Sweet 'n Sassy Release Day

Hi folks! Just a quick post from me today, announcing two new stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy (and one is a Cocoa set!)

The first card features a new Creative Worship stamp set, Give Praise, which includes two darling birds, a banner, and lots of words and sentiments that are perfect for Bible journaling. My card features the banner as the focal point along with some easy masking to create the floral arrangement behind the banner. (All of the flowers are included with the set!)

The second set is the latest in the line of Cocoa the mouse stamp sets, this one is called Cocoa Sends Love. This is a wonderful set for Valentine cards, get well cards, or to send a note to let someone know that you're thinking about them. I love how Cocoa is peeking out of the mailbox! I created a video of how I made the Cocoa card and I'll be sharing that on the Sweet 'n Sassy blog later this month. (Check back here for the announcement of the post).

Be sure to head over to the Sweet 'n Sassy store to check out the new stamp sets!

Happy Crafting!

A Friend Loves - Script Alpha Card

Hello friends! Welcome to this week's card...one featuring the Rebecca Script Alpha set that I used on last week's card. This week I used the set to create a custom sentiment and combined the saying with a cluster of flowers that was created using the Scribble Flowers stamp set. I also created a new video demonstrating how I created today's card. You can see the video and supply links below. Happy Crafting!

And don't forget...Sweet 'n Sassy is offering a deal on all of their alphabet sets. Buy 2, get 1 FREE (equal of lesser value) from now until December 15. This is a great deal! Hop on over to this page and check out all of the great sets.

Supplies:

Rebecca Script Alpha

Scribble Flowers

Distress Inks

Water Brush

Water Color Cardstock

Wink of Steller Glitter Pen

Archival Ink

BIG News - New BIG Picture Classes Instructor

I've been keeping a secret for many long months, and now I can finally share the news...I'm one of the newest instructors with Big Picture Classes! WooHoo! I'm over the moon excited about this new opportunity to teach and provide instruction.

Big Picture Classes is an online classroom whose focus is to bring the best and most innovative craft classes to the masses, all accessible from the comfort of your own home and at your preferred pace. Big Picture Classes features classes geared towards art journaling, card making, scrapbooking, photography, mini albums, DIY, and more!

One of the biggest benefits offered by Big Picture Classes is the price. The cost is $9.95/month and this small fee gives you access to every single class on their site! Imagine taking as many classes as you want each month, all for only $9.95! And your first month is free! Amazing! You can find out more about the membership benefits here.

My class will be released on December 26 (Merry Christmas to you!) and Big Picture Classes will start promoting the class on December 19. Here's a bit more about my class along with a few teaser photos of the projects we'll be creating.

Using Stencils to Create Textured Backgrounds and Stunning Focal Points

During this class we will review stenciling techniques using a variety of mediums, including Distress Inks, acrylic paints, embossing paste, and ink sprays. The class consists of six lessons, creating the following:

• A greeting card using stencils with Distress Inks; a quick tip on water coloring with Distress Inks will also be discussed.
• Utilizing acrylic paint with stencils to create an art journal page.
• Embossing paste adds touchable texture to art projects and is a perfect companion for stencils. We'll create two tags during this lesson.
• Creating backgrounds using ink sprays and using those backgrounds to make a scrapbook page.
• Combining all of our techniques into a two-page art journal spread, which will also demonstrate how to use stamps as focal point images.

Here's a sneak peek at just a few of the projects...

I'd love to have you give Big Picture Classes a try and would be honored if you selected my class as one of the first classes you try. Please take a peek and let me know what you think...Thanks so much! Happy Crafting!!

Sweet 'n Sassy - All About Alphas Sales

Hello friends! I'm hopping in with a quick card today and a great special that is currently being offered from Sweet 'n Sassy. Today SNSS is announcing the release of three new alphabet stamp sets, the set featured on my card is the Script Alpha stamp set. I adore this set! All of the letters easily blend together so it appears to be one stamp instead of individual letters. Isn't that cool? 

I stamped my sentiment with different Distress Ink colors and used a water brush to blend them all together. The background was created by die cutting a bunch of leaves from water color paper. A super quick card for today, highlighting the fabulous alphabet set.

And now for the special...for the next three weeks, Sweet 'n Sassy is offering a deal on all of their alphabet sets. Buy 2, get 1 FREE (equal of lesser value) from now until December 15. This is a great deal! Hop on over to this page and check out all of the great sets.

Happy Crafting!

