Friend to Friend

Good Afternoon! Wow, 3 posts in a week huh?! I wish I had a "post fairy", then I could just have fun stamping and not worry about the technical stuff : )

Anyway, I CASED (copy and share everything) this layout from Cami. It was a fun layout to work with, and I finally got to use my Good Neighbors stamp set and Sweet Pea DSP!





Below is a picture of the card opened up...

Medallion cards

Good Afternoon!

Today I wanted to show you two cards that I made for two friends. I made them square first, and then wondered what they would look like as a standard size card, so I cut one down. I can't decide which one I like better?? I used a piece of patterned paper from the retired Ski Slope DSP pack, but you could choose a background from anything you like!



Have a great day!

Hello again!

Aghhh! It's been a while, and I feel like I am learning how to Blog all over again!


Just wanted to share with you the valentines that my son and I made for his class. We used the Bigz Bitty Box die, cardstock, and whatever Designer Series Paper (DSP) that I had that looked like it could pass for Valentines. These were so simple to make! Just folded up the box, stuffed them with little treats, and decorated! The kids were able to do the folding, punching and cranking!


Have a great day!

12 Days of Holiday Sales!

These might be the most exciting 12 days of December with select Big Shot dies and vinyl sheets for the Big Shot on sale! The 12 Days of Holiday Sales begin today and runs through December 22.


Some of the items introduced in this sale are new colors of Décor Elements vinyl sheets. There are 18 new colors to choose from, and they make great projects when you use them with Big Shot dies. Consider pairing the Clear Décor Elements vinyl sheets with the Tulipe Bigz die to create an etched-like design on a vase. Or use the Decorative Accent Bigz dies with the Old Olive Décor Element vinyl sheets to enhance a frame. The combination of Big Shot dies and Décor Elements vinyl sheets is sure to take your creativity to a new level!


Tell your husband!!! Shop now --- sale is only until Dec. 22nd!


Click here to view the Big Shot Specials list!

SNEAK PEEK!

Do you LOVE it? HUH?!

This stamp set and coordinating DSP, along with a gorgeous set of rub-ons, is one of the NEW level 3 hostess sets! There is NO stamping on the card front, aside from the sentiment. I just love this new paper! You can see three of the new in-colors here as well:Rich Razzleberry (purple), Crushed Curry (yellow) and Melon Mambo (pink). The other color is Old Olive.

Tonie in Tennessee rose to my challenge! Yay Tonie! She has used some of my favorite things in this pretty card: Pretty Amazing (stamp set), Kiwi Kiss cardstock, and Raspberry Tart DSP. OOOOHHHH, it looks like the flower is glittered! ? I LOVE glitter! I also love how she stamped the bird on DSP and cut it out. I think that's a fun way to use the DSP...





Great Job Tonie!!

Wild about you

Hello Again :)

Wow, I know, twice in one day! It's so hard to find time to stamp this time of year. The weather is finally gorgeous, and in Minnesota, you have to take advantage of that!

I did make a little time today to play with some of my favorite RETIRING stamps and papers. I am REALLY going to miss this DSP, Sweet Always. I haven't received my NEW CATALOG yet (it's coming Thursday) but I hope that Stampin Up has a new animal set that is just as cute as Wild About You.

Anyone else want to send me a picture of a card made using a favorite retiring set or paper? I'd love to see and share them... Tonie??!

Goin' on a deer hunt...

Good Afternoon!

Today's post is another scrapbook page of my little guy, Alex. Very simple. It was fun to use the Designer Hardware, Basic Small Grommets. If you haven't used them before, (they are the three circles in the upper right hand corner) they are really simple. Place the cardstock on top of a foam sheet, like the one on the mat pack. The Grommets have 5 "spikes" on the back of them, you just place them on the cardstock, and push them through! I used my little hammer, but be careful not to pound to hard, or you may bend your paper. Flip the cardstock over, and using the textured shaft of your piercing tool, roll over the spikes to bend them down. Easy as pie : )

Have a great afternoon!

A card for a pregnant lady!

Good Afternoon!

Sorry for my lack of posting : ) This past week has been busy and emotional. Memorial day weekend marks the one year anniversary of the devastating tornado that ripped through our neighborhood, destroying homes and killing a sweet little boy. Not the little boy pictured on the left, though, this little guy is mine, and as you can see he was thrilled to be able to hold 2 of 9 bunnies that my very pregnant neighbor stumbled upon while weeding her garden. : ) and boy did she scream!!

