My New Favorites!

A box of goodies from the Holiday Mini showed up here on Friday...so I had fun over the weekend playing with new stuff! If I could have only ordered one new thing from the mini I think it would have been this adorable new stamp set Merry Crittermas. I just LOVE these cute little critters...especially this sweet little sledding bunny.

A few other must haves from this catalog were the snowflake items for the Big Shot...the Northern Frost Decorative Strip cuts out 8 different detailed snowflakes with one pass through the machine. LOVE it!!! The Northern Flurry Embossing Folder makes a gorgeous embossed background...don't you think? After embossing, I also sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz for some nice sparkle.
Not only are the images in this set darling, they are my favorite kind of images...line art, perfect for watercoloring! I colored this little guy as usual...with my Aqua painter and various Classic Inks, including the colors I chose for my cardstock: Certainly Celery & Marina Mist.

I finished the card with some Certainly Celery Grosgrain layered over White Organza Ribbon, and one of the snowflakes cut from the Northern Frost Strip with a Rhinestone Jewel in the center.

Thanks for visiting me today!

Mojo From the Crypt

Another great sketch this week over at Mojo Monday, so had to play along. I'm still in a Halloweenie mood so here's another Halloween card for you.

Starting with a great sketch always makes creating a card easy. All I had to do was pick out the colors and stamps. The colors I used are: Certainly Celery, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry and Basic Black. For stamps I used From the Crypt, Eat Drink & Be Scary (stamp set is retired, but it's still available on MDS) and the Web wheel. The main image and the tag are both embossed with Black EP.

I finally got to use the creepy dripping border punch I got a while back and kind of forgot I had. The striped paper at the bottom is from the Bold Designer Prints Stack and I stamped the spiders in Razzleberry. The bat in the center was cut out and popped up.

I finished by adhering some rhinestones jewels to the image for some sparkle. At the time I was wishing I had some of the black rhinestones from the Holiday Mini. I ended up getting my order yesterday...woo hoo! Hope to spend some time today playing with new goodies! I hope you have something enjoyable planned as well!

Vintage Elizabeth

My last post showed a masculine card using one of the new single stamps, so for this post I'd like to share a pretty, feminine card using another one of the single stamps...Elizabeth.

When flipping thought the Idea Book & Catalog for the very first time, this was one of the first stamps on my wishlist. I got it on my first order, but this is the first time I used it. Not sure why that is?! It's such an elegant and detailed image and it was fun to watercolor. I used my Aquapainter and Baja Blue & Crumb Cake ink. The sentiment is from Watercolor Trio and stamped in Early Espresso.

The Baja Blue background panel was stamped with the large floral image from Elements of Style and then the edges were sponged with Early Espresso. I accessorized Elizabeth with some Chantilly Lace, Adhesive Pearls and one of the gorgeous Antique Brads.

Thanks for visiting me today!

A Woodland Walk on the Green

Here's a card I made using the single stamp, On the Green. I paired it up with the Woodland Walk papers for this retirement themed card.

I inked the stamp in Garden Green and then used my Chocolate Chip marker to color in parts of it to add more interest.
Stamps: On the Green & Congrats
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Very Vanilla & Woodland Walk DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip & Garden Green
Accessories: Vintage Brads, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain & Ticket Corner Punch

Thanks for stopping by!

Cherry Good Cheer

On my last post I shared a card I created using Mojo Monday's last sketch challenge. I don't think I mentioned that there was an option to do a square or a round version, but since I liked the sketch so well I decided to give the round sketch a try. This time I used one of my favorite Christmas sets...Good Cheer.

I used the Bigz Scallop Circle die to cut the base of my card. There is a little trick to that, so I'll explain how I did that: I started with a piece of Crumb Cake card stock cut to 9-1/2 x 4-3/4". Which was then scored and folded in half at 4-3/4. I positioned it on the die so that the fold was below 3 scallops, so that when it is cut you will have a scalloped card that opens and closes. I then cut another Scallop circle out of Cherry Cobbler so that none of the scallops were missing. That was adhered to the top of my base.

The Always Artichoke layer was cut with my Coluzzle and stamped using the holly branch image from this set. The wonderful old-fashioned Santa & reindeer image was stamped in Basic Brown ink on Very Vanilla. I watercolored it using my aqua painter and inks. Since the image ended up being rather large for this shape of card, I cut it out and layered it onto a square of Cherry Cobbler that I had stamped with holly. I then inked all the edges of my layers with Chocolate Chip ink for a vintage look.

To finish off the vintage look I used a bit of Chantilly Lace and embellished it with a "poinsettia" created by stamping the flower image from the Level 1 Hostess set Punch Potpourri and punching it out with the Boho Blossoms punch and adding an adhesive pearl to the center. Here is the sketch I used for this card and if you scroll down you can see my square version.

On my last post I had a comment from a new visitor to my blog which read in part, "Your card is great. While it may be pretty self explanatory, I sure wish you gave more details about the steps it took to make your card in your blog post."

Since the poster did not leave an email address nor do they have a blogger account, I have no way to contact them to find out what question(s) they had about my card, so I'm addressing it here. I always try to give the basic recipe or explain anything "I think" needs to be explained. However, many times I'm sure there are steps I assume stampers already know and skip them as not to bore everyone or in my rush to get a post published I may skip things as well. (sorry!) Many times I may show a technique that I have already explained before, so that I don't have to repeat myself I rely on "labels" (shown at bottom of post).

Just wanted you to know that I am always happy to answer any questions my readers may have regarding my projects, so feel free to email me directly (click the "contact me" button on right) or post your question & email address along with your comment.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by to visit me today.

