More of My Favorite Things

Seems like I just can't get enough of these stamps lately! I think it's because they're so awesome to color with my Copic markers! Problem is, I didn't have quite the right colors to match this dotted paper that I decided to use tonight. So I used my Tombow markers instead, but am still quite pleased with the results. The main image is stamped with jet black Staz-on ink on watercolor paper. The markers tend to flow better on the watercolor paper, and you can always use an aquapainter to smooth out any of those blasted marker lines if they show up! I made this for the Ways to Use It challenge on SCS today, which was to use some kind of flowers on your card. I got this yummy velvet flower garland at Archiver's several weeks ago, so I couldn't resist finally using it tonight. I have no clue what company the garland is from, though. I have got to get better about taking note of that kind of thing at the point of purchase! Anyone with a good suggestion on how to remember to do that? I was thinking of taking a picture of the ribbon spool with my phone. But it's a matter of remembering to do it, too! LOL

Thanks for stopping by! I've been thinking that it's high time for some blog candy soon! I'll have to see what I can come up with! :)

Stamps: My Favorite Things "Time for the Bubbly"

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; watercolor paper from Hollo's; designer paper from My Mind's Eye

Ink: Staz-On jet black; Ranger clear resist; Tombow markers

Accessories: velvet flower garland; silver SU! brads; Cuttlebug scalloped square die; Versamarker; SU! Iridescent Ice embossing powder (on the bubbles); SU! word window punch; clear EP; aquapainter

"These are a few of My Favorite Things!"

LOL Couldn't resist singing the song, could you!? Well, these are a few of the cards I've created recently using stamps from My Favorite Things, and images sent to me by the ever-kind Carolyn King (Cammie on SCS!)
This card was made with an image Carolyn sent me from the "Baby, It's Cold Outside" set, and the snowflakes I stamped from the "Winter Blast" set. I colored the image with my Copic markers. Little by little, my collection is growing and I just LOVE those markers! My cardstock is from Archiver's... my 5 freebies that I picked up (love those coupons!) when I bought this snowman paper from The Paper Company Studio. The silver cardstock matting the main image is brushed silver from Stampin' Up. The silver brads... I don't remember where those are from. I sponged Stampin' Up Soft Sky ink around the edges of the card base, and stamped the snowflakes with Ranger clear resist ink. The snowflake on the circle was stamped with Versamagic Night Sky, and embossed with SU! Iridescent Ice. I tied silver organdy ribbon twice around the side panel, and added several frayed pieces of silver cord to mimic the pattern in the snowflake.
This card was created with another great image that Cammie sent me, but the actual name of the stamp set escapes me. I colored this also with my Copic markers. The cardstock is Bazzill and Stampin' Up. The designer paper is from My Mind's Eye (polka dots) and Anna Griffin (stripes). The "make a wish" sentiment is from my Kitchen Sink Stamps set called Happy Birthday Cupcake, is stamped in Versamagic Pink Petunia and embossed with clear EP. I added brads and ric-rac for finishing touches.
More images from Cammie... what a sweetheart she was to send me these! This card uses Stampin' Up cardstock, and Pallette O' Prints designer paper in Certainly Celery. I colored the image with Stampin' Up markers, but colored the background and the sentiment piece with a Copic marker. The flowers stamped in the background on the Taken with Teal piece are also from my Kitchen Sink Stamps Happy Birthday Cupcake set. They match the flowers in the designer paper very nicely, I think!
This card was created for the My Favorite Things sketch challenge #10 on SCS. Used those awesome Copic markers again, and some yummy new Valentine paper from Bo Bunny! Cardstock is all Bazzill, and the dotted ribbon is from May Arts.
This last card was born out of complete desperation! I have several of this stamp set "Winter Blast" at the store, and it didn't sell during the Christmas season. Usually, all I have to do is make a sample with a set or stamp and it'll be gone in a week. Problem is, I couldn't come up with any inspiration for using this set myself! (probably explains why my customers aren't buying it!) So this card is a complet and utter, total CASE of this awesome card by kimreid_stamper on SCS... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/729734?si=Winter%20Blast I hope she doesn't mind... I plan to contact her and let her know I CASE'd her card! Anyway, I used Bazzill cardstock for my card, and more of that pretty designer paper from The Paper Company Studio. The penguins were stamped with Versafine ink, and colored with Tombow markers. I then used my Versamarker on the "star," snowball, and snow at their feet and heat embossed with Ranger embossing tinsel. The brads on each side are also from The Paper Company Studio. The snowflakes were cut out with a Cuttlebug die. I sponged French blue Colorbox chalk ink around the edges of the penguins, also. The sentiment is stamped in eggplant Colorbox pigment ink, and embossed with clear EP.

Thanks for stopping by! Stamp Happy!

Make a Wish, Cupcake!

This is a Kitchen Sink Stamps cards I created yesterday for the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS. The FS was Danielle (dlounds) and she has a really nice gallery! I chose to CASE this cards of hers... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/731708?cat=500&ppuser=54696 I changed the colors and the ribbon, eliminated the photo turn, and of course used a different stamp set! I really love how this turned out, but it was a lot of work! I don't often get such attention to detail in my work like this, so I'm always glad for an excuse to copy someone else's work for inspirational ideas!

Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps Happy Birthday Cupcake
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava; Hollo's white
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Versamagic Tea Leaves and Persimmon; SU! Groovy Guava
Accessories: clear EP; SU! Iridescent Ice EP; May Arts ribbon; coral grosgrain ribbon; SU! Hodgepodge Hardware, ticket corner punch and large oval punch; paper piercing tool

Thanks for stopping by! Stamp Happy, and Happy New Year!

Limited Supplies

We have a young lady at our church... her mom is our choir director, and her dad is our organist, so it stands to reason that this young lady is very musically inclined. During the Christmas season, she has played her flute several times as accompaniment with some of our choir anthems, and she does an amazing, beautiful job! Her heart is really in it, and you can just tell that she has put in some serious practice time. I have been wanting to send her a card to let her know how much her musical talent is appreciated, so today's Limited Supply Challenge on SCS was the perfect chance to get that card made! You can view the challenge here (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310003) if you'd like to read what the limits were or if you'd like to join in!

Thanks for stopping by! Stamp Happy!

Stamps: Gina K Designs Gettin' Buggy With It; TAC Be Authentic
Cardstock: plain white; striped and multi-dot DP from Paper Salon; background green dotted DP from Anna Griffin
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Versamagic Spanish Olive; Tombow markers for the butterfly; Stampin' Up Cool Caribbean to sponge around the main image edges
Accessories: American Crafts ribbon; foam squares

For my Wonderful Mom

This card is for my wonderful Mom. Today was her last full day of being the Activity Director at the nursing home where she has worked for years and years, and now she begins semi-retirement! She has always been so great at what she does there... planning events, etc. and is so well-loved by everyone. Her replacement has very big shoes to fill! I wanted to make her a beautiful card to mark the occasion and to let her know how proud I am of the wonderful work she's done for the residents of the nursing home. If you know a resident or staff member of Fulton Manor in Wauseon, Ohio ask them if they know Kay, the activity director! I guarantee they'll have nothing but good things to say! My Mom is the best!



Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps 3-Step Daisy and Never a Loss 4 Words

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Hollo's white; designer paper from Deja Views

Ink: Versamagic chalk inks: Spring Pansy, Purple Hydrangeo and Eggplant (daisies), Tea Leaves and Spanish Olive (leaves), Eggplant (sentiment)

Accessories: Color Spritzer with Tombow markers #098 and 676; sponges; Stampin' Up olive organdy ribbon; Stampin' Up photo corner punch; silver brads (source unknown); clear EP (sentiment), paper piercing tool; foam squares




This card is for my step-Dad, Keith. His birthday was last week and I forgot to send a card (as usual!) So I thought as long as I was sending a card to my Mom, I could get one sent to him, too!
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio (classic car); Impression Obsession (sentiment); Kitchen Sink Stamps (stripes)
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Sage Shadow, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy; Hollo's white; designer paper from unknown source
Ink: Versamagic Night Sky; Versafine Onyx Black; Versamark; Tombow markers N89 and 847; Stampin' Up marker Bashful Blue; Sakura Gelly Roll pen
Accessories: sponge; SU! ticket corner punch; Making Memories moulding strip, foam squares, clear EP
Thanks for looking! Stamp Happy!

Cake, Glorious Cake!

Well, I'm finally getting around to the SCS Color Challenge from Christmas day! The sample card by Christy S (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/749192?cat=500&ppuser=79977) was so appealing to me because even though the colors are very traditional Christmas colors, her card wasn't Christmas-y at all. So I made it my personal challenge too, to make a card that wasn't for Christmas. Christy said her inspiration for the card was a Fazoli's ad with similar colors. Well, my DD's have had a box of candy canes sitting on the desk by the computer monitor for a week, and coincidentally the box is the same colors as the challenge too! So it was inspiring me.

Then I remembered this card by Michelle Boyer (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/151027?perpage=48&thumbsonly=0&thumbcheck=) It was one of the very first cards I ever put in my faves, because I loved the striped background. I even PM'd her and asked how she did it, and she told me it was just ink taken from the lid of her pad and painted on with an aqua painter! So that's what I ended up doing for my card for this challenge!

I used a Versamarker and Iridescent Ice EP on the cake and stars... if I had more time this morning I would have used Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds instead. I have NO patience to wait for things to dry, though! The stars are from my snowflake Cuttlebug die, because I also have no patience for cutting out tiny things! Cutting out the cake was the extent for me today.

Stamps: Make a Wish by Gina K Designs
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Real Red, Glorious Green, Green Galore; Hollo's white; DCWV yellow (for star candle flames)
Ink: SU! Real Red, Glorious Green, Green Galore; Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Versamarker; SU! Iridescent Ice EP; clear EP (sentiment); Cuttlebug snowflake die (for stars) and Divine Swirls embossing folder; red dotted organdy (source unknown); foam squares

Merry Christmas, and Thank you!

