Christmas Cheer

I heard a heartbreaking story about an adorable five year old little boy who is in his last stages of a 2 1/2 year battle with cancer. This year his family is celebrating Christmas early, and Noah loves to receive cards, so I got busy and made him one I hope he will like. I just loved this old fashioned image of Santa and his reindeer from the instant I saw it.If you want to hear more about this story here is the link. If you would like to send Noah a card, here is his address:

Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountain View Circle,
South Lyon, MI 48178 USA

His family has asked that if you would like to, you can also include $1 inside Noah's card which they plan to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and to U of M for Neuroblastoma research. They have already received thousands of cards and gifts from around the world.

I inked the stamp using my Colorbox petal point chalk inks (which SU! unfortunately retired several years ago.) These inks worked perfectly in that I could easily color the area on the stamp in the colors I wanted without it drying too quickly and then I could still watercolor the other areas without the ink bleeding like it would if I had just used my markers.

Stamps: Good Cheer, Christmas Punch (hostess set)
Card stock: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip & The Write Stuff Specialty paper
Ink: Colorbox petal point chalk inks, Old Olive & various for water coloring
Accessories: Aqua painter, Boho Blossoms punch, Earth Elements brads, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, mat pack, piercing tool

Thanks for stopping by and if you send a card to Noah, thank you for that as well!

Happy Halloween!

I've been busy playing with Stampin' Up!'s new My Digital Studio program. I have a LOT of photos from our Halloween party from last weekend so I thought I'd make a scrapbook. Let me tell you...this is the quickest scrapbook I ever made! I learned quite a bit about the program as I went along...so it's been a fun learning experience.





I downloaded the Cast A Spell designer paper add on and used those for my background. I also used the Eat, Drink & Be Scary stamps on most pages as well. The cool part is that I could even add music...so turn on your speakers if you like Alice Cooper. ;-)


When uploading as a movie and viewing at such a small size, you lose a lot of the quality & detail of the original, so here are a few pages to get a better idea of what it looks like.



Have a fun & safe Halloween!

Autumn Thank You

Here's an Autumn thank you card made with the Bright Blessings jumbo wheel. I took the photo quickly before I popped it in the mail and the card is kind of at a weird angle...but you get the idea.
This was a quick and easy card to make. The hardest part was inking the wheel. All I did was roll it over my More Mustard ink pad and then just added additional color where I wanted it using my markers. The More Mustard background was dry embossed using one of the Texturz plates and my Big Shot, then I just sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. A little paper piercing along the edge add some detail and a scrap of Autumn Meadows DP and some Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon added the finishing touch.

Thank you for stopping by...sorry I haven't been posting much lately or visiting any of your blogs, I've just been super busy! After this weekend things should slow down a bit for me, and hope to visit you soon.

Provincial Thank You

Here's a thank you card I made for some friends who invited us on a wine tasting...touring several vineyards in Northern Michigan last weekend. We had such a nice time...good wine and lots of laughs with several good friends...what could be better? This grape image from the retired hostess set Provincial worked perfectly for their card.

After water coloring the image I tore it using my Tearing Edge...I haven't used it in a while, but it's a great tool when you want "precision tearing". lol Then I sponged the edges.

Stamps: Provincial, French Script & Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Black Stazon, Rich Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant & various for water coloring
Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede & Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Modern Label, Eyelet Border & word window punches, Soft Suede grosgrain, Vintage Brads, Perfect Details Texturz plate, Aqua painter,Tearing Edge

Here's one of my favorite photos I took over the weekend. This was taken in Sutton's Bay. I bet this weekend the colors are at their peak...they were just starting last weekend, but it sure was beautiful!

Have a great weekend!

Dasher & Some Christmas Punch

It's looking and feeling like fall and our house looks like Halloween. I'm in the middle of getting ready for our 20th annual Halloween party coming up next weekend...but I changed gears and have a quick Christmas card to share today.
I used the Movers and Shapers die to cut a window on the front and glued the Cute & Curly label inside the card, so it was tricky to get a good photo. (with the sentiment centered inside the window.) The snowflake background, punched out snowflakes and the holly jolly sentiment were created using the Level 2 Hostess set - Christmas Punch. I love that the snowflakes can be punched out using the Boho Blossoms punch!

I used my Soft Suede, Real Red & Old Olive markers to ink the stamps. I used red stick-on rhinestones to turn Dasher into Rudolf and add some bling to the snowflakes.

Well now I need to make like a reindeer and Dash on outta here! I have a million things to do today. Hope to have something more to share again soon...thanks for popping in today!

Autumn Lillies

Wow! I guess it's been a while, huh? I've been super busy and unfortunately just haven't been able to find a whole lot of time to stamp or blog recently. I have been doing some painting around here and what I thought was going to be a small job ended up being much bigger...I'm sure you know how those home improvement projects can go! Well, enough excuses, right!? I want to share a card I made for a friend and I think the colors are perfect for an Autumn birthday.
I started by embossing the lillies in gold (which doesn't really show up in my photo) and then water coloring them. The Really Rust layer is dry embossed using the Perfect Details Texturz plate and then a window was cut using the Movers & Shapers die.

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Soft Suede & Whisper White
Ink: Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie & Ruby Red
Accessories: Soft Suede Polka-dot Grosgrain, Modern Label Punch,
Perfect Details Texturz plate, Movers & Shapers die & Dew Drops

Have a wonderful weekend! I know I'm looking forward to heading up north with a group of friends for a tour of the local vineyards. I'm hoping for NO RAIN (at least tomorrow) and some beautiful fall colors.

Holiday Mini Catty Cruise

Welcome to the Holiday Mini Catty Cruise! You probably just sailed in from my talented friend Wendy Janson's blog, It's All About Stamping . Didn't she create some wonderful projects using the Delightful Decorations set and the matching punch?

