For the Grad

Graduation is always a special day, and we celebrate all those who are graduating from high school, universities, nursing school, law school, etc.  Congratulations to all those who accomplished their goals, and here's wishing you the best in following your dreams.

Recipe

Paper:  pacific point, daffodil delight, whisper white, sunshine & sprinkles DSP

Ink:  pacific point

Stamp Sets:  polymer letters, teeny tiny wishes

Accessories:  1-1/4" scallop circle punch, 3/4" round punch, word window, modern label punch, ticket corner punch (retired)

Are You Ready for the New 2013 - 2014 Stampin' Up Catalog?

Are you as excited as I am about the new 2013 - 2014 Stampin' Up Catalog?  Oh my goodness - wait till you see all the new stuff.  You're going to want it all like I do.  

If you'd like to have a catalog, please contact me and I'll be happy to send you one.  You just can't miss this one; you'll be so sorry if you do.

Don't miss out ... contact me today.

Hugs, and of course, happy stamping!!!!

Coloring Down the Lines - Basic Black

It's a short week for most of us, but I still managed to get some stampin time in, and just in time for our weekly Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  This week's challenge is basic black.  The color combinations are either daffodil delight and old olive, or baja breeze and cherry cobbler.  I chose the first one because it reminds me of spring and summer ... so this was an easy one.  Carol always plays with us each week and never misses, like me (hehehe), and she's an endless creativity machine, don't you agree?  If you haven't stopped at her blog before mine, don't forget to go back and check her out.  You'll never  be disappointed.

So without further ado, here's my submission for the week:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  basic black, daffodil delight, old olive, whisper white

Ink:  basic black, old olive, daffodil delight

Stamp Sets:  summer silhouettes, teeny tiny wishes

Accessories:  daffodil delight seam binding, basic pearls, needlepoint border EF, scallop trim border bunch

I wish every week could be as easy as this week, but then again, it wouldn't be a challenge, would it?  And if you think about it, these challenges allow us sometimes to think outside the box and explore combinations we would have never dreamed of putting together.  So for that, I'm so grateful to be participant.

Now, let's see what Joni has for us this week.  I happen to know that she had her card done way before we even knew what the line up was going to be.  How about that!  GO JONI!  

Hope you enjoy the tour ... and please do keep coming back.  We love your comments.

Black Vulture Invasion

Last week, our neighborhood was invaded by a group of black vultures.  They suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and we just couldn't figure out what they were doing here.  Last year, we saw a few of them, but this year, there's about 30 of them.  The found my neighbor's year very appealing, and decided to perch on their rooftop.  YUK!  They also were in the trees behind her house, right near the creek.  You could drive right by and hardly notice them at first until you were right near them, and there was a sea of black in the tree with not-so-nice looking faces glaring at you.  It was creepy and something you might see in a horror flick.  As you can see in the picture below, I captured about 17 of them on my neighbor's roof, and the remainder were scouting out in the trees.

Now they might not look so bad in the photo above, but these creatures are about 2' tall, and their wing span is about 4+ feet.  I was worried about the little bunnies that nest in the area, and unfortunately, I haven't seen them in a while.  Oh I hope they did not fall prey to these ugly creatures.  I just wish they would go away.

So do you want to see one up close?  Here you go ...



If you'd like to read more about them, here's the link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Vulture
You'll be as grossed out as I was.

So as of today, they are dwindling, or at least I should say, I don't see as many.  Maybe they're moving on, but not sure yet.  Another neighbor said he sees them in the early morning coming out of an abandoned barn not far from here, and they retreat there late in the evening.  Ewwww.

I hope I didn't gross you out too much.  I know it's nature, but we could sure do without them around here.

Memorial Day Remembrance

Memorial Day

Thank you for your service & giving us our freedom

Today is a day to celebrate and honor all of those who have served in our armed forces. As the sun shines down on us today, let's pray that it shines down on those who need it most.  Thank you, and God Bless you and your families for all you've done for us and our country.  Your bravery and service could never be matched.  

May God keep you and your families in His infinite care and protect you as you face each day with uncertainty.  And for those who have fallen, God rest your sweet souls until we all meet again in eternity.

