Happy Birthday, LeAnne!

To see my Color Throwdown card, please click here.

One of the absolute sweetest, nicest people I have ever known is celebrating a birthday today.... LeAnne Pugliese! LeAnne and I have been online stamping friends for several years, and last fall I was lucky enough to get to finally meet her face-to-face. I'm so pleased to get to join with some other fabulous stampers to wish her a happy birthday today! You can see the list of participants at the end of my blog post.

For my card, I decided to take inspiration from Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch challenge, and used my Silhouette Weeds stamps from Rubbernecker on my oval, along with the French Script background. I was searching for something to add to this as a finishing touch, and finally just pulled out some plain pink brads to add in the corners. But something told me to just sort through my little boxes and cubbies just one more time, and I came across these golden yellow KaiserCraft pearls that my sweet friend Joan Fricker sent me some time ago, and they were the perfect finishing touch! I think they really bring out the golden yellow in the strip of October Afternoon paper across the middle, don't you?

I hope you'll take the time to stop at LeAnne's blog today and wish her the happiest of birthdays! And stop by and check out the creations from the rest of the girls who are wishing LeAnne a fabulous day today!

Color Throwdown #103

Hey y'all... it's time for another Color Throwdown and this week it's my turn to host! My color combo for today was inspired by Summer! I just think this is a really elegant combination for summer... I can envision a beautiful wicker patio set with floral cushions in these colors, maybe in a pattern similar to this couch. But you could also have some fun with these colors, too! Let your imagination go!

My step-grandparents just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary and my Mom asked me to make a card for her to give them, so I used today's color challenge and the sketch from Taylored Expressions to create my design. The sentiment is computer-generated and the silhouette flower stamp and Scratches Cover-a-Card background are from Impression Obsession.

Stop by the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details (and you might even find a formerly MIA member of our team who is finally back home and playing along again!) And stop at the blogs of my Throwdown sisters, including our July Guestie to see their amazing creations! (And while you're at Barbara Anders' blog... give her the raspberries for going to CHA without me!)

Broni Holcombe

Barbara Anders

Danielle Kennedy

Kristin Bueter

Laura Pryor

LeAnne Pugliese

Makiko Jones, July Guestie

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

3-D Tuesday - You've Been Framed!

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been MIA lately... my Mom was visiting over the weekend and her visit combined with my needing to take a little break from all the stamping I usually am doing resulted in my absence. I hope somebody at least missed me a little bit, though!

I am hosting the 3-D Challenge today over at Paper Craft Planet and I'd love it if you join in! I have been wanting to make a simple little framed piece for a friend who recently moved into a new (to her!) house, so today's challenge is to make a framed piece!

Here are a few fabulous examples I found in the gallery at PCP...

Altered Frame by Leah

Vintage Frame by Emma Fleming

Flowers in a Frame by Marie

For my piece, I used a white frame that I picked up at Target and sanded the edges a little to rough it up. My frame is free standing, but I also attached a ribbon to the back for easy hanging if Ashley should decide she wants to hang this up somewhere. The stamp set I used is from Ippity Stamps and it's called Devoted. My friend Maria Gurnsey has this set available, if you're interested! The cloudy background paper I used is from Bo Bunny, as is the Double-Dot green paper. I simply cut out 2 sizes of ovals with Nestabilities to make my "hills" and ran a little stitch along the edge of each one on my sewing machine.

So, please stop by the 3-D Tuesday Group at Paper Craft Planet and join in the fun! I'd love to see what you can frame up today!

Happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #102

Hey all! It's time for another Color Throwdown and this week LeAnne is our hostess! She's decided that since it's been so freaky-deaky hot out that we'd work with some cool colors this week! Stop by the Throwdown blog for all the details, and to use the Inlinkz widget to link your own creation!

For my card, I decided to go to outer space with this cute Blast Off! image from Chicken Girl Designs! The layout of my card comes from the Taylored Expressions sketch challenge #121.
My photography skills leave a lot to be desired, so you can probably just barely tell that there is some Perfect Pearl shimmer sprayed onto my "moon" and I added some sparkle to the rocket ship with a few Spica glitter pens. I colored the rocket ship, then popped it up a little from the outer space sky with some foam tape squares.

Stop and see what my Throwdown sisters have created this week to inspire you!