When he wasn't holding bunnies or roasting marshmallows, Alex was helping dad build a shed! It was good for us all to smile during this "hurdle" of a weekend. Many of our neighbors spent time together BBQing, having bonfires, and supporting each other as we shared stories and memories related to the tornado.

I was actually able to do some stamping this week too! I made this card to match the carseat that we are giving my "previously mentioned pregnant neighbor". I used Soft Sky cardstock, because it matched so perfectly! The swirly stamp is from Trendy Trees, and the sentiment in the oval says welcome, little one, and is from Nursery Necessities.

Here is the inside. Again, Soft Sky CS, with holed punched around the border. The swirly is stamped in the corner in Baja Breeze, Choc Chip, and Craft White.

Here is another card that I made for her. I CASED this card last year for my cousin (changed the layout and papers a bit), but I cannot remember who/where. It was memorial weekend, the day before the tornado. If it happens to look like a card that you made, then pat yourself on the back because I think it's CUTE! Sorry for the retired stamps/paper. This set, She's All That will always be one of my favorites : )

Hope the weather where you are is as great as it is here in Minnesota!! I'm going out to enjoy it!

Alex's 2 year photo shoot scrapbook cover

Good Afternoon!

I am finally getting around to scrapbooking my son's two year photo shoot! (he just turned six!!) There were soooo many pictures taken, that I decided to do an entire book. I had been saving several retired stamp sets and DSP just for this, so YEAH! I should have done them long ago, but a year of Home Hospice with my father and another year of recovering from a horrible tornado have seriously delayed me!!

This is a super simple layout, and it is the cover page in the scrapbook. I was able to print onto vellum and attach with eyelets.

Thanks for checking in, and again for all of the kind comments and emails!!

Forever Young Scrapbook Page

Good Afternoon!

I used the Hoppy Memories Simply Scrappin kit, along with some Hodge Podge Hardware, Jumbo Brads and Ribbon to make this two page layout of my little guy, Alex.

For these pages, I followed Angela Anderson's (scrapbook coordinator on SUDSOL) recommendation to include the following 5 page elements:
1. Title
2. Pictures
3. Spot for Journaling
4. Embellishments
5. Mat (around photos)

I also took the time (lot's of it!) to use the Piercing Tool and Template to create a border around the cardstock, and random photos. I think this adds a nice finishing touch.

I'm not so good at the journaling! I often have a space, but it's blank!!

If you would like to find scrapbook pages quickly, please click on the Scrapbook Page link on the right, and that will take you right to the scrapbook section. Thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration Journal # 8

Good Afternoon!

How many of you are Grey's Anatomy fans? Did you catch the finale last night?? My eyes are still puffy! What a shocker! I am thinking of letting my favorite characters from Grey's inspire a set of cards. Not sure what I'd come up with, but I'd like to make a card for each of my favorites that I feel would suit them... this could be fun!! I'll call it my Grey's Anatomy Challenge : )

So for today's card, I used River Rock, Blush Blossom, and Sage Shadow. I sponge daubered Blush Blossom ink onto the flower from the Pretties Kit. I used the flower and sentiment stamps from Garden Greetings (#113716, page 55, $21.95). Really a very easy, simple card that has a soft and pretty look when all put together.

Have a FABULOUS weekend!! My DH is Turkey hunting this weekend, so hopefully I can get some stamping time in!!

Thinking of You card

Good Afternoon!

Today I am sharing another sympathy card with you. I CASED one of my earlier posts to make this sympathy card, which combines Great Friend from the Ocassions Mini ( #113792)with Thoughts and Prayers (#113252, $25.95, page 58). The ribbon slide is colored with a mixture of Crystal Effects and Re-inker.

Here is the inside of the card...

Thanks for checking in today, and THANK YOU to everybody who has expressed their condolences.

Sympathy Card

Good Afternoon!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's day yesterday! My 2 sons (ages 20 & 6) did some yard work for me, Woohoo! Well, Ok, the 20 year old worked, the 6 year old played in the rock : ) We had beautiful weather, and it was great to hang out with the family.






