Secret Garden by Ann Schach

You can't imagine how excited and thrilled I was when I opened my envelope from Brian King, and in it was this absolutely, gorgeous card made by Ann Schach.  I was speechless and just stared at the card in amazement.  The card is just exquisite. Just take a look at how Ann water colored the flowers on the card.  The card has a lot of layers, and I will NEVER part with it..  I couldn't recreate it if I tried ... Ann is truly a gifted artist, to say the least.  Take a look at the card from her .... you will not believe it.

To appreciate it, you would have to see it in person.  It has weight to it due to the layers, and the flowers stand up off the card, as well as their centers.  Ann, this card is beautiful.  Thank you Brian for selecting hers to send me in return for mine.

More Baltimore Regional Swaps

I came home with about 45 swaps at the Baltimore Regionals, so I thought I would share another round of them with you.  Some of them were just so cute .... and it's always a bonus to get swaps!  Of course, you should always give a swap to receive one .. that's only polite.  I made 45 to take with me and came home with that many.  Oh la la....

I'll be sharing more of them from time to time, so stay tuned.

Have a happy day!

Happy Birthday Gift Card Holders

Yep, you guessed it.  I made more gift card holders, however, this time, I didn't use the petite pocket die like last time.  I made these from scratch using some retired DSP I had.  They are oh so cute ... and what a great gift idea for that special tween, don't you agree?  I'd certainly love to receive my gift card all packaged up in something pretty.

These were oh so simple to make and quick.  I made 13 of them in no time.  How about that?  Do you want the instructions?  Ok, I'll be happy to share.  Thanks goes out to Selene Kempton over at Stamp4fun who was kind enough to share.

Base Layer Measurements:  9 x 4-1/4"; score at 3" and 7-1/4" cardstock of your choice

Layer 2 Inside:  cut 4" x 4" DSP of your choice

Outside Layer Top:  4 x 2-3/4" DSP

Outside Layer Bottom:  4" x 1-1/2" DSP

Belly Band:  9-1/2" x 1-1/2" of your base cardstock

Layer 2:  9-1/2" x 1" using Layer 2 inside DSP

And there you have it.  Have fun with these ... they're just so much fun.

Petite Pocket Gift Card Holders

I had some fun with the petite pocket die this past week.  I made quite a few gift card holders using them, and each one came out cuter than the next.  Here are 3 of the ones I made for a Ladies Bingo event ... I'm crazy about them:

Don't you love them?  You can have a lot of fun making all sorts of designs and colors with the fabulous papers from Stampin' Up.  I can't wait to make more .... oh la la.  Hope you try them yourself.  They are quick and oh so cute.

Until tomorrow .... happy crafting!

Just Buzzing with Thanks

At first, I wasn't too crazy about the bumblebee stamp from the Spring Sampler, but now, I just love it.  He's just so cute.

I've seen variations of this card out there, but here's one we made at my uplines' Friday evening event.  Buzz, Buzz, Buzz...'

Love the honeycomb embossing folder too.  The card is just so cute.  Hope you like it too!

How About a Sparkly Cupcake Sort of Birthday

Don't you just love the cupcake punch?  I don't know what I'd do without it.   I've used this punch for so many cards, and each time, it just gets better.

Here's a card we made at an evening card-making event that my upline, Jill Hilliard hosted.  It's so cute.

Anytime there's cupcakes involved, it's a reason to celebrate.  Hope you like it.

Hugs!

Coloring Down the Lines - Always Artichoke

Hi Everyone!  It's a great week and welcome back to our blog hop.  This week's challenge is Always Artichoke and River Rock combination.  I wasn't sure what to do with this one, but I've wanted to try emboss resist, and I put my mind to it to come up with something using these colors.  Well, I found a card I liked on the web, and I don't know who did it, but it was pretty.  I CASEd the card using these colors and it came out ok, I think - for my first try!  I know Carol doesn't usually have any problems with anything she does.  She uses a lot of techniques on her cards, and they are just stunning.  Don't you agree?

Here's mine for this week:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  always artichoke, river rock, whisper white

Ink:  always artichoke, river rock, white craft ink

Stamp Set:  fabulous florets

Accessories:  boho blossoms and itty bitty shapes punch pack, basic pearls

I know I'll get better with the emboss resist as I continue to play with it.  I just wanted to try it and you may be seeing more as time goes by. 

I do hope you'll continue to stop back.  I have some cool little goodies to show you.  For now, let's hop on over to Joni's blog and see what she did with these colors.  I can't wait to see, can you?

Have a super week!

Sunshine & Sprinkles 2-Page Scrapbook Layout

Here is a two-page scrapbook layout I made at our Great Escape weekend a couple weeks ago.  I had fun with this one.  It's been a while since I've done some scrapbook pages, and Stampin' Up's sunshine & sprinkles designer series paper made it so easy.  Here's my pages:

I had a hard time getting both of the pages in my picture, but managed to do so.  It took a few tries ... LOL

Anyway, hope you like them.  Let whatever inspires you to create beautiful works of art.  TTFN.

