Happy card and happy news

Here is a cheerful,happy card with bright colors perfect for the summer...and it matches my mood this morning. It's a bright sunny day here and I'm in a happy mood for a few reasons. First, the Red Wings won last night...3 more wins and they'll have the Stanley Cup! I made this card using the Simple Friendship stamp set. I love all the images in this set...the butterfly is perfect and the swirl and flower images make wonderful backgrounds. I used a color combo of Pumpkin Pie, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink & Summer Sun...colors found on my favorite beach towel. I haven't gone to the beach yet this year, but while cleaning my linen closet a few days ago I thought the color combo would make a great card. See...even when doing a boring task like cleaning you can get inspired!

I mentioned being in a happy mood for a few reasons...besides being a beautiful day, and the Red Wings winning last night, one of the other reasons I'm happy is that I have some exciting news that I want to share.
One of my favorite challenge blogs has selected me as a new member of their design team! Stamp Something has different challenges each week starting on Friday. Sometimes they do sketch challenges, sometimes color or theme challenges, but they are always fun and a great way to get inspired. Besides that, a lucky winner is selected each week for blog candy! I hope you'll check in on Friday's and play along!

Today is the last day in May...hard to believe! That also means it is the last day to take advantage of the Buy 3 get 1 FREE paper sale from Stampin' Up! Just hop on over to my demo website and hit the "Shop Now" button to get your designer papers while they are still available. Tomorrow, the Last Chance List will be posted. That means that mostly likely, the majority of all the current papers will be retiring, along with many stamp sets and accessories. I'm anxious to see what is on the list...

Parisian Dreams

Another great Mojo Monday sketch! I used my Dreams du Jour set along with some of my favorite papers...Parisian Breeze.
Well, gotta run and finish cleaning my computer room & our guest room...I have both rooms totally torn apart, but instead of finishing I decided to stamp and share this card. Gotta have priorities, huh? hehehe Enjoy your day!

Hello There Eastern Blooms!

It's definitely been a while since I've used my Eastern Blooms set, but I was inspired by some gorgeous card sets that my blogger friend Pat created, and decided that next time I stamped I was going to use that set. My inspiration for color and theme came from this Inkspiration Challenge. I love the colors...and of course the butterflies and flowers on this adorable bedding, so I had to play along.
Along with the Eastern Blooms set, I also used Cheep Talk & Flight of the Butterfly. I used some retired DP from the Holiday Treasures paper...love that little houndstooth print and that was the closest I had to a checked print like the quilt.

The Celery layer was embossed with the small dotted Texturz Plate and my Big Shot. The flowers and butterfly were all cut out and attached with pop dots. Colors used: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red & Tempting Turquoise.
Thanks for stopping by!

Raspberry Tart Butterflies For You

On Tuesday I had my downline over for a little stamping. One of the projects we did was a matchbox filled with chocolates using the Raspberry Tart papers and the Great Friend stamp set. Today I saw a great sketch challenge on the Stamp Something blog and decided to whip up a quick card to go with the little matchbox using the sketch.
I used the Rock 'n Roll technique on the butterfly. First I inked my stamp with Cameo Coral and then inked the edges by rolling it in the Rose Red ink. A little window was created on the matchbox slider by punching it with the Curly Label punch before assembling. Then a piece of window sheet was adhered into place with some Tombow Multi Adhesive. I even found that this adhesive is strong enough to hold the slider in place for the Matchbox...I love this stuff!

See the layered tag on my card? The largest layer is one of the tags included on the Matchbox Bigz die. The second layer was made using the Lots of Tags Sizzlet and of course the top layer was cut using the Large Oval punch and the Oval All stamp set.

Click the "shop now" button on my SU! Website and you could get the beautiful Raspberry Tart papers for free during Stampin' Up!s buy 3 get 1 free designer paper sale!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Summery Great Friendship

Here's a card I created using this weeks Mojo Monday sketch...I even actually did the challenge on Monday, instead of the end of the week like I usually do, so I'm doing good! I was playing with both my Simple Friendship and Great Friend stamps sets and wanted to do a cheerful, summery color combo. I think my color choice of Passion Pink, Summer Sun & Pumpkin Pie (with some Basic Black so I could use that cute polka-dot ribbon :) was just the ticket! I used the swirly Texturz Plate on the Summer Sun layer and I think it works well with both of these stamps sets.

