The first of Fall cards

Tonight, for the Limited Supply Challenge, Jen posted not 1, not 2, but 3 challenges for us to complete over the long weekend. Monday evening she is going to have a random drawing for a small prize. This card is the first of my 3 cards. I cannot even remember the last time that I actually completed a challenge on the evening it was posted. Most products used in this card are Stampin Up!
The stamp set is a one that will be in the upcoming Winter Mini. It is called Autumn Harvest.
The card base is Pumpkin Pie while the semi-circles are cut with my new Coluzzle from So Saffron. The main image was stamped in classic black ink on naturals ivory paper and then colored with non-SU pencils and gamasol. I used the designer label punch, double rectangle punch, ticket corner punch as tools with some non-SU ribbon and Rich Regals Brads for embellishments. The finishing touch was the white accents done with the gel pen.

So, other than using quite a few punches I really did limit my supplies. I could not find just the right sentiment for this so I left it off. I really wanted to do some paper piercing in the corners and add more ribbon and brads but the point of the LSC is to have or use limited supplies so I really tried to stick with that.

I am really happy with how this turned out and I am sure that I will use it as inspiration for some more fall cards. I am so NOT ready for Summer to be over but now that Labor Day is almost here I guess I need to face reality.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

So Kind

Tuesday's Color Challenge on SCS was a doozy! Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Purely Pomegranate. I knew the moment that I saw it I was in LOVE. PiP and OO are already a favorite CC of mine. But to then add to it my most favorite In Color of 2007 - Oh yeah baby.
I've been thinking this card through all day and could not wait to get home to work on it. Most products used here are Stampin Up!

The card base is Pomegranate. The wheel So Swirly was used on the background and a white gel pen made the accents. I used all 3 ink colors on the 2 small images and finished each of them off with a little bit of coordinating ribbon from the Ribbon Originals Sherbet pack. I bought this particular pack just for this polka dotted ribbon and was thrilled to finally use it.

I am completely hooked on the Cutter Kit tool and used it again on this card to distress the edges of the 2 main images. Finally I added a double layer of Primas with a Circle Ice Rhinestone brad in the center of each. The top brad is pink and bottom brad is the olive color.

I have someone in mind that I want to send this card to. She has been a really good friend and strong supporter of my blog. I know it will take a long time to build up any kind of reader base....and I'm sure some Blog Candy wouldn't hurt but I really appreciate the time she takes everyday to come by to see what I've been up to.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

Cherish the Guava

I've been working on this card for a week. I loved the CC when it was posted but it just took awhile for it to all come together. I worked on it in stages, which for me is not typical.

The card base is Groovy Guava and the accent color is Soft Sky. Pick a Petal was used on the base and accent piece with Garden Silhouettes for the main image. I even threw in a little Baroque Motifs for fun as a layer. The vintage brads came on my last order and I was so excited to use them. I have a feeling they will be gone before I know it. The scallop edge was created with the slit punch, which you can find that tutorial for a couple of posts below. I also used my new SU! Cutter Kit with it's handy, dandy distressing tool to rough up some of the edges. As the final touch I sponged a little Soft Sky and Guava on the distressed edges to give it a light vintage feel.

I am really pleased that I did not push myself to make a card that was just so-so and took my time to create a card I am really happy with. It's been totally crazy here the last couple of weeks but tonight I just needed to stamp to save my sanity.


Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

I've been BRAK'd

Even though I am a member of the RAK (random acts of kindness) group on SCS, I have not been participating for many months now. So, imagine my surprise when I received a BRAK (birthday RAK) in my mailbox yesterday. A wonderful SCS'r TracyLTripp sent it to me.

Not only did she send me the most adorable Bella card, she included a couple of goodies as well!
Isn't she a sweetheart?!


Tracy, if you happen to read this...thank you again! This was the first card I received this year and it really made me smile!

Making Scallops from a slit punch

Sometime last year I remember when it was discovered that you can create a wonderful scallop from the Stampin Up! slit punch. I saw it being done all over the place and since I had the Slit Punch I thought I should really try that. But for some reason I never did. And that has nagged me...for a long time.
Last weekend I had my monthly stamp camp and this was a technique that I really wanted to teach. But for the life of me I could not find that darn tutorial. I scoured SCS looking for it. Spent all kinds of time looking here and there, but to no avail. Then, last week I was checking out the Ways to Use it Challenge that is posted every Thursday hosted by Julia S. And lo and behold, in her signature line was the Slit Punch; tutorial and history link. I could not believe it!!!! What are the chances that I would actually find it? The very same week that I had been thinking about it, wishing I knew how to find it. Of course I took it as a sign that I was MEANT to teach this....So here is the card that we did.