Bridal Shower Tent Cards

As promised, here are the tent cards, and bridal frame banners I made for my co-worker for the bridal shower she is hosting for her friend this weekend.  They turned out so cute too .. and Cheryl was very happy with them.  YEAH!  I aim to please.  Here they are:

I love the way the tent cards turned out.  I cut out each hydrangea, and i debated whether or not to do emboss resist, but didn't like it as much as just using the daubers.  Sure hope they're a hit at the shower this weekend.  

Until tomorrow .... 

Bridal Shower Card

One of my co-workers is having a bridal shower for one of her friends this weekend and asked me to make her a bridal shower card.  The colors the bride selected is royal blue, so I broke out Stampin' Up's Pacific Point" inkpad and went to work.  I found a really cute card from Stampin Sweet with Boni and so I CASEd it, altering it slightly.  It turned out so cute ... take a look:

Recipe:

Paper:  pacific point, whisper white, brights dsp, silver glimmer paper, marina mist

Ink:  pacific blue

Stamps:  teeny tiny wishes

Accessories:  scallop circle die, boho blossoms punch, bitty banners framelit, basic rhinestones, white satin ribbon

She absolutely loved the card, and I'm so glad.  I thought it was adorable, and I sure hope the bride likes it too.

I also made some tent cards & banners for the frames the bridesmaids will be using for the shower this weekend.  I'll post those tomorrow so you can see how cute they turned out.  

Until then,  thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

Jar of Frogs

Did you ever think of frogs in a mason jar?  No, me either.  But ... here's a card we made at one of my upline's card classes last weekend.  It's just so cute.  I never thought I would have fun with the froggies ... but they're just so cute.  Look at them jumping all over, trying to get out of the jar.  And guess what ... there's no lid.  You just might find one hopping around your house as he found his way out of the jar!

Cute, isn't it?  I love it, along with the colors.  I hope you do too.  Until tomorrow, be happy!

Baltimore Regionals Swap - 5

Yes, I'm going in backwards order in the way I photographed the swap cards I received at Regionals, but that makes it interesting, doesn't it?  Here's the first, or last batch of photographs I took of the swaps.

So stay tuned, there's more.  I hope you get some inspiration from them - there's a lot of good stuff coming your way.

Have a wonderful, sunny day!

My Baltimore Regional Swap Card

Here is the card I made to swap at the Baltimore Regionals this past Saturday, April 13.  I had a lot of fun coming up with the design, and by the time I finished the 44th card, I was tired of gray.  ha ha ha.  I didn't come home with any, though.  That's a plus - I came home with pretty swaps from the other gals at the regional.  Here's mine, and later in the week, I'll share the other swaps I received.

Recipe:

Paper:  basic gray, basic black, real red, crumb cake, whisper white, silver glimmer paper

Ink:  real read

Stamp Set:  ciao, baby

Accessories:  petite curly label, word window, fancy brocade EF, perfect polka dots EF, itty bitty punch pack, delicate doily, cupcake builder punch, small oval punch, dress up framelits, basic rhinestones

I hope you like it.  I'm crazy for the entire dress up ensemble!  If you don't have it, it's a must.  There's so much you can do with it.

Until tomorrow, happy stamping!

Coloring Down the Lines - Cherry Cobbler

Welcome back this week to our Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  This week's challenge was to design a card around Cherry Cobbler and Riding Hood Red.  Now, cherry cobbler has been one of my all time favorite regal colors, however, this combination is not my favorite.  I see that Carol didn't have trouble coming up with something sweet, as always, but me ... well, I'm just not thrilled with mine.  Here it is:

.Recipe:

Paper:  cherry cobbler, riding hood red, whisper white

Ink:  riding hood red

Stamp Set:  a round array

Accessories:  fancy fan EF, perfect polka dots EF, piercing punch pack, basic pearls, cherry cobbler tulle, apothecary accents framelits

I think it's a little hard to distinguish between the cherry cobbler and the riding hood red, so I'll tell you that the base is cherry cobbler, and so is the tulle ribbon / bow.  Everything else is riding hood red.  

Now, let's hop on over to see what Joni made using this color combo.  She always has a "WOW" card too.

Until tomorrow, happy stamping!

.

Patterned Occasions - Speedy Recovery

Here's a card I made for one of my co-workers who had surgery.  I was looking for a card with a masculine flair and found one on Stampin Connection.  Thanks to Cindee Wilkinson, I CASED the card, with just a color changeup.  I hope my co-worker likes the card, and he's back to work soon.

