Keep it Simple

I can't go with a Keep it Simple Sunday title today since...well....it's Tuesday! I did, however, make a card for Sunday's post but it just didn't make it up in time... :-) A few quick reminders, before we get to the card, tomorrow is a big 'ol Sweet 'n Sassy blog hop where we'll celebrate the arrival of new Christmas stamp sets and give out some fun prizes! Posts will be up by 6:00 am EST so be sure to check back tomorrow! And on September 7th, we'll be showcasing another Tiffany Doodles challenge, which also includes lots of free goodies! Lastly, I'm in the midst of working on a large custom baby album for a customer so I may be even more scarce on blog postings until that's completed....and then I'll be super excited to share the pages with you!! On to the card! I was inspired by a card I saw while checking out some projects on SCS and while my card is different, the concept is similar and just as quick to create. For today's card, I ran a piece of cardstock through an embossing folder and then took a PTI Vintage Cream ink pad and rubbed it over the raised areas. Love how it highlights the design! And then I created a polka dot ribbon from kraft cardstock (don't mind the folds in my ribbon...I kind of like it a little rough looking!), stamped a sentiment from a soon-to-be-released SNSS stamp set (you'll need to check back tomorrow for the whole set!!), and added a tiny paper dragonfly. Easy peasy! Enjoy and don't forget to check back tomorrow!!

O Christmas Tree

Is it really possible that September is just around the corner, which means *gasp* that Christmas will be here in a few short months? I'm not ready! :-) I am ready, however, to craft a sweet Christmas card with this adorable Sweet 'n Sassy stamp set, which was recently released. The name of the set is O Christmas Tree and it couldn't be any cuter! This makes me think of life in the country on a bright and crisp winter morning. You can pick up this set for only $9.00!! Now that is sweet! I'm continuing to go to my SU! winter mini catalog for inspiration and last week I was inspired by a card that used a tag to showcase the name image. Since this stamp fit my size tag perfectly, I had to go for it! I first used a Tim Holtz technique to add color to the tag. You can find a tutorial for this technique here (in my tutorial I used one color of ink, for today's tag I used two colors). I aged the edges of my tag because...well I can't help myself! Once my tag was dry I stamped and colored my image, using Stickles on the ornaments and a white gel pen for the bunny's belly and for a few snowflakes on the ground. The card layout is fairly simple, just using a piece of designer paper in the background, a thin piece of dry embossed cardstock, and a hint of pink ribbon (I'm loving pink on Christmas cards!). The finishing piece was an antique button, from Mr. Tim. :-) I hope you enjoy today's card and get ready....Christmas is almost here!! And don't forget about the Sweet 'n Sassy blog hop on September 1, which we'll be showcasing lots of Christmas goodies and prizes!!

Bind-it-All Cover

Anyone remember me mentioning that I had been teaching a stamping basics class at Wholly Scrap!, where I work? Well...it's been six months and tonight we're celebrating the end of the Bootcamp series! Since I created notes for each class attendee that covered our subjects (the basics of coloring, embossing, etc.), I decided (actually the store owner gave me this idea!) to create a binder to hold all of the notes! Fun, huh? Last night I created the design for the binder cover (yes, I waited until the last possible moment...) and today I'll add a few little extras for the inside but I thought I'd share the cover now...Isn't that some amazing paper? More lovely paper from Ruby Rock-it...I think I shall never tire of this design. I love the old world, vintage touch...beautiful! The piece I used for my cover is double-sided so that you see on the top is one side and the bottom is the other. A piece of Papertreyink grosgrain ribbon covered the seam. And once I had everything covered...I was stuck...I created about 50 items to go on the cover and tossed all of them in the trash. I believe at one point, close to 11pm, I shouted out to my husband, "I got nothin'!!" I just couldn't seem to find the right stamp images to go along with the paper and then the lightbulb went on...Tim Holtz...vintage...of course!! So I pulled out my beloved Tim stamp sets and got to work! The bottom layer of black has been paper pierced around the entire edge, the kraft layer has a lovely script stamp, and the stop ivory layered has been aged with Old Paper Distress Ink, and stamped with a few random decorative images. I then stamped the bird in Barn Red...adding a little Walnut Stain to the legs...and popped him up with foam tape. The fun flower is from the same Ruby Rock-It line...it coordinates and the top flower is made of cork - fabulous!! The final touch was the add the "enjoy the journey" stamp to the bottom. Fun stuff!! I'm looking forward to class tonight!! Enjoy!