Unfortunately, the card that I have to share with you today is a sympathy card. This card is for my mother, who lost her youngest brother to cancer on Thursday. He was the youngest of 8, and only 48 years old when he passed. It just doesn't seem fair : (

Sorry for the retired paper, but it was the look I needed. I used the stamp set Thoughts & Prayers (#113252, $25.95, page 58). Scallop and circle were punched out with Bigz dies. The stamped image was colored in with markers (old olive and chocolate chip).

Thanks for stopping by today,

Inspiration Journal #7, Just Beachy Birthday

Good Afternoon! It's been another busy week : ) My wonderful Husband surprised me (for my birthday) with tickets to Elton John and Billy Joel!! Best Birthday EVER!! My mother made her fabulous lasagna along with a wonderful salad, and then off to the concert we went! Needless to say, I was a bit too tired the next day to stamp!

How fun are these colors?! I could do a series of cards with these... maybe I will?!

For the front of the card, I sponged stripes in varying widths with Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa and Baja Breeze. For directions on making stripes, see the post for Inspiration Journal #4. The flip flop stamp is from the Just Beachy (113796) set from the Ocassions Mini catalog. I stamped them in Baja Breeze, and then colored a few items in Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa,664 and Regal Rose (flowers). The Live, Laugh & Love stamp is from On Your Birthday (111664, $33.95, page 141).





Now for the ribbon! JARON WINDER showed us this trick at the MPLS Regional... Just take a thread at the end of the ribbon and PULL! You get these wonderful threads to play with! I was going to tie them around something, but in the end decided to make them look more like a tassel. Just one more use for ribbon!

On the inside of the card, I sponged one stripe in Certainly Celery, and using my paper piercing tool and template, poked a row of holes. I colored the flip flops in with a Close to Cocoa marker.

I Stink You're Sweet!

Good Afternoon!

Today I knew that I wanted to do something with this paper (Pink Flamingo DSP) and so I searched for a stamp that would go with it. The flower that this cute little guy is holding is a perfect match! The image is from Pun Fun (#115054, $32.95, page 48).

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Birthday Greetings

Good Afternoon!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. I finally got to sneak in some stamping time! I just love this Bella Rose DSP, and I'd like to get in as many things as I can with it before the retired list comes out in June. The flower pot is from a set in the Occasions mini catalog, Wagon Full Of Fun. I used the Aqua Painter and re-inkers to color in the flower. Birthday Greetings is from On Your Birthday...

Have a super weekend!

Dinosaur Thank You

Good Afternoon!

Today I am sharing my son's Thank You cards. He HAD to have green, and wouldn't you know it, he chose Wild Wasabi. So, I dug back into my retired DSP and found this Apple Cider paper. Then, when I looked for my dinosaur stamps, I realized that I had forgotten to order them!! I had to pull out the retired dinosaurs from the daycare stamps! They turned out cute though!

Fifth Avenue Floral Project Tutorial

Good Afternoon!

This step by step tutorial will walk you through, both with pictures and written instruction, how to make this cute "purse" box with four different 5.5 x 4.25 inch size cards, using the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set, the On Your Birthday stamp set, and the Urban Oasis Designer Series Paper. You will use your Paper Crimper, Scallop Edge Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Mat Pack with Piercing Tool, Crystal Effects, Microbeads, Jumbo Eyelet, Brads, Aqua Painter, Scissors, and various ribbon, along with standard tools like a Paper cutter, scoring blade, ink pads, etc. The 12 page tutorial will be emailed in a PDF file to you after $7.95 payment is confirmed with Paypal. Thanks for looking!

PLEASE CLICK ON MY PHOTO, OR THE ONLINE STORE BUTTON TO PURCHASE!!

THANK YOU!

Jaron's Color Combination Creative Challenge #1

Good Afternoon!

Today I am sharing with you the card that I came up with for Jaron Winder's new color challenge! You can see his color challenges on his blog, http://www.jaronsjunkdrawer.blogspot.com/ or you can just tune in here and I'll share it with you! The colors for Jaron's FIRST color combo challenge are... Taken With Teal, Old Olive and Soft Sky.

This card is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 (to fit our 5.5" envelopes). I made the flowers out of the word window punch, and circle punches, the circle and scallop circle were punched in the BIG SHOT. The For You sentiment is from Great Friend in the Occasions Mini.

Here is the inside, I left it blank because I'm not sure what/who I will use it for, yet....


Have a great day!