Merry Christmas in July!

I had a Christmas in July class today. It is always so much fun coming up with new designs for my card classes - especially Christmas cards! I think my favorite card we did today was this one using the new Punch pals set. I just LOVE this little penguin!

The background looks so pretty in real life because we used glossy card stock with Iridescent Ice embossing powder on the snowflakes so it is sooo sparkly! Then we sponged over the top of the embossed snowflakes with Bashful Blue and Lovely Lilac ink. This is the first card I've created with this set...can't wait to make more!

Also, among the other 12 cards we did today were a cute pocket card using one of my very first Stampin' Up! sets ~ Frosty and a floating tag card using Festive Favorites. If you missed this class, I'm sure I'll be having several more Christmas card events before the Holidays. Contact me today and we can set one up for you and your friends.

Stamps: Punch Pals, Bold Snowflake wheel

Card Stock: Sage Shadow, Glossy White, Lovely Lilac & Bashful Blue

Ink: White Craft, Black Stazon, Sage Shadow, Bashful Blue

Accessories: Iridescent Ice EP, Tag & Window Word punches, water color pencils, vintage Brads & Blue gingham ribbon

I love Christmastime, but I am thankful that it is only July...this summer is already flying by way too quickly! Plus I love the weather in July way more than I do Michigan in December!

He's such a cutie!

But it sure is hard to get him to stay still for a good photo! I took him outside yesterday for a little photo shoot and this was the best one I got. I think I need to talk one of the boys into being my assistant to get a really good shot. Anyways...thought I would share this here today because I have a million things to do and I actually slept in until 10:00! Now I'm running late. Have a great day!

I finally created something with my coasters!

I ordered a large box of coasters a while back and never got around to making anything with them. I had my first hostess club meeting last night so that got me motivated to come up with a fun project for the group to do. I think they all really enjoyed making this project and they were all so cute when done!

We used the designer prints double sided papers in Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst & Rose Red. I got to try out my new Crop-A-Dile, the cool new Jumbo eyelets & the On Board Blossoms & Basics chipboard for this project. The Crop-A-Dile punches through the chipboard like butter! That thing is great...sure to become my favorite tool! This was also my first experience using chip board and I must say it's pretty fun to work with. Here is the coaster frame we made:

I'm loving the new double stitched ribbon! It really adds a nice touch and is really nice to work with. So far I only have the Wild Wasabi, but can't wait to get some of the other colors. The only stamps used for this project were Little Pieces which we embossed with white for the center of the chipboard flower and So Many Sayings, the Level 1 Hostess set, which we punched out with the Word Window punch. I plan to give this to my niece Amanda. The photos were taken at her high school graduation last month.

We also did a card last night using the Pick A Petal set and the new In Colors. It is a fun, happy card. We used Purely Pomegranate for the base and ink, but it photographed a bit off. We used the rock 'n roll technique for the petals. First ink stamp in Groovy Guava then rolled in Pomegranate. I doodled around the edge with the white gel pen. Some of the group was nervous to try this, so I suggested faux stitching instead. Either way...they all looked great!

My hostess Kim was happy to get Baroque Motifs and Side Kick Sayings with her Hostess Credit plus some goodies from me. I altered one of those cute little note books from Target using the Petals & Paisley designer paper and a chip board frame from the On Board Blossoms & Basics. In between projects we enjoyed a yummy dessert made by Kim...boy that was good! Thanks again for bringing dessert Kim!

Say hello to my little friend!

Over the weekend we adopted a little cute, cuddly kitten from the Humane Society. We brought our little "angel" home and he was so sweet and affectionate...for two days! Then after we were already totally in love with him, the little devil in disguise let his true identity be known! He's a little terror! They must have had him sedated at the Humane Society!

OK...maybe I'm exaggerating a bit because I'm a little miffed because it is his fault I was up at 6-something this morning instead of sleeping in to my usual 7:30. To top it off I can hardly enjoy my morning coffee because he keeps sticking his whole head in my mug! Who wants it after that? I finally had to close the door to my office so that I could type without him running across the key board. Now at least I can drink my coffee without guarding it. Good thing he is so cute!