Sweet 'n Sassy Sneak Peek!

Guess what? Sweet 'n Sassy is on the verge of releasing a whole mess of holiday stamp sets!! Yippee! And that's not all...we'll be having a blog hop on September 1 to reveal all of the lovely artwork!

Today's card is a super fast and easy card, inspired by one that I saw in a SU! holiday mini catalog, using the soon-to-be-released Christmas Wonder set. This card was so darn easy to create, you don't even need directions!! :-) I will say that some days I'm just not in the coloring mood, which was the case last night, but you can still use line images - without coloring - to create sweet cards!! Enjoy and mark your calendars for September 1!

Birdie Centerpieces

Remember my post from a week or so ago where I shared a photo of some flowers and birds? Did you guess what I was making? Centerpieces!! Our Pastor's daughter got married this past weekend and I helped her soon-to-be Mother-in-law create the table centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner. They opted to go for a catered BBQ dinner (yum!!) so we wanted to create a fun, outdoors, picnic feeling centerpiece. I did a bit of searching on Splitcoast for ideas and came across a few projects that included paper flowers and metal buckets...perfect for a BBQ!

We started our project by pulling paper, punches, die cuts, and embellishments out of my office...you should have seen the kitchen table - covered!! Turns out I had some pink and brown paper from Papertreyink stashed in my cabinet that I hadn't used in ages. (The wedding party were dressed in pink and black but we went with pink and brown for the dinner) We got busy using a Tim Holtz die to cut out all of the flowers and my Bertie friend got quite a workout cranking out tons of flowers with the Big Shot! Once those were done we also punched out a few glitter 3/4" circles for the flower centers. To create the flowers, we used wooden sticks (painted green with Copic markers) and attached flowers to both sides of the stick so each side would be decorated. A glue gun was required to get the flowers to adhere to the stick. Bertie came up with the great idea to use green ribbon on a few of the flowers to act as leaves. We also covered just one chipboard flower with paper and a big 'ol rhinestone to add a smaller flower to the mix. Here's a picture of the almost finished piece... Cute huh? We also covered a chipboard bird (from SU!) with paper that had been run through a polka dot embossing folder. We added a rhinestone for the eye, colored his legs with Distress Ink, and added a bit of aging to the entire bird. The bride and groom's names were printed on cardstock and attached to a piece of chipboard, along with a chipboard heart. And how about that butterfly?? We used a Martha punch to punch out two butterflies and then used the glue gun to attach them back-to-back on a wire. Since the wire was thin, the butterfly had great movement. Very fun!!

Here's the completed piece at the rehearsal dinner....Bertie found these great little tags that she added in the middle of the bucket. Oh, I should add that we used floral foam to hold everything and loose moss to fill in the bucket. We also had two birds facing left and two facing right...Fun stuff!! We even covered Hershey candy bars with coordinating paper and the happy couple's names. It was a blast!! Now if I could just find someone to watch my kids and homeschool them so I can sit around and create fun projects with paper all day long...LOL! And here's a shot of the very (emphasis on very) happy couple!! Their wedding was such a joyful and blessed event. Maybe because I've known both of them since they were little....ahhh...it was like watching my own kids get married. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. It was fabulous!! And here's a shot of my most handsome son, the ring bearer, with this flower girl sweetheart. :-) Little Ms. Flower Girl was born just two weeks before my son. These two? They make the perfect pair....They play together really well and their personalities are well suited to each other. They had a blast walking down the aisle together...they were beaming! hee hee Overall, it was an amazing event and we were thrilled to be a part of the special day!! Enjoy!!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Whew...it has been so quiet here lately...It's been a whirlwind two weeks! Not only did we have lots of illness at our house but we've been busy getting ready for the wedding of our Pastor's daughter, which took place yesterday. It was such a joyful event...a day later and we're still enjoying the happy emotions and memories!! If you're one of my Facebook friends, you can check out the pictures from the big day!! But before the wedding took place I got about an hour to myself one night last week and managed to make two cards! It was a miracle and I was thrilled to have a short amount of quiet crafting time all to myself...Ahhh... I also received the new holiday mini catalog from SU! last week and it really inspired me to create a few simple cards...this is one of them! It's a one layer card!! (Well only one layer on the final layer...does that count??) I didn't use one piece of foam tape or butterfly on the front of this card...now that is a miracle! I did sneak in three black brads... I used two of my new Waltzingmouse stamp sets....this dreamy flower set, Big Blooms - Chrysanthemums, and a sentiment (I love the font on this one) from the Rescue Remedies Additions set. The script stamp in the background is from a Tim Holtz holiday set. I also used a leaf embossing folder to add just a hint of dimension to the card base. Finished this baby in under 15 minutes...now that's what I call simple! Enjoy!

