Butterfly Thanks

Hello friends!  Well, my stay-cation comes to an end tomorrow morning.  I do NOT want to go back to work, but that’s life!  In the meantime, I ended my relaxing week by spending time with some of my stamping friends on Saturday, just stamping and talking and having a nice time!  I made a special effort yesterday to use stamps and dies that I’ve purchased recently and haven’t used, so the beautiful Papillon and Papillon Patterns stamps and dies I recently got from The Stamp Market were on my agenda, and I made this card…

I used a color combo that I had saved on Pinterest, and found two challenges to use in the making of my card.  First was the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #294, however I turned my design vertical.  And the second challenge was the current Cas-ual Fridays #177 Tic-Tac-Toe challenge.  I started on the top left corner (butterflies), and went diagonal also incorporating a tag and texture (the embossing on the butterfly). 

The sentiment on my tag is from the Thanks stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.  I completed my design with some black sequins (thanks to my friend Kirsty for those!) and some gray linen thread on the tag.  (Other products used include Pierced Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Rectangle STAX, Blueprints 12, and BG Whimsical Woodgrain background stamp all from My Favorite Things.)

Have a great upcoming week, and thanks for stopping by!

Bamboo Rose Birthday

Hello, and happy weekend!  I did some more stamping yesterday, and made this birthday card for one of my aunts using the Bamboo Rose stamp and die set from Altenew…

I stamped the roses on watercolor card stock with Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I colored each rose and the leaves with dye inks from My Favorite Things and an aqua brush.  I arranged the roses around a Stitched Oval Scallop Edge Frame Die-Namics from MFT and added an inset with watercolor card stock and a wash of Cotton Candy dye ink.  The sentiment, from the Simon Says Thoughtful Messages stamp set, was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I added the BG Diagonal Stripes background behind the oval, and applied a wash of Sour Apple dye ink.  Some Sparkling Clear Sequins for embellishment completed my card.

Have a great weekend, 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!

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!

Daisies

Hello friends!  I got some new stamps recently from Altenew, and promptly started inking up the new Spring Daisy stamp set for this card…

I masked fhe big daisy in the center front, and added the second one behind it, then masked both daisies to add the leaves.  Everything was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossed with clear embossing powder, then I watercolored using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  I added some ink spatters and sequins for embellishment.  The sentiment was created by using the small You craft die and the You Matter stamp set from Simon Says.

I was inspired by the current colors of Color Throwdown #444, and the inspiration photo at Inspired by All the Little Things #58 to create this card.

I hope you’re having a fabulous weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Butterflies

I love watching home improvement shows on TV.  I’m especially loving a recent new show called Home Town.  Have you seen it?  Ben and Erin are just the cutest couple, and I just LOVE what they’re doing to older homes in their town!  On one episode I recently watched, I saw some fabric on a pillow or something and thought “oooh, I love those colors together!”  So I just had to create a card using coral, yellow and bright green…

These butterflies are from the Butterfly Beauty stamp set from Concord & 9th.  I stamped the butterflies in Versamark ink on watercolor card stock and heat embossed in white.  Then I applied a watercolor wash over the butterflies using Persimmon, Daffodil and Field Day premium dye inks from My Favorite Things.  I also added some spatters of water and Perfect Pearls for some shimmer.  The sentiment is a combination of the large You Wafer die, and the You Matter stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.  I die-cut the “you” from Coral Crush card stock two times, glued them together then applied a layer of Glossy Accents.  Some sequin embellishments completed my design.  The sequins and Perfect Pearls also added some sparkle, making my card perfect for the current Simon Says Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Birthday Card and Gift

I have a co-worker who had a birthday last week, and I wanted to create a little set of note cards as a gift for her.  I saw this cute, simple card a few days prior by Laurie Willison, and it got my wheels turning.  So here’s what I did to create a set of note cards for Michele…

I used the Doodled Blooms stamps and matching Die-Namics from My Favorite Things, coloring the flowers and leaves with Copic markers.  I added a strip of die-cut grass to each card, and simple, everyday sentiments from the Essential Sentiments and More Essential Sentiments stamp sets.

