)  Anyway … I loved the face that Logan is making in this picture!  You can tell he’s quite the little comedian.  I liked the “just be you” stamp from the “Be Yourself” kit for Logan’s picture because, obviously, he’s comfortable doing just that!

Well … I hope you have enjoyed this post.  Don’t worry, Ruth will be back soon and you can go back to your “regular scheduled programming”! 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

My Paper Pumpkin Album

Have you signed up for Paper Pumpkin yet?  You can sign up here to get it.  Every month you're sent a box filled with the supplies to make some pretty awesome projects.  The last 3 months have been cards, so I was delighted to see a little mini album in the May kit!  I knew just what to do with it too!!!!  We're planning a fun Disney World vacation and since it's where Dan and I met I thought I'd fill the album with pictures of us on our trip to Disney then give it to him.  Cute right!?! 

Now since he's a guy, and really doesn't want it jazzed up with flowers and ribbon I kept the album very simple and really used only the supplies that came in the kit.  It's perfect!  The little photo frames are adorable and the perfect size!!!! 

You might be wondering how I plan to get the pictures in there, since clearly I've attached it all already.  Well I'm glad you asked :)  I attached the frames using dimensionals only on the bottom of each frame.  Then I'll just cut the pictures to size and slide them in with adhesive on the back and ta-da!  Easy peasy! 

The Paper Pumpkin emellishements are like heavy duty stickers, they're the weight of cardstock, but sticky on the back.  They're amazing.  But I didn't want the frames to retain their stickiness so I used my embossing buddy and lightly tapped the back of each frame with it, this takes away the stickiness on them, then you can just use them like any other piece of cardstock. 

There's lots of places to journal and I may add in a few other pictures not in frames.  Though the kit in May was filled with tons of embellishements.  I could make another album or two with what's left.  But I think I'll save them for some card making!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!