SALT Challenge - In Celebration of Marriage

Today it was Stacy's turn to pick our SALT topic and she went with a perfectly timed one (little did she know it), the celebration of marriage. What a great topic!! For one, I'm quite thrilled with marriage and two, my good friend's daughter is getting married on Saturday! WooHoo!! Stacy had much to share on the SALT blog about her own journey as a child and how those experiences formed her view of marriage as an adult. Worth a read... For me...I share some of Stacy's experiences as my parents were also divorced when I was young. And I could post a novel about the ravages of divorce, the affects on children, the broken relationships, the trust issues children of divorce face in their own marriages, etc. but....I'd rather focus on the joys of marriage today!!! I'll just say that divorce should never be an option, outside of unfaithfulness, for a husband and wife. That's why one should seriously consider who they'll marry. If you can't see yourself with the person you're with until your old and gray, then get out of the relationship before you put the ring on your finger. Traditional marriage is taking quite a beating nowadays...Many are dead set against marriage, viewing it with some kind of "ball and chain" mentality. But the Bible tells that marriage is a delight and a blessing. If that's the case then can it be all that bad? Maybe it's the people in the marriage that are broken...not the institute itself. If that's the case, then should we toss out marriage? Instead we should take a closer look at ourselves to see where the real change needs to take place...in the hearts of men and women. In all honesty, I wasn't very commit-minded myself before I met my husband. I enjoyed my single life!! However, once I met my husband everything changed...in an instant. Within two weeks of meeting, we knew we would get married. And we did, five months later! (Hey, I was 32!!) And I've never had any regrets. That doesn't mean everything is always perfect, far from it. But we're committed to our marriage and to making it work, especially now that we have two children to care for. And when we struggle the most? We pray. We pray for God to fill our hearts with love for each other; to help us to put aside our selfish desires so we're able to be of better help to each other; to work together to compromise; to see the other in a better light. God has yet to disappoint me...those prayers have always been answered...I believe it's because God delights to help us fulfill His will. As for those young lovebirds getting married this weekend....I have no doubt that they are fully head over heels in love and fully committed to their pending marriage!! They're young so I suspect there may be some bumpy roads ahead but I'm quite certain that they are in it for the long haul; no matter what comes, trusting that the Lord will bring them through whatever trials or struggles lay ahead. And we pray that God would bless their marriage so that they may enjoy many joyful years together! I've found that those tingly, oogley-googley feelings fade over time...but oh how much more deep and profound the love for your spouse becomes...and that is a tremendous blessing!! OK...the card!!! Well I have to share that I was totally channeling Amy Sheffer for this card (have you seen Amy's work? Stunning!!!). A week or so ago she posted a card using this beautiful paper from Graphic 45. Turns out I have some of that paper in my stash...Then she posted a card using this beautiful rose ribbon...Turns out I have that ribbon...And then another card with some sparkly bling...Hey, I have bling in my stash!! So I simply had to create a Amy-style card for this weekend's big event! And, as it turns out, the wedding colors are black and pink...Fabulous!

