Paper Pieced Something

I just love the way paper piecing adds such nice detail to stamped images, so I was delighted to see that our challenge this week at Stamp Something is to use the paper piecing technique. I haven't used my Blooming Beautiful set in a while and I figured the vase would be perfect for some paper piecing.

I used a nice sketch from Mojo Monday and some of my favorite new papers...Thoroughly Modern to create this card. I also used: Rich Razzleberry & Soft Suede card stock, Rich Razzleberry Polka-dot Grosgrain, Nestabilities Scalloped Circle die, Coluzzle & Dew Drops.

I'm heading up North for some fun in the sun with a group of friends for the weekend. Enjoy your weekend...and take some time to join us at Stamp Something.

From the Crypt Pocket Card

I've been dying...no pun intended...to play with my new Halloween stuff! This year will be our 20th annual Halloween party, so I know I want to do something really special for the invites. Was thinking maybe a pocket card...here's my first attempt.

Here's another pic with the card removed from the pocket.
I used both the Graveyard Gala and From the Crypt stamp sets along with the spooktacular Cast-a-Spell papers. All images were stamped in VersaMark and then embossed with Black Embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by...

Celebrate! Birthday Album

I want to start my post today by saying thank you to everyone who took the Catty Cruise over the weekend and anchored here to explore. I appreciate all the kind comments and emails you left for me... I enjoyed reading them all and I'm so happy that you liked what you saw! I'd also like to welcome all the new readers who have subscribed to my blog, I hope you stop by often. The whole crew of the Catty Cruise shared some wonderful projects, so if you haven't taken the cruise...you still can!

The other day I showed you the cover of a book I was making for my Aunt to hold photos from her surprise birthday party, and said I would share some of the inside pages when I was finished. Below is photo of cover and here is link to my original post telling what I used to create it.

I also said that I hoped to have it completed before Saturday so I could give it to her over the weekend...I'm happy to say that I got it all done...and she absolutely LOVED it! Here are a few of the inside pages.

I used the Circle Circus set to stamp many of the background pages and to create some embellishments. Colors used: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie & More Mustard

See how nicely the retired Haiku paper works with the Circle Circus set? I wish it was still current...or that they made those patterns available in other colors. Oh well...at least I had some left for this project.

I also used the Party Hearty & Birthday Whimsey sets on many of the pages. On the pages that I used the Birthday Whimsy set I used the Whimsy jumbo wheel for the background pages and some striped DP that I had on hand that matched the colors I used.
My Aunt hosts almost all of our family parties each year and it was so nice to see her surprised at this special party that my cousin had for her. She got to enjoy everybody and not do any of the work...she LOVED it, yet felt a little lost at the same time. I'm so happy that she loved the album I created for her.

Have a wonderful day!

Come Sail Away on the Catty Cruise - Peace Within

Thanks for dropping anchor to visit my blog today! I hope you are enjoying your tour on the Catty Cruise! In case you washed ashore here unexpectedly, the Catty Cruise is a blog tour featuring 12 talented bloggers sharing projects highlighting their favorite Stampin' Up! products from the newly released Idea Book & Catalog... or Catty for short. If you are taking the full tour, then you sailed in from Linda McClain's blog LMac's Catered Crop. Don't you love the beautiful projects she created with the Cottage Wall papers and the new Butterfly punch?

If you popped in here without knowing about the cruise, I hope you'll join us. Just sail along to the next port with the link provided at the bottom of my post and continue on until you wind up back here...that way you will have visited everyone. If you get lost at sea, then just go on back to our Home Port . Just don't go anywhere until you've see my creations...

I am sharing a few projects I created using one of my favorite new stamp sets called Peace Within. I love to watercolor and I love cats and nature, so I was delighted to see this set in the new catalog. My first project shows how to transform a plain little frame from the Target Dollar Spot into a cute little piece of art, just by using some pretty paper and a few accessories. Kinda like MacGyver...only with stamps and embellishments. hehehe
I love all the patterns in the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer paper pack, but I managed to narrow it down to my favorite two and that's what I used here. I stamped my image onto watercolor paper using Black Stazon and used my aqua painter and classic inks to watercolor. See the pillow that the kitty is napping on? That was stamped onto patterned paper, cut out and then adhered into place. I think the paper piecing technique adds such nice detail to any project.