LeAnne Pugliese

Broni Holcombe

Barbara Anders

Danielle Kennedy

Laura Pryor

Makiko Jones, July Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

No Stranger to Ranger

I recently had some classes at the store (well, one was on Saturday and the other is this evening!) focusing on different products from Ranger. So often in my years of stamping, I have looked at things like Distress Inks, Adirondack Paint Dabbers, and Perfect Pearls and have passed them by, thinking that I just didn't know what to do with them. Other than sponging Tea Dye or Vintage Photo ink on the edges of cardstock to make it more shabby or Vintage, I didn't really do much with the Distress Ink pads that I have. But back in April I worked with my sweet friend Mary Jo Marshall in the Rubbernecker booth at Adventures in Stamping, and we both got some great experience in different technique with Ranger products. I saw quite a few of my Toyrifix customers at the show, and a few of them asked if we'd be doing some of the techniques I was demonstrating at the store, so I decided to have a class so that my customers could no longer be a stranger to Ranger! (LOL... my boss came up with that line!)

This first card uses the Adirondack Paint Dabber to ink up the flourishes, and then Distress Inks are applied. I really liked how this card turned out, especially because so often when we think of using Distress Inks we think of what Tim Holtz does with them.... he makes things kinda' grungy and a little dirty. Who would ever think you could get such a pretty, pastel creation from Distress Inks, right? The flourish stamp on this card is from Impression Obsession, and the sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps. For this card we also mixed a little bit of Perfect Pearls in pearl with water and spritzed the whole background for shimmer.

On this card, we did the Distress Ink technique you've seen me do on some other cards recently, then applied a Tim Holtz Clockworks mask on the left side, and sponged more ink around it. Isn't that a cool look? The crackle background on this card is an Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card stamp, and I think it really added a neat look to this! The sentiment is from Flourishes. On this card, we mixed Perfect Pearls gold with water and spritzed the whole background for shimmer, too.
The third card we made in class uses Distress Embossing powders, but unfortunately I haven't photographed that card yet, so maybe it'll make an appearance later on!

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy stamping!

Friends are Like Stars... and Some Winners!

Hey everyone! I know you're just dying to know who won all the prizes I had here on my blog for Color Throwdown #100 but first you have to show some love to my pretty card! :)

This is a new stamp I recently got from the Verses Rubber Stamp Company. I just fell in love with this "Good Friends are Like Stars" stamp... do you notice the stars in the trees? I didn't even notice them until after I read the sentiment because they're so subtle. Verses has SO many awesome stamps, and most of them are a reflection of the company name.... they're "verses" meaning they're mostly all sentiment stamps, but a lot of them also have a great image paired with them, like this one! Check 'em out sometime by visiting their site!

This card is a little on the clean and simple side, especially for me. I spritzed the kraft cardstock background with a little Perfect Pearls gold combined with water for a little shimmer. I have been itching to make a card with this color combination ever since I saw this little number from my incredibly talented friend, Barbara Anders!

OK, now... I won't make you wait any longer! Here are the winners of the prizes offered on my blog for last week's Color Throwdown #100!

#256 Amber/Sew-Ink (Rubbernecker $50 gift certificate #1)

#129 Lori Stokes Wright (Rubbernecker $50 gift certificate #2)

#253 Heidi (Rubbernecker $50 gift certificate #3)

#213 Frillions by Eli (Rubbernecker $50 gift certificate #4)

#258 Stephanie Kraft (Rubbernecker $50 gift certificate #5)

#23 Liz Williams (JustRite Stampers $100 gift certificate)

#104 Carma (JustRite Catalog and Idea Book)

#255 Donette B. (JustRite Catalog and Idea Book)

#314 Karen Hasheck (JustRite Catalog and Idea Book)

#243 Terri E. (JustRite Catalog and Idea Book)

#61 Bev Gerard (JustRite Catalog and Idea Book)

#139 Shelly Germann (Great Impressions stamps)

If your name is on this list, you have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, July 19th to email colorthrowdown@yahoo.com and claim your prize! In the subject line of your email please put my name, and the prize you are claiming! CONGRATULATIONS everyone!

Happy Friday, and thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #101

Well, here we are embarking on the next 100 Color Throwdown challenges! I hope you're planning to come along for the ride! The Celebration last week sure was a blast, and I can't wait to announce all the winners this coming Friday! Be sure you're paying attention!

Today's challenge is being hosted (for the very first time!) by Laura Pryor! We are SO glad we decided to make her a permanent member of our team! She has fit in perfectly, and her designs are all so adorable! I love these cool colors she chose for today, and realized that these October Afternoon papers were a really good match so I ran with them!

The layout for my card is based on Mercy's fabulous Tuesday Sketch challenge #82 this week, and I played with more of my wonderful stamps from Our Craft Lounge for this creation. This set is the Dandy Days set, which I just adore!

Inside I added a little more machine-stitching, another Dandy Days stamp, and a sentiment from the Say It With Flowers clear stamp set (which must currently be sold out.)
Stop over at the Color Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and there you'll also find the Inklinz widget to link up your own creation! Then stop and see what my Throwdown sisters have created, too!

Laura Pryor

LeAnne Pugliese

Broni Holcombe

Barbara Anders

Danielle Kennedy

Makiko Jones, July Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy Wednesday!