Merry Christmas to all, and a big thank you to all of you who come to my blog to see what I've created! I appreciate everyone of you, and your comments always inspire me and bring a smile to my face! This card was made a few weeks ago, and I never got around to uploading it, so I thought I'd use it today as a thank you to all of you! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I wish you all a very blessed, peaceful Christmas!

Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps- snowflake stamp (promotional), sentiment from Thanks with Style, background starbursts from Backgrounds & Borders
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Basic Grey Figgy Pudding; Stampin' Up brushed silver; Hollo's white
Ink: Versamagic Night of Navy; Versamark
Accessories: clear EP; silver brads; silver cord; circle punches; Marvy super-jumbo scalloped circle; sheer white ribbon

Whoop - de - do!

I have these Emerson stamps from American Art Stamps at the store, and they've been on the shelves forever! I don't know if they were funny at first, and now people are tired of them or what, but I'm trying to generate some renewed interest in them! I call them The PMS Stamps because they're all kinda' snarky and sarcastic... reminds of Maxine from Hallmark. Anyway, here's the first one I did yesterday, and used the new Daisy D's rub-on tape I have in stock for the faux stitches. My images is stamped on white cardstock from Hollo's using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and colored with Tombow markers. I used silver brads from Gary Burlin, and mounted my main image with foam squares. Cardstock is from Bazzill Basics, and the polka dot paper is from My Mind's Eye.


Hope you're almost ready for Christmas, 'cause here it comes! Thanks for looking!

Mark your calendars!

I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!! Mark your calendar so you remember to pick up a copy of the May 2008 Cards magazine to see my name and design in print!!! Wow, am I excited! SO glad I got out of bed! :)

Featured Stamper challenge!

I finally got around to creating a card for the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS from last Sunday. The Featured Stamper was Charlene, aka LilLuvsStampin and she really does some awesome work! I decided to CASE this card of hers... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/688757?cat=500&ppuser=39689 because as I looked it over I could think of the possibilities for doing it with my Kitchen Sink Stamps! I used three different sets on this card... Playful Petals (the flower and leaves), Never a Loss 4 Words (sentiment), and Backgrounds & Borders (the diamond pattern). The flower petals were laid out on a large acrylic block (thank you to whichever KS Crew member passed along that helpful hint... I can't remember who it was!) and inked with Versamagic Pink Grapefruit ink. I then embossed with clear EP. The leaves are stamped in Versamagic Sage ink. I then masked off several of the petals on the right side and stamped the diamonds using Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel ink (stamped off once so it wasn't quite so dark.) The sentiment is stamped in SU! Ruby Red. My green cardstock is Bazzill Basics Ivy, the red layer is SU! Ruby Red, and the white is from Hollo's. I added a red Great Big Brad from Hot Off the Press, and some coral grosgrain ribbon, and mounted the main panel on dimensionals to finish my card!

Thanks for looking! Stamp Happy!

More fun...

Sorry for anyone waiting on details for these cards... my morning got away from me! The above card uses the Playful Christmas set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I was "talking" with Maria and some other Crew Members yesterday about these dew drops that I have at the store and how I bought some for myself but hadn't used them yet because they weren't "Christmas-y!" Well, Maria said something to the effect of "you can make it work" so I just had to try! I think this is rather cute, and kinda' retro! The card base is Bazzill cardstock, the white is generic, and the orchid is Stampin' Up Orchid Opulence. I stamped the first layer of the tree in Versamagic Spring Pansy, and then the second layer is stamped with Versamagic Pretty Petunia. I adhered the dew drops with glue dots. The star was stamped with Versamark, then embossed with silver EP. I cut it out and mounted it to the tree top with a dimensional. I sponged some Spring Pansy ink around the edges. The sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps Never a Loss 4 Words, and is stamped in Pretty Petunia then embossed with clear EP. Adhered a few more dew drops, tied on a bow and finished! This card measures 3"x3".

This card was created using more wonderful images sent to my by Cammie! The penguin and "Winter Wishes" sentiment are from 2 different Gina K Designs sets, and the Happy Holidays is from a retired Stampin' Up hostess set called Riveting. My designer paper is from a free package I got at Archiver's designed especially for them by ki memories. I colored the penguin with Tombow markers, and used a Sakura glaze pen on his hat brim and pom-pom. The edges of the penguin piece are done with a Daisy D's rub-on tape zig-zag stitch! It's the coolest thing... rub-on tape that comes in a dispenser, just like a mono-adhesive tape runner! Lots of fun! I added a Making Memories snowflake brad to the bottom left corner, and silver brads to the sentiment. Cardstock is Bazzill Basics (the red) and Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy.

Thanks for looking! Stamp happy!

Just Be-Claws!

I got some fantastic stamped images in the mail today from Carolyn King! "Cammie," as she's known by on SCS is just the nicest person I've never met, but I always enjoy bumping into her online! She offered last week to send me some images 'cause I was complaining about a lack of funds to buy new stamps! LOL Story of my life!

The stamps on this card are from a stamp set from Gina K Designs (http://shop.ginakdesigns.com/product.sc?categoryId=10&productId=21) called Just Be-claws! As soon as I found those images in the envelope, I knew I had to get a card created!