Inspiration Wednesday Art Journal Layout

I know, I know, it's been ages since I've shared an Inspiration Wednesday spread. The reason for that is that it's been ages since I've created an IW spread! Isn't it funny how we tend to start out so excited about certain projects and then life happens and our projects get stuck on the back burner. I miss my bi-weekly IW creative time! And as you'll notice from the date on this layout, it's not only been a while since I spend time in my IW journal, but it's taken me far too long to post too!

I ended up picking up some more marketing contract work and that kept me hopping for a few months, making doing anything creative almost impossible. I also have a **surprise** announcement coming up in a few weeks, which came along with an immovable deadline, and made for some very busy days and nights. Be sure to keep an eye on your email for the surprise details...

Thankfully, the contract work has ended for the year and I am hopeful that I'll be able to catch up on the long list of half finished work I have sitting in my studio. (Oh, and hopefully I'll get to work on organizing my studio now that we've made some layout changes in our house, allowing me use of our entire extra bedroom! Call me excited!)

As for today's IW art journal layout...I think it's one of my favorites to date. If you have lots of extra letter stickers hanging around your art space (I confess I hoard them), then this is a great project for you. These two pages are covered in all shapes and sizes of letter stickers. I used foam Thickers, tiny stickers, glitter letters, and just about everything in between. 

I even managed to accidentally spell out A-OK...see that in the upper right hand corner? How fun is that? My favorite bit are all those tiny stickers...I layered them like crazy and the look, after applying layers of paint and glazing medium is nothing short of fabulous!

Another thing I am digging out this layout is that the foam letters and still squishy! Even after a layer of gesso, paint, and glazing medium, you can still push down on the foam letters...they're still soft! Talk about touchable texture...LOVE that! Here's a look at the complete spread...

If you're interested in Inspiration Wednesday, Donna has already posted a link for the 2017 lessons. The year long class is only $35, for the entire year, and includes an extra few class. I have so enjoyed this year's lessons and am looking forward to finishing my art journal (this will be my first completed journal!) and next year's lessons! You can sign up for the 2017 classes here. I've also been posting new videos to my You Tube channel. If you're interested in seeing videos when they're posted, click on over and follow my channel!

Happy Crafting!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps - Chunky Alphabet

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a card that I created using the new Chunky Alphabet stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy. Links to the products I used on this card are listed below and I also created a quick video to show you  how this card was produced.

Enjoy and happy crafting! Be sure to check out the Sweet 'n Sassy web site for month long specials!

Supplies:

Chunky Alphabet

Majestic Monarchs

Monarch Die Set

Find all of your Distress products at The Funkie Junkie

Sweet 'n Sassy Release - Faith Blocks

Hi everyone!  A quick post from me today, showing off a new stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy, Faith Quote Blocks. Today's card is paired with the recently released Scribble Flowers. I created a video on how I created my card, which you can view below. Enjoy and happy crafting!

Don't miss out on this month's birthday celebration! Every $9.00 or more order placed during November will be entered into a prize drawing for a $99 shopping spree! (The winner will be announced in early December)

Sweet 'n Sassy Release Day - Birthday Celebration

Today at Sweet 'n Sassy we're celebrating a birthday...nine years! And during this entire month there will be lots of prizes to be won!

To start the celebration, we're releasing four brand new stamp sets today! You can see all of the new sets here. Also, every $9.00 or more order placed during November will be entered into a prize drawing for a $99 shopping spree! (The winner will be announced in early December)

This week, we're offing a free surprise goodie bag with a $25 purchase!

My project for today features the new Furry Friends stamp set, which features four furry friends, some sweet extra images, like those darling mushrooms, and a host of sentiments. 

I created a shaker card using almost all of the images in the stamp set...it was too hard to choose just one or two. I created the frame by repeatably stamping the flower and mushroom images around a die cut circle. The inside of the shaker card was colored with Distress Inks and the sentiment was embossed in white. All of my critters were colored with Copic markers and fussy cut before adding to the card front with foam tape. My shaker bits are from a pack of stars and hearts I purchased at my local craft store.

I hope you enjoy today's project and don't forget to stop by the Sweet 'n Sassy store to check out all of the new goodies. Make a purchase to be entered into the giveaway!

Happy Crafting!

Sweet 'n Sassy Release Day - Capture the Moment

Can this stamp set be on my list of most favorite sets ever!? Oh my, the tiny selfie frame is darling! So many possibilities!

Guess what, friends? It's Sweet 'n Sassy release day! Today we're releasing the darling new Capture the Moment set, which features camera images, the selfie frame, and a whole bunch of sweet sentiments. See the entire set below:

Since any good photo should contain a picture of something or someone, I had to include some furry (and feathery) friends from the Valentine Critters and Get Well Critters stamp sets.

