Showers of Blessings

Hi friends!  Sorry I've been so quiet on the blog...Life and running the store have kept me super busy and I haven't had a lot of time for crafting.  **insert sad face**  However, I managed to sneak in a little time over the weekend and enjoyed pulling out out my Sweet 'n Sassy stamps and getting inky!

 

This card features this beautiful image from the Let it Rain set.  It's been too long since this set has seen ink!  (You can purchase the digital file for this set!)  I kept the card layout simple, letting the image take center stage.  I used Echo Park paper, from the new For the Record (Documented) paper collection, for the card and colored the image with Copics.  (pppssttt...have you heard...eP's Copic marker prices are only $5.99....Yippee!)

 

Enjoy!!

Every Day Miracles

It's time for this week's CAS challenge...and it was a sketch challenge.  (You can check it out here on Splitcoast!)  I loved the simple sketch this week and stayed pretty true to the sketch.  I used washi tape from My Minds Eye for my two banners (and PS - I LOVE washi tape!!), rhinestones from KasierCraft, and a sentiment from Sweet 'n Sassy, from the Every Day Miracles set.

Now that butterfly...oh la la...the butterfly was created by using the Layered Butterfly template from The Crafters Workshop.  Isn't is fabulous?!  I am loving these stencils!!  Why have I not used them until now??

I started by laying the template on white cardstock and securing the template with some tissue tape (yes, it's perfect for holding stencils in place as the low tack adhesive keeps it from tearing your paper).  I then used Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed Distress Ink (the two together made a great orange color!) and my blending tool to fill in the butterfly background.  I removed the stencil and reapplied the second part of the stencil, the swirls on the wings, over the top of the the already colored butterfly.  I used Dusty Concord Distress Ink and my blending tool to very lightly go over the swirl stencil.  Oh man, the results...the quality of the Distress Ink gave me a great color combo that was perfectly blended.  I literally cheered out loud when I picked up the stencil..serious crafty love going on!  I then added a quick spritz of Perfect Pearls for just the right amount of shimmer!

Enjoy today's card and be sure to check out all of the Crafters Workshop stencils at eP!!

Calling All Crafters

 

Calling all New England stampers!! It's almost time for Stamping Around NH and I'd love to see all my stampy friends there! Happening October 26 & 27 at the beautiful Sise Inn in downtown Portsmouth, NH, we are planning for an amazing weekend of crafty goodness! It's time for Mom to take a break and re-energize!!

Check out our instructor roster:

• Cindy Lawrence has been a SA instructor several times and each time she gets rave reviews - people just love Cindy and her fabulous classes!! Cindy has most recently become a regional instructor for Copic. We've asked Cindy to put together a very Copic-intensive class - something we get asked for all the time!! Get ready to COLOR!
• Laura Pryor is the owner of Lil' Inker Designs which makes some of the sweetest stamps and has their own line of steel dies that are so fun to use! Laura has such a fun class planned for us incorporating her fabulous line!
• Debbie Carriere comes to us as a Design Team member for My Favorite Things! Our recent customer survey revealed that MFT stamps are some of your absolute favorites!! We agree and so asked Debbie to come share her talent and love of MFT with us!
• Donna Marie Cerece was an instructor at Stamping Around CT a few years ago. She also teaches regularly at a LSS in New England. Her classes are very popular which isn't surprising when you see her amazing talent!! Every single detail has been thought out in Donna Marie's projects, you will be impressed and will definitely learn something!

There's one more class planned that I'll share about later . . .it's another thing that's been requested by you, our attendees and I know it'll be fabulous! Of course if you've attended before you know that we always have lots of giveaways and goodies, that's for sure! The chance to hang-out with other crafty women, to meet blog friends, or new friends or come with a group of {old} friends -- it's an event NOT to be missed!

Click over to Stamping Around today and register now - I'd love to see you there!

Maple Leaf in the Rain

Hi all!  Welcome to this week's Splitcoast CAS challenge!  This week's challange was to create a card using a photo for inspiration.  The photo was a beautiful shot of a pile of leaves with water droplets all over the leaves.  I really wanted to be very literal with my card and create a similar look, using masking to show the leaves overlapping.  But I just couldn't the look right so...oh how fun it is to have a craft store in your basement...I grabbed the new Autumn Blueprint stamp set from Tim Holtz.  Adore this set!!!