My cardstock for this card is all Bazzill Basics, and the white is generic. The designer paper is the Holly Jolly Collection from Flair. I colored the crab and pail with Tombow markers, and LOVE how it turned out! Oh, to have a HUGE set of Copic markers... please, Santa, please!?!?! But I make do as you can see here! I added the holly leaves at the base of the pail using a stamp from my Paper Salon Winter Wonderland set, and punched the holly berries from the red cardstock. Created a lot of layers, used a few dimensionals, added ribbon and brads and done! Very fun card, and I am so appreciative of Cammie sending me these! I'm heading back to my stamping sanctuary for some more fun!

Stamp happy!

Some more from the Sink!

HOW EXCITED I am to be able to type "this post was removed for publication!!!"

Chocolate!

I have had several stamps sets from My Favorite Things (http://www.mftstamps.com/) at the store but they're not getting a whole lot of attention. My customers are still a little leary of clear stamps. So I grabbed this set today to bring home and make a few samples, and hopefully turn some heads. Only problem is, after I got done with this card I realized I can't display it at the store since I don't carry that particular ribbon, (or Stampin' Up cardstock!) in the store! Darn, I'll have to have more chocolate and start over again!

Stamps: My Favorite Things - How Sweet It Is
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics (brown); Stampin' Up Soft Sky and Very Vanilla
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black; Colorbox dark brown; Versamark
Accessories: Tombow markers; Cuttlebug tag die; 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches; May Arts ribbon; Martha Stewart baker's twine; pop-dots; glue dots; sponges

Thanks for looking! Stamp happy!

A Celery Tree!

LOL Had you thinking, didn't I? This card was created for the Color Challenge on SCS today... Stampin' Up Certainly Celery, Old Olive and Summer Sun. Lately I just can't make anything but Christmas cards, so even though those colors screamed SPRING! to me (oh, how I wish it was!) I came up with a card for Christmas!

My stamps are all from the Kitchen Sink... Playful Christmas for the tree, and Never a Loss 4 Words for the sentiment. The Playful Christmas set is 2-step stamps, so the tree base was stamped in Certainly Celery on plain white cardstock, and the overlay is stamped in Old Olive. This is a great card to show the wonderful quality of these clear stamps and how well they take dye inks. Most clear stamps you just can't use dye inks... they bead up and/or you just don't get good coverage, but not with Kitchen Sink Stamps! The star was inked first with Versamark, then with Summer Sun. I did this so the ink would be "juicy" enough to take the clear embossing powder. Then I cut the star out and mounted it to the tree top with a small dimensional. The tree is punched out with my mega oval Marvy punch, and then I punched out a scalloped oval with the giga Marvy punch. The sentiment was stamped the same way as the star, and embossed. I added the sparkly red ribbon for a punch of color and to make it a little more "Christmas-y!" (I have a spool of that ribbon at the store, but I'm sorry I don't know what company it is from... the spool has no identification on it!) The finished card is 4" square, and I'm really happy with it!

Thanks for stopping by, and stamp happy!

Christmas Decor!

I was not in attendance at the Stampin' Up convention this past summer, but read several threads and saw a few pictures on SCS about a project that was done there using CD's covered in designer paper. This is my variation of the project, using round chipboard coasters! I finished this today, and immediately wanted to make more for Christmas gifts! But then realized, you can't do this without having to buy a whole set of alphabet letters to spell out "noel" over and over! Bummer! Someone needs to come up with chipboard letters sold in individual letter packages! If you know of a company that does, let me know! :)

I used paper from the Holly Jolly Collection from Flair, and my chipboard letters are from Stampin' Up. The round coasters were given to me by my friend Trina, but I don't know where she got them. (Sorry!) I used modge-podge to adhere the DP to the coasters and letters, attached my different accessories and embellishments, then used red-line tape to adhere the letters to the coasters. I punched holes with my Crop-a-dile, and tied them all together using Stampin' Up red organdy ribbon, with some thinner green organdy ribbon. Other accessories used are: Letter n - snowflakes from Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die cut; letter o - white snowflake brad from Making Memories, and red button from SU!; letter e - red ribbon from unknown source and Ice circle brad from SU!; letter l - red button from SU!, red star punched from EK Success punch, red velvet rick-rack from May Arts.

And voila'... the finished project!

Thanks for looking, and stamp happy!

Peaceful Plum Snowflakes

I made this card for a sketch challenge on SCS today, found here... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303977

Short on time, so I'm just going to post items used for now! Thanks!

Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps Snow Flurry

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Shimmer white; Bazzill Basic

Ink: Versamagic Eggplant chalk ink

Accessories: clear embossing powder; Michael's $1 ribbon; SU! small tag punch; dimensionals

Clear Sleeve Nugget Boxes

If you haven't tried making a nugget box yet, you've got to get busy! These are fun and easy, and now I love them even more with this new twist of using acetate for the sleeve! Chris Simon has patterns for all sizes of boxes on this thread at SCS... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190469 Check it out! I chose to make mine 2x3 this time instead of the 3x5 that I did for my recent class at the store. This little size is just the perfect little pick-me-up gift. I think the girls and I will just make these for teacher gifts this year!

