Sponged Sunsets

These two cards are probably my favorites from the weekend.  This again was another set that I didn't think I needed....then I saw this card.  The card is by Tina was the most stunning card I'd seen with that set so I had to get the set too!!  The light house was masked (I stamped and covered it with a post it note) while I did the sponging in the background.  The backgrounds were done with our classic inks and lots of sponge daubers.  I didn't write down the colors so I will do my best to remember what I used....The sky is made from Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry and Night of Navy.  The ocean is Marina Mist and Night of Navy. 

I did both card at the same time, so they use the same colors.  I meant to add a lighthouse to this one too, but honestly it was a lazy morning when these were made and by the time I realized I didn't stamp it I had already cleaned and put away the stamps.  I'm glad I didn't though.  This ocean sunset is really pretty too!  To get the crisp straight line on the horizon I used some post it tape to mask it off.   The greetings are both white heat embossed to make them pop.  

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Birdcages

Did you ever have one of those stamps that you weren't even aware of until someone else pointed it out?  A couple weeks ago my downline Michelle asked.  "Do you have the birdcage set?"  I was like what birdcage set??  Well she was referring to the Builder Birdcage set on page 36 of the Occasions Catalog.  I have to say that set was over looked in my book.  But as soon as she brought it to my attention it was a set I HAD to have!!!!

These are the first cards that I made with this set, super cute!!!  I really love it!!! I love both of them.  I love how the birdcage pops in front of the sponged background.  So pretty!!!  I'm going back through the catalog to make sure I didn't 'miss' any others :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Emboss Resist

My goal going into the weekend was to make a stack of simple, but cute cards that I could use!  I have a box full of these amazing elaborate cards that I've made from past weekends but I can't use them! They're just too cute!  So I started the weekend by doing some embossing resist.  Mostly I just grabbed some background stamps or stamps that would make a fun background and clear heat embossed them on shimmery white. 

I used my sponge daubers to add colors over each of them, some have more of an ombre look then others.  But I do love how all that embossing just pops through the colors.  So pretty!!! 

For all the greetings, I went through my framelits and found greeting that I could cut out that would work.  I layered 2 of each greeting together to make it a little sturdier.  They're much easier to handle and to attach to cards if they can hold their shape a little better. 

I covered each greeting with some clear Wink of Stella then I covered them with some of our Fine Tip Glue.  This gives them a glossy look and makes them look almost like enamel words.  Plus thanks to the Wink of Stella they sparkle too! 

I hope you enjoy these fun bright cards.  Embossing resist is one of my favorite techniques.  It's so easy and it's always so pretty!!!  I have more to share from the weekend.  Check back next week! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Mardi Gras Recap

I had the best time at the Mardi Gras Craft Weekend.  I can't even begin to describe how fun it is to just relax and not worry about kids or being a grown up for a few days.  As I've mentioned in the past I'm so fortunate to assist my downline Michelle in these weekends. I'm so happy that Michelle has delegated a few more responsibilities to me freeing her up for some crafty time too!    

These weekends are always so much fun.  I love seeing what everyone works on.  My friend Kim finished not one but two scrapbooks of her son's first communion.  My friend Anne knocked out 150 boxes that will be favors at her daughters upcoming wedding.  My friend Nikki made a huge stack of amazing cards.  And so many other friends scrapbooked, made cards, painted, made jewelry, crocheted and more.  The variety of crafts is always amazing to me.  

I got a small stack of cards done, I think I spend more time talking then working, and apparently I cannot do both at the same time ;)  Which is completely fine with me.  I've found that these weekends are so enjoyable to me because I get to have conversations with grown ups, with my friends without being interrupted by my children.  I'm fortunate to be able to stay at home and have the ability to craft everyday so I value these weekend more socially than crafty.  Of course that doesn't explain why I take 500 pound of supplies with me LOL  I'll be sharing the cards I did get done over the next few days on my blog. 

On Tuesday I shared that I made 30 slices of cake.  You can see that post here. I wanted to share what they looked like all together.  They really came out beautiful!  I was really pleased with them.  I think the fun pom poms on top have a lot to do with it. 

I don't even know which cake I like more!  I love them all.  They're so bright and fun.   

Inside the king cakes were some tweezers.  If you own a pair of craft tweezers you know how amazing and helpful they are for sequins or little images or embellishments.  If you don't own a pair of tweezers you should :)

Michelle is a planning genius. I love that she plans all our activities around the theme of the weekend. In addition to the king cakes we had a craw fish boil where we received the watercolor pencils!  We visited ACME Oysters where we all got pearls and glue dots! We played Bingo and won amazing prizes!  We had a masquerade pajama party with a live auction! We concluded the weekend with hurricanes and we got a beautiful photo box and lots of fun gifts from Michelle's downline.