Thank you!

Pretty Boxes from Recycled DSP Cardboard

Did you ever want to do something with the cardboard that comes in the Designer Series Paper packs besides use them for shims for your bigshot?  Well, here's a cute little idea for you on how to make them into sweet, little card boxes, or just a catchall box for whatever you have lying around.  I made 6 of them in no time.

Card Box Instructions:

1.  Score the 12x12 cardboard at 4" on two sides

2.  Turn the cardboard & score at 3" on the opposite two sides

3.  Snip the center square on each side only up to the 4" score line above

4.  Select a 12x12 DSP paper of your choice and cut two 4"x 12" pieces of paper

5.  Score DSP at 3" on both ends

6.  Adhere the DSP to each end of the cardboard that is not snipped (outer edges)

7.  Glue box together and decorate.

There are so many uses for your box, and they're so easy to make.  You can even fill them with cards and give them as a gift, or they also hold some of your bigshot dies.  Have fun and be creative.  Hope you like them.

Coloring Down the Lines - Soft Suede

Welcome back to our blog hop this week.  The colors we had to work with were:  soft suede, so saffron, regal rose, or soft suede, baja breeze, cherry cobbler.  I chose the creative combo - using so saffron and regal rose.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the colors, but I knew I wanted to do either a container full of flowers, or something on that order.  I found a cute layout by Laurie Zoellmar of the Stamping Nut, and slightly altered it to my liking.  I hope you like it.

Recipe:

Paper:  soft suede, very vanilla, so saffron, regal rose

Ink:  so saffron, regal rose, soft suede

Stamp Sets:  secret garden, teeny, tiny wishes

Accessories:  needlepoint border EF, secret garden framelits, matchbox die (label), paper piecing pack, scallop trim border punch, basic pearls, very vanilla seam binding

Well, did you take a peek at Carol's artwork before you stopped here?  Again, the WOW factor, don't you think?  And for another WOW factor, let's pop on over to joniinthespotlightstamping and see what she has for us.  Thanks for checking us out this week.  

Mojo Monday 294

Today I had a very bad day, all the way around.  Nothing worked out in my favor, and whatever could go wrong, did.  My computer at work even shut down in the middle of an important document I was typing, and only 1/2 of it came back.  I'm so glad the day is behind me.  So to make me feel better, I went on to Pinterest and checked out all the new stuff, and then read my emails from the various blogs I follow and just gazed at all the beautiful creations made by the people I admire, and I came across the Mojo Monday 294 blog challenge.  I thought, why not, go ahead and join in.  I enjoy stamping and crafting, and that will get my mind off all the negative things that happened today.  So that's what I did.  Here's the sketch for this week's challenge.  It's a nice and easy one, I might add:



I put my thinking cap on, figured out what color I wanted to use, thought of a design, and off I went creating the card I want to enter for the challenge.  Want to see it?  Ok, sure, let me know what you think, if you don't mind sharing your thoughts.

Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white, rich razzleberry, polka dot parade DSP

Ink:  rich razzleberry

Stamp Sets:  monogram sweet, kindness matters

Accessories:  scallop trim border punch, designer frames embossing folder,corner rounder, 3/8" taffeta ribbon in whisper white, basic pearls

Sweet, simple, and pretty nice too, don't you think?  I'm pleased it turned out.  What a perfect way to end the day and feel good about me.  

Thanks for stopping by, and please don't forget to check out the rest of the designs from Mojo Monday 294.  Happy Stamping, and may your days be bright and sunny!

Happy Father's Day by the Tide - The Paper Players Challenge #146

I wanted to make a Father's Day card using the stamp set "By the Tide", and I struggled a bit with how I wanted it to look, and after three tries, I finally got it right.  I really love the way it turned out.  Now, since the Paper Players' challenge for this week is clean and simple masculine,  I thought I would join in the fun and play.  So here's my card ...

