Everything... including the Kitchen Sink Stamps!

On Tuesday morning this past week, I was doing my usual... check the email, check in on my Buckeye Babes on SCS, see what the Color Challenge is, read the newspaper headlines, and check SU! Stampers' Showcase (where they never showcase my cards anymore!) And while I'm zipping around SCS, I notice this new banner ad for a company called Kitchen Sink Stamps! (http://www.kitchensinkstamps.com/)

Hmmm... I'm intrigued! I check out the site... cute stamps and they're clear... my new favorite thing lately. Oooh, and they take Paypal! Cool! I can use my Buyer Credit! So I decided to order a few sets. Since then I have received a very nice email from Maria, who is the owner of this great new stamp company, and she informed me that I had the great luck of being her very first customer! Gold star for me! And, since she's so effecient, I believe that other than herself and maybe some friends and family, I may be the only other person in the world to personally have her stamps in my possession because they arrived today! So anyway, here is my first creation using the 3-Step Daisy set! It's very detailed, and they turn out gorgeous images, I think! Please tell me what you think! :)

Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps 3-Step Daisy
Cardstock: Bazzill; Stampin' Up Very Vanilla; My Mind's Eye Kaleidoscope "Memories" Dots
Ink: Colorbox Yellow Citrus, Rose Coral, Warm Red, Moss Green; Versamagic Spanish Olive; Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red
Accessories: color spritzer tool (used with the Always Artichoke marker to add a little "shading"); gold cord; orange organdy ribbon; corner rounder (for scallops); sponge (with a little Always Artichoke ink around the edges of the flowered piece, and Ruby Red ink around the thank you); foam squares

Bright Posies

And the final card created during ME time today is this one that I did for last Wednesday's Sketch Challenge on SCS. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

Thanks for looking, and for all the reaffirmation you provided me with today! I really needed to know someone cared! :)

Stamps: Stampendous
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Pumpkin Pie; white; DP from Scenic Route Paper
Ink: Stampin' Up Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Pumpkin Pie; Jet Black Staz-On
Accessories: grosgrain ribbon; paper piercing tool and template; craft knife; aquapainter; blender pen; edge distressing tool; foam squares

Boho-Thoughts

The color challenge on SCS last Tuesday was to use Stampin' Up River Rock, Chocolate Chip and Really Rust. Well, I finally got around to trying it today. I pulled out the colors of cardstock, and immediately thought "well, those are very 'boho' colors, and I have no stamps that fit that description at all!" But I started plugging away! I actually have a clear set of stamps (another new-job/supply cabinet inheritance!) and I have no idea what company they're from, but it's a nice flower set. So I thought this particular flower fit the bill nicely. Then as I looked at these colors more, this Designer Paper came to mind, and I was thrilled to find how well it matched the challenge colors! So here's my Boho-Chic card!

Stamps: flower from unknown clear set; "Thoughts" stamp from Michael's $1 bin
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Really Rust, Very Vanilla; DP from We R Memory Keepers Urban Window Collection
Ink: Versarmark (inked the clear stamp with this first before the SU! dye ink); Stampin' Up Really Rust, River Rock, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Marvy mega oval punch and giga scalloped oval punch; Stampin' Up River Rock stitched grosgrain and copper brads; corner rounder; sponges; foam squares

Pink and Chocolate

Another ME-time card for today! (I did six altogether!) I was flipping through an old CardMaker magazine while Kaylie was at the dentist this morning, and saw something that inspired me but no matter what I tried when I got home it didn't work. But evolved into this. I love the look of rounding off 3 corners of a square, and so I did this with all the points at the center, but then ended up covering them up with the ribbon! Oh well! And I am LOVING this Paper Salon stamp set that I "inherited" with my new job! Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Paper Salon Tailored Tin "Small Talk"
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, Au Chocolat DSP
Ink: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip and Regal Rose (used it to color the butterfly with an aquapainter)
Accessories: American Crafts dotted grosgrain ribbon; Martha Stewart baker's twine; 1 3/8" circle punch; 1 1/2" circle punch; 1/16" hole punch; corner rounder

Feeling Gray? Need a Lift?

I guess you could say I was the one feeling gray this morning! :) This was another card I created during ME time today! There was a challenge on SCS last week to use Gray cardstock in your creation. I was inspired to make this card from a house that I passed on Saturday that was gray with yellow shutters! I messed with the design on this one a lot, and still am not pleased with it but am not messing anymore! I think this one will go out to Maddy Mason... an SCS'er who's undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Stamps: Carolyn King collection from Gina K
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Going Gray, Barely Banana, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On; Stampin' Up Going Gray and Barely Banana
Accessories: black gingham ribbon; corner rounder (for scalloped edge); sponge; Cuttlebug embossing folder and die-cut; 1" circle punch; 1 1/4" circle punch; aqua painter; foam square

Country Christmas

Jen Javorsky has a Super-Saturday challenge every weekend on her blog (Stamping Therapy... see my list) and this past Saturday's challenge was Christmas cards, so this is my contribution that I created today during my ME time!

