My Convention Swaps: Card Candy

I participated in two Card Candy swaps at convention this year.  This is the first time I've ever done Card Candy, and I have to tell you, I loved it.  I was very happy with the way mine turned out, and the toppers came out so cute.  Let me share with you:

Card Candy #1

This one was my favorite.  I love the new "in colors" and that's what I used for these.


Card Candy #2

Hope you like them.  They were a lot of fun.  I'll share with you the card candy I got back from the swap at Convention.  Stay tuned.

Coloring Down the Lines - Grunge Meets Groovy Love

I had a hard time coming up with something for this week's challenge for some reason, and I just couldn't think of what to do.  Did you ever get one of those blanks and nothing comes together?  Well, I started pulling out the colors for this week's challenge and looking at some of my stamp sets and came up with something that is ok, but I think it's a little busy.  O well ... it still is kind of pretty anyway.

The colors we had to work with were:

The colors kind of blend together, and the picture didn't help give me much inspiration, I must add.  But never-the-less, I came through.  LOL.

If you've been to Carol's blog before this, then you know she's spot on this week.  I don't know how she does it.  As for Joni, who is coming up next, she always is way ahead of the game each week and has her creation made before we even know who is following who.  How does she do that?

I won't keep the suspense any longer.  Here is what I've created, which I call "Grunge Meets Groovy Love"...

I gave you a close up view as well so you could see a bit better.

Recipe:
Paper:  basic black, tempting turquoise, very vanilla, crumb cake
Ink:  crumb cake, island indigo, soft suede, tempting turquoise
Stamp Sets:  gorgeous grunge, groovy love, pictogram punches, good greetings (hostess)
Accessories:  linen thread, basic rhinestones, itty bitty accent punch, sweetheart punch, dimensionals

Hope you had fun hopping around to each of our blogs, checking out our entries.  I would love to hear your comments, and thank you kindly for stopping by and checking us out each week.

Cheers!

More Swaps from Convention

Here's another set of swaps I brought home from convention.  Hope you like them.

and more to come....

Convention Swaps

Here's a few more of my swaps.  I will also share some of my card candy swaps and 3x3 as well.  Stay tuned ...

Nancy's Birthday Card, Envelope & Gift Bag

At convention, I received this cute birthday card swap from Barb Gonzales of Happy Stampin Ladies and I thought it was so cute, so I replicated it for my sister, but used a different stamp set for the "happy birthday" and didn't use the gold wrapped bakers twine on mine.  I decided to make the envelope and gift bag match, so here's what I came up with:

and here's a close up of the card and envelope:

and I don't know if you noticed, I used gorgeous grunge to decorate the tissue paper in the bag.  I tried to get a good picture of that so you could see, but this was the best I could do.

It turned out really cute, and I added a "blackberry bliss" ribbon to the handle and tied it in a bow.  It looked awesome, and my sister loved it.

I just love stamping .. there's so much possibility!

How About Some Convention Swaps

I came back from convention with a lot of nice swaps, and I thought I would share them with you over the next few days.  Once I get settled a bit and pull out all my new stuff from the new Holiday catalog, I'll share some of my creations, just to wet your appetite.  Stay tuned.

Here you go ...  This is 12 of my swaps from convention.

More to come tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.

Coloring Down the Lines - Eclectic Floral

We're all back from the Stampin' Up Convention that was held last week in Salt Lake City, Utah.  What a nice time, getting together with friends you don't see often, and learning all the new techniques, etc.  And of course, what would convention be without prize patrol?  Oh la la.  I didn't win this year, but we all came home with goodies, that's for sure.

We also got a sneak peek at the holiday catalog.  What a treat that was, and we even got to take one home with us.  Don't fret ... you'll be able to order in about a month or so.  You won't be disappointed.

This week's blog hop uses the following colors:

And here is the inspirational photograph we used to create our masterpieces this week

I struggled a little, trying to come up with something fun, and then I managed to create something using all the colors in the pallet.  I love the bubbles above, and maybe someday, I'll come up with something that mirrors them.

If you've arrived here from Carol's blog, that's perfect.  After stopping here, jump on over to Joni's blog and see what she created for you.  It's always fun seeing what everyone comes up with, and what they see when they look at the photograph.

Here is my entry this week:

Recipe

Paper:  baked brown sugar, whisper white, tempting turquoise, melon mambo

Ink:  melon mambo, tempting turquoise, pistachio pudding, baked brown sugar, pear pizzazz, smoky slate

Stamp Sets:  good greetings (hostess), gorgeous grunge, kinda eclectic, beautiful bunch

Accessories:  pansy punch, petite petals punch, itty bitty accents punch, corner rounder, scallop border punch, hot glue, blendabilities, basic pearls

We learned a new technique at convention, and I tried it on this card.  On a silicone mat, select a blendabilities color and color a spot on the silicone mat.  Then add a drop of hot glue on top of it and it will take on the color of the blendabilities.  I put the hot glue dots on the centers of the larger flowers.  You may not be able to see them all very clearly, but the pink center on the blue/pistachio pudding flower is a good view.  Cool, isn't it?  You'll have to try it.

Well, until tomorrow, stay cool and hope to see you back!  