I stamped the frame three times, cut it out and attached a background by coloring a piece of card stock with Distress Ink. The critters were stamped, colored with Copics, and cut out. Then all of the pieces were assembled into tiny photos. I used the little tape image (can't even stand it...too cute!) to create name labels.

Once my critters were finished I got to work on the background, which I created by stamping all of the sentiments multiple times in VersaMark and embossing with white embossing powder. A little water coloring made all of the white embossed images pop right off the page!

I assembled the card by attaching the water colored piece on to a standard 4.25" x 5.5" card base and attaching the photos with foam tape. The little flashbulb bursts were also fussy cut and attached to the photos. I added a tiny bit of shimmer with a Wink of Stella glitter pen, which is tough to see in the photo.

That's it for me today, folks! Head over to Sweet 'n Sassy and grab yourself one of these sets...who can live without it! 

Happy Crafting!

Take Flight - Card Featuring Wendy Vecchi Products

Hi all! I'm back with a brand new project today, featuring products from Wendy Vecchi. Woot! Woot! The products on today's card were released over the summer and it's taken me this long to finally have the time to break out these new supplies and create!

I'm working on a video to share how I created this project, but I have having a terrible time with the upload quality so...stay tuned! In the meantime, check out the close up photo of the card below along with links to where to purchase the products used on my card.

Thanks for visiting today! Happy Crafting!

Supplies:

Artful Thoughts Stamp Set

All Cracked Up Background Stamp

Wendy Vecchi Select a Stencil

Mat Minis - Tiny Stars

Distress Ink

Ranger Water Color Cardstock

Glossy Accents

Archival Ink

Gesso

Ranger Water Brush

Wink of Stellar Glitter Pen

Sweet 'n Sassy Release Day - How Tweet

Hi all! Time for a brand new stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy! This week's featured set is How Tweet...and seriously, how 'tweet' is this little bird image?! Love him! 

My card is a super quick and easy card and features a fun sentiment idea that I lifted from Jennifer McQuire (you can see her video here). While my card differs from hers, I loved the way that she repeatably stamped the sentiment to create a background. 

I used a variety of blue Distress Inks for the sentiment and just eyeballed the placement. My birdie and clouds were stamped on scrap cardstock, and colored with Copic markers. I used foam tape to pop them up on the card and create dimension. The tiny hearts were stamped directly onto the cardstock, and also colored with Copics. I then added a bit of shimmer and glossy accents to the hearts and bird's cheeks to finish the card.

I hope you enjoyed my quick and easy project! You could use them same sentiment idea to create so many wonderful backgrounds..give it a try!

Also, be sure to stop by the Sweet 'n Sassy store to grab this brand new set!

Sweet 'n Sassy Release Day - Inspirational Word Art 2

Hi all! Welcome to the first October stamp set release from Sweet 'n Sassy! Today we're announcing the released of the Inspirational Word Art set, a set filled with six sentiments, all designed to offer encouragement.

I tried a fun technique on today's card...I first stamped four different background stamps onto white card stock and then cut each of the four designs into a variety of strips.

Once the strips were cut, I added adhesive to another piece of white card stock and added the strips, alternating the designs. The finished piece was layered onto a piece of blue card stock, and then my sentiment was added. I also adhered a few silver stars on the sentiment banner.

A quick and easy card, and I'm left with a lot more strips to make more backgrounds! This was a really fun technique and a great way to get more use out of your background stamps.

A list of the products that I used is below. Be sure to check out the rest of the Sweet 'n Sassy design team projects today, featuring the Inspirational Word Art stamp set!

Happy Crafting!

Supplies:

Inspirational Word Art 2

Delightfully Delicate

Floral Pattern

Skeleton Leaf

Typewriter Text

Sweet 'n Sassy Christmas Roundup

It's been a wonderful month of holiday filled posts, featuring new stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy, and today we're doing a roundup post that will include new projects or some of our favorites from the month.

Ohhh...and I'm excited to share  my project! It's a Christmas garland, created with the brand new Christmas Bulb Die Set! This is the cutest die set that includes the bulb, the ornament top, and a dove. There's a round bulb die set too! Use either of these sets to create gift tags, Christmas tree ornaments, or a holiday garland!

To create my garland, I started by die cutting eight bulbs, using coordinating designer paper. I layered one bulb shape on another...can you tell? I positioned the top bulb die cut sideways, creating the fun, curved shape that runs across the bulbs.

I then created a piece of silver cardstock by inking a piece of cardstock with VersaMark and embossing with silver embossing powder. Once the powder was dry, I die cut four ornament tops and attached them with a strong liquid glue.