For Michele’s actual birthday card, I pulled out my pretty Beautiful Day stamps from Altenew, and just created a quick watercolored card panel…

I masked the flower and added some splatters plus some sequins for embellishment, then added a sentiment by combining the You craft die from Simon Says with a birthday sentiment.  I die-cut the panel with a die from Blueprints 22 from My Favorite Things, and added a black and white striped strip of paper from the Black & White Basics Paper Pack. 

Finally (speaking of Laurie Willison!) I used my new Rectangle Card Hanger die to hang the birthday card from the gift bag…

The bag ended up being a little too big, but it was all I could find in the wee hours when I finally finished this a few nights ago!  These Card Hanger dies that Laurie designed are GENIUS!  How many times have you taken a gift to a party with your beautiful card in an envelope inside the bag?  And the recipient opens the card, looks to see who the gift is from and sticks it back into the envelope and back into the bag???  LOL  For me personally, I want the gushing over my creation from the recipient and guests, amiright?!?!  And with these cool dies, you can hang your card proudly on the front of the bag, and the whole room will be heard saying “did you see that gift bag with the gorgeous card?”  :)  Gotta’ love it!

Thank you for stopping by again today!

Thinking of You

I recently made my very first purchase of stamps from Concord & 9th, after seeing some cards made with the gorgeous Hello Lovely stamp set.  I’m not entirely sure that I like my watercoloring here, but overall I think the card turned out OK.  My plan is to send this card to one of my aunts, who’s been having some health problems and has been in a nursing home for a few months.

I hope my Aunt Rose will like this!  I stamped the flowers in Versafine Onyx Black ink, embossed with clear embossing powder, and used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to color this.  The sentiment was created by stamping part of a phrase from this Thanks stamp set from Simon Says Stamp, and the You Craft Die, also from Simon Says.

I’m linking my card to the current Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:  Splash it On, and the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:  Showers or Flowers.

I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge–At Home

Hi friends!  If it’s the 15th, that must mean it’s time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  This week we have this fabulous rustic piece of home decor to inspire you…

I chose to keep my design a little clean and simple this week, based on our inspiration piece…

I used a piece of woodgrain designer paper for my background, die-cutting it with a Blueprints 24 die and mounting it to a piece of Whip Cream card stock.  I die-cut some Blu Raspberry card stock using the Prayers die from Simon Says Stamp, and added a sentiment from the matching stamp set on a yellow Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX flag.  Using the Leafy Confetti Cuts from Reverse Confetti, I die-cut some green card stock to add some foliage to the left side of my card, and finished with some enamel dots.

Please be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  You could be in the running to be chosen as the “Lead” and be our guest designer for the next challenge!  And be sure to visit the Crew for plenty of inspiration…

Betty Wright
Kim Singdahlsen
Leigh Penner
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Sheri Gilson
Silke Ledlow
Stacey Schafer
Tara Godfrey

Thanks for stopping by!

CrAzY for Back-to-School

Hello friends!  It’s time for another challenge with the Crazy 4 Challenges team.  Jessie is our August hostess, and this week she’s challenging you to create something with a back-to-school theme.  Maybe a thank you note for a teacher, or a scrapbook page with your child’s first day of school, or a set of note cards to tuck into your child’s lunch box!

Well, in my house there is no more back-to-school time as my daughters are past that age.  So I don’t really have any need for any teacher gifts, etc.  But I did create this thank you note with a school-like theme that I can keep in my stash of cards…

I’ve always just loved this Pretty Patches:  Apple stamp set and dies from Wplus9 Design Studio… I’ve had it in my stash for forever.  And it must even be retired because I can’t find it anywhere for sale.  But regardless, I still love it!  I paired the apple with some patterned papers, and used the current Freshly Made Sketch #249 for my layout.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie
Alexis Crossland-Smith, Guest Designer
Danielle Vincent, Guest Designer

Well, if you have little ones headed back to school in the coming days, I pray they’ll have a great school year!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Curtain Call–Snow Cone Reminder

There’s still time to join the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge this week, and create a card using the inspiration photo above!  Enter by Wednesday, August 10th at 8:00 a.m. Central time to be in the running to be our next Lead Designer!