As you can see from some of my recent cards I am totally loving some of the In Colors from 2007-2008. I seem to be using Guava, Wasabi, Pomegranate, and River Rock all of the time. On this card I used the Guava with Chocolate Chip and the River Rock was an accessory. In the middle of each flower are Clear Stickles, which are my favorite by the way. They match what ever color you put them on.
I used Bud Basics for the main image and it's coordinating wheel on the background with the retired French Script. Bud Basics is no Petal Prints but since that one had retired I was SO happy to see this set in the newest catalog. I used the Tab Punch to mount the sentiment and was so happy with the small but significant element that was added to the overall design.

This scallop is so easy to create that if you have the slit punch and have NOT done this...you MUST!!! It was so much easier than I thought it would be. And the ladies at stamp camp seemed to like it as well.

I think that today marks day 5! 5 days in a row that I have posted to my blog. That might very well be a record for me. And I think that the streak should continue. Do you think I can make it to 10?? I guess we will just have to wait and see on that won't we....

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

Wow what a haul!!

Mr. Brown came yesterday!!! I have never paid extra to get on order expedited until last month when my mother-in-law was visiting and we wanted to make sure her stuff arrived before they left. If you have never done it...I cannot tell you how cool it was to have stuff arrive in 2 days vs. 7-9 days. If you have done this before....then you know EXACTLY what I mean when I say...Dang that is Cool!
So this month I had a rather large order to place. I had been saving my pennies from here and there, plus I had a couple of customers who wanted to order as well. I had no intention of expediting my order until the very, very, very last moment. But my need for instant gratification got the better of me right before I hit the submit button and I ended up paying for the 1 day option! What was I thinking!??!?!

Sorry, I digressed a little there...I had a point...Mr. Brown.
He came yesterday with said expedited order and what arrived was a box FULL of goodness!

In addition to the stuff my customers had ordered I was blessed with 4 packs of paper, my very first spectrum pad (Pumpkin Pie), the last of my 48 Classic Inks - Handsome Hunter & Elegant Eggplant, Sanded Background (pg 139), Priceless (pg 117), So Swirly Wheel(pg 117), Fabulous Flowers (pg 102), Frosty (pg 40), True Friend (pg 18 Holiday Mini), Boho Friend Wheel (pg 19 Holiday Mini), Supersize Snowflake (pg 6 Holiday Mini), the new Scalloped Punch (pg 183), Natural Hemp ( pg191), the hostess sets Party Punch (pg 18), Word on Word (pg 21) and last but not certainly least the Stampin' Up! Coluzzle Cutting System Starter Kit (pg 184) which is an early birthday present from my mother-in-law mentioned above!!! **Thank You Suzi!!!!!**

The sets that are from the Holiday Mini are Die Cut, so they go together in a snap. I hope I am able to find the time this weekend to mount everything else and actually play with all my new goodies! Come back next week to see what I have done with it all!

Thanks for coming by and Happy Stamping!

Look at these Labels!!

I am not sure if you have noticed the new Color Index Labels on page 193 of the newest Stampin' Up catalog but if not...it's time to take note!

These come in a pack of 2. They are black lettering on a clear background. They are designed to place on the ends of your ink pads or use them to create a file system for your card stock. The cost was very reasonable at only $3.95 for the pair of them.

Since I only have classic ink pads in full size and only 1 Stampin' Up Color Caddy I won't be needing 2. I plan on sending the 2nd set to a friend who I now will really dig them.

These make it so easy to see at a glance what color ink you are looking for. On the top of the color caddy I plan on placing the Color Family Label on a white label, then adding it to the top of each column. But for tonight I am very happy with how this has turned out.






Hopefully with my new system I will be able to spend less time, significantly less time looking for the color that I want and much more time actually stamping with it!




Thanks for coming by!!! Happy Stamping!!

There's a new man in my life

I wasn't really sure how to break it to my friends and family, much less my stamping family but it's time I admit I have a new man in my life.

In case you have not met him yet...this is BeeraFella. Isn't he awesome!!! I purchased him from one of my favorite stamp websites www.stampingbella.com. When he was first released I knew I had to have him. I married into a family full of men. There are 6 brothers, no sisters and a few of them like to have a beer now and then. So does their dad. So of course this guy was for me.