With all that fun stuff on the front of the card I had to put the sentiment in the inside, which provided me with another opportunity to design...yeah!! And a spot to showcase a Sweet 'n Sassy digi sentiment. (The sentiment on the outside of the card is from the same set) These are from the Wedding Sentiments digi set, which is available for only $3.50. This was a pretty easy card to put together since I didn't do any stamping and instead used a photo from one of the sheets of designer paper as my main image. All I added was some more decorative paper, paper piercing, and aging before laying down the bling and ribbon. I'm happy with the way it turned out (thanks for the inspiration Amy!!) and am looking forward to the big day on Saturday!! (My little Beanie is going to be the ring bearer...you should see him in a tux...darling!!) Enjoy your weekend friends, and celebrate your marriage!! Oh, and head over to the SALT blog to check out the other work from our design team!

Rolling Marble Background

Hi there!! Yes, it's true...I am still alive! Sorry it's been so quiet here on the 'ol blog lately. Seems schedules and an over abundance of germs in our house has rendered me unable to do much of anything in the studio. However...I have two classes coming up next week so I needed to get busy last night and I managed to finish two whole cards!! It is a miracle! Now this card...ever have one of those cards that you think, "do I like this?" That would be my emotion surrounding this baby. I like it, then I don't...humm...what do you think? I'll tell you what I do like, that lovely butterfly image and sentiment from the Everyday Miracles stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy! Instead of coloring the butterfly I stamped it on a wonderful vintage piece of designer paper from Ruby Rock-it because all butterflies should be a light blue with green polka dots, don't you think? This is one of my class cards for next week and on it I'll be demonstrating the rolling marble technique. Who remembers that one? Everyone who used to be a SU! demo, right? The rolling marble paper is in the background, behind the butterfly. I decided to also stamp a few butterflies on the paper as well....how fun to create your own designer paper! The rest of the paper used is also from Ruby Rock-it. We'll see if this is the card I end up going with for class...since I'm on the fence about the final piece... :-) Enjoy!!

BBQ Layout

Hey look, I made a scrapbook page! It's not often that I scrapbook a 12x12 page...truth be told, they intimidate me a bit...but since I work in a scrapbook store I figured I should give it a try! This is a page I created using a new line of Bo Bunny paper and stickers. Although the layout looks like a lot is going on, most of the decoration is on the paper. I only added a few extra patterns, a spot for the photos, and some stickers. I guess it turned out ok because one of our customers tried to buy it...LOL! Enjoy! (Sorry it's been so quiet here on the blog, we've had a sick household for the past two weeks...I went down on Tuesday...so crafting has been non-existent. Hoping next week is better for everyone!!)

What have I been up to?

I was crafting all day yesterday but I didn't make one single card...What am I making?? You'll have to check back in next week to find out! And because of all this non-card crafting I haven't made a single thing in days! I'm missing my studio time! But then winter is coming (ugh, I'm not ready) so there will be many cold nights that will be just perfect for stamping...

You Soar Above the Rest

Hello!!! Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. I just haven't felt all that crafty lately, which I think it a "syndrome" that affects most crafters at one time or another. Sometimes you just need to take a break! That and my studio was such a mess that I think it was affecting my ability to actually find a stamp or paper or any embellishment! Thankfully, I had time to clean my space a Sunday night and managed to whip up a card using a brand new Sweet 'n Sassy stamp set, Little Boy Toys. Now I have two little boys so any stamps that showcase boy's toys is a-ok in my book! I'm going to be using this stamp set at an upcoming Wholly Scrap! class, where we focus on learning different techniques. On this card I'll be demonstrating how to make clouds from a hand cut stencil, ink, and a sponge. (Sounds like a MacGyver episode, doesn't it?!) This was my first time making a cloud background and I love it....so much fun and perfect for outdoor images. My sweet rocket ship is paired with some lovely paper from Creative Imaginations and some fun embossing (on the orange cardstock) thanks to one of the new Tim Holtz embossing folders. The rocket and the sentiment have both been attached with foam tape...'cause we all know I just can't live without foam tape! Enjoy!