Super Nova/Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop

Mark's Finest Papers gave us a challenge -- create a project, any project, but it must feature circles. We were up for the task.
The Supernovas are all using stamps from Mark's Finest Papers.

For my card, I got the newly released Southwest Cowboy stamp set, which contains some great silhouettes! One of the requirements we decided to do for this Blog Hop was to incorporate circles into our design, so my circles are in the designer papers I used, the button, and the eyelets. For the background on my tag, I used the Distress Ink technique again from Tim Holtz. I really love doing this in my designs, and this stamp set was an ideal chance to play around with some distress inks. For this, I used Aged Mahogany, Forest Moss, and Brushed Corduroy inks. I made several tags, just trying to get one that made me say "Yeah!" when I got done with it, and this one was definitely IT! Don't you think it looks like an awesome desert sunset? The rest of my card is ragged and shabbied-up with some more distress inks, and my Tonic distressing tool.

Looking for some inspiration? Check out what the other Supernovas made!

• Adela Rossol


• Lynn Mercurio


• Wendy Price


• Tammy Hershberger


• Lori Tecler


• Jessica Fick


• Sankari Wegman


• Susanna Boyd

i {heart} papers.... i {heart} bling!

Today we have a really special blog hop and challenge going on all around the Planet! It's all about BLING! You can call it paper make-up, jewelry, bling, whatever -- it's that little bit of glaze, glitter and dazzle that you ad to your cards to give them that "finishing touch". The Supernovas are using the new Petal Press stamps, Summer Garden, for our projects from i{heart}papers and we'll show you just how versatile one stamp set can be!

For my card, I used the jar and roses, coloring them to match the Fancy Pants papers I used. I applied a little bit of Glossy Accents to the jar to simulate the glass. There's a lot of distress ink sponged on all the edges here, because I thought it was a great contrast to the pretty Prima pearls I added. The layout was inspired by the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #120.

OK, now it's your turn! Make a card with a lot of dazzle and you could win the new Petal Press stamps, In The Garden, from i{heart}papers. All you need to do is tag your card "iheartbling" and upload it to the Planet. We'll be keeping an album for everyone that shows off all the entries so far!

Looking for some inspiration? Check out what the other Supernovas made!

• Adela Rossol


• Lynn Mercurio


• Wendy Price


• Tammy Hershberger


• Erika Martin


• Lori Tecler


• Sankari Wegman


• Susanna Boyd

Color Throwdown #100!!!

Well, the day is finally here.... COLOR THROWDOWN #100! I can't believe we've been doing this challenge for over two years now, and have reached our 100th one! It's been very exciting making all the preparations for this event and anticipating how much all our players are going to enjoy the fun, and the PRIZES! That's right... PRIZES! We have almost $1700 worth of prizes to give away from some of the most awesome companies around to those that participate in the challenge! I've got 3 cards to show you today, and a total of 12 prizes to give away just here on my blog so I won't bore you or take up space with all the challenge details. Instead I refer you to the Color Throwdown blog to get the low-down!

The first prize(s) I have the privilege of offering is from a company that I am so proud to design for, Rubbernecker Stamps! Dave has graciously given me FIVE $50 gift certificates to give away today!!! Rubbernecker has so many fabulous stamps in their online store... you'll have a blast spending $50 there!

For my card, I decided to use a technique from Tim Holtz that we demonstrate in the RN booth at stamp conventions, the Distress Ink technique (but I didn't go to any extremes with mine like crumpling my cardstock or applying a lot of dark ink.) I used Broken China and Shabby Shutters ink for my background, then stamped my Silhouette Weeds from Rubbnecker using Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint distress inks. The sentiment is from the Fall Trilogy stamp set, and I overstamped the whole piece then with the Victorian Diamond Panel background stamp. The Baja Breeze background is stamped with the French Script background stamp in Antique Linen ink. I used the Mojo Monday sketch #146 for this week for my layout, choosing to use a hand-made paper "poofy" flower for embellishment. The paper I used is Olivia from Basic Grey.

The second set of prizes I have to offer you today is a $100 Gift Certificate from JustRite Stampers, AND five copies of their new and FABULOUS 2010 Catalog and Idea Book. The folks at JustRite just keep coming out with new and more outstanding products all the time, and some lucky person is going to get to spend $100 there! Plus five more lucky people will get these catalogs that are so full of great ideas! What could be better?