The finishing touch is the silk daisy from the Pretties Kit. I used my Rich Razzleberry re-inker and my aqua painter to add color to the petals. The center is a White Jumbo Grommet with Razzleberry Lemonade center. Rich Razzleberry Polka-dot grosgrain ribbon was attached to the hangers and it is ready to hang. Here's a closer look...
Here's another way to use this same image and papers but achieve an entirely different look with the spotlighting technique.
I stamped my image onto Whisper White card stock and using the 1-3/4 inch circle punch, I punched out the part of the image I wanted to spotlight. Then I stamped the image a second time onto a piece of Razzleberry Lemonade DP. After water coloring the image on the punched out circle, I carefully adhered it over the top of my full image.

Ink: Black Stazon & various Classic Inks for water coloring
Card stock: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Razzleberry Lemonade DP
Accessories: Mat Pack, White Gel pen, Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon & Dew Drops

My last project uses the other beautiful image from the Peace Within set along with paper from the Thoroughly Modern Designer paper pack.
I stamped my image and water colored the same as described for my first project. I added a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set inked in Soft Suede. I matted the image onto Soft Suede card stock and then layered it onto a Top Note cut from the DP. My card base is Kraft card stock which I ran though the Big Shot using the new Perfect Details Texturz Plate. I used the Eyelet Border Punch along the bottom and added some Soft Suede Polka-dot Grosgrain ribbon to finish my card.

I hope you enjoyed your visit...now it's time to sail on to our next port...iSTAMP to see the super talented Nancy Riley's amazing creations using the Level 3 Hostess Set The More the Merrier along with Sunny Days Simply Scrappin' Kit.

Razzleberry Wings

This has been a busy week! Cannot believe that it's already Friday and time for the Stamp Something challenge. This weeks theme is Winged Things. So if your image has wings...be it a butterfly, bug, or fairy...it qualifies. So go Stamp Something!

I just love, love, love the Razzleberry Lemonade papers...the patterns, colors and even the name is just delicious! I paired it up here with the Great Friend set. I was happy to see this set from the Occasions catalog make it into the new catalog. I inked the butterfly in Melon Mambo and rolled it into the Rich Razzleberry.

Stamps: Great Friend, Wonderful Favorites
Ink:Razzleberry & Melon Mambo
Cardstock:Razzleberry Lemonade, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry
Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Modern Label & Eyelet Border punches, Matchbox Die (for the label), Mat pack, Adhesive backed rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today! Make sure to hop aboard tomorrow...we'll be embarking on the Catty Cruise!

Birthday Albums

I've been pretty busy stamping but you wouldn't know it by my blog posts! LOL A few of the projects I cannot show you yet...they are for the upcoming Catty Cruise. Make sure to check back here on Saturday to see the cruise projects I have been working on...plus fantastic projects by the rest of the crew.

A couple other projects that have been keeping me busy are two birthday albums I've been working on. One is complete, but the other one is still a work in progress, which needs to be finished by Saturday. Both are gifts for family who hit milestone birthdays this year. Here is the cover of the book I am still working on for my Aunt.
I used the Circle Circus set for many of the inside pages so I used some retired Haiku paper for the cover. I LOVED that paper...I sure wish they made it available in another color scheme because it coordinates so nicely with the Circle Circus set. Oh well... at least I have a little bit left in my stash. I also used some new specialty paper called The Write Stuff. The Ruby Red polka-dot paper and the scalloped die cut is from that pack. I can't wait to create some fun scrapbook pages with some of the other die cuts from that pack!

I used Long Board Chip Board for the cover and then my new toy...the Bind It All to punch the holes for the binding. The silk flower is from the Pretties Kit and the center is one of the large White Grommets. I'll share some of the inside pages when I'm all finished.

The other book I created was for my Mom to give to a close family friend. Since this one was for a guy, and I only had a couple of days to complete the whole book, it is much simpler. Here's the cover:

I didn't use very many stamps, mostly an adhesive card stock sticker set called Older & Wiser from the Paper Loft. You can see here that I used one of my favorite wheels - Rough Around the Edges, to add some texture to the cover. Here's a view of the inside:
Thanks for stopping by today!

Thoroughly Modern Monkey

This week at Stamp Something the challenge is...Sketch Something! We have a great sketch to inspire you, so I hope you'll play along. We worked with some great images this week by Dustin Pike. I chose one of his cute images called Cupcake Monkey, but it really was hard to chose because he has some really cute designs. Make sure to check out what the rest of the design team created this week. Along with the Cupcake Monkey digital image, I used some new papers by Stampin' Up! called Thoroughly Modern. I also used the Perfect Details Texturz plate on the background...lovin' that thing! After coloring each sprinkle on the cupcake with my markers, I highlighted them with my white gel pen.