 

I stamped the maple leaf image the first time on a piece of white cardstock and then added the blue color, with Copics, around the edges of the leaf.  Then I stamped the leaf a second time, colored it with Copics, then cut it out and attached it with foam tape.  Then...I added water droplets with Glossy Accents, cool, right?  I just added one layer of blue cardstock for a little constrast.

 

Enjoy and check out the CAS challenge this week...come play along!

Sweet 'n Sassy Fall Frenzy Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to Sweet 'n Sassy's Fall Frenzy Blog Hop!!  Now...Korin said that I should tell you I'm excited about Fall...but...umm....to be perfectly honest, I really don't want summer to end so let's just say that I'm super excited to share Fall-themed projects created with Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!  Woot! Woot!

You should have come here from Jennifer Ingle...did you?  If not, that's ok but be sure to head back to the Sweet 'n Sassy blog to make sure you don't miss out on any of the fun!

Now let's get to the cards!!  My first card was created using the Leaf Silhouettes stamp set.  I think we all know how I feel about silhouette images...I puffy heart them...seriously, they are one of my favorites!  This set is so divine and don't the leaves look beautiful all dressed up in their Distress Ink colors?  Oh, la, la...  The background for this card was created using Kraft Core Core-dinations cardstock and an embossing (oh, I'm sorry M-Bossabilities!) folder from Spellbinders called Elite.  Have you tried Spellbinders embossing folders?  No?  Oh my, put these on your Christmas list because they are fab-u-lous!

This next card was creted using the Autumn Leaves stamp set and I went a little artsy, technique-y (that's a serious crafter term) with this card.  I started with a canvas ATC from Inkssentials.  (The ATC size is so perfect to use on cards!)  Then I swiped some nice fall Distress Inks on my non-stick craft sheet and hit 'em with some water from my mini mister.  Once the ink was beading, I swiped the canvas through the ink.  And I am loving the background result.  It's the perfect colors of Fall!

 

Here's a close up shot...Once the background was dry I stamped the leaves on to the canvas (press down hard when stamping on canvas) and added the sentiment in Tuxedo Black ink.

 

Then I got busy on my extra leave by stamping in on a scrap piece of cardstock and coloring with Copics.  Once the leaf was cut out it was attached with foam tape and I just added a few gold mini pearls.  Fun, right?

 



Want to see what the rest of the Design Divas have created?  They have some fabulous eye candy for you today featuring our wonderful selection of Fall stamps so we hope you'll hop along with us today!  Hop on over to Ceal Pritchett from here and enjoy!!

Be sure not to miss a single stop along the way because we'll be drawing one lucky commenter from a random DT blog to win a $25 credit to the store!!

Here's the list of blog participating in today's hop:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog

Monika Davis

Jessica Fick

Cathy McCauley

Mary Faus

Kim Singdahlsen

Bridget Finlay

Dina Kowal

Jennifer Ingle

Kim Schofield

Ceal Pritchett

Giovana Smith

Jennie Harper

Korin Sutherland

When you're done hopping be sure to join us for a fun day of challenges over in our Splitcoaststampers forum.  We're giving away some fun prizes, too, so don't miss it! We look forward to seeing your fabulous Fall creations!

Wishing You Happiness

 

Oh my...I'm just full of snippets this week!  It's been busy, busy, busy running the store and I seriously have not had enough time for crafting!  However, I managed to get this quick card created for this week's CAS challenge on Splitcoast!  You can check out all of the details on the eP blog!

Enjoy! 

 

Frightful & Delightful

 

Hi kids!  I have a card posted on the Sweet Stamp Shop blog today, featuring stamps by Sweet Stamp and paper and ribbon from Canvas Corp.  Hop on over the check it out!

 

Bird Song

Hey...where in the world have I been this week?  Working on getting some new products for the store, that's where!  Yippee!  Seriously, trying to make decisions on what to purchase on any given week is tough 'cause this crafty girls wants it all!  There's just so many fabulous things out there to try, right?  This week I got to try a stamp set from Graphic 45.