Recipe:

Paper:  very vanilla, early espresso, soho subway dsp (sneak peek from new catalog)

Ink:  baked brown sugar, smoky slate, coastal cabana, crisp canteloup, pistachio pudding, gumball green and gold embossing

Stamp Sets:  by the tide, teeny tiny wishes

Accessories:  twine, basic rhinestones, glitter

I love the Soho Subway paper behind the picture.  It really looks awesome and fits the card perfectly.  I hope you like it.  Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out The Paper Players .... there's some awesome designs on their blog.  Happy Stamping!

My Mother's Day Card from Aileen

I wanted to share my Mother's Day card that I received from my daughter, Aileen.  It is so pretty, and it was made in by the indigenous people in El Salvador.  The flowers were pressed and dried, and the basket the flowers are in was made from banana skin.  How clever ... I just love it, and the colors are just beautiful.  Take a look for yourself and I'm sure you'll agree.

It was just too beautiful not to share.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  I will definitely be preserving this so it doesn't get ruined.  What a lovely day I had, and being a mother is the best thing in the world.

Team Swap - Sending Love and Sympathy

Here's another card that Eleanor made for our team swap last month:  the theme was "sympathy".   We can never have too many sympathy cards, unfortunately.  This one too is a keeper.  Thanks Eleanor!

Don't you agree, it's very sweet?

I'll have some current team swaps for you coming up.  Stay tuned.  Thanks for stopping by!

Secret Garden Bouquet - Team Swap

This past week, I received in the mail the team swap from my dear friend, Eleanor, who lives in the Poconos.  She can't join us every month for our team swaps because she lives a distance from us, and I miss her when she's not here.

So you can just imagine when I opened my mail and saw two of her swap cards from last month, I went bonkers.  They are just so beautiful.  I thought I would share them with you.  Today's card features secret garden, and tomorrow, it will be a sympathy card.  Check it out ...

Isn't the card just beautiful?  I love the cone with all the flowers in it, and the leaves and ribbon just finish it off nicely.  I will definitely have to CASE this one .. it's truly a keeper.

Until tomorrow .... keep smiling and stamping!

Coloring Down the Lines - Very Vanilla

Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to this week's Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  This week wasn't too hard ... the color choices were:  Very Vanilla, Regal Rose, Not Quite Navy, or Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, Rose Red. I chose the first color pallet and designed my card around that.  I hope you just arrived from Carol's blog .... however, if not, make sure you backtrack and check her design out this week.  Here's my design for this week's blog:

Recipe

Paper:  very vanilla, not quite navy

Ink:  not quite navy, regal rose

Stamp Sets:  mixed bunch, itty bitty banners

Accessories:  basic pearls, itty bitty banner framelits

Yes, pretty simple this week.  Sometimes clean and simple just works.  Hope you like it.  Now let's check out Joni's blog and see how she put her pallet together.  Happy Stamping and Thank You for checking us out.

Flourishing Flowers Wedding

A friend of mine asked me to make her a wedding card for her friend whose wedding she's in next weekend.  I was happy to do that for her, and having just made one for the wedding I attended over the weekend, it was perfectly fitting.  So I sat down and put a couple thoughts together and here's what I came up with.  The color of the bridesmaid's dresses is royal blue.

Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white

Ink:  pacific blue, lucky limeade

Stamp Set:  flourishing flowers, petite pairs

Accessories:  delicate designs EF, designer frames EF, ribbon, basic pearls

The card is simple, but elegant.  I hope she likes it.  It's been fun making wedding cards ... I guess I may just make a few more to keep on hand.  Have a happy day!

Team Swap - Baby

We had to do two team swaps this month, and one was "friendship" and the other was "baby".  I saw so many cute baby cards on pinterest and the stampin connection, I didn't know what I wanted to do.  So then I found one I liked, and then decided not to make it.  I wanted to make something a bit more simple.  Well, as I sat down and cut out all the pieces, I wondered why I thought this card was going to be simple.  It was a bit more time consuming that I had anticipated, but I truly like the way it turned out.  Here's what I made:

Card Recipe

Paper:  daffodil delight, very vanilla, luckly limeade, sunshine & sprinkles dsp

Ink:  daffodil delight

Stamp Set:  papillion potpourri

Accessories:  artisan label punch, 1" round circle punch, fancy fan EF, sizzlits alphabet, bitty butterfly punch, lucky limeade bakers twine, basic pearls

I don't know if you can see it clearly or not, but the artisan labels are on dimensionals, as well as the dsp letters that spell "baby".  Of course, so are the butterflies ... and they added just the touch I was looking for.  Hope you like it ... until tomorrow....have a happy stampin day!