In addition to all the activities and prizes I received so many gifts and treats from friends.  You'll have to keep your eyes focused on all the goodies from the weekend and not look around at my horribly messy desk ;)  I had so many wonderful friends give me lots of treats, some of them aren't even pictured here.  If your gift contained any kind of food, the kids pounced on that right away.  They espeically loved all the candy!  So most of those gifts ended up in the kitchen.  So many amazing gifts and I love them all!!!  Prep work has already started for the next weekend in July.  The sold out I Love Lucy themed weekend promises to deliver fun and lots of laughs!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

Coffee Boxes

I have another giveaway from Mardi Gras to share with you.  These sweet little boxes were fun to make and they're really cute and really easy!!  The boxes are 2x2x2.  With a 4x8.5 piece of cardstock score the long side at 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the short side score at 2.  That makes the box.  For the top I used 2 pieces of 1x11 piece cardstock scored every half inch.  I stuck those together end to end to make the medallion on top.  

I wrapped a piece of vellum around the box and put the medallion on top.  Inside the box is a cute little K-Cup of coffee. So cute!!!  I'll have a full wrap up of the weekend tomorrow!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

King Cakes

We wrapped up our amazing Mardi Gras weekend on Sunday and it was so much fun as always.  Our Mardi Gras theme was really fun to work with.  I didn't know much about Mardi Gras going into the weekend but I did know about king cakes.  One of our giveaways was a 'slice' of king cake.  

We worked with the traditional Mardi Gras colors green, purple and yellow or in Stampin' Up! terms Garden Green, Elegant Eggplant and Daffodil Delight.  I can't tell you which color I love the best in terms of the king cakes.

The cake slices are kept super simple, they don't have any decorations on the outside.  They're topped with a fun pom pom made from coordinating colors of yarn.  These were a lot of fun to make!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

NEW Glimmer Paper

If you know me at all you know that glitter is kind of a part of me.  I think I'm covered in glitter 90% of the time.  I'm easily distracted by shiny objects so when I saw that one of the new Sale-a-Bration offerings was a pack of glitter in not one, not two but THREE colors.  Obviously I was first in line for that!  The 3 new colors that it comes in are Mint Macaron, Bermuda Bay and Sweet Sugarplum.  {swoon}.  I used the Dahlia background stamp to make three cards showcasing each of the three new colors.   

Each card is laid out the same the gorgeous dahlia stamp taking center stage and the pop of glimmer paper on the bottom.  So so pretty!!!  This was actually my first time using this background set.  I just decided I needed it a few weeks ago!!!  I don't even know how I went so long without it!!! It's beautiful!!!!

I honestly can't decide which color of glimmer paper I love the most.  Thank goodness you get all three in a pack so you don't have to decide!!!!  You can start earning the glimmer paper as a free Sale-a-Bration product tomorrow on the 21st!!!  Whooohooo!!!!

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

NEW Make A Medallion

There are three new Sale-a-Bration products coming on Tuesday!!!  They're pretty awesome!  Can you say glimmer paper!!!!!  I have a beautiful sneak peek of the glimmer paper on Monday. Today I'm sharing the Make A Medallion set.  This is so much fun to build up and layer and can you imagine all the amazing color combos!!!?  

This is gonna be on a must have your next order!  I love the detail in the medallion.  This card is simple with a Melon Mambo and Smoky Slate Medallion.  The greeting is in Rich Razzleberry. I added a few sequins, some silver glimmer paper and some silver metallic thread to finish it.  So pretty!!!

Easter Treats

What a couple of weeks it's been!!!  I had friend a say to me "You're doing a month's worth of work in a week!"  I feel like that was the case, even though I know there are people who do much more than I do, they're just better at managing their time.  Mardi Gras Craft Weekend kicks off today for me!  It officially starts on Friday but for me it starts today!  I'm so ready for a girls weekend away!  I have been working busily on finishing projects for the weekend, prepping classes, and packing as well as dealing with a sick kiddo last week and attending a kindergarten Valentine Party yesterday.  Let me tell you, true bliss in life is loving something the way a kindergartner loves a mini bag of skittles taped to a printed card.  Find that bliss in your life!  The treat I have for you today is what I gave out to all my class attendees last weekend at my class.  

