Color Throwdown #449

Hi friends, it’s me again!  I told you you’d hear a lot from me this week since I’m on stay-cation!  :)  I have another card to share with you today, this one created using the current Color Throwdown #449, and the current CAS(E) this Sketch #227…


For this card, I used my new Orange You Sweet stamps and dies from Concord & 9th… the orange was perfect for this CTD challenge!  I’m looking forward to many more fun cards using these stamps and dies!

Here are the challenge graphics…      
                                
















Thanks for stopping by!

ABS Cards

ABS Cards?  You may be asking “Tammy, what are ABS Cards?”  No, that doesn’t stand for Anti-Lock Braking System… at least not here!  You’ve heard of ABC gum, haven’t you?  (Already Been Chewed)  Well, the cards I’m sharing with you today are what I call ABS Cards!  (Already Been Stamped)  You see, whenever I use a stamp set like Bold Blooms, Beautiful Blooms, Desert Bouquet, or Mini Modern Blooms I like to die-cut quite a few extra of every piece.  Then, when I get out my MISTI to stamp the flowers, while I’m at it, I just stamp more than I need for the current card I’m making.  Then I store the extras in the pocket with the dies, so I always have a “garden” of extra flowers on hand to make ABS Cards!  (All the flower stamps and Die-Namics you see in this post are from My Favorite Things, unless otherwise noted.)

I even have a Ziploc bag full of extra die-cut flowers from the Sensational Stitched Flowers Die-Namics that are leftover from this project…

Some die-cuts you can see are not stamped, and that’s most likely because I didn’t intend to use that particular piece on whatever I was working on, but they’re there if I ever do want to use them! 

A few of these “leftovers” originated from a project I did back in April.  Twice a year I go on a weekend-long stamping retreat with friends, and while I was there, I die-cut a whole mess of Beautiful Blooms, and stamped them all in a variety of complimentary colors to create a set of cards like this…

I think I made 16 of these… can’t remember now.  (The wreath used here is the Chisolm Wreath from Simon Says Stamp.)  But all the leftover flowers and leaves went into the pocket for later use!  Like yesterday, when I needed to make a quick little card and used them for this ABS Card…

And over the last few weeks, I’ve made two cards using Bold Blooms, and the leftover stamped die-cuts from those cards were used to make these two ABS Cards…

So, next time you’re using floral stamp sets that have matching dies, consider stamping some extras so you have them on hand to create ABS Cards!  Or ANY stamp set, really… doesn’t have to be florals!  Just stamp a few extra each time, and save a few steps for your next creation!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cow’s It Going?

Hi friends!  I’m checking in today with a card I finished for the current sketch #338, and the current color challenge #72 from My Favorite Things…

And here’s what I came up with…

Even though it’s a retired stamp set, this Birdie Brown Green Pastures stamp has always been a favorite for me.  I added the sweet little cow from The Whole Herd to go with the sweet sentiment.  Other products used include the BG Diagonal Stripes background, Stitched Rounded Square Frames Die-Namics, the Essential Sentiment Fishtail Strips (I think that’s what they’re called… I can’t find them right now on the MFT site), and the County Fair Plaid Paper Pack.  I also used Cherry Crisp, Blueberry and Cement Gray card stocks.

Day one of my stay-cation is in the books… I had a really rough day!  LOL  (Bazinga!)

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Color Throwdown #448

Hello friends!  Wow, life has kept me busy lately, how about you?  My Mom was visiting a few weeks ago, then I was busy getting ready to have a big yard sale.  The sale was yesterday, and I was able to sell quite a bit of my now-too-big clothing so that was really nice!  I’m happy to get it all out of my closet, and happy to pass it on to others who can use the clothes.  And now, I’m on stay-cation and don’t go back to work until Monday, July 3rd!  So you’ll be hearing from me a lot in the coming week, I’m sure!

Last evening, I spent some time stamping with some new stamps I bought from Pink Fresh Studio!  I got these several weeks ago, but just haven’t had time to play.  And now that I have… OMGosh!  I just LOVE these sweet Say it with Florals stamps, and the matching Say it with Florals die!  This card was a lot of fun to make.  For my first attempt, I followed the example on the package, and this is what I came up with…

I was inspired by the current color palette for Color Throwdown #448.

I used Lavender Fields, Cotton Candy, Spearmint, Green-Eyed Monster, Razzle Berry, Blu Raspberry, and Tropical Teal dye inks from My Favorite Things to stamp the leaves and flowers, and to watercolor the background, then embellished simply with some Sparking Clear Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh..

That’s all for me today… thanks for stopping by!  And stay tuned, because my stay-cation is going to involve A LOT of time in my stamping room!

Hodge Podge

Hi friends!  I’ve had some busy days lately, that haven’t allowed much time for stamping, but my time has been filled with other great pursuits, so it’s all good!  But I didn’t find a little time recently for some special projects, and wanted to quickly share them with you today!

My daughter and her boyfriend recently bought a house together (no, they’re not married… don’t get me started!) and I wanted to make my daughter a little something to have in her home from Mom.  Plus it made for a great excuse to do a little shopping at My Favorite Things, and I picked up the sweet Home Sweet Home Die-Namics, and the matching No Place Like Home stamps.  And this is what I created…

I bought this panoramic 10”x4” picture frame on Amazon to frame up these sweet little houses!  My daughter loves it, and has it proudly displayed in her living room.  All of the die-cuts you see come from the Home Sweet Home Die-Namics, except for the Stitched Square Layers in the background which are from Memory Box.  Additionally, I used the BG Bold Diagonal Stripes background on the Lemon Chiffon card stock in the background.