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede & Rose Red
Accessories: Bermuda Bay Polka-dot Grosgrain ribbon, Styled Silver HPH & Dew Drops


Now it's your turn to go Sketch Something! Upload your project using this sketch on the Stamp Something blog and you could win your choice of three of Dustin Pikes adorable images.

Thanks for stopping by today...have a great weekend!

Suede Medallion

In my opinion one of the most eye catching new stamps in this catalog has got to be the Medallion Background stamp. I put it on my first order, and finally got a chance to play with it last night. I used my two favorite In Colors - Soft Suede and Rich Razzleberry, and here's what I created...

With this gorgeous stamp it is so easy to create an elegant card in a flash. I stamped the image once in Soft Suede on Vanilla card stock. Then the center part was inked in Rich Razzleberry and also stamped on Vanilla and then cut out. The last circle was again inked in soft suede but this time stamped on Soft Suede card stock and punched out with the 1-3/4" circle punch. These two layers were adhered together and popped up using dimensionals. The ribbon is the Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain - flipped to the plain side. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. The pearl brad in the center is something I had in my stash...not sure where it's from?

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Peace Within Teaser

I love to watercolor and I love cats, so I was super excited to see a beautiful line art set with a cute kitty in the new catalog! With that being said, I'm sure you guessed that Peace Within was on the very top of my list of new must have stamp sets for me. This is the first card I have created using this set...a teaser of sorts, because I will be sharing several more creations using this set on the Catty Cruise...a blog tour featuring creations by myself and 11 other bloggers...all using new products from SU!'s new Idea Book & Catalog, also affectionately known as "the catty". The Catty Cruise will set sail on July 25th...I hope you'll join us!
I stamped my image using Black Stazon onto watercolor paper. Using classic inks and my aqua painter I water colored the image. I paper pieced the pillow using one of the prints from the Thoroughly Modern designer series papers...I also used 2 other prints here as well. The flowers and butterfly were cut out and popped up.

Colors used: Dusty Durango, Soft Suede & Bermuda Bay


Don't forget to join me here for the Catty Cruise on July 25th to see more of my creations using this set and lots more creative projects by the other members of the crew. Have a peaceful day!

Beautiful Bundle of Joy

A very sweet friend just gave birth to her first child...a beautiful baby girl, so I made this card for her.

I thought a stair step card would be fun for this special occasion. To create the stair step base, I started with a piece of Pretty in Pink card stock measuring 5 1/2" x 11". I scored along the 5 1/2" side at: 1-1/4", 2-1/2", 4-1/4", 6" and 8-1/2". I picked out my designer papers - one polka dot design came from the Tea Party pack the other is a retired Pretty in Pink Designer Print. I cut those 1/4" smaller than the measurement of each "stair front". After adhering those in place I started to add my embellishments.
I started with the main images...the bear & giraffe from Bundle of Joy. They were stamped on watercolor paper, colored and then cut out. The flowers were made using the Birds & Blooms Sizzlets and the Boho Blossoms punch. The sentiment came from the Congrats stamp set that was available this past SAB. The sentiment was layered using the new Modern Label punch with one of the Lots of Labels Sizzlets.
Looks like another beautiful day here...the last day of my hubby's vacation. It is also the last day of the music festival we've been attending all week. Tonight we'll be seeing 3 Doors Down & Jet. With him off and us running to a different show all week long it hasn't left much time for stamping or visiting any of my favorite blogs...but things should be settling down again after today. Thanks for visiting me today!

You make me smile

This weeks challenge at Stamp Something is a color challenge...stamp something using the color combo of pink, yellow and green. The sponsor is Peachy Keen Stamps, so I got the pleasure of using an adorable smiling flower image from their set called Funny Flowers. They have some super cute images,and generously donated a $40 gift certificate which will go to a lucky winner who plays along this week.
I water colored the cute flower and then added some shimmer using a stardust jelly roll pen along the edges of the image. While it was still wet I blended it with my aqua painter. I also used Crystal Effects on the lady bugs.