The boxes themselves are super cute and pretty easy, they're the classic sour cream box.  Make a tube with your cardstock then press it closed for the bottom and press it closed in the opposite direction for the top.  Easy peasy!  The tags are super cute with the little bunny peeps!  I actually hate marshmallow peeps, I just think they're awful but these little peeps are so cute and I could have a whole heard of these!  Make sure to check my Facebook page for all the updates from the craft weekend!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Stamp-a-Stack Cards 2

I have the last two cards from my class over the weekend.  This first one is another that would be great for a masculine card or again change it up to work for anyone!  We used the Happy Celebrations products for this one.  I love how fun this set is to use!  The 'celebrate' is an embossing folder that debosses the image and you have lots of shapes that when you stamp over the debossed image stays white.  So fun!!!!

I love this last card too!  What can I say I love them all!!!  I love the gold embossing and the soft subtle colors!  So pretty!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Birthday Stamp a Stack

Over the weekend I held a birthday stamp a stack.  If one of your goals is to send more birthday cards throughout the year make sure you stock up then you always have one on hand.  This first card is my favorite of the class and I'll be honest, when I first saw the Sale-a-Bration catalog the Delicate Details stamp was my least favorite.  Now I think it's my favorite.  I love the elegant, lacy look!!!!  These colors are so rich and beautiful together.  I used Night of Navy, Delightful Dijon, Wisteria Wonder and Very Vanilla.  So pretty!!!

I love this card for a masculine or even a teenage birthday.  You could change up the colors to make this card for anyone though.  It's so fun and playful!  I love that pop of Pumpkin Pie against the browns!  I have two more cards to share tomorrow!!!

Resist Birthday

Embossing resist is a super trendy technique right now.  I've seen so many bloggers all doing it!  I love this technique, it's defiantly one of my favorites to do with heat embossing plus it's so quick and easy!  I started with a piece of white cardstock and white heat embossed the greeting from Big on Birthdays.  I took my Emerald Envy ink pad and a sponge dauber and starting at the bottom I applied ink.  The color gets lighter and lighter as you go up.  Where there is heat embossing it will resist the ink so your embossed image stays crisp and white! So fun!!!!

Blending with an ink dauber can sometimes be tricky because you don't want to end up with a bright circle in the middle of your project.  I tap my dauber onto my ink pad then off on some scratch paper first.  This gets some of the brighter, wetter ink off on the scratch paper not on your project.  I also always start off my paper and using small circles make my way onto may paper.  You want a light touch, it's always easier to add ink, you can't take it away. 

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

Birthday Candles

Well I've been a little absent the last few days.  I promise I'm working hard!  I have a to do list that's a mile long but I've been checking things off of it pretty consistently.  I just needed a few days to get it all done!  It's not done, not close but I'm seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel!  Megan's teacher had a birthday this week so this is the card I sent to her.  I love the bright fun colors and of course all the glitter!!!  The candles are cut with one of the framelits from the Window Box collection. 

The colors behind each candle are none other than our current 2016-2018 In Colors!  These are some of my all time favorite In Colors!  There's Dapper Denim, Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo, Sweet Sugarplum and Peekaboo Peach.  The flames for the candles are have a tiny piece of Daffodil Delight behind them.  Then I used my fine tip glue pen to go over them and I sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on the glue while it was still wet.  Just for an extra bit of sparkle! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Sale-A-Bration Pocket Cards

The Pretty Pocket Card Kit, which is a FREE Sale-a-Bration choice with a qualifying order, is perfect for both beginners and seasoned stampers.  Here's why I love them: They're simple but super cute!  They can be done anywhere!  Really!  There's no stamping so it's just assembling, which I kind of love!  They make awesome gifts!!  I plan to get a bunch more of these kits and give them to the kids teachers to friends.  It's a great introduction to the paper crafting world!  You know what as I'm typing this I'm realizing that I forgot to add the twine to mine.  I'll defiantly go back and do that LOL!

While this kit is perfect for a newbie and seasoned stamper will love it too!  You can cusomize it and embellish it to your hearts desire!  Confession time:  My posts over the next week or two may be a little sporatic.  I'm knee deep (LITERALLY!) in prep for craft weekend and classes. Just ask my husband as my craft room is looking more and more like a storage unit LOL.  I need to get ahead of it before I get behind it and that may cause a few quiet days on my blog.  I just wanted to give a quick heads up just in case I miss a post....or two!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

February Stamp Set Of The Month

The Just Keep Swimming stamp set is this months featured stamp set!  When you purchase this stamp set this month you'll get supplies and directions to make these three cards. 

This one I think is my favorite, but I love them all.  I love this one because you can customize the jewel to any color.  Like sapphires instead, make it blue!  What about a ruby? Make it red!  By simply changing the color of the gem and greeting you could have a whole rainbow of jewels! 

Finally these gummy bears!  I just love them!  They are so cute and so fun to stamp.  My kids have been stamping up a storm with these bears!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!