When he isn't bouncing off the walls or climbing up my legs he is actually quite loving and cuddly. He was from a litter of kittens who was found under someones deck with no mama cat in sight. The poor little guy had to be bottle fed. He is a lot smaller than other kittens his age. He was born in early-mid April but I would have guessed him to be only about 8-9 weeks old right now. It will be interesting to see how big he grows.

I still haven't gotten a really good photo of him yet...he moves too quickly! Hopefully later on I can get my son Danny to assist me in taking a few photos of him in the garden. I'll share the only couple I have so far. They named him Maddox at the Humane Society, but we're not sure if we will keep that name or not. Any suggestions?

Pick A Petal Meets Zoofari

I just love this little leopard from the Zoofari set. After I got done water coloring him, I was wishing that I had a leopard print background stamp. So I got to thinking... could I possibly create a spotted background for my little leopard using the circles from Pick A Petal that would look leopard-ish? (is that even a word???)Anyways...I gave it a shot and was really happy with the way it turned out.

I roughed up the edges of Chocolate & Rust card stock I used for the mats with my cute file set that my friend got for me to use with chipboard...works good for distressing card stock too...thanks Rachel! I thought the distressed mat made this look a little more rustic for my jungle theme.

Do you recognize the "jungle foliage" stamped along with the leopard? I used my marker to ink just the little leaf part of the big swirl image from Baroque Motifs. I told you that stamp rocks!

To finish this card I added the Chocolate Chip grosgrain and tied a bit of hemp cord on it. Frayed the ends, and added the leaf brad I had in my stash.

Stamps: Zoofari, Pick A Petal, Baroque Motifs & It's Your Birthday
Card Stock: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip & Really Rust
Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip & Really Rust

Enjoy your day!

More Pick A Petal Cards

Yesterday was so hot and humid I spent all day hanging in my work(play)room downstairs where it was nice and cool. I did manage to slip out a few times to water my gardens and take a few dips in the pool. The rest of the day I spent playing with my new goodies...FUN!

Most of the cards I made used either Pick A Petal or Zoofari...and on one card I even combined the two! The only trouble with a bunch of new stuff...it's hard to decide what to use first! I must say I am LOVING all of the new In Colors I got so far...and I'll probably end up getting the only two left that I didn't purchase yet.

This first card is is the standard type card you would expect to see made with Pick A Petal...a cute flower card. Since my cone flowers are just starting to bloom, I thought I would make this one look like a cone flower. I cut the stem out of Old Olive card stock after penciling a guide on the back. When cutting out the petal outlined with the word smile it was tricking getting it cut as nicely as I would have liked. So I ended up trimming most of the word off and then stamping the smile petal onto my background paper and just lining up. Much easier and a lot nicer looking - so I thought I would share that tip!

Stamps: Pick A Petal, It's Your Birthday & Canvas background

Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive and Creamy Caramel rolled in Chocolate chip for the center

Card Stock: Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Old Olive & So Saffron Designer Prints

This next card is somewhat outside the box of what you would expect to make with this set. I wish I could take credit for thinking up this cute idea, but there are several cards on SCS that used this idea first. This one is one of my favorites, and I was inspired to make one of my own. I like the way she used the black brads for the tip of the antenna...cute! Hope you like my version of the cute Pick A Petal lady bug!

I used my black journaler pen to color in the white polka-dots and to draw the antennas and the dashed line with Live, Laugh, Love. The head and body are made by punching out two 3/4 inch circles and cutting one in half for the head.

Stamps: Pick A Petal & Polka Dots & Paisley

Ink: Real Read & Basic Black

Card Stock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White & So Saffron Designer Prints

Accessories: Black Brads, Black Journaler pen, 3/4" circle & Flower Bouquet punches, Black & Red gingham ribbon

It has really cooled off outside today...so now I have no excuse for not cleaning house and doing laundry. :-( So, it looks like no stamping for me until tonight. Check back tomorrow and I'll show you the card I created combing Pick A Petal & Zoofari...I think you'll like it.