These two are made using my Kitchen Sink Stamps, and are going to be sent to two SCS'ers who I need to ELF! The blue one uses stamps from Snow Flurry. The blue cardstock is Bazzill Bling, and the eggplant is from Archiver's. I also used Stampin' Up Shimmer white and silver cardstock. The labels around the nuggets were stamped first with the giant snowflake swirl stamp in Versamagic Aspen Mist ink, then stamped again with silver Encore ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I punched a scalloped circle with my Marvy super jumbo punch with silver cardstock for the center. I stamped the "stamped with loving hands" snowflake stamp on Shimmer white with Versamagic eggplant ink, embossed with clear EP, and punched out with a 1" circle. The "belly band" is just crimped with a paper crimper. The card uses the same inks, cardstock and stamp set, plus silver cord and ribbon from Michael's.
The pink set uses the Kitchen Sink Stamps Playful Christmas set, and I also used KSS Backgrounds & Borders for the starry snowflakes on my nugget labels. The labels were stamped with Versamagic Pink Petunia ink, then stamped with silver Encore ink and heat embossed. The tree in the circle center is also stamped with Pink Petunia, and then overstamped with Colorbox Warm Red. The cardstock for the box base is Bazzill Bling, the red cardstock is Bazzill Basics, and the white is SU! Shimmer. I again used the Marvy scalloped circle in super jumbo and a 1" circle punch for the center, along with the crimper for the band. The card is created with the same items as the box with the exception of the sparkly red ribbon that I had on hand but don't know the supplier.

This third set was made with stamps from a Paper Salon Tailored Tin called Winter Wonderland. I made this set to send to Kim Conlin, who is my Susan Gilman Company rep at the store. She has been so extremely helpful to me ever since I started my job at Toyrifix with advice and ideas, and is now helping me plan the Stamp Workshop Day for January. This little gift is in no way equal to all the help she's given me, but I hope it will in a small way let her know how much I appreciate all she's done! My cardstock used here is Bazzill Basics, along with Stampin' Up shimmer white and silver. I used Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp the snowman then heat embossed with clear EP to keep the colors from bleeding when I colored it with Tombow markers. The mittens were stamped with Colorbox Blue Iris ink, and also heat embossed. I used the circle punches again on this set, and the crimper. I stamped "happy holidays" on the card with silver Encore ink, then heat embossed with clear EP. When I was heating the sentiment to emboss, the heat gun started to affect my ribbon and cord on the card, so I just let it do that and ended up with a neat effect, I think! The silver cord kind of frayed, and the sheer ribbon curled up a little.
I hope you'll give these a try soon! They're a really easy project, and will be loved by whoever you give them too! Stamp Happy!

New stamps from The Sink!

Beginning Monday, December 3rd, you can order some great new stamp sets from Kitchen Sink Stamps. Two of the new sets are used on this card... Happy Birthday Cupcake and Never a Loss 4 Words. I actually gave you a sneak-peek of this card several weeks ago, and so now here it is!

I made this card for my awesome friend Cindy for her birthday, and I was late so it says "belated." It's actually still late because I haven't given it to her yet! (long story!) But I let her borrow my stamps, so that should count for something, right?

I also used the Backgrounds & Borders stamp set on this card. I stamped the cupcake using Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black ink, and colored it with my Copic markers. I then added stickles on the cupcake swirls, and a touch of glitter pen with my At You Spica marker on the bottom. There are also stickles on the candle flame. The sentiments are stamped with Versamagic Pretty Petunia ink, and the background is done with Versamark. Other ingredients are below.

Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps: Happy Birthday Cupcake, Never a Loss 4 Words, Backgrounds & Borders

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Cool Caribbean, Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst; Hollo's white

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black; Versamagic Pretty Petunia; Versamark

Accessories: Copic markers, At You Spica glitter pen, Stickles, Marvy giga scalloped circle punch and mega circle punch, Fiskars circle cutter, Stampin' Up circle punches and ticket corner punch, 1/16" hole punch, Offray ribbon, silver cord, sponge, Stamp-a-ma-jig

More peppermint patties!

I am hooked on these little pattie boxes from Cambria Turnbow's blog! (Seen here... http://cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/2007/09/batty-for-you-basket.html) This was one was made with my Kitchen Sink Stamps set Snow Flurry! I used Stampin' Up Soft Sky cardstock for the box, and layered 2 sides with Dazzle paper from Paper Salon. The metallic pink paper is from The Paper Company. I used silver eyelets from We R Memory Keepers on the sides, and attached them with my Crop-a-dile. The silver snowflake brad is from Making Memories. I really like how these look with a scalloped top edge, but my poor little corner rounder doesn't like punching through more than one layer! I hope I don't break it! I also used the Stampin' Up round tab punch, obviously for the tab! And SU! grosgrain ribbon. Each pattie is sandwiched between circles punched with a Marvy super jumbo scalloped circle punch. I will say, the Stampin' Up scalloped circle punch probably works better for this project. The Marvy punch is a little bigger and those patties are really stuffed into the box. I'm ordering one from SU! just for this project this week! :)

I hope you like these as much as I do and will give them a try! Stamp Happy!