Hope you day is bright and cheerful!

Thinking of you...

I saw this color combo on my friend Renee's blog and really liked it. I needed a masculine "thinking of you" card, so it was perfect. It is an Inkspiration's Color Challenge, so you should play along too! The colors to use for the challenge are: Sage Shadow, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. I used my Sanded background and also distressed the edges on the Chocolate Chip layers to give a more manly look. Vintage brads and Sage grosgrain ribbon finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just Beachy

I haven't had much time to stamp recently...been busy helping at a family garage sale and working in the yard since it's been so nice. I did have a friend over for a little stampin' fun a few days ago. Here's a couple cards we made that day.
Stamps: Just Beachy, Lazy Days jumbo wheel
Card stock: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun & Whisper White
Ink:Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie & Summer Sun
Accessories: Polka Dot Texturz Plate, Big Shot, 1-3/8 & 1-1/2" circle punches

Here's another card that kind of used this weeks Mojo Mondy sketch. Since I wanted a more masculine card, I eliminated the scalloped border at the bottom of the sketch and used my jumbo wheel instead of a layer of patterned paper.Stamps: Just Beachy, Great Friend, Lazy Days jumbo wheel
Card stock: Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, Tangerine Tango, Summer Sun & Whisper White
Ink:Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green & Black Stazon, various other Classic inks to watercolor
Accessories: Bubbles Texturz Plate, Big Shot, square punches

So there ya have it...two easy cards made with the same set...one suitable for a girl and one for a boy. I really love the Just Beachy set. Makes me excited for the warm summer days ahead! Have a good one!

Matchbox for a Great Friend

The Matchbox die for the Big Shot is so cute! Plus it's useful, too. After seeing a cute little stack of drawers made with the die, I had to get it! Of course was also the first creation I made with it as well.
I cut 3 drawers using paper from the Walk in Park pack and 3 slides out of Baja Blue cardstock. I stacked the slides and held them in place with double sided tape and then wrapped the Walk in the Park paper around the entire box. A jumbo eyelet was used on the front of each drawer and of course I had to use my favorite little butterfly to embellish the box. See the little tag? The largest layer was cut out using the Matchbox die. In addition to the little box it also has 3 cute tag shapes. The tag image from Great Friend layers perfectly with this tag.

I put a sample of different embellishments in each drawer (even a bit of chocolate ;-) and gave it to a good great friend of mine as a little be-lated birthday goodie.

Yesterday I mentioned going to a scrapbook convention called the Mega Meet. We had fun and I got some new goodies. Mostly embellishments, some paper for a few layouts I have in mind to make, but I tried not to look at paper since I have so much I haven't used already. ;-) See what I got:Stampin' Up! had a booth and the demo was doing a make & take using the new Jumble Alphabet and Good Morning Sunshine papers...both part of Stampin' Up!'s May special.I'm sitting here hoping the rain stops. I had planned to go to the greenhouse today to get some flowers to plant for my mom...and maybe some for me too. Wishing you all a very Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!

Parisian Beauty

I just love this weeks Mojo Monday sketch so I decided to use it as inspiration for my Mom's Mother's Day card. I used my favorite paper - Parisian Breeze along with one of my favorite hostess sets - God's Beauty, because I felt like watercoloring. I am happy with the outcome and I'm sure my Mom will like it too.Stamps: God's Beauty & Fancy Flexible Phrases
Card stock: Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, Shimmery White &Parisian Breeze
Ink: Black Stazon, Close to Cocoa & Misc Classic ink for watercoloring
Accessories: Eyelet Edge, Small & Large Oval punches, Mat Pack, White Organza ribbon & Aqua Painter

I'm heading out to spend the day with my friend at the Mega Meet - a scrapbook convention. I've never been before, so I'm excited! Hopefully I'll come home with some cool new stuff!

Tea Party With Great Friend

I'm just lovin' this set, and can't get enough of this butterfly! I highly recommend the Tea Party papers too! This is a great time to try out some new prints with the buy 3 get one free sale going on this month. Stamps: Great Friend
Card stock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery & Tea Party DSP
Ink: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink & Certainly Celery
Accessories: White Jumbo Grommet & Certainly Celery twill ribbon

I'm not going to have a tea party, but I am going to hang out with a great friend today. Hope you enjoy your day as well!

