Merry Mice Blessings

WOW!...today is already the last day of November! Which means it's also the last day of the Stitched from the Heart promo. Makes sure to purchase Merry Mice, Christmas Pines, or any of the several other great stamp sets while they are at a discount!

This card uses one of the three adorable Christmas mouse images included in the Christmas Mice stamp set along with Christmas Pines for the sentiment and Peace This Christmas for the border and the background.

I have been enjoying water coloring the cute little mice from this set using my Aqua Painter and Classic Inks pooled in the lids of my ink pads. The main colors used here are Pool Party & Garden Green.

Thanks for visiting today!

Joyous Christmas Pines

Here's a card I've had in my head since I first saw the Christmas Pines stamp set. I thought it would be fun to use the sentiment as a blackboard piece with the die cut pine pieces. It didn't turn out exactly as I originally planned, but I still like it.

The background is embossed with the Holly Embossing Folder...it's got a really pretty all over pattern. I die cut the greenery from Garden Green & Wild Wasabi cardstock. The pine cone is cut from Early Espresso and layered onto Copper Foil Paper.

The Christmas Pines stamp set is available for 25% off until the end of the month as part of the Stitched With Love promotion. However...we are counting down the final hours of the Online Extravaganza Sale which ends tonight.

Visit my online store to purchase the items used to create the card above along with all the other great sale items!

Christmas Baby Bear

This little Baby Bear is all ready for Christmas! (wish I could say the same!) I used two of the stamp sets that are on sale right now at a 25% discount during the Stitched From the Heart Sale!

Of course one of the stamp sets used is Baby Bear, the other is Christmas Pines. You can purchase both of these stamp sets at the discounted price until November 30th. The coordinating Pretty Pines Thinlit Dies were also used. Here is a closer look at the die cuts.

I layered the detailed Early Espresso die cut pine cone onto a solid one cut from the gorgeous Copper Foil Sheets. I also used Copper Thread on top of the Cherry Cobbler bow. The DSP used is from the This Christmas Specialty Pack.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you are up for a little holiday shopping, no need to rush out among the crowds...shop the Online Extravaganza!

Flourishing Autumn Thank You

Here's an Autumn take on a card using the Flourishing Phrases stamp set that I had shared here on my blog previously.

The gorgeous Copper Foil Paper die cut with the beautiful Flourish Thinlits Dies works well with the elegant feel of this stamp set.

I used the rock 'n roll technique to ink my flower and leaves. The flower was inked first in Cajun Craze and then I rolled the edges in Elegant Eggplant. A Sponge Dauber was also used to add Elegant Eggplant ink to the inside of the flower as well. The leaves were first inked in Always Artichoke and then in Cajun Craze.

I had a little boo-boo smearing a bit of ink on my finished floral stamped piece, so I went over the top of the stamped panel with a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge inked in Crumb Cake...and you thought I planned it that way! Sometimes little mistakes turn into opportunities to add more detail or embellishments! In this case I love the the finished card more with the added texture than having it plain. My stampers who made this card at my last All Occasions Class all prefered it this way as well, and added the texture to their cards vs leaving them plain.

Don't forget...today is the first day of the Online Extravaganza Sale!!!

Today starts the sale with discounts on some products for 24 hours only! (the rest will be available for an entire week...or until sold out) Visit my Stampin' Store 24/7.

Flashback Friday: Beautiful Beach Wedding Invitations

Two weeks ago today my husband and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of some dear friends. They live out in California, and I have been wanting to visit my friend for the longest time...so their wedding was the perfect excuse to make that happen! They started their life as Mr. & Mrs. with a cliff side ceremony overlooking the gorgeous Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. The ceremony was perfect and the views were breathtaking!

Back in August I designed their wedding invitations for them...and of course they wanted a beach theme! The bride had selected a teal blue for her accent color, so Bermuda Bay was the SU! color that was the best match.

I used the Seaside Embossing Folder on the Bermuda Bay layer. The bottom, Very Vanilla piece was printed with the bride & groom's names using my home printer and then stamped with a seashell border stamp in Crumb Cake ink, that was included in the long retired set Beautiful Beach. I love that set...so luckily I still had it in my collection!