The ribbon is So Saffron grosgrain with a sheer pink polka dotted ribbon layered over the top. With the pink, yellow green color combo, using one of my favorite SU! paper packs - Tea Party was a no-brainer. I also used some retired Pretty in Pink designer print paper as well. The "you make me smile" sentiment was perfect for this image I thought...it is from the Lots of Thoughts set that was available during SAB one year.

Hope you get a chance to stamp something with this color combo and play along with us this week at Stamp Something! Have a wonderful weekend!

Holly Jolly Christmas

Keeping with the Christmas in July theme at Stamp Something this week, along with my newly acquired box of goodies I shared with you earlier, here's a quick Christmas card I whipped up using new stuff.
I was excited to try out my new Big Shot stuff, so I used the Scalloped Square Bigz Die to cut the base of my card. This die is great because it is clear and it will allow you to cut photos and designer papers and see exactly what you are cutting. I also used the Perfect Details Texturz Plate to emboss the background.

Don't you love that reindeer? the image is called Dasher and it is one of the single stamps available on the Under $10 page of the new catalog. The "holly jolly" sentiment cut with the Curly Label punch is from the Level 2 Hostess set called Christmas Punch. So is the little punched out snowflake...there is a stamp with 3 snowflakes and you use the Boho Blossoms punch to punch it out.

The colors I used here are: Soft Suede, Ruby Red & Always Artichoke. The ribbon is the Polka Dot grosgrain in Soft Suede. I hope you find time this week to join us at Stamp Something for the Christmas in July Challenge. You'll get some Christmas cards done early and maybe win some goodies while you're at it! Now I'm off to fondle my new papers! ;-)

ETA: I've received several emails asking the size of the new scallop square. It measures 4-3/8"

Today really is like Christmas in July!

For me anyways! Look what just showed up at my house...a day early! That is the first time ever that UPS delivered something ahead of schedule...what a nice surprise!


My hubby is on vacation all this week and we've been going to a week long music festival called Common Ground each night. Last night we saw Stone Temple Pilots...and it was CRAZY! I've been to hundreds of concerts over the years but that is the first time I wound up in a mosh pit...it was a bit scary, but we enjoyed the show otherwise.

I'll try to whip up a quick card to share here in a bit. First I need to hide all this stuff before he sees what was in the box. ;-)

Christmas in July

This week at Stamp Something the challenge is Christmas in July, sponsored by FireCracker Designs. I was sent an adorable penguin image to work with. Since the 4th of July holiday is this weekend, I decided to go with a red, white & blue color scheme. I dry embossed my background using a snowflake texture plate by Fiskars and my Big Shot. I mixed a little Dazzling Diamonds with some Crystal Effects and coated the snowballs and added a dot in the center of each snowflake on the red layer for some real sparkle.

The Merry Christmas tag was done using the new SU! set Teeny Tiny Wishes layered using the Word Window & Large Oval punches along with one of the label die cuts from the Lots of Tags Sizzlets. It's tied onto the ribbon using silver cording.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend...and don't forget to go Stamp Something Christmas!

The New Catalog!

Today the new Idea Book & Catalog went live! I had a long wish list of new goodies...yes, I said *had* as in I couldn't wait to put in my first order, and I ordered more stuff than I originally planned on. I couldn't help myself...especially after receiving this wonderful group of swap cards from my QC Swapper Group using all new sets and accessories. This is such a talented group of stampers...I'm sure you'll agree after checking out these cards!

Asian Artistry (Level 2 Hostess Set) by Jane...Love the tile background she created.


Christmas Punch (Level 2 Hostess Set) by Nancy...This is a super cute gift card holder.
Kind & Caring Thoughts (Level 3 Hostess Set) by Andrea...nice color combo, image works great with Oval Scallop Die...I think I need to add that die to my collection next!

The More the Merrier (Level 3 Hostess Set) by Scheli & Marica. Such cute images and both had great use of punches



For All You Do by LeeAnn...I love the layout and colors she used!
Razzle Dazzle by Dawn...love her use of Modern Lable punch

Circle Circus by Christy...love this set and the colors she used

Animal Stories and Tall Tales paper by Mary & Stacey...love the way they've used the Modern Lable punch and the Top Note on their samples.

Lots of Bots & Razzleberry Lemonade DP by Tracy. Love the way she used the Movers & Shapers Star Die


Autumn Days by Barbara awesome use of the pinecone image! She added sparkle & shine with CE & DD, but it doesn't show up in the photo.
Hope you enjoyed looking at these cards as much as I did receiving them!