The circles on the front of each ornament were die cut using a small circle die. I then used the Light of Christmas Background stamp to add design to each circle. Everything is better with text...

The fun letters are from the Outline stamp set; each were stamped on cardstock and water colored, using Distress Inks. Once the letters were dry, I fussy cut them, and attached them to the circles with foam tape. Here are a few close up photos...

All of the edges were distressed using Pumice Stone Distress Ink. Once I threaded the ornaments on to my burlap ribbon, I decided this bulbs needed some bling so I used a gel medium and mica flakes from Prima to add some chunky glittery shine to each of the ornaments. Super fun! Can't wait to display this over the holidays...well...I can wait for the snow and cold weather...*smile*

I hope you enjoyed today's project! Happy Crafting! 

Holiday Hugs - New Stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy

Hi there crafty friends! Today's card features a darling new stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy, Holiday Hugs. This adorable set features this little penguin and a snowman main image, along with some snowflake images and a bunch of holiday inspired sentiments. You can see the entire set below:

Here's how I created my card (it's a wobbler card!)...

• Use VersaMark and white embossing powder to stamp and emboss the snowflake images on to a piece of white cardstock.
• Use a non-stick craft sheet and painters tape to hold you embossed piece of cardstock stable.
• Grab some Distress Inks and smoosh some ink on to the craft sheet.
• Use a paint brush to apply clean water to the entire background, then pick up some of the Distress Ink and apply to the wet cardstock. Because the paper is very wet, the color will easily run and blend.
• Once you're happy with the results, dry completely with a heat tool.
• Stamp the penguin image on a piece of scrap cardstock and color with more Distress Ink, fussy cut.
• Die cut two hills using the Hillside Edges die set, color the trees with Distress Ink (use a blending tool), add highlights with a white gel pen.
• Attach the hills, overlapping them, using foam tape. I glued the first hill directly to the background and then used foam tape on the second hill.
• Add sentiment to hill and on sled.
• I added a wobbler to the back of the penguin so that he moves! It's so cute!! I just cut a piece of heavy cardstock into a spiral shape and attached one end to the penguin, using foam tape, and the other end to the card. Here's what it looks like from behind...

I also added a bunch of glitter to the hills, using a Wink of Stella glitter pen, and shine to the penguins feet and beak, using glossy accents. 

I also stamped a sentiment and the tree from the snowman image inside my card.

Be sure to check out all of the fun Sweet 'n Sassy holiday stamp sets...all are shipping now!

Happy Crafting!

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Visit my web site, or email me, to learn more about Nerium and their products. I've been a long standing Nerium customer, the night cream produces amazing results, and am so excited to now be running my own store!

If you're local in NH, contact me for a free, 7-day trial!

Sweet 'n Sassy Holiday Celebration - Christmas Pine and Scripture Tree

Hi all! Welcome to today's post, which features two new holiday sets from Sweet 'n Sassy! Links to the products used on today's two cards are listed at the end of this post.

Today's cards feature the Christmas Pine stamp set, below, and Scripture Tree set, above. I've also included photos of both stamp sets.

My Scripture Tree card features lots of Distress Ink and water. I started by smooshing a variety of brown Distress Inks onto a non-stick craft sheet, spritzing with water, and then placing a piece of Ranger water color paper down in the wet ink. Once the ink was completely dry, I stamped the Light of Christmas background stamp over the entire piece of water color paper.

The tree image was created in the same way, except that I white embossed the image before applying the Distress Inks. I hand cut the tree shape by simply following the shape of the words. The edges of both pieces of paper were covered with more Distress Ink, and I added a few rhinestones to finish the card.

My second card also features Distress Inks! They're so much fun! :-) I stamped the pine leaf and pine cone images in Distress Inks, and then used a water brush to move the color around and color in the tiny open spaces on the pine leaf and pine cone images. Distress Ink, in a light blue, was also added to the background. I gold embossed the sentiment, which was too hard to see on the background so I went over the letters with a black Fude ball pen...much better! I added a few paint splatters and popped the pine cones up with foam tape. The tree image was placed within a die cut circle and I dry embossed the background with a script embossing folder.

I hope you enjoyed today's cards! Be sure to visit the holiday set pages on the Sweet 'n Sassy web site...lots of great stamp sets to choose from and everything is shipping now!

Happy Crafting! (Supply links below!)

I started by Nerium career and am searching for a few people to join my team this month! Contact me at ksdm@comcast.net to learn more about how to earn free product and extra or full-time income! Visit my web site to purchase: www.kimschofield.nerium.com.

Supplies:

Christmas Pine

Scripture Tree

Light of Christmas

Distress Ink

Ranger Water Color Paper

Water Brush