Pick A Petal

This is such a FUN set! This is the first card I have made with it so far, and I think it turned out pretty cute. This set will work great for scrap pages too. The purple petals were stamped on the Amethyst Prints Designer paper and the leaf was stamped on the Celery Prints Designer paper. After I cut out each petal I curled them using a pencil to add extra dimension.

For the stem I cut out a piece of celery card stock and wrote "Happy Birthday" along the length of the stem - because I love the look of that in the new Stem Sayings stamp set. I glued it in place before I assembled the flowers and I wish I hadn't because it would have worked a little better shifted to the left where it wouldn't have been covered by a petal. Oh well...I'll remember that for next time! You cannot tell from my photo, but I also did some faux stitching along the stem. I need a better camera!

Stamps: Pick A Petal, Canvas background

Card stock: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Certainly Celery & Designer Prints

Ink: Soft Sky, Apricot Appeal, Lovely Lilac, Rose Red & Always Artichoke

Accessories: eyelets, mat pack & white gel pen

It's another HOT one today...Have a cool day! My plan is to be either in the pool or downstairs stamping where it's nice and cool!

A wild birthday!

Zoofari is such a fun set. Every time I look at the monkey and the rhino I crack up! Those smiles sure make them look like they are up to no good! This is the first card I created with this set...a cute card for a kid, right? Well I made this for my animal-loving Auntie who fell in love with this set when she spotted it in the preview brochure. She's a kid at heart so I'm sure she'll love this!

The birthday banner, balloons & party hat were all hand drawn. To do this I first penciled in the banner and then stamped the rhino and the leopard. Then I masked the leopard because the zebra overlapped. I added the snake at the bottom and then the monkey. I penciled in the balloons and then I was ready to ink it all in using india ink. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to add the bird to the top of the banner and the Happy Birthday sentiment. Then I was ready to watercolor...my favorite part! I used mostly ink from the lids of my ink pads to color this one. To get the soft cloudy look for the background I used my stampin' pastels.

After I finished water coloring, I embossed the ric-rac image from Trimtastic to frame the design. This card was so much fun to make - I look forward to playing with Zoofari again real soon!

Have a wild day!

New meets old

My absolute favorite stamp right now is the swirly image from Baroque Motifs. It makes such a nice background...I keep on grabbing it! I made this long card to hold a Stampin' Up! gift certificate using a retired set called Tender Toile. My favorite new stamp was perfect for the background, don't you think? I used both retired and new card stock colors for this card also. Mauve Mist meet Soft Sky...with a bit of Sage Shadow. I think these colors go perfect with the old fashioned charm of this image. I hear that the gift recipient was delighted with both the card and the gift certificate...just in time to shop from the new catalog!


Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Tender Toile, Trimtastic & Everyday Flexible Phrases
Card stock: Mauve Mist, Soft Sky, Sage Shadow & Very Vanilla
Ink: Mauve Mist, Soft Sky, Black Stazon & various to watercolor
Accessories: Ticket Corner & Small Tag punches, Soft Subtle eyelets, White organdy, rose grosgrain (frayed)

Next, I had to make a card for a wedding we went to on the 4th of July. My original intention was to do a red, white & blue themed card. However, I thought the blue white & silver looked so pretty and elegant I left out the red.

As you can see, I again used the swirl stamp from Baroque Motifs along with a retired set ~ Wedding Elegance. I stamped the all the images in White Craft ink and embossed the wedding bells and sentiment with white EP on vellum card stock. I cut a frame in some brushed silver card stock and attached the vellum to the back, so the swirl image was visible behind the vellum. I think these two sets compliment each other nicely.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs & Wedding Elegance
Card stock: Buckaroo Blue, Vellum & Brushed Silver
Ink: White Craft