I created another card with a cool, summertime refreshment theme by using this watercolor card from the Suzy’s Sizzling Series package at Simon Says Stamp.  I got a LOT of inspiration for my card from Debby Hughes’ card here…



I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers for my card, and an aqua brush.  And I took some hints from Debby’s card and added some Diamond Stickles, Perfect Pearls and Wink of Stella pen for some sparkle, as well as a few clear sequins.

Be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details and join us!

Thanks for stopping by… happy Monday!

Sweet Watermelon

Hello, and happy weekend!  Our Crazy 4 Challenges team has a new challenge for you today!  Since July is known as National Hot Dog month, we’re incorporating picnic themes in our creations today!

Well…. I went through all my stamps and dies, and would you believe I just had nothing to use?  And even at my crafty day last week with friends, no one had any stamps with them that would do!  So I turned to my favorite digital images at A Day for Daisies and created this card…

Who doesn’t love watermelon at a picnic, right?  So I printed out this juicy Watermelon Wedges image from ADFD to create my card.  I colored with Copics for another day of coloring in The Daily Marker 30 Day challenge.  And I added some green gingham paper from the Farm Fresh Gingham Paper Pack from My Favorite Things, because every good picnic includes a gingham tablecloth, amiright?  Using some Blu Raspberry card stock, I die-cut the “you” using the You craft die from Simon Says Stamp.  (I get SO MUCH use out of that die!) and then to finish the sentiment I added “are so sweet” which comes from the LLD Donuts and Sprinkles stamp set from MFT.  Behind the die cut circle, I added a double-ended Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics cut from Razzle Berry card stock, and embellished with some black enamel dots.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie
Alexis Crossland-Smith, Guest Designer

Have a GREAT weekend, stay cool, and thanks for stopping by today!

Flower Tag

I found the color swatch for today’s Color Throwdown on Facebook after I got home from work last night, and just couldn’t resist that yummy color palette, so I got to work on a card using these color…

I also found some inspiration in the current Tag You’re It! challenge #51 with this beautiful tag…

So, here’s my card…

The Painted Flowers stamps from Altenew are just so fun to work with… I don’t know why I don’t use them more often!  I just love ‘em!

Keeping this short and sweet today… any questions about other products I used, just holler!  And thank you for stopping by!

Just wanted to send you a line…

Hi friends!  My posts have been few and far between lately, but I actually have four or five cards that I made during a long weekend stamping retreat back in APRIL that I haven’t shared with you yet!  So I thought I’d throw one of those cards up on the blog today for you to see!

During the retreat, a few of us girls escaped for the morning and went to the Adventures in Stamping convention in downtown Akron.  I spent WAY too much money in the Rubbernecker Stamps booth, and here’s a card I made with two of the stamps I picked up that day…

I just couldn’t resist those silly birds, especially the one doing his own thing!  I watercolored these… I think I used my Ranger Distress inks, but who can remember back to April, huh?  The stamp is Be Yourself from Rubbernecker, and the sentiment is Send You a Line, also from Rubbernecker.  I added a row of vellum clouds behind the main panel, using the Simon Says Stamp Cloud Bank die, and watercolored the background.

I hope you had a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

CrAzY for Cheer

It’s time for another challenge with the Crazies, and this week we’re looking to cheer someone up!  July 11th is actually Cheer Up the Lonely Day, so let’s create cards that provide comfort and encouragement!

I went with a simple thinking of you sentiment for my card…



I colored this poppy from the LJD Delicate Pretty Poppies stamp set from My Favorite Things using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, then die cut and mounted it to a piece of watercolor card stock that I also used my Zig markers on.  I splattered the background with water, some watered-down Perfect Pearls and some Tropical Teal dye ink as well, and embellished with a few sequins.  My poppy and background were colored as part of The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge, and I also used these colors for the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge.

Stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  And visit the other Crazies for more inspiration…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

Hard Work

I took some time this holiday weekend for a little stamping, just for fun.  I had recently discovered a fun new-to-me challenge that I wanted to play along with… the Time Out Challenge.  This week, the challenge was to be inspired by the phrase “May all your weeds be wildflowers.”  I decided to pull out my Watercolor Doodles panels from Simon Says Stamp to make a card for this challenge.  I’ve had these panels since last Fall, and have never used any until now!  I thought my daughter would like this card… she’s working pretty hard at school, making good grades and keeping her nose to the grindstone so I thought I’d send this to her this week.