Team Swap - Friendship

One of the themes for our team swap this week is "friendship".  I wanted to do something sweet and nice, and then I thought ... why not do a "sneak peak" at the super, pretty new 2013-15 In Colors that will be coming out in the new June 2013 Stampin' Up catalog.  I love the colors so much.  They are soft and subtle and oh so pretty.  So I created my "friendship" card using those colors, and the new "mosaic madness" stamp set and I was really happy with the way it turned out.  I can't wait for you to see it, so without further ado, here it is:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white

Ink:  baked brown sugar, coastal cabana, crisp cantaloupe, pistachio pudding, strawberry slush

Stamp Sets:  mosaic madness, a round array

Accessories:  needlepoint border EF, basic pearls, itty bitty shapes punch, mosaic punch, 7/8" scallop circle punch

Don't you just love the soft, subtle color pallet?  There are endless possibilities with these colors.  Make sure you purchase them ... you truly won't be sorry!

Until tomorrow .... love your stamps!

Petite Pocket Money Holder for Laurelle & Jay

Along with the wedding card I made for Laurelle and Jay for their special day, I also made a cute money holder which I placed inside the card.  I used the petite pocket die, and look what it morphed into:

It matched the card, and it's just so cute, if I must say myself.  I hope you like it as much a I do

Wedding Card for Laurelle & Jay

The daughter of a dear friend of mine is getting married today, and I wanted to make a special wedding card for Laurelle and Jay, especially since I made all their wedding invitations, as well as their "save the date" magnets.  So I had a few ideas in mind, but ended up making something entirely different.  It turned out really pretty, and I sure hope they like it.  Want to take a peek?  Ok, here it is...

Card Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white

Ink:  lucky limeade

Stamp Sets:  loving thoughts, embellished events, occasional quotes

Accessories:  needlepoint border EF, designer frames EF, lacy brocade EF, ovals framelits, satin flowers

So what do you think?  I'm really liking it.  I'm going to make a cute petite pocket and put our gift inside that.  She's going to be surprised. 

Well, I'll let you know how the wedding was when I talk to you again.  Happy Mother's Day to all those who are mothers!  Enjoy your day.

Graduation Card - Methacton High School

A friend of mine asked me if I would make a graduation card for her daughter whose friend is graduating from Methacton high school.  The colors are green and white, and so I searched for some cute graduation cards, and lo and behold, I found one that I thought would work.  The design came from Chera Weist, and I changed it up slightly.  Here's the card I made:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  garden green, whisper white, blushing bride

Ink:  garden green

Stamp Set:  imagine - single stamp

Accessories:  lucky limeade bakers twine, basic pearls, white brad

I like how it turned out, however, I do like Chera's better.  I hope my friend's daughter likes it for her friend. I'm giving it to her tomorrow.

Until then, happy stamping!

Thank You from Ann

I have been looking for the retired stamp "chocolate bunny" for quite some time, and would you believe, I stumbled across a woman who was selling hers.  So I contacted her and waited for my package to arrive.  Oh how excited I was when he arrived.  I was so happy to give him a good home, as I plan to get a lot of use out of him.  

I purchased the bunny stamp from Ann Fitton of Jackson, Michigan.  She was so kind to sell him to me, and inside the package was a sweet thank you note from her.  Here's the card she sent me:

I just love receiving hand-made cards from people.  I think when you make them yourself, you have a deep appreciation for other's creations.  So Ann's card is sitting on my studio desk with my other creation.  So not only does the Chocolate Bunny have a nice home, so does the thank you card from Ann.  

Cheers!

Coloring Down the Lines - Sahara Sand

Welcome back to our blog hop this week.  We had a tough color combination to work with, and I had a hard time coming up with something using them.  Usually I have my creation made by the weekend before we post, but this time, it was only 1 day before.  But .... I made it!  That's why they call it a challenge, I suppose!