Peppermint Patties

I saw a post on SCS one day about making things using peppermint patties, and was directed to Cambria Turnbow's blog and this post... http://cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/2007/09/batty-for-you-basket.html. I just fell in love with this design!!! She has the neatest ideas! I highly recommend bookmarking that blog for daily viewing. I was meeting my friend Laurie for brunch today, so I decided to make this up quick to give her, and now I can't wait to make more!Cambria has very good instructions on her blog, so I won't waste space by retyping them here!

Items used:

Stamps: Winter Wishes from Rubber Soul; Happy Holidays circle from Stampin' Up Riveting set

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; generic white; snowflake paper from unknown source

Ink: Colorbox Chalk warm red and dark moss; Versamark

Accessories: clear embossing powder; regular and scalloped circle punches; jumbo eyelets; Crop-a-dile; corner rounder punch (for scallops on box edges); May Arts ribbon; Stampin' Up round tab punch; snowflake brad from Darice

Baby Sympathy cards

My dear friend Patti (MommaPatti on SCS) is a nurse in the NICU for a large hospital in Cleveland. They have a bereavement committee that helps the parents who's babies don't survive, and Patti has asked her fellow stampers for help in the way of sympathy cards that can be sent to these parents. Here is a copy of Patti's request on SCS...

"I have a very special request. I am an RN in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a large Cleveland, Ohio hospital. Sadly, we do have some babies that do not make it, and our unit has a bereavement committee to help support these parents that suffer such a loss. Some babies live just a few short hours after birth, some of them succumb to the overwhelming odds after months in our unit. We help parents make a memory book, and collect mementos of their little one's too short life. We also send a sympathy card to the parents, and many of our nurses like to write a little personal note in the card before it is mailed. The hospital does provide generic cards, but they are in no way nearly as nice or as appreciated as handmade cards are. Awhile back, I did post this as a weekly challenge here on SCS, but unfortunately, our supply from that challenge is almost gone. I am hoping many of you lovely Wish-RAKers would help me in this effort.To help fulfill my wish, you can send me a handcrafted sympathy card that would be appropriate for a family suffering the loss of their infant. It does not necessarily have to have a baby theme. I ask that you try to make the card a bit larger than our standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" cards, since we have lots of nurses that like to write a little something in the card. (5x7ish is a good size, since it is still able to be mailed without extra postage)."

So, I created 8 cards today of 4 different designs, and I'm really unsure that they're "appropriate" but I'm going to send them to Patti and hope they can be used. I'm feeling like they're a little too "bright" but perhaps Patti will think differently since this is such a vastly different need than the typical sympathy card.

If you'd like to help by sending some cards too, please put your email address in a comment here and I'll contact you. I will edit or just not publish your comment so that your email address is not seen. Thank you!

This first card is made with generic cardstock and Wild Asparagus designer paper. The heart image is from my new Stampin' Up set called Time Well Spent, and the sentiment is from my Kitchen Sink Stamps Never a Loss 4 Words. I used Versafine Onyx Black ink, Versamagic Aspen Mist around the edges of the white square, and Versamagic Spanish Olive for the sentiment. The heart is colored with Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss, and Summer Sun SU! markers, and the main image panel is raised up on dimensionals.
These cards were created using the retired Rose Romance cardstock from Stampin' Up along with Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla. I also used a light green Bazzill cardstock and designer paper from Anna Griffin. The flower stamp is from Inky Antics, and the sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps Never a Loss 4 Words. I used Versamagic Pixie Dust ink for the flower base, and Pink Petunia for the flower petals and the sentiment. I inked the edges of the center square with Versamagic Aloe Vera ink. The ink strip was scalloped using my SU! corner rounder punch, and I added some pink Offray grosgrain for a finishing touch.At the suggestions of another SCS'er, I created these cards with the butterfly image from my SU! Time Well Spent set. The sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps. My light green and moss green cardstocks are generic, and I also used SU! Taken with Teal and Very Vanilla. Both pieces of designer paper are from Paper Salon. I inked the butterfly and sentiment with Versamagic Sage ink and also inked the edges of the center square with it.These last cards are the ones I am most unsure about, as they didn't turn out very "baby-ish" but then again, I'm not sure they need be. All stamps are from Kitchen Sink Stamps... the 3-Step Daisy set, and Never a Loss 4 Words. Cardstock used is Stampin' Up Ruby Red, Blush Blossom and Very Vanilla, and designer paper is My Mind's Eye. I inked the daisy with Blush Blossom and Ruby Red, then inked the daisy center with Versamagic Jumbo Java. I inked the leaves with Versamagic Sage and Hint of Pesto, then spritzed the images with my color spritzer and Blush Blossom marker. The sentiment is stamped with Versamagic Red Brick. I added vanilla grosgrain ribbon to the dotted panel.
I hope you like my cards (and I hope Patti can use them and likes them, too!) I hope they'll inspire you to try to make some cards for the NICU also! Thanks in advance for your help!
I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving Day! Stamp Happy!