A Sympathy Card for Bernadette

When someone you love passes, it's always a difficult and emotional time.  A friend lost her mother last weekend, and I'll never forget that day because my mother passed on that every day, 10 years ago.  Not only did Bernadette's mother pass, my aunt's sister-in-law also passed, who I knew fairly well.  So I know how Bernadette feels, and the only way I managed to get through my grief was to lean on God for strength and friends and family for comfort.  It just makes me think of my mother and how I wish she was still here.

So I made a card for Bernadette, reaching out to her to let her know that she has friends who care.  Here is the card I made for her.

and here is the inside

I hope the card comforts Bernadette, and helps to ease the pain in the days to come.

Thanks for stopping by.

Coloring Down the Lines: Gorgeous Grunge Meets Work of Art

Now that all the July 4th festivities have passed, it's time to move forward and get ready for Stampin' Up's convention in Salt Lake City.  I'm looking forward to it, as always, and have almost all my swaps completed.  One week and counting ...

Welcome back to our weekly blog hop, Coloring Down the Lines.  I managed to stay in the game, despite the mad dash to get my swamps done.  This week's challenge is using the following color pallet:

And here is what I came up with this week:

Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white, soft suede

Ink:  pistachio pudding, pear pizzazz, wild wasabi, soft suede, real red, tempting turquoise, very vanilla

Stamp Sets:  gorgeous grunge, work of art

Accessories:  heart punch, basic rhinestones

I won't see you next week, as I'll be in Salt Lake City.  Wait until you see all the beautiful cards I come home with.  I promise to post all my swap cards too ... Oh la la.  And talking about beautiful cards, don't forget to check out Carol's cards, as well as Joni's blog, which is right after me.

Happy Stamping, and see you soon.

A Birthday Card for Connie

What better way to celebrate a birthday for a friend than to make something special ... a card, letting her know how much I wish her to have the best day ever.  Well, that's what I did .. I made a birthday card for Connie.  She'll be surprised when she gets home and opens it.  I love sharing my craft with those I care about and this one is for you, Connie.  HAPPY  BIRTHDAY!

Oh happy day!

Sweet Briar Rose Encouragement

Another co-worker of mine recently experienced a tragic loss in her family, and we wanted to give her a card of encouragement to keep her going and to know that she has many friends that care so much for her.

Here's a card I made ...

and here's the inside ...

Sorry I couldn't get the card flipped around so you can see it, but you can see what I did.  I used the moonlight dsp and just stamped over it.

Cheers!

Another Birthday Card for Michelle - Everything Eleanor

My other friend, Risa, wanted me to make a birthday card for Michelle, so I looked at Pinterest again and found a cute card by Stampin with Tami.  I made the base a little different, but everything else was CASED.

Here's the cute card I made:

and here's the inside ...

sorry it's not straight up ... but you get the idea.

Thanks for stopping by.

July 4 Pinwheels on Parade

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!  What a wonderful day to celebrate our nation's birthday.

In honor of this wonderful birthday celebration, I made a picture frame with a patriotic pinwheel to share.  The pinwheel came from Stampin' Up's Paper Pumpkin monthly kit, and if you don't have Paper Pumpkin coming to your door every month and want to, by all means, sign up.  You can cancel at any time, as well as order as many kits as you wish.  This month was such a WOW, as I LOVE pinwheels.  Hope you do too.  Just go to www.mypaperpumpkin.com to sign up, and select me as your demonstrator (Helen Burnley).  That's all there is to it!

Enjoy the day's celebrations, and have a safe and happy 4th of July holiday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

Sorry about the lighting .. it was the best I could do.

Cheers!

Moonlight Flower Shop Birthday Card for Michelle

My friend, and co-worker, Michelle's birthday is July 3.  Every year, I make her a card, and I enjoy making it.  This year, it took me a bit to come up with something for her, but I found inspiration on Pinterest.  I used the new 2014-16 "in colors" from Stampin Up.  The colors are pretty and I sure hope she likes them as much as I do.

Here's my card ...

and here's the inside:

Happy Birthday, my friend!

Coloring Down the Lines - 4th of July WOW

It's almost ready for fireworks, BBQs, family, friends, and most of all, FUN!  I can't believe July 4 is just around the corner.  Although Summer technically just started, it feels like the Summer is half over.  Oh no!!!!
This week, since our blog hop is 2 days before the 4th, we decided to do a holiday theme.  Here are the colors we used for our challenge:

Recipe

Paper:  whisper white, real red, sahara sand, night of navy

Ink:  rose red, real red, soft sky, night of navy, marina mist

Stamp Sets:  embellished events, work of art, be the star

Accessories:  1/8" real red ribbon, stars framelits, basic rhinestones

I couldn't believe it, but I designed and finished this card in no time flat.  I was sitting our our boat this afternoon and the design came to me and I went to town making the card as soon as I got home.  I rather like it ... and I certainly hope you do too.

I hope you hopped over here from Carol's blog, however, if you missed it, don't forget to go back and see what she made for you this week.  Joni is always ready, able, and willing to make a card using any color combination we come up with.  Don't forget to bop on by to see her entry.

I do hope you enjoy your 4th of July holiday!  It's such great fun celebrating our nation's birthday.

See you soon ...