I discovered over the weekend that the gals over at the JUGS Challenge are being sponsored by JustRite this week, and they're having a sketch challenge to go with it, so I decided to play along with my JustRite card for the Color Throwdown today. My beautiful poppy comes from the Plant a Little Love 3 1/4" stamp set and it's colored with Copic markers. This one is maybe just a little stretch from the colors for today, but I decided to go with it just to show you how much flexibility you can have in the colors.... we always stress to just use whatever you have that is similar! :) I distressed the white lace I laid across the middle with some Tea Dye ink and also added some distress inks around all the edges of my papers to give it a more Vintage appearance. I even left the little corner turned up on the bottom right for a more aged look. The sentiment I used here is Simple Sentiments from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

And finally, I have to award one lucky person their choice of any five stamps from Great Impressions Rubber Stamps! Great Impressions is a company whose stamps I carry at Toyrifix and they have got some super-cute images! They are very well-known for their Stamp of the Month program that is in stores, but they don't have a very big online presence. When they contacted me recently for some advice on getting more exposure online, I suggested maybe they'd like to contribute to our celebration today and they quickly jumped on board! So I'm thrilled to get to offer a little shopping spree to one lucky participant in the challenge!

For my final card using Great Impressions stamps, I decided to use this sweet Framed Garden Bicycle stamp, coloring it with my Copic markers. I kept a pretty simple layout on this one, using Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #76 for inspiration. I again used paper from the Olivia 6x6 pad (what awesome foresight Kristin had when she picked these colors 2 months ago... the Olivia papers go perfectly!) That giant ric-rac is the Die-Namics die from My Favorite Things.

You will want to visit ALL of these blogs for some great inspiration! And these are the blogs where you will want to be leaving comments in order to be eligible for the prizes offered on each one!

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy (you're already here!)Broni Holcombe - Splashes of WatercolorBarbara Anders - Paper PursuitsDanielle Kennedy - Wild Dragonfly DesignsLeAnne Pugliese - Wee InklingsLaura Pryor - Lil' InkerKisa Peters - Kisa's Paper CutsCarol Longacre - Our Little InspirationsDeb Horst - Sendable SentimentsDebi Southard - Debi's Crazy LifeElise Durenberger - MamaCow CreationsJuliana Swanson - Stampin With Inky FingersLisa Kind - Kind CreationsMakiko Jones - Makink StudiosMaria Gurnsey - Scraps By MPam Speidel - Stamping With SerendipitySylvia Nelson - Sylvia's Stamp CornerTeresa Kline - Enjoy the VA SunshineWanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

So, there you have it.... COLOR THROWDOWN #100! Let the festivites begin! Again, I refer you to the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details and rules, and there also you find the Inklinz widget to use to upload your creation!

Thanks for stopping by today! Good luck and happy stamping!

LIFE Survival Kits

My daughter is part of a group of 27 teens and adult sponsors that will be leaving early Monday morning for our church's triennial youth conference being held in Louisville, Kentucky. The LIFE Conference is something they've all been looking forward to for many months, and I'm so excited that my daughter has this chance to go and experience our Lord with so many other kids! In fact, the attendance at this event is expected to be 7,000 people!

There are six high school girls, and five female adult sponsors that are part of the group, and after a "Girls Spa Night" on Thursday that was full of prayer and some bonding time, I got the idea to create some "Survival Kits" for all the ladies that are going. I Googled "fun survival kits" and found all kinds of great ideas for making up these kits, and I can't WAIT to hand these out before they leave!

Each bag is full of goodies, with a card like this tied to the front in coordinating colors to the bags.  (To the person who commented and asked where to get these cards... they're all hand-stamped. My list of stamps used is at the end of the blog post.  Sorry, but you didn't leave me with any option to contact you with a reply, so I hope you see this!)
Inside each card is a list of all the things in the bag, and a Scripture reference to each one. (And I owe many thanks to my pastor's wonderful wife who came up with those for me!) Feel free to borrow this idea if you wish.... I'd appreciate credit if you choose to post your version of these Survival Kits anywhere online! :)

Inside the card reads...

LIFE 2010 Survival Kit

Starburst – for when you need an afternoon burst of energy

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

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Smiley Face stickers – to remind you to share your smile with others (wear them, or pass them out to others!)

“Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’" Nehemiah 8:10

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Hershey's Hugs & Kisses – to remind you that you are well-loved!

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1

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Balloons – remember not to “blow up” when things don’t go as planned

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:13-14

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Country Time Lemonade candy – they’re sweet and sour, to remind you to appreciate the differences in others

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12: 12, 27

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A button – a reminder to button your lips if you can’t say something nice

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” James 1:19

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Band-aids – for unexpected boo-boos

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

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Bubbles – to remember to HAVE FUN!

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” James 5:13

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Crackers – for when dinner seems like it’s still hours away

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6

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Tissues – for... well, just because you’re probably going to need them!

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

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A nail – to remind you of what you’re worth to Jesus!

“But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:13

Have a wonderful, blessed week!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope your 4th of July was a wonderful day!

Stamps: flourish (Impression Obsession), cross (Our Craft Lounge), sentiment (Our Daily Bread Designs)