I also have a co-worker with a birthday coming up, and she’s a bird lover so the Bird Crazy stamps from Tim Holtz were a no-brainer to make her card.  This will be for everyone in the office to sign…

Because I’m short on time this weekend, I just made this card very similar to another one I made several months ago, but incorporated the current Color Throwdown #447 colors into my design.  The sentiment comes from another Tim Holtz stamp set, Crazy Talk.  On the inside, I stamped “It’s your birthday… CELEBRATE!”

Hope you’re having a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

My Other Obsession

Hello friends!  Today I thought I’d share something different with you.  In addition to stamping, I love Vintage things!  Take me antique shopping, and you’ll make me happy!  What’s my favorite thing to look for?  PYREX!  I’ve always loved it, but shortly after my Dad passed away is when my addiction really took off.  My parents were divorced, and when we cleaned out my Dad’s house, I discovered some Pryex pieces that my Mom had left behind when she moved out, and of course brought them home with me.  And that’s what got me started with wanting more!  Fortunately (and sometimes UNfortunately!) that bug has also bit my husband, and he has been known to go to auctions where Pyrex is advertised, and buys it just because it’s Pyrex.  So, to some extent, we’ve gotten a little carried away with the collecting.  BUT, if you look at the collections of some people I follow on Facebook and Instagram, my collection is pretty meager in comparison! 

There’s a favorite antique store near me that posted some photos on Facebook late last week.  In one photo was a darling little white cabinet with open shelves at the top and I just could not get that cabinet out of my head.  With my Pyrex collection, I have really struggled with a good way to display things.  That’s partially due to the fact that even though I do have a large kitchen, it’s got two refrigerators in it!  Yes, I said TWO!  There’s the large stainless steel Frigidaire that we use everyday, and then there’s the 1950’s Westinghouse!  It was in my parent’s basement all my life… the previous owners left it behind when they sold the house to my Mom and Dad in 1970.  And as a kid, I just loved that old thing!  It had the coolest push button on the front to open it that I always thought was so fascinating.  So it was one of the first things I called dibs on when we started cleaning out my Dad’s house.  I let my husband remove the compressor from it to make it lighter and easier to move, so it no longer works.  My Mom used to plug it in and use when we’d have holiday gatherings, and it might still have worked but none of us had the guts to plug it in and see what happened!  So now I use it as a storage cabinet in my kitchen… inside it are my Tervis cups, food processor, Foreman grill, vegetable steamer, kitchen rags, wine glasses, miscellaneous dishes, and the door even holds canned goods!  You’d be surprised at how much I have in there!  But anyway, I digress… back to the darling little white cabinet!  It’s size appealed to me, because I thought it might just fit perfectly in the space beside my old Westinghouse!  So my hubby and I headed to the antique store after church on Sunday (it’s called Journey in Time… if you’ve ever in Northeast Ohio be sure to check it out!) and I found the darling little white cabinet, and fell in love!  Luckily, it fit in the back of my car with the back seats folded down, and so we brought it home!

And so today I just wanted to share with you some photos of my “new” cabinet and my pretty Pyrex collection!

Isn’t it pretty?  I LOVE the shabbiness… it’s all part of the charm.  Maybe someday I’ll strip and repaint it, but for now I love it just the way it is.  Everything on the cabinet is Pyrex, except the clear glass dish on the top shelf center…it’s Heisy glass.  Something my husband got at an auction that he thinks is fascinating, so I indulged him and displayed it.  And behind the bowls on the top shelf is a metal tray, I thought looked good there for contrast.

Here you can see the Westinghouse… I’ve even got the original owners manual inside!  The push button on the door is permanently broken, thanks for a daughter’s former boyfriend.    So the door no longer closes completely, but you probably wouldn’t notice if I didn’t tell you?  On the top of the fridge I have a Vintage straw picnic basket with a tablecloth, a tin cake carrier, and a Premium saltine cracker tin.  You see those Premium cracker tins a LOT, but mine is different because the panel on one side is in Spanish!

On this little white cart (another auction find from my hubby!) I have some more dishes, including all of my Town & Country collection pieces.  The Town & Country set of Cinderella bowls on the bottom shelf were the ones I found in my Dad’s kitchen… they had been a wedding or possibly a wedding shower gift to my Mom in 1963.  They’re a little on the plain side, and not very pretty but I love them because of where they came from!  On the top shelf there are some blue and red “fridgies” (as Pyrex collectors call them) and a few other Vintage items including old salt & pepper shakers, metal trays and a juice pitcher.  The “hen” is a ceramic piece given to me by my Mom when I moved into my own home.  I’m honestly not sure if she pained it, or if it was painted by the lady who taughter her to do ceramics. 

There’s room in the bottom of the cabinet for pieces I’m not currently displaying.  (And that’s gotten filled up more since the photo was taken as I’ve found more pieces around the house that were being stored that I had forgotten about!)  Don’t you just LOVE those snowflakes?  I’d LOVE to find a few more pieces like that before next Winter to create a fun display!

And the drawers even have room for some extra lids I don’t currently need in my display, and my Pyrex collectors guidebook!

So, thanks for indulging me today and for stopping by to see a bit of my Vintage kitchen!