Holly & Figgy Pudding

Sorry for the delay in the details on this card! It's been a busy day! I created this card based on the SCS sketch challenge for today. The holly and sentiment are from my Kitchen Sink Stamps, the 3-step Holly & Mistletoe set. The holly was stamped first with Versamagic Chalk ink in sage. I inked the second stamp with Versamagic Hint of Pesto and stamped it off once to lighten before stamping my image. The third step was stamped with Hint of Pesto... full strength! The holly berries are stamped with Pixie Pink Versamagic, then Red Brick stamped off once, and the third time with Red Brick full strength. I stamped the sentiment with Red Brick also. I used my Stampin' Up Color Spritzer and spritzed the white panel with my SU! Mellow Moss marker. The cardstock is all Bazzill except for the white which I get at Hollo's. The designer paper is Figgy Pudding from Basic Grey, and that yummy faux seude red ribbon is from May Arts. The antique brads are from a source long ago forgotten! The main panel is raised up on dimensionals.

Thanks for looking, and Happy Thanksgiving! Stamp Happy!

Holiday Gift Ideas

Today I'd like to share with you the projects that were done at the store last week for the Holiday Gifts Classes that I had. This was quite popular as I ended up holding the class 3 times in 10 days for 19 different customers! All of the ideas came from SCS, of course... such a wonderful, helpful place to get ideas! The designer paper used in all 3 projects is the new Figgy Pudding paper from Basic Grey. We've never carried Basic Grey in the store before, and it's been quiet popular, so I'm pleased! All regular cardstock on my projects is Bazzill, and my white paper comes from Hollo's.
This first project is a Gift Card holder! Instructions to make you own can be found here... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/giftcardholder.php. This was fun and easy to make. I decided to alter my design slightly and make a tag out of the top piece. The stamps are from Art Impressions. The "To:/From:" is stamped in Merlot Colorbox ink. The holly and berries were colored with Tombow markers, and there is Soft Sage Memories ink sponged around the edges of the tag. To create the "holder" there are scored lines on the long, folded piece that create a very short box-like piece, and then a small coin envelope is mounted inside for your gift card to slide into! The pattern on SCS calls for 2 envelopes inside so you have one for your sentiment but in this case I chose only one envelope. Less confusion in the class and less time spent creating!This next project is a Post-It Note holder. I found instructions for it long ago on someone's blog, I think! It is 2 pieces of chipboard coaster cut to 3 1/2" squares. The snowman paper is cut in 4 1/2" squares, and folded around each side of the coasters and attached with red-line tape. Inside, the light blue cardstock is cut 7" x 3 3/8" and is scored 3 1/4" from each end to create a "pocket" at the top for the post-it notes. Then we just stamped this little "Joy" stamp from Hero Arts in silver Encore ink, punched out scalloped circles with Marvy extra jumbo and super jumbo punches, attached a silver snowflake brads, and adhered! Cute and EASY! You could turn out a bunch of these for gifts in an evening!This last project was everyone's favorite because it involved CHOCOLATE! This is a Nugget Box! You can find instructions for your own box here... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190469 and if you read through the first few posts, you'll find there are instructions/patterns for nugget boxes of all sizes there! I owe many thanks to Chris Simon on SCS for re-writing this 3x15 pattern for me with alternate measurements so my customers could use the Scor-It to score all the lines on the boxes. The stamps on the box top are from Art Impressions. The serpentine swirls are stamped with Memories soft sage ink, and the sentiment is stamped with Colorbox warm red. The labels for the nuggets are also stamped with the serpentine swirls and letters in warm red. These are also very easy to make... don't be intimidated! These would be a big hit as teacher gifts and perfect for man or woman!
Thanks for looking! I wish everyone a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day! Stamp Happy!

Snowflakes!

I got this beautiful new paper from Magenta's Gingerbread Collection at the store on Thursday, and this cute, folksy snowflake stamp so I decided to pair them up and try this sketch challenge from Beate's blog... http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

The snowflake and the sentiment (from Impression Obsession) are both stamped with Versamark ink, and embossed with Stampin' Up copper embossing powder. The snowflake is stamped on SU! Natural Ivory cardstock, then punched out with my mega circle punch. I punched a scalloped circle with my giga punch with a piece of Bazzill cardstock to layer. The card base is also from Bazzill... the color is Java. I pierced 3 holes in the top right corner for the copper brads (source unknown). I really struggled with the urge to add ribbon to this, but didn't want to detract from the pretty designer paper, so I resisted!

Thanks for looking!