Did you arrive here from Carol's blog?  If not, make sure you pop back over to see her card this week.  You certainly won't be disappointed.  Here's what I created for this week:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  pacific point, whisper white, cajun craze, sahara sand, madison avenue DSP (sale-a-bration)

Ink:  sahara sand, pacific point

Stamp Set:  that's the ticket, feeling sentimental (sale-a-bration)

Accessories:  argyle EF, perfect polka dots EF, ticket punch, basic rhinestones, ovals framelits, twine

I actually liked the way it turned out, believe it or not.  I was a bit skeptical, but it's not bad.  I really like the tickets that I tied together with the twine ... that's my favorite part of the card.  I hope you like it too.

Well, let's check out Joni's blog and see what she made with these colors.  Humm... bet she didn't have much trouble!

Cheers!

With Sympathy in Perfect Plum and Calypso Coral

I saw a card on Pinterest that I just loved, but I didn't know who originally designed it.  I hope if you see this card, please accept my apologies for not giving credit where credit is due.

I altered the card a bit, adding the embossing and the sentiment.  I liked it so much, I made one in both perfect plum, and calypso coral.  Take a peek ... 

Card Recipe:

Paper:  perfect plum, very vanilla

Ink:  perfect plum, wild wasabi

Stamp Sets:  best of flowers, loving thoughts

Accessories:  needlepoint border EF, designer frames EF, oval punch

for the Calypso Coral card, I used the same as above, just mounted the card on wild wasabi and the flowers were done using calypso coral and wild wasabi

I think I might make a bunch of these in various colors and box them up for my next vendor event.  We unfortunately need sympathy cards from time to time, and I know I would appreciate a hand-made one vs. store bought, wouldn't you?

Thanks for stopping by today ... I wish you a lovely day!

Linda's Madison Avenue Birthday

My sister's birthday is May 5 - cinco di mayo!  I know how much she loves the colors of the southwest, so I selected the Madison Avenue designer series paper to design my card around.  It has a lot of the southwestern colors in the pallet, so here's what I designed for her.  I even designed the kraft box, which holds her beautiful necklace, earrings, and bracelet, to match the card.

Card Recipe

Paper:  island indigo, whisper white, tangerine tango, madison avenue dsp (2013 spring sale-a-bration)

Ink:  tangerine tango, island indigo

Stamp Sets:  label love, mosiac madness (sneak peak 2013-15 Stampin' Up catalog), occasions alphabet, madison avenue (2013 spring sale-a-bration)

Accessories:  chevron EF, island indigo satin ribbon (2013 spring sale-a-bration), label love punch (sneak peak 2013-15 SU catalog), rosette, basic rhinestones.

Happy Birthday, Linda!

How About a Sweet Treat Celebration?

Who wouldn't want a sweet treat celebration?  Hummm... what is that, you ask.  Well, imagine walking up to a stand and they had nothing but cupcakes in it?  Wouldn't you just want one?  Oh yes, and all different flavors with pretties on top?  Oh I know I would.  I love cupcakes.  So are you with me?  Let's take a stroll on over to that cupcake stand and see what they have ...

See what I mean?  I think I'll have the pink one on the end.  Which one would you choose?  Hope you enjoy it ... I know I am.

Lacy Brocade Wedding Dress Card

Here's another card I made, and this time, I used the dress die.  I love that die, and I almost didn't purchase it because I thought I wouldn't have any use for it.  Well I just proved myself wrong.  I absolutely love it ...

Recipe

Paper:  tempting turquoise, whisper white, silver glimmer paper, brights patterned DSP

Ink:  tempting turquoise

Stamp Set:  wedding sweet

Accessories:  window frame framelit, dress up framelit, perfect polka dots EF, boho blossoms punch, fancy brocade EF, white 3/8" taffeta ribbon, bitty banners

I wasn't sure if I would like the turquoise on the card, but I think it gave it just the right pop.  Hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by.