Recipe:

Paper:  basic gray, very vanilla, print poetry dsp

Ink:  crumb cake, real red

Stamp Set:  patterned occasions

Accessories:  ovals framelits, perfect polka dot EF, 1/8" black ribbon

Hope you like it.  Stay tuned ... I'll be posting my SWAPS from the Baltimore Regionals soon.  Have a great day.

You Are My Sunshine Chalkboard Card

I made another card using the "You Are My Sunshine" stamp,  and it's rather nice.  There's a lot you can do with the stamp, and here's another one ...

The bright background in daffodil delight makes the black stand out nice and bright.   The card was then topped off with three large rhinestones.  

Hope you like it.  Thanks for your comments!

How About Some Sunshine & Sprinkles on Your Birthday?

I just love the sunshine and sprinkles designer-series paper from Stampin' Up, don't you?  It's so cheery and fun, and so this is just one of the cards I made using the dsp.

Recipe:

Paper:  daffodil delight, pacific point, very vanilla, sunshine & sprinkles dsp

Ink:  pacific point

Stamp Set:  happy birthday

Accessories:  honeycomb EF, pinwheel embosslit, 3/8" striped organdy ribbon in marina mist

It's a fun card and I will be happy to give it to someone special ... 

Until tomorrow, happy stamping!

You're Such an Amazing ...

You fill in the rest ... You're such an amazing "friend"!  What a nice way to tell someone what you think of them.  I'm sure anyone would love to hear what an amazing ... they are.  I could certainly have some fun with this card.

So what would you fill in if you had this card?  Let me know .. I'd love to hear.

Thanks for stopping by again, and I do hope you'll be back again tomorrow.  G'night!

Those Who Bring Sunshine ...

This is a card we made at Jill's Great Escape this past weekend.  I love this card and wanted to share it with you.  We had such a wonderful time this past weekend, and it was so nice to share ideas and lots of fun and laughter with a room full of creative women.  Here's the card we made ...

We used summer starfruit for the card, along with black, and the rays of sunshine are strips of patterned dsp in summer starfruit.  Cute, isn't it?  It was an easy card to make.  Try it, you'll see what I mean.

Until tomorrow, happy stamping!

Summer Silhouettes Birthday

This is a really sweet card that I actually didn't make, but my upline did.  It really like the summer silhouettes stamp set.  See what you think ...

I love the colors and simplicity of the card.  I just wanted to post it to share.  Hope you like it too.

See you back tomorrow ...

Coloring Down the Lines - Elegant Eggplant Duo

Welcome back to Coloring Down the Lines.  Did you just come from Carol's blog?  It's amazing what she can do with just two colors!  I find it a little challenging with two colors that are similar.  This week's color duo is Elegant Eggplant and Perfect Plum.  It took me a while to figure out what to do with those colors, but I came up with a card, and it didn't take too long.  Imagine that?  Here's my design...

Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white, elegant eggplant, subtles patterned dsp in perfect plum stripe

Ink:  perfect plum

Stamp Sets:  best of flowers, thank you kindly (retired)

Accessories:  pierced punch set, perfect plum 3/8" taffeta ribbon; basic pearls

I hope you like it.  Now, let's check out Joni's awesome design ... just can't wait to hop on over.  

Until tomorrow, thanks for stopping by.

Print Poetry Thank You

I just love the green, blue and yellow pattern in the print poetry dsp pack.  I had a few pieces cut from another card I recently made, so I thought I would use the rest of it up and make another card.  Here it is:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  very vanilla, midnight muse, gumball green, print poetry dsp

Ink:  midnight muse, gumball green

Stamp Set:  secret garden, teeny tiny wishes

Accessories:  elegant lines EF, secret garden framelits, basic pearls

My girlfriend wants to send a "thank you" card and she doesn't like anything really fancy, so I thought this might suffice.  We'll see when she sees it tomorrow, along with the other card I made earlier.  Either way, I like them both and I'll be happy to keep it!

See you tomorrow with another surprise.  Happy Tuesday!

Tea for Two, Thank You

Yesterday, I posted the "dress up" card for my friend Risa's daughter to send to her new friend in France, and today I'm sharing the card I made for the parents.  I like this card too, and I love the colors. I can't say where I get my inspiration from time to time, but I'm so glad I have some!

Recipe

Paper:  crumb cake, so saffron, pacific point, whisper white, tea for two dsp

Ink:  pacific point

Stamp set:  thank you

Accessories:  perfect dots EF, 5/8" flower trim,, tea lace paper doily, basic pearls

Do you like the card?  I like the colors, and for some reason, I'm really loving the "so saffron" color.  I hope to do more cards using it.

Until tomorrow, stamp happy!

Check out the New Color Refresh from Stampin' Up ...

You all know how great Stampin' Up's inks and stamps are, right?  Well, every 3 to 5 years, they do a "COLOR REFRESH" and they've added some retired colors back into the mix (some of our favs), and also introduced some new ones too.  If you're like me, you'll want to make sure you have them all.  Check them out!