The first stamp set that caught my eye in the new Holiday Mini Catty was the beautiful new set Serene Snowflakes. I just love snowflakes, so I knew this was the set I wanted to share on the Cruise. These snowflakes look just gorgeous embossed. My first card shows the largest snowflake embossed in silver on Night of Navy and Brocade Blue.

Here's the medium sized snowflake embossed in Iridescent Ice on Elegant Eggplant for another look.
The base of this card is made of acetate and stamped in White Stazon. I made a little matchbox filled with gift tags to match. (Sorry for poor quality of photo...it is really hard to photograph the clear card...I'll give it another shot in the morning.) Here's a close up look of the cute little gift tag matchbox. Wouldn't this be a fun little gift to give somebody? Everybody can use cute gift tags at Christmastime...and handmade ones are better yet. I have one more project that I didn't quit finish, but hope to share it here tomorrow.

In the mean time, please sail on to Connie Collins blog, Constantly Stamping and enjoy the beautiful holiday projects she has created using Decor Elements.

Favorite Layout From the Crypt

Happy Friday everyone! Time for another Stamp Something Challenge. Sadly this will be my last one as part of the design team. To stay in compliance with the new policy by Stampin' Up!, I had to step down...but I still plan to play along every chance I get! This week, continuing on with our "favorites" theme, you'll need to stamp something using a favorite layout or sketch. So I dragged out my favorite new Halloween set from the crypt. OK, so I didn't really drag it out from the crypt...the set is actually called From the Crypt.;-)

I'm always drawn to designs that feature a circular main image and lots of opportunity to use several different patterned papers, so I decided to give this sketch from Mojo Monday another shot.

I stamped the skull and spider images on Glossy card stock using Black StazOn, then I sponged on colors found in the Cast-a-Spell Designer papers...Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum & Certainly Celery.

I love to use my round scallop dies to create mats for my circles, but thought a jagged edge circle would look more appropriate on a spooky Halloween card, so I cut it once, then ran it back through my Big Shot after turning it just slightly on the die to create the jagged edge. To finish off my design I used some Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon and a bit of black fun fur yarn to lend another spooky touch.

Now it's time for you to get busy and go Stamp Something using your favorite layout. Have a wonderful weekend!

Autumn Greetings

Today is the first official day of Autumn, so I thought I would share a card created with my favorite new Autumn set and papers...Autumn Splendor and Autumn Meadows Designer Papers.
To create the multi color foliage, I used the poppin' pastel technique. To do this, I stamped the maple leaf image using VersaMark onto Very Vanilla card stock, then with a light swirling motion I brushed over them with my Stampin' Pastels. I used the same color pastels as were used in the papers to have a coordinating look.

Speaking of coordinating, the matching button was made by punching out a bit of patterned paper with the 3/4" Circle Punch and adhering it to a small Clear Button with some Crystal Effects. The "thinking of you" sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip using the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and punched using the Word Window Punch.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Razzleberry Roses

Good morning! I turned around and it's Friday again! That means it's time for another Stamp Something Challenge! Continuing with this months favorites theme...this weeks challenge is to use your favorite color combo and/or favorite papers. I used both for my card.
I love the Razzleberry Lemonade papers and the beautiful colors used in them...especially the Rich Razzleberry, so it was a pretty easy choice to pick these papers along with Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry for my fav color combo...today anyways! ;-)

I used the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder and my Big Shot to create the main image. I used my brayer inked first with Pale Plum and rolled lightly over the embossed image. I went back with both Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry adding layers of ink until I was happy with the color. If you want to see a great tutorial on how to do the brayered roses, you should visit Patty Bennett's Blog . That is where I first saw this wonderful idea.

Also used for this card: Oval All stamp set with Scalloped Oval Punch, Organza Ribbon, Rhinestone brad, and the mat pack with Paper Piercing tool to add the piercing around the edge.

I hope you'll pull out your favorite papers and use your favorite color combo on a creation this week so you can play along with us at Stamp Something.

Have a great weekend!

Delightful Eggplant Ornaments

A quick post today to share a card I made last night. The new Delightful Decorations set with matching Ornaments punch is going to be a lot of fun to make quick cards and scrapbook pages with!
I love the combination of purple and metallic silver so I went with Eggplant, Razzleberry and Brushed Silver card stock, and Silver Embossing Powder for the ornaments. I used the Perfect Details Texturz Plate for the background.

Have a delightful day!

Embellished Circle Circus

It's Friday! You know what that means? Time for a Stamp Something challenge! This week we are continuing on with our favorites theme, and to play along you just need to stamp something and use your favorite embellishment(s). For me, it's hard to pick just one embellishment...but if pressed, I guess it would be ribbon. I LOVE the new polka-dotted grosgrain ribbon and I also love using brads...so that is what I used for embellishments on my card for this weeks challenge.

I had part of a "one sheet wonder" sitting on my desk I had stamped back when the pre-order stuff first came in using this years In Colors, so I used that. Circle Circus is a great set to stamp a one sheet wonder. I also love to use my punches to create embellishments. I used a couple of my circle punches and punched out the large Razzleberry circle, layered it and embellished it with a Filigree Brad and a Certainly Celery brad in the center. That's what I really like about the Filigree brads...you can use the silver brads that come with them or swap out a colored or rhinestone brad to match your project.

Stamps: Circle Circus
Cardstock: Bermuda Blue, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery,Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper
Ink: Bermuda Blue, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: 1-3/4" & 1-3/8" Circle punches, Bermuda Blue polka-dotted grosgrain ribbon, Filigree brads, Soft Subtle Brads, Mat Pack, Polka-dot Texturz Plate

Hope you'll play along with us this week at Stamp Something! Have a great weekend!