 

Raise your hand if you've ever used stamps from G45.  This was a first for me and I have to admit that I was initially skeptical.  Don't get me wrong, Graphic 45 papers and staples are some of the best around, the quality is surberb (which is probably why I shouldn't have been skeptical about the stamps!)  The stamps are made by Hampton Art and are unmounted red rubber stamps.  The images are printed on the back, which I love, for ease of placement.  The verdict?  LOVE them!  And the coordinating Bird Song and Nutcracker Sweet stamps include beautiful designs.  If you've never used G45's stamps before, grab yourself a set this week and give them a try...you will not be disappointed!

 

For this card I used paper from A Ladies Diary, metal brads, and a glass button from one of Tim's collections.  For the cherry blossom image I first colored directly on to the stamp with Distress Markers (this will be in stock shortly!) and then spritzed the stamp with water before stamping on to my paper.  Great watercolor effect!  Next I added the text (and I've since found out that I have the text upside down...sorry about that...) in Tuxedo Black.  Then I assembled my card with my paper and embellishments.

 

That's it for today!  Thanks for visiting and seriously, go grab one of these stamp sets, they rock!

Hip, Hip, Hooray...It's Sweet Stamp Shop Release Day!

Hi everyone and welcome to this month's Sweet Stamp Shop release week!  (The big reveal is tomorrow!!)  Today I'm sharing the brand new set, Dream Ocean.  This sweet set includes three shell images, a boat wheel border, and this great sentiment.  Love it!

 

To create my card I first used Distress Inks and a blending tool to create the background on Sticky Back Canvas (see, I told you I love this stuff!).  The squares were cut out with Spellbinders dies, plain and scalloped.  (The blue scalloped paper is from the new Echo Park For the Record collection).  I then colored my shell images with Distress Markers.  The background cream paper was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder.  Oh, and that sweet little bird, which really needed to be added, is from Sweet 'n Sassy (Serene Silhouettes).

 

What to see what the rest of the team is up to?  Check it out!

SSS Blog

Emily

Kari

Stephanie

Michelle

Kim- You're Here!

Nicole

September eKit - Just Live

Greetings!!  I'm super excited to share the September eKit with you!!  This seriously has to be my favorite mini album!  I adore this paper from Authentique and the mix of the pink and the brown throughout the book...divine!!

This month's eKit is the perfect project to capture memories of all of the "lively" friends and family members in your life! (Or maybe you're the "lively" one!) The bright colors, energy, vibrance, and design of this mini album fits perfectly with the kit's theme, which is to live your life, enjoy the simple moments, and to celebrate living, every day!

 This month's kit includes:

-6x6 binder from Maya Road (comes with 8 chipboard pages)
-12x12 paper from Authentique
-Letter and sentiment sticker sheet from Authentique
-12x12 coodinating sticker sheet from Authentique
-Swirl rhinestone package from Prima
-Pink Felt Flowers from Maya Road
-Coordinating buttons from Buttons Galore
-Twine
-Full color photos and instructions

All of this for only $24.99! As with all of our eKits, supplies are limited, once they're gone, they're gone so get yours today!

Thanks so much for stopping by and be sure to check out all of the other Maya Road, Buttons Galore, The Twinery, and Authentique products available in the store!

 

A Pocketful of Sunshine

WooHoo!!!  It's my first post as a CAS Design Team Member!  Somebody pinch me!!  I'm so excited!!

 

Today's challange was "Ways to Use It:Fabric."  I opted to use canvas as my fabric 'cause I love canvas!  I especially love the sticky back canvas as it's so easy to apply to cards!  (And tomorrow I'll be sharing a video of how I created another card using sticky back canvas and Distress Inks!)

 

These sweet images are from the Pocketful stamp set from Wplus9.  I also used the coordinating Pocketful die to cut out the jeans pocket.  The pocket was stamped with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.  The sun was stamped with Wild Honey Distress Ink and the sentiment (a combination of two included in the set) was stamped over the sun.  Love it!  This is a small card, just 4" x 4" but wouldn't this be a fun gift card?

 

Thanks so much for visiting today, go check out what the rest of the DT came up with and go create!!

 

Supplies:

Stamps & Die: Wplus9 (A Pocketful Stamp Set and Coordinating Die)
Sticky Back Canvas
Ink: Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire & Wild Honey)

Blending Tool