High Tide Thinking Of You

Sympathy cards are never fun to make unfortunately at some point though we always need to have some on hand.  This card was inspired by this card by Michelle Zindorf, that I found on Pintrest.  I love the High Tide set but I don't pull it out as often as I should.  Obviously the lighthouse image is the star of that set but I like to remind my self sometimes to use the smaller, maybe over looked stamps in larger sets.    
The birds flying are beautiful and it's all this card needed.  Simple images are always a winner.  For the background I did pull out my inks and sponge daubers and ink blend the back ground.  I love making these kinds of background.  I used Island Indigo for the water and to get the sharp straight line I used some post it tape to mask off the sky while I did my water.  The sky is a blend of Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise and Island Indigo.  I added some Black Bakers Twine to finish the card and it was ready for the mail.  Look at some of your sets and pull out the over looked stamps and make them shine!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Marbled Background

I LOVE our background stamps!  They are so brilliantly designed and they look amazing when stamped!  My all time favorite is the Diagonal Strip background I keep that in reach at all times.  I love added a quick accent with it.  However.  This Marbled Background is pretty amazing though.  I may have to keep this one close too.  I love stamping tone on tone with it, it gives the most beautiful subtle background!  

The YOU might look familiar.  After making these cards I had a lot of YOU's left.  No scrap wasted!  These made the best cards!  The cards are pretty simple and straight forward but look so stepped up and classy because of that Marbled Background.  If you don't have it, add it to your wishlist!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Light Up Light Sabers

Last week was Logan's Birthday, he's pretty Star Wars obsessed so I wanted to make a card that even a cool 11 year old would like.  I think I accomplished it.  This fun light saber card actually lights up!  

There's a battery and lights in the card and when you press it the light sabers light up.  To get the light sabers to really shine I used an Xacto knife and cut light saber light shapes (so basically a rectangle).  Then I attached some vellum behind the cut out pieces and colored them with Pacific Point and Real Red, you know light saber colors.  I finished the card with some embossed greetings and some light saber handles made with the Modern Label punch. 

As for my battery here's my whole circuit.  I used Chibitronic lights.  I bought mine on Amazon.  They have a starter kit you can get and there's lots of videos on Youtube about how to create these cards.  Basically you channel your inner scientist and create a circuit with some copper tape.  The copper tape connects the negative side of the light to the negative side of the battery and the same with the positive side.  Since I had 2 lights I had 2 separate circuits connected to the same battery. It all sounds very confusing but it's actually pretty fun to make, and it makes for some really fun cards. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

Large Letters and You

I've had the Large Letters Framelits for a while and I've been dying to use them, but the right project never came along.  Well last week when the kids went back to school and I had some time to stamp I did!  I broke out my letters and made a stack of these Thinking Of You cards and wow!  I LOVE THEM!!!!  

Everything except the card bases are the same, I made 3 different ones, Rich Razzleberry above, Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay (below).  I used some Powder Pink (LOVE) cardstock and stamped the Diagonal Stripe background on it before cutting the YOU out.  The part.  I now have a ton of YOU's cut out that I can use on another card. It's 2 for 1 cards!  Yay!!!! 

Behind each YOU I added some Dazzling Details Glimmer paper.  I punched out a bunch of vellum leaves with the new Leaf punch in the Holiday catalog.  I cut thin strips from some DSP from the Merry Little Christmas Pack (Holiday Catalog).  I added the DSP and leaves behind the Thinking Of You greeting.  That greeting is from the Window Shopping Stamp Set by the way.  

I finished it off with some Black Metallic Thread and attached the whole thing to the card.  I LOVE them!!!! 

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

Bike Ride Pup

Our new Holiday catalog has a long time returning favorite, I'm so excited!!  3x3 envelopes are back!  Yay!!!!   I am a huge fan of 3x3 cards!  I love that they're small enough to stick a few in your bag and hand them out to people you run into or have brightened your day.  I love that they're small enough to put in lunch boxes.  Plus they're cute and fun to make.  3x3 cards don't have to be elaborate or fancy.  They're a quick little note card!    