Spooky Owl

Our weather here in Michigan has taken a drastic turn today...from hot and muggy to cool and windy. It's only the beginning of September, but it really feels like a Fall day out there today. This has got me to thinking about one of my favorite holidays... Halloween. So when I saw this great Mojo sketch when looking for inspiration, I decided it was time to pull out some Halloween sets.

Stamps: House of Haunts, From the Crypt, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Basic Black, Glossy White, Brights Designers Series paper
Ink: Black Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry & Pacific Point
Accessories: Scalloped Square Bigz Die, Extra Large Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Word Window & Modern Lable punches, Rich Razzleberry Taffeta & Grosgrain, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain & Black Brads

Thanks for stopping by today!

Elements of Style on Top Note

Thanks so much for the nice anniversary wishes. Got a kick out of the poster who said she got married 24 years ago and in the exact same dress as I wore...I agree on your good taste comment! 

With my hubby off on vacation the past two weeks, I haven't spent much time stamping. Here is a couple of cards I made for some special friends a while back but haven't gotten around to posting. I just love this set!

Here's a closer look at the Wasabi card...

And a better look at the Saffron version...

Stamps: Elements of Style
Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, So Saffron & Wild Wasabi
Ink: same as above for watercoloring with aquapainter
Accessories: White Organza ribbon, Top Note Bigz die, sponge dauber to apply ink to humming bird, mat pack for paper piercing

Have a wonderful weekend!

Silver Medallion

The Medallion stamp make such elegant cards I keep using it for weddings and anniversaries...including my own. My wonderful hubby and I just celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary this past week. It's hard to believe that 25 years have gone by so quickly!

This is embossed in Silver on Shimmery White card stock and then layered onto Brushed Silver. This photo doesn't capture all of that too well, so here's another shot.

I just love the new Antique Brads and the Adhesive backed Rhinestone Jewels. I even was able to adhere a rhinestone to the center of the brad here.

We celebrated our anniversary early this year - with a trip to Hawaii in March, so we just had a quiet relaxing day at home followed by a nice dinner at a favorite local restaurant. Here's how we looked 25 years ago.

We were just kids! I think I was only about 12...LOL! Here's to the next 25...Enjoy your day!

Courage Scrapbook Pages

We are having a going away party for my youngest son this weekend. He joined the National Guard and will be leaving for basic training at the end of the month. I am very proud of him for making this choice, but I am already worrying about the possibility of where he could be sent and all the dangers he will be facing after he is done with his basic training. I guess with being a Mom, worrying comes with the territory, huh?  Here's a couple pages I made using photos I took of Danny in his uniform.

I used the Hero Jumbo Wheel and the Stars #2 Sizzix Die to create these pages. The stars are textured using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I used Real Red, Night of Navy & Very Vanilla card stock and Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Crumb Cake ink. Here's a closer look at the left page:

I used Antique Brass Hodge Podge Hardware (retired) to hold the Twill Tape. Here's a closer look at the right page.

I stamped the word "son" from the Wonderful Favorites set using Black Stazon onto some Twill Tape and formed a tab behind the main photo.

Well, I need to get busy...lots to do to get ready for the party this weekend and tonight we are going to see Kid Rock! Busy weekend! Hope yours is a good one!

Just Believe Trio

For these cards I combined two of my favorite new stamp sets: Just Believe and Elements of Style.

I inked up the floral image using both my markers and sponge daubers. I like the blended look that you can achieve using the sponges daubers. I also used them on the hummingbird to add a little shading and the color on his throat. I really like the color combo of Marina Mist and Pear Pizzazz. I also added Rich Razzleberry for an accent color.

I spritzed all of the images with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, but it doesn't show up too good in the photos. Here's a close up look to see the sparkle.

By changing out the sentiments using the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and the color combo, you could make a card for just about any occasion. Here it is in Perfect Plum with Pear Pizzazz & Marina Mist.

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy your day!

Subtle Butterflies

I cannot believe a whole week has gone by since my last post! It's been another busy week! I'm happy to say that yesterday I made some time to do some stamping and had quite a productive afternoon. I saw a super cute card on SCS posted by Chris In Memphis where she stamped butterflies and then layered them with butterflies punched from vellum. I also noticed the Our Creative Corner challenge on my friend Wendy's blog that called for embossing. With those two ideas in mind  I came up with this card.

I stamped the butterfly image from the Level 1 Hostess set Punch Potpourri in three colors from the Subtles Collection - Pretty In Pink, So Saffron & Marina Mist. I ran White Vellum card stock through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and punched them out using my Butterfly punch. I adhered them at the center of the butterfly with a small dot of Tombo Multi Adhesive and embellished with adhesive backed Basic Pearls.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day!

Razzleberry Melon Punch

I love all the Level I Hostess Sets in the new catalog, but the one I was most excited to get my hands on was Punch Potpourri...because I just LOVE stamps that coordinate with my punches! Lets see...just how many punches did I use to create this card?

Stamps: Punch Potpourri & Watercolor Trio
Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry & Brights Patterned Papers
Ink: Melon Mambo & Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Punches: Two Step Bird, Boho Blossoms, Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Scallop Trim Corner & Scallop Trim Border

Here's another version of the same card using a few of this years In Colors:

Stamps: Punch Potpourri & Watercolor Trio

Card stock: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz & Very Vanilla
Ink: Concord Crush & Peach Parfait
Accessories: Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Punches: Two Step Bird, Boho Blossoms, Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Scallop Trim Corner & Scallop Trim Border