Stamps: Stampin' Up Peaceful Wishes; Great Impression script joy
Cardstock: Bazzill; Making Memories (red plaid); Kraft (unknown source)
Ink: Colorbox Warm Red; Versamagic Spanish Olive
Accessories: Stampin' Up Artichoke brads; edge distressing tool; raffia; foam squares

Kaylie's Birthday card

Every year I try to come up with something special for Kaylie's birthday card, so this is my creation for the Big 15! Six more months until the learner's permit... one more year to a new driver! Yikes!

I know she's going to love the colors I chose! As luck would have it, I was watching an old episode of Friends (my all-time favorite show!) last night, and saw someone in the background at Central Perk wearing a sweater with these colors and I really loved it!

I ran the chocolate piece through my Cuttlebug with the Swirls folder, then inked the swirls with Versamark and applied copper embossing powder. After heat embossing it, I sanded it a little to remove some of the copper and distress it a little. I've never tried that before, but I really like how it turned out! I also distressed the heads of the copper brads a little bit with an emery board so they weren't quite so bright. The dandelion and "make a wish" stamp are from my new Gina K set that I finally got a chance to use. It's a great set that can be used especially for birthday cards, and even better $7.00 from every set purchased benefits the Make-a-Wish Foundation! You should pick up a set!

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Gina K Make-a-Wish, Impression Obsession swirl background

Ink: Stampin' Up So Saffron, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Cool Caribbean; Tsukineko Versarmark

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Cool Caribbean, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder; Stampin' Up clear and copper embossing powders, copper brads, Word Window punch, piercing template; dotted ribbon and piercing tool - unknown

Autumn Beauties

I haven't stamped much this week, as I've been dealing with a sinus infection, and my family life is just keeping me busy. But I did take some time with my daughters for some amateur photography this past weekend, so I thought I'd share a few pictures. We had a lot of fun doing this, and the girls think we should just do it every weekend! Some quick developement at the Wal-Mart photo center, and we say "who needs school pictures?" And a side-note... the blond bombshell in the pictures (my daughter Kaylie) turns 15 tomorrow! *sigh* I'm getting old! Thanks for stopping by!

New Gina K stamps!

I ordered my first ever stamps from Gina K recently! They arrived yesterday and I finally had time to play this evening! This turtle/ladybug stamp is from the Carolyn King Collection. Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Gina K/Carolyn King Collection A; Stampendous
Cardstock: Bazzill; Stampin' Up Naturals Ivory; Bazzill; My Mind's Eye; Anna Griffin
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, Colorbox Rouge; Versamagic Sea Breeze, Stampin' Up Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Going Gray
Accessories: Stampin' Up corner rounder, round tab punch, chipboard photo corner, Old Olive eyelet, Ruby Red brads; silver brad; Prima petite flower; grosgrain ribbon; sponge; edge distressing tool; dimensionals/pop-dots; glue dots

Oriental Beauty

Trying to catch up on some recent SCS Challenges that I've missed, so this is for the Featured Stamper challenge from this past Sunday. I CASE'd SCS'er inglishrea, and her card that I copied is found here... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/651934?cat=500&ppuser=118441 I kept the general layout the same, but didn't use as many layers as she did because my background paper is so gorgeous and I don't want to hide it! The stamps I used are from Great Impressions, and they were featured with the Stamp of the Month program in August. We have their program at the store, and people just love it! Their stamps are so fantastic... simple designs, but all really cute and coordinate so well. My stampers flock to the store on the 1st of the month to see the new stamps and designs! Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Great Impressions
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Elegant Eggplant, Marigold Morning and Confetti White; Bazzill Maraschino; Bo Bunny Marakkesh Vines
Ink: Colorbox Warm Red and Wisteria; SU! Marigold Morning (for sponging) and Basic Black; Versamark (combined with the black to heat emboss the lantern)
Accessories: Stampin' Up Iridescent Ice embossing powder (on the branch... hard to see in the picture) and Crystal Clear embossing powder (on the lantern and sentiment); pop-dots; SU! eggplant and mustard grosgrain ribbon; sponge.

Surprise Slider Card

Well, I'm gradually getting caught up with stamping challenges on SCS, and uploading to my gallery and blog! I extend a huge thank you to those that regularly leave me such nice comments! It always makes my day!

This is a surprise pop-up card done for the Technique Lover's Challenge today. It's a ton of fun to create! Directions can be found here... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/surprisepopup.php

Everything I used to create this card is listed below! Thanks for looking!


Stamps: Great Impressions (from the Sept. '07 Stamp of the Month program)
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Ruby Red, Old Olive, More Mustard, Naturals Ivory
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On; Colorbox Dark Green; Tombow Markers; Versarmark; Stampin' Up So Saffron (for sponging around edges)
Accessories: SU! Old Olive eyelet; olive green gingham; SU! hemp twine; Sakura Quickie glue pen, SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter; red sticky tape