I made a huge stack of these last week!  I love them!!  With the fun Bike Ride set everything lined up perfectly and stamping was a breeze!  They're so fun!  So make a stack of 3x3 cards for yourself or a friend! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Spinning Reindeer

I shared this card a couple weeks ago and I loved it so much I wanted to make more spinning cards. This card features the new Seasonal Chums set in the Holiday Catalog.  This set is designed like the A Little Wild set that I previously used, meaning that you can fold the image over for a front and back image.  So cute!!!  I I thought if one spinning elephant is good, three spinning deer's have to be better...right???  Well yes, but I won't lie, this card was a labor of love and I do mean labor!  This is a pretty large card the finished card measures 4x8 so it's big! But because it's so big and because I needed windows cut in the card base I couldn't send it through the big shot to make it easy, nope! I ended up tracing the framelits and fussy cutting the three windows. 

Now looking back on this card, had I made it a side folding card and not a top folding card I could have run it through the big shot.  When I make it again I'll do it that way LOL!  The deer's are all colored with the watercolor pencils and are suspended on some metallic thread so they all spin.  It's so cute and fun!!!  Definitely worth all the extra steps :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Peace on Earth Plus An Announcement!

Making Christmas cards in August when it's 90 degrees outside is pretty strange.  But when you have a pile of fun brand new holiday stuff how can you resist!!  This card is simple but so elegant and beautiful.  The snowflake is a new embossing folder in the Holiday Catalog and I embossed it on our new Champagne Foil. so. beautiful. wow! I'm in love with this foil!

After I embossed the snowflake I didn't want to cover it up so I heat embossed a greeting from the Carols of Christmas set on some vellum and wrapped it around the foil.  I love this look!  Plus it makes for a fairly simple card. 

Now for an amazing announcement! I got this news on Friday afternoon and I'm still so excited!  I can't wait!!!  I'm busily prepping for my Tips and Techniques Summit in September.  This will be an event not to be missed.  Even more so now that the one and only Shannon West is attending.  YES you read that right.  Shannon West from the Stampin' Up! home office will be attending my event!!!  How amazing and cool is that!!!  I'm completely honored!!! If you want to be there to give Shannon a hug and see her in all her amazing-ness make sure you register for my Summit. All details and the link to register are here.  HURRY space is limited and are starting to go fast!  I can't wait! Don't miss this event!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!  

Merry Cafe

We're continuing on with some fun sneak peeks at the Holiday Catalog! If you love the Coffee Cafe stamp set in the Annual Catalog.  You will LOVE the new Merry Cafe set in the Holiday Catalog. The Merry Cafe set allows you to create a fun coffee card for any season!  And when you pair it with the Coffee Cafe and framelits in the Annual catalog you have the recipe for a coffee cup even Starbucks would love to have! 

This set also uses the new Smitten Mitten set for the stitched heart and the little heart border in the back.  So cute!  How stinkin' cute is that greeting!?! I love you and coffee!  I know you have friends that you could send that too!  The set also includes fun fall, Halloween and Christmas coffee greetings.  It's a fun holiday set that could and will be used year round.  Make sure you add Merry Cafe to your wishlist! I have more Holiday Catalog sneak peeks next week!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Rainbow Of Flowers With Painted Harvest

First and foremost, these cards are so pretty, though I was inspired by another demonstrator from the Netherlands.  Her name is Mieke Op T Hof and she posted some similar cards to a demonstrator only Facebook page.  They were so beautiful I had to make my own versions.  And I LOVE them! I love this flower in beautiful fall colors but when you make them in amazing bright colors it's pretty great too!  

 In one afternoon I made a total of 12 of these cards, 2 of each color.  I packed them up and they made great teacher gifts this week as my children headed back to school this week!  Yay for teachers! Yay for school! Though since Logan is in a new school this year, adjusting to the new schedules is going to take some getting used to. 