Tiffany Doodles Challenge - TD03

Happy Saturday and welcome to another Tiffany Doodles challenge! Have you all been following the great monthly challenges hosted by Tiffany Doodles? The participants have an opportunity to win oodles of free digi images! Four people will be chosen for the prizes; first place will win seven free digis, second place will win five, and third and a random selection will win three. So...get busy and create a project for the Tiffany Doodles challenge!! This month our challenge was to create a card using some of Tiffany's brand new floral images. The fun thing about these images is that they've been made to fit with a variety of Nestibilities die cuts....fabulous!! My image is called Poppy with Oval and this amazing image is available for download for $3.75. (Also included is a second image that is surrounded by an oval frame). I print all of my digital images out on Prism Smooth White cardstock. It's a great paper weight and texture for Copic markers and it runs through a standard ink jet printer perfectly. I paired this beautiful image with paper from Ruby Rock-it...a great vintage print. My tiny little sentiment is actually a stamp from SU! that I use whenever I need a small sentiment. I just couldn't cover up any part of those lovely poppies so the small circle was a perfect option!

In the center of my poppies I used a gel pen to add a little shine, which is so difficult to photograph but you can see it on the super close up shot of the flower middle. Oh, and the Nestibilities die cut that I used for this image is from the plain oval pack. The scalloped edge was also created with a Nestibilities scalloped oval die. Want to see all of the other beautiful flower work created by our design team? You can easily click on each of their blogs by scrolling through the list below: Tiffany

Cammy

Cindy

Deirdre

Donna

Julie

Lindsay

Peet

Ruby

Shannon

Vanessa

Virginia

Enjoy and join the challenge!! You have a whole month to submit a card and you could win free digi images - yeah!!

I Scream for Ice Cream!

I have a fun ice cream inspired card posted on the Sweet 'n Sassy digi blog today...hop on over to check out all of the details! And more news... Be sure to check back tomorrow for the next Tiffany Doodles challenge!! Stop by the Stamping Around web site for details on our next two events!!

SALT Challenge - The Trinity

It's time for another SALT challenge and when reading this morning's write up I realized that SALT is three year's old! Wow, I can't believe three years have passed with this wonderful team!! So Happy Birthday to SALT! And since we're talking about the number three, today's theme is the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit). I'm running out the door in just a few minutes so I'll re-post later with my notes and ATC details but for now you can hop on over to the SALT blog to read Ruth's lovely write-up on this topic! Enjoy!

One of a Kind

Hi there!! Still running like crazy this week...is it summer or just my life that is so busy lately? ;-) Part of our summer has been filled with enjoying lots of homemade ice cream. Seems it's a bit of a New England past time and I think that past time has added a few inches to my mid-section! LOL! Today's card is in celebration of ice cream!! This is a card I created for a punch class, where we created cards using different punches and die cuts. This is a design I posted a year or so ago, after seeing this cute ice cream and bowl technique in a Stampin' Up! magazine. The bowl is created using a large Nestibilities die cut (size is approximately 2.5" circle). Then the top of the circle is cut off to create the bowl. The ice cream scoops are created with a 1" circle punch and the scallops with a straight edge scallop punch from SU!. The cherry was created with a standard hole punch and the cherry stem is hand cut. This is a super easy card to create...why don't you give it a try today?! Enjoy! (And stay away from those ice cream places...they're dangerous to your waist line!)

Keep it Simple Monday

I'm a day late with my Keep it Simple post!! My hubby is down with a nasty summer cold, which just shouldn't be allowed, and that meant I was on my own for church yesterday...with two kids and a lunch. Let's just say that by the time I got home, I was dog tired! :-) This super quick and easy card was created with not one, not two, but three brand new Waltzingmouse stamp sets!! I loved their last release and decided that it was high time for me to purchase more than one set! This card is so easy to create that I don't think it even needs an explanation!! I will point out that the border around the sentiment is from a set made specifically to fit with the Nestibilities die cuts...isn't that super fun!! And I love these fun summer colors together...all are from Distress Inks. Enjoy!! Sets used: Very Vintage Labels No. 2, Rescue Remedies Additions, and Big Blooms - Chrysanthemums