I used my Zig watercolor markers to color the panel, using bright color (especially purple!) that I knew Kelsey would love.  I kept the design fairly simple, just mounting the panel to a piece of black card stock for a pop, then mounting it to a white card base.

That’s all for me today… thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #394

Hey there!  I have to hurry today and get my card uploaded for the current Color Throwdown challenge!  I actually made this several days ago, when my order came from Simon Says with this DARLING new stamp set and dies from Lawn Fawn!  As soon as I saw this new So Smooth stamp set and dies, I HAD to have them!  Here’s what I came up with…

I knew the pink would be just perfect for the “smoothie” then I added a little bit of red with the strawberries, and some blue from the blueberries!  (Actually, if I was blending strawberries and blueberries, my smoothie would probably be more purple than pink, I suppose!  LOL)  I added a little more blue with the milk carton and the diagonal stripes in the border, and some more red with a few enamel dots.  This is definitely going to be a fun stamp set to play with!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #393

Broni picked some sweet colors this week for the Color Throwdown #393, so I decided to use them to make a birthday card for my BFF Barbara Anders, who had a birthday last week!  Here’s my card…

I used the Vintage Flowers stamp set from Altenew to make some beautiful pink roses, and layered them over a gray card stock panel that was stamped with the BG Wood Plank background from My Favorite Things.  The sentiment was created by using the Simon Says Sending die, die-cut from two layers of dark gray card stock, and the Best Hugs stamp set.  I embellished with a few pewter sequins.

Now, if only I could actually get this in the mail!  I always say I’m good at making cards… not so good at sending them!    Thanks for stopping by!

Big Hugs Bear

Way back in January, I saw this DARLING card created by Amy Rysavy and I just knew I HAD to have that little bear stamp set and die!  So I headed over to Simon Says Stamp and quickly purchased the Bear Necessities stamps and matching dies!  I know, right?  TOO stinkin’ cute!  And then, as usual, I never got around to using them… until a few weeks ago, when I was at a retreat!  And for inspiration, I just decided to CASE Amy’s card.  Why mess with perfection?

There’s a little girl at our church who is very, very sick and so this was made to send to her.  The background is watercolored, and I added my own splatters in addition to borrowing Distressed Patterns from My Favorite Things from a friend (thanks Kirsty!)  For the sentiments, I used the Best Hugs stamp set, and Scripty Big Hugs dies from Simon Says.

Now that I’ve used this sweet bear, I must not neglect him/her!  It’s just too cute!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cards, Cards, Cards…

Hello friends!  I hope you had a great weekend, and to all the mothers out there, I hope you had a beautiful Mother’s Day!  I can honestly say that my kids treated me like royalty!  And I had time on Saturday getting crafty with friends and I got quite a few cards made this weekend!  Here are a few I’d love to share with you today!

My first card was made with a really fun Comforted by Carrots stamp that I picked up from Rubbernecker when I was at the Adventures in Stamping convention a few weeks ago.  I just found this sentiment to be so hilarious!  Thanks to my sweet friend Katie, I was able to add some die-cut carrots to this card by borrowing her Rooting for You stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn…

Ha!  Don’t you love it?  That sentiment made me burst out laughing in the RN booth, so I had to buy it!  The layout for my card was inspired by the current sketch #71 at The Challenge, and I added some emerald green for Barbara’s current challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges.

Unfortunately, in the last two weeks I’ve needed three sympathy cards so here are two more I made this past weekend…

For this first card, I used the current challenge #171 at CAS(E) this Sketch, and the current color challenge #340 from the Color Q.  I stamped the two smallest flowers from the LJD Scribble Roses from My Favorite Things in Versamark, heat embossed them in white, then watercolored in shades of rose and red.  I added a Polaroid frame behind the flowers, and the With Sympathy die from Simon Says Stamp.

My second card uses my new favorite stamp, the Bunch of Tulips from Rubbernecker, and my layout was inspired by the current sketch #235 from Freshly Made Sketches.  I used Ranger Distress inks on the tulips, and again used the With Sympathy die from Simon Says Stamp.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by today!