I think the Tempting Turquoise flower is my favorite!  If you're attending my Tips and Techniques Summit in September, this will be the stamp set you'll get in your bag!  There's so many amazing, fun things you can do with it!  I can't wait to share them with you at the Summit! If you haven't signed up yet, head to this post and get yourself registered to attend! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Sugarplum Dreams

I've been playing with some new Holiday stuff and it's so much fun!!!  There's some pretty incredible things in the holiday catalog!  One of the sets I was drawn to was this sweet nutcracker set called Sugarplum Dreams.  I wanted to do a fun and simple card.  Obviously these images are made to color but could you do a fun simple card without coloring?  Of course!  

I always reach for my embossing powders when I want a clean, classic look.  I can't wait to do more with this set.  I think the ballerina could be used year round, especially if you have a dancer in the family. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Birthday Stamp a Stack!

Over the weekend I had a Birthday Stamp a Stack.  This is one of my most popular classes and this weekend was no exception.  I'm so glad so many people were able to come out and create some birthday cards!  These are the 4 cards they made, they actually made 2 of each.  This first one is simple, easy and quick to mass produce!  I used the Petal Garden DSP and the Big on Birthday's set.  So pretty!

I LOVE this cute dog from the Birthday Delivery set!  This card is toooooo cute!!!  I love how fun and whimsical it is!    

 Every time I stamp this cupcake from the Sweet Cupcake set I get hungry! It looks so real!!!  For the cupcake only 2 colors were used, Tranquil Tide for the icing, and Soft Suede for the cake part.  When using darker rich colors you only need one ink to create the many dimensions and layers of everything.  Stamp your more solid layers off a couple of times before stamping on your project.  This also ensures every layer coordinates.  Win, win, win!! 

Finally, no birthday class is complete without some sweet treats!!!  These fun popsicles from the Cool Treats set are so bright and yummy looking!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Post It Notes and Butterflies

This would be one of the sweetest back to school gift ever for a teacher.  It's so simple too!  You could easily make a ton of them! It all started with the clothes pins.  I found these cute, colored clothes pins at the container store and bought two packages (they were $4 for 12-come on!).  I cut out some butterflies with my Butterfly framelits and some cardstock and vellum.  Super easy and a glue dot is all you need to assemble it all!!  I wanted a cute gift for inside the bag, so I covered a stack of post it notes in some cardstock, added a fun greeting and a pen and boom!  Simple gifts in almost no time!  The longest part was die cutting the butterflies but you could also use punches, and it doesn't even have to be a butterfly!  You could use flowers, tie in the school colors and mascots or even print off a sheet of the school logo and punch them out.  Endless possibilities for quick and easy gifts!  PS-in addition to teachers, these would make great gifts for co-workers, receptionists, friends, kids (my daughter loves a good stack of post its!).

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Scraps Challenge

I issue my team challenges every month, this one I'm super excited about because I KNOW every single member of my team has paper scraps, large or small!!!  We all got 'em! Now I would classify the 'scrap' I used on these cards to be on the larger side for sure.  But nonetheless they were scraps left over from some DSP that I cut for a class and I was left with these ends.  This DSP is the Petal Garden DSP 6x6 stack.  IT. IS. SO. GORGEOUS. WOW! Every page of this DSP is amazing, I have 2 packs so that says a lot! The patterns are so beautiful they can be the focus of cards...like I used them for! 

I simply stamped a greeting on the DSP and let the paper do all the work!  I added a white embossed greeting and to some of them I added some black twine.  But just between you and me I think I love the ones without the twine better! These cards were so quick and simple to make I ended up making 6 of them!  So rustle around your scraps and make a card with them!  No paper left behind!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!

Post number 2350!!!!