Family Tray

Here's a project that I made at one of my upline's Saturday craft day.  We made the Family Tray, and it's really cute. Although I don't have pictures of my family on it yet, I thought I would share it anyway.  I love the trays.  They are so nice and you can change them over and over again with your photos.  I especially like this one.  It has a bunch of the dahlia embellishments on it.  Of course, there's blue dahlias on it, so I'm loving it even more.  Here it is:

Can you see the lace doilies on it too?  You really can't notice too well in the photo, but the letters for  "FAMILY" are raised up with dimensionals, 3-deep.  They really pop out and look really nice, almost like blocks.

Well, until tomorrow, I hope you find some inspiration here and I hope to hear from you soon.

A Card for a Deacon

The same woman who asked if I could make her the "Whatever" with an attitude card also saw a sample on my board that she wanted to purchase, but it was only a card front.  She has a Deacon friend she wanted to send the card to, so I told her I would be happy to recreate the card for her.  She was thrilled.  The sample card was made by April Lopez as a swap.

When I got home, I was so glad I had everything I needed to recreate the card.  I even had the same black ribbon too.  By a stroke of luck, I had recently purchased the "Crosses of Hope" stamp set, and who knew, I was so glad I had it.

Here's the card I recreated for her, and thank you, April, for the beautiful card.

I don't know if you can see it clearly in the picture, but after I stamped the celtic cross on the cardstock using black stazon, I took the Summer Starfruit marker and ran it down the cross and across, then added glitter down the center and across the cross, and it shows a silver / gold affect.  It's really pretty.  The basic rhinestone in the center of the cross just topped it off perfectly.  I also added "God Bless You" inside the card, as I found it very appropriate.  I liked the card so much that I made one for myself too.  Hehehe.

Well, here's wishing you a blessed day today, and every day!  Thanks for stopping by.

"Whatever" with an Attitude

A woman at the Holy Rosary Regional Catholic School Ladies' Bingo Night asked me if I would be able to create a card using the word "Whatever" and make it with "Attitude", and inside, she wanted a silhouette of the Blessed Mother with a biblical scripture through it.  Humm, of course I was up for the challenge, so I said yes, I could make it.  She got the idea after looking at My Paper Pumpkin sample "Seriously", so I went home and thought and though how I could make it.  Unfortunately, I didn't have words that would fit inside the dialog box, and I couldn't fit the polymere letters in it either, so I created a totally different card front, and I think it turned out pretty cool.  The inside was another challenge, but I found some Blessed Mother images on line, opened up a word document and typed in the scripture using a script font, then placed the Blessed Mother silhouette as a watermark over top of the scripture verse and here's what I came up with.  I really hope she likes it ...

I don't know if you can see the image of the Blessed Mother in the background, but it turned out pretty cool.  I've never done something like that before, and I'm glad I could get the image and the verse just like she asked.  Now I really do hope she likes the front of the card.  I know it's plain, but all she wanted was "Whatever" with attitude.  Do you think it fits the bill?

Well, until tomorrow.... may your creation and ideas go wild!

Coloring Down the Lines - Crumb Cake

Good Day, everyone!  It's another great challenge for Coloring Down the Lines.  This week's challenge was to come up with something using the following color combinations:  Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, and Garden Green or Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, and Not Quite Navy.  I started to make a card, then quickly realized I just couldn't make it work.  So, I reverted to another stamp set - one that I'm loving, and went with it.  I chose the first color combo to work with ... and I'm rather pleased with the outcome.  I'm sure Carol never has those blimp moments when she's designing ... it just doesn't appear that way, does it?  Anyway, here's my submission for the blog hop this week:

Card Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white, garden green

Ink:  garden green, crumb cake, cajun craze

Stamp Sets:  summer silhouettes, loving thoughts

Accessories:  basic pearls

The card was easy to make, and not a lot of accessories, but just enough to give it that special touch.  I saw a card similar to this that was made by Debra Corson, so thank you Debra for your inspiration.

Now, I bet you can't wait to hop on over to check out Joni's masterpiece.  It's so nice to see what everyone comes up with each week, as there's so much to work with and we shall never run out of ideas!  Happy Stamping!