Rockin'

Since today is National Scrapbooking Day I thought I'd share the last scrapbook page I created. If you are a reader of my blog, you may remember me telling you how I received my very first video game this past Christmas...Aerosmith Guitar hero for Wii; and how frustrated I was trying to figure out how to play it. LOL So here's me goofing with my new Aerosmith guitar and some family shots taken sitting by our Christmas tree.
I used the Serif Essentials dies to cut out the word ROCKIN' for my title, then I used my Basic Brown journaling pen to write out "around the Christmas tree" below my die cut letters. My tree topper star was made using the rock star image from A Little Somethin' set embossed in black.

Stamps: Snow Swirled, A Little Somethin', Punches Three
Card stock: Real Red Textured, Ski Slope DP, Chocolate Chip & Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Real Red, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Felt Flurries, Baja Corduroy Buttons

For the entire month of May Stampin' Up! is offering some great specials perfect for scrapbookers...including buy 3 packs of Designer Paper or Textured Card Stock - Get one Free! Check out all the details here:


Looks like a beautiful day...I'm heading out to my garden. Enjoy your day!

I grew a chocolate tree!

Doesn't that sound yummy! Actually it's one of Stampin' Up!'s Décor Elements- The Thoughts & Prayers Tree and I "grew it" in our stairwell leading downstairs. This is the first time I used one of these on the wall. I took photos as I went so I could share any tips I learned along the way. I used the large tree. It comes on two sheets and is shipped rolled inside a cardboard tube.After you decide where you want your image to go, gather up your tools. I used these tools to complete my project:

• Décor Elements Applicator Tool


• Scissors


• Painters Tape


• Pencil


• Level


• Kneaded Eraser

First, you must cut out the 6 sections of the tree. Don't worry, they are numbered and there is a diagram included to refer to for easy placement. After I cut out each section I rubbed over the image well using the Décor Elements Applicator Tool to transfer the image from the backing sheet to the transfer sheet. Before removing the backing sheet I tacked them up on my wall using the painters tape to get my placement just where I wanted it.
After I was happy with the placement of my tree I removed the backing from section 1 - the trunk, and adhered it to the wall by rubbing the transfer sheet with the DE applicator tool. Carefully peal away the backing and the first part of the design is in place. My photo below shows the completed trunk with branch 2 adhered into place. I found it to be very helpful when placing the branches to the trunk to cut as close to the image as possible, so that you can see exactly where the two pieces line up.
Since I was doing this on my own, without a helper, it really helped me to remove only a small portion of the backing sheet that was close to the end of the branch. This enabled me to easily line up the branch and the trunk. After I got the placement right, I removed the rest of the backing. With only two hands, it was much easier to manage just a small portion of the image being sticky vs a large sticky sheet while lining up the branches. Below is a photo to hopefully help you visualize what I was trying to describe. The small section on the left has the backing removed, while the rest of the image does not.
After I was finished with the tree it was time to add the quote I chose. I am using the small Life Milestones quote. This is where you will want to have a level to make sure it is straight on the wall.
Using a pencil I added registration marks on each corner after I had my design in place and was sure it was level. Each mark started on the corner of the sheet and went right onto my wall. I used a kneaded eraser to remove the pencil marks later. If you are worried about writing on your wall, then put a piece of painters tape at each corner and make your marks on that. Here's what my registration marks looked like. These marks allowed me to get perfect placement of my design after I took it down to remove the backing sheet.
I found that I had to really rub well to get the little letters to transfer from the backing to the sticky sheet. I would pull back the corner every so often to see if they were transferring. Sometimes it helped to gently peel back the opposite corner and just coming from another angle they transferred easier. After only a couple hours from start to finish...here's how it turned out: Now I just need to pick up a few frames that will look good with my chocolate tree and pop some more photos in them, arrange them nicely and I'll be done! I couldn't wait to share my first Décor Elements experience so I didn't want to hold off until I get my pictures done...because who knows when that will be?!

Have a great weekend!