Today is a big day on my blog, today marks 2350 posts on my blog!!!  That's crazy and insane to think about! That is A LOT of cards!  WOW!  I feel like I've come a really long way from my early blogging days.  I feel like there's still lots of room for improvement too.  So here's to 2350 posts on my blog!!!!  If you want to celebrate more I'm doing a giveaway on my Facebook Page so make sure to check it out and get entered! 

Today's card is simple but soooo beautiful.  I use the new Graceful Garden set and watercolored it with some Calypso Coral ink.  I love it!  I fussy cut the flower and the leaves and attached them to a simple card base that has a watercolor wash of Pool Party ink, some DSP and some ink splatters.  I finished it off with a white embossed greeting.  So pretty!!!  Make sure you head to my Facebook Page and join the fun today!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Let Me Tell You About My Friend

I've mentioned my friend Kim many times here.  She's pretty awesome and I like to brag on her since she doesn't do her blog anymore.  She mailed me this beautiful card after Craft Weekend.  This is made from the Soft Saying Card Kit.  I LOVE IT!  I have this kit and need to set aside some time to do some work on it! 

She also recently invited me to her club to have a little stamping day.  I love doing classes but it was so refreshing to be a guest.  So much fun!  These are the three cards we made at her club, they're pretty awesome!

 I love the colors on this card.  It's so bright and vibrant and fun!!!  So pretty!!

This one is so cute and I love how the DSP is featured in this card.  That moose is soooo cute!!! I have a HUGE post tomorrow.  HUGE!!!  Check back!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Spinning Elephant

This card came out sooooo cute!!!  I love cards that move and this sweet spinner stole my heart!  The new A Little Wild set is perfect for spinners because the images stamp a front and a back that are symmetrical and perfect!  To make your spinner stamp and cut your image out with the framelits of course.  Then sandwich the two pieces together with some metallic thread between them.

With your thread sandwiched between the elephants and the ends hanging off the top and bottom sandwich the ends between your card base and some more cardstock to keep it nice and secure.  Before you stick your card in the envelope twist your elephant a few times so that when it's opened it spins its little heart out!  So cute!!! 

Thanks for looking see you soon!

August Stamp Of The Month

The Watts of Occasions stamp set is soooo cute I had to make it my featured stamp of the month this month!!!  These cards are soooo cute!  

When you purchase this set in August you'll get the supplies and directions to make these three cards.  This Christmas one is so cute!!

This one is my favorite!!!!  I love the pinks and the bulbs!  This offer is only valid through me and only available in August.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Close To Being A Mermaid

Finally I'm sharing the last of the cards I made at craft weekend and my favorite card from the weekend.  While searching on Pintrest one day for mermaid puns I came across this sentiment and I wanted it to be a card!  Looking back I should have made it a framed image to hang in my craft room, but maybe that's a project for another time.  For the mermaid I stamped, watercolored, and fussy cut the tail.  It's an easy shape to cut.  I layered lots of waves up in a variety of papers and colors.  I used vellum, Pool Party and Island Indigo.

For the background I use a block and come ink pads to get the awesome watercolored textured look.  I inked up the largest clear block in Island Indigo, Pool Party and Lemon Lime Twist ink then spritz it with some water and turned it upside down on some watercolor paper and let it sit for a while.  Not long enough to dry but long enough for the paper to absorb all the water and color (it was about 6 minutes).  Pull the block off and you're left with an amazing background.  For the bubbles I dropped some water drops onto the dried watercolor paper and then blotted them away with a paper towel.  Such a fun technique.

Even with all that on the outside the card still wasn't complete.  Here's the inside.  The full greeting reads: "If your thighs touch you're that much closer to being a mermaid, who's the real winner?" Super fun encouragement card for any girl out there!!  I love it!

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

What the....

This card is super simple, super cute and super fun!  It seems to be everything all rolled into one.  I again pulled out my Labeler Alphabet and created my own greeting with the sweet So Many Shells set.  I can't take credit for this pun though I saw it on Etsy.  But still really cute and fun! I have one last card from the craft weekend to share, it's my favorite!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!