I made this card for one of the brothers who have birthdays within a few days of each other. This card is one of the 2. I used the newly retired SU! background Crosshatch as well as little pieces and the round tab punch. The main image was colored with the Watercolor Crayons and some Gamasol.

There are many Fellas out now and I need to get them all...but I think this guy is always going to have a soft spot in my heart since he was my first.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

2 days in a row

I tried to do the SCS Color Challenge tonight but I just couldn't make these 2 colors work (CC128) together. This is not the first time I've worked with them, so I decided that I would post one of the other cards I made since my last Blogging effort that I AM happy with.
This card was made for my DS' 3rd birthday party back in June. The Mickey ears I created from a pattern that I found on the Disney website and enlarged on a copier. All stitching is done with a white gel pen. I downloaded the Walt Disney font from the internet and printed all of the text inside and out on heavy duty copy paper. The card base is Whisper White and embossed with the Swirl Cuttlebug folder.

Of course I made matching Thank You's after the party and we did get so many nice comments on these cards. Some members of our family have saved every single card I have made for them, which really makes me feel great!








I hope you enjoy the cards and they give you some inspiration - Now go and stamp!

For my friend Barb.....

I had no idea it had been so long since I Blogged..and honestly I did not think anyone cared. I mean, I am no great stamper and my cards are just OK. But tonight I got an email from Barb
who took the time to send me an email and tell me to get off my a$$. So, Barb - this entry is for you.

So much has happened since May. I could keep you for days filling you in, but how about I start with a card! If you know me at all, you know we moved to a new house in March of this year. Our new house is twice as big as the old and the yard is about 5 times the size. And for some strange reason I just don't have the same time to stamp as I used to. But in the last month I have been making time to stamp and here are a few cards I have created.

This first card is a card I made for Rachel, one of my very best friends. We met early last year when my children started attending the daycare that she ran. We hit it off the moment we met and were pretty much inseparable from then on. Well, yesterday my Miss Rachel moved to Boise ID. It was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. And I wanted to make something very special for her. For this card I used some of the new In Colors. Groovy Guava is one of her favs so of course I had to use it. I also used Chocolate Chip and River Rock. I used my Cuttlebug for the Chocolate Chip section and the Baroque Motifs stamp set (another one of her favs). The 2 ribbons are the Guava and River Rock double stitched ribbons and the small image in the right corner is raised with a Zot. It took all I had to not let the tear drops fall on the card as I created it but I am so happy with how it turned out.

This next card I made last week, just trying to find my MoJo.

I am really loving most of the In Colors for 2007. Especially the colors in this card. I had just received my last Great Rewards order for 2006 and used my points for the Cutter Tool (LOVE IT!!) and a square punch. I remembered this layout from a Sketch Challenge and had to try it with my new punch.
I used the Perennial Favorites and French Flair stamp sets. The ribbon is the River Rock double stitched Grosgrain and the Horizontal Slot punch was used to offset the ribbon.
The butterflies are done in Guava and Pomegranate.







The last card I will post tonight is actually 2. These are Christmas (yes, Christmas) cards that I have designed for a customer of mine that has been purchasing cards to use in Marketing her personal consulting business for the last year. This will be the 3rd set of card she has ordered from me so far. I have had a lot of fun designing these for her and hope that I am not too burned out after making these so that I will also make some for myself.


These cards use the same colors and stamp set, just different layouts. For these I am using the rest of my stash of Cranberry Crisp and matching grosgrain ribbon. Of course I had to throw in an In Color so for this I choose the Wild Wasabi, as well as Chocolate Chip nd Clost to Cocoa. The images are colored with some non SU watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I am going to try a few with the Aqua Painter and Gamasol as well just to see how they turn out. I really think Gamsol makes the colors pop!
The background on the first card is the new SU background called Sanded.
My customer has ordered 20 of each of these cards so I know that will keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.


Lastly I figured I should share with you my other new ink. And it isn't Classic or Craft. Dye based or pigment. It isn't Copic Markers (even though I would really like some of those!!) or the much talked about Papertrey Inks. No, this ink is a little bit different.
This is NOT the most flattering picture of my waist but I LOVE my new ink. I have been thinking about the design and placement of this tattoo for a long time. About a month ago, a good friend of mine offered to take me and have this done as my early birthday present. I will try to get a better pic of it soon but I have to say in person it just looks awesome! The design is so crisp and clear and the colors are just vibrant!







So thanks Barb, for getting me back to my Blog. I guess to have readers you have to actually post and from time to time offer some goodies (can you say BLOG CANDY!) for people to keep coming back. I think it's time for me to put something fun together!