The open weave 5/8" Burlap Ribbon added a nice texture that complimented the beach them of the invitation. The pretty gold starfish charms with rhinestone & pearl added the crowning touch. Those were tied on with Linen Thread.

The inside of the invitation had the seashell border stamped along the bottom again along with a seashell from another retired set...Stippled Shells. So you got a two-fer today for Flashback Friday!
These cards were done larger than the standard cards I usually make - the finished size was 5x7.

Here's a look at the cards in various stages of completion.

It was a small wedding, so I only had to make 3 dozen invitations.

We had such a great time during our week in California! After our weekend in Laguna Beach we took a drive along the coast up to San Francisco. So many gorgeous views along the way!

Have a beautiful weekend! Thanks for visiting today.

Christmas Pines & Merry Mice

Today's card features two of the great sets offered at a 25% discount this month during the Stitched From the Heart special from Stampin' Up!

These little mice from the Merry Mice set are just so cute and fun to watercolor...and so hard to resist at 25% off! The sentiment used is from another set also on sale...Christmas Pines.



Thanks for visiting!

Celebrate Today Birthday Balloons

Seeing a bunch of colorful balloons makes me happy. This is the perfect card that can be used for a guy or gal of any age...just change up the colors accordingly.  

I cut a stencil out of a transparency using my Balloon Framelits. Then I sponged on the colors:

• Crushed Curry
• Tangerine Tango
• Cucumber Crush
• Bermuda Bay

Sponging vs stamping made the balloons more transparent so that you could see the colors of the overlapping balloons. After I had my balloons sponged I added some stars to two of the balloons using the stamp from Celebrate Today stamp set inked in Bermuda Bay. Next I stamped my sentiment in a bold, masculine font using Black Archival Ink. The HB stamp is from the Perfect Pairings set which was from this years Sale-a-Bration. The cluster of three stars is from the Merry Mice stamp set. If you don't already have this set I recommend adding these adorable little mice to your collection this month while it's on sale.

Inspriation for this card came from this awesome card created by Maura. I just adapted it using the products I have on hand. Thanks for visiting today!

Blooming Love for Mr. & Mrs.

Some dear friends got married and we went to California to be at their wedding! It was my first time visiting there and we were so happy to be able to share in my friends special day!

I used the Blooming Love stamp set and coordinating Blooming Heart Thinlits. It looks so pretty cut from Shimmery White card stock! The Basic Pearls add just the right touch.

Thanks for visiting!

Baby Bear Shower

Have you heard about Stampin' Up!'s Stitched From the Heart sale for November? They've release a set of Stitched Shape Dies! Even more great news...Stampin' Up! is also offering some great stamp sets that coordinate well with these dies on sale all this month at 25% off! See them here.

One of the great sets offereed at 25% off is the Baby Bear stamp set. Recently I helped with a baby shower to welcome my soon to be first grandbaby. Here's the card I made to decorate one of her gifts.

Baby Bear is super cute with a flower from the Jar of Love stamp set on here head. But Baby Bear isn't just for baby items...it would also make adorable Christmas cards as well! Here's how the card looked attached to the gift..

I also made some table decorations using Stampin' Up! products. The jars are painted with home made chalk paint and then distressed. (I have instructions for this in a past tutorial) I used 5/8" Burlap Ribbon and Gold Sequin Trim to decorate the jars. They looked really pretty..each one sitting on a doily on the pink tablecloths. Did I tell you it's a GIRL!? ;-)

Some goodies for guests to take home had hand stamped thank you tags.

Here's a closer look at the tags using the retired set called Riveting.

Stitched From the Heart

YES! Stampin' Up! has just released a set of Stitched Dies! The Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies are a set of 12 - 4 circles, 4 ovals and 4 squares. You can see them here.

I'm super excited because I've been hoping they would add stitched dies! Even more great news...Stampin' Up! is also offering some great stamp sets that coordinate well with these dies on sale all this month at 25% off! See them here.

Watch the video below to see some examples of how the dies are the used.



 You may not realize how receiving a thoughtful, handmade card in the mail can brighten someones day. Watch this heartwarming example below.