Fall Cards Class

Back in September, my class at the store was simply "Fall cards." The previous manager had to plan the newsletter for September before I started working there, and made the class a little generic in the subject so that I could have a little freedom in planning it. So today, I'm finally getting the cards from that class uploaded! I hope you like them!
This first card was my very favorite, but also gave me the most grief! I really struggled with how to color the image! It's hard because things I have here at home and are comfortable using, or things I would have used as a Stampin' Up demo, are not necessarily what I have available at the store. I tried making markers work with this and it wasn't pretty! I finally settled for a Tombow marker #912 to highlight the shadowing on the pumpkins, and another Tombow marker #856 for the berries. The rest was colored with chalks, and I think turned out beautifully! My customers were a little leary of the chalks, but once they got started their images were gorgeous and it was neat to see how different each one turned out! Some people were very heavy-handed so their pumpkins and all were very bright and bold. Some were lighter, like me. The cardstock on the card is all Bazzill. I used a circle Coluzzle to cut out the circular window, and the green panel is then raised up on foam squares. The pumpkin patch stamp is from Northwoods.This second card was created using all stamps from Stamps by Judith and Heather. I have a few customers that are very loyal to her company and stamps, but I think I may discontinue carrying them. I personally like some of the images, but her company is difficult to deal with and requires a large minimum order every time. This card was also CASE'd from the Judith idea catalog. The leaves are stamped with Ancient Page black, and colored with a variety of Tombow markers in fall colors. "Be thankful" is stamped with tangerine Colorbox chalk ink, as are the leaves in the background on the orange panel. The maple leaf brad is from an unknown source (found it in my box of brads just laying loose!) For the class I purchased oak leaf brads from Hero Arts. All cardstock is Bazzill. I also thought the different-size card would be a neat change-up for the class, but something to remember with this size of card is it wastes a whole sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock for just one card!This card may look familiar... I might have uploaded it previously. The tree/rake stamp and the sentiment are all from Serendipity stamps. The tree was watercolored using Memories chestnut brown ink and an aquapainter. The sentiment is stamped with eggplant Colorbox pigment ink, and then embossed with Moon Glow copper embossing powder. The edges of the main panel are inked with Memories soft vanilla ink, and the chestnut ink. The whole panel was then spritzed with Moon Glow's Moon Shadow mist... can't remember the exact color but it was a copper. It gave it a gorgeous shimmer! If I remember correctly, I think I CASE'd most of this design from the Serendipity catalog.I was also pretty pleased with the results on this last card. The cardstock is all Bazzill, and the striped paper is from Flair. The long panel is a regular-size Rollograph wheel from Clearsnap called Harvest. It is inked with sepia Ancient Page ink. The sentiment is inked with olive pastel Colorbox chalk ink and unfortunately my memory escapes me this morning and I don't remember where that stamp came from... possibly Serendipity? I used my Crop-a-dile to set the We R Memory Keepers eyelet, and tied a piece of twill through it. For the class I had customers knock off 2 corners of the sentiment panel and the mat and centered the eyelet and twill to make it look more like a tag.
Thanks for checking out my fall cards! I'm off to work today, and hope to have time to play while I'm there! The whole stamping department has been cleaned up, reorganized, etc. and there is now a need for more demo samples on the floor so send good stamping vibes my way for quiet time today for stamping!
Stamp Happy!

Bliss... a day off!

Yeah, a day off was bliss but I still had too much to do that kept me from doing much stamping! Sorry for the long "pause" in posts here... it's been crazy lately and the calling hours and funeral last week took a big chunk out of my time and the weekend was just non-productive as far as stamping!




I finally got to play with some of my new Kitchen Sink Stamps this evening! I hope that you've all been chomping at the bit to see more of these great stamps! This first card uses the Playful Alphabet for the letter C, and the "congratulations" comes from a set to be released later this month called "Never a Loss 4 Words." It is an AWESOME set! You will never need another word/sentiment set again! My cardstock on this card is all Stampin' Up... Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. I made the scallops using my corner rounder with the guard removed. The chocolate ribbon is from Joann's. I stamped swirled images from my Kitchen Sink Backgrounds and Borders set on the Vanilla cardstock with Frost White Colorbox ink. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted... I stamped it first and let it dry, then stamped it again and embossed with clear. I may have to do it over again... it'll keep me up nights! The "c" was double-stamped with SU! Purely Pomegranate classic ink, and I cut one letter out and mounted it above the other. The "ongratulations" is stamped with Versamagic Jumbo Java ink. Both are embossed with clear EP.

This last picture is a "sneak peek" of a new set soon to be released! Doesn't it look YUMMY???

Beauty from The Sink!

Have you ever had anything this beautiful come out of your Kitchen Sink? LOL This 3-Step Daisy set from Kitchen Sink Stamps continues to amaze me! I just love what can be created with it!

This card is for our wonderful friend, Carol. She's the wife of our family friend who died on Sunday. I hope it brings her some cheer, along with the apple crisp I made for the family!

The stamp set I used is, of course, the 3-Step Daisy and the sentiment comes from that set, too. I inked the first layer of the daisy with Versacolor white, then edged it with a little bit of Smoke Blue Colorbox ink. The second layer I inked with Stampin' Up Going Gray, stamped it off once to remove some ink, then stamped the flower. The third layer is stamped with Going Gray, fully inked. The daisy center was stamped with Versamark, then I sprinkled it with Moon Glow yellow embossing powder. The leaves were stamped with Versamagic Sage and Spanish Olive. The sentiment was stamped with Spanish Olive, also and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Remember, only 1 day until the release of 4 new Holiday Stamp Sets from Kitchen Sink Stamps! Remember to look for the banner ad on Thursday, November 1st at www.splitcoaststampers.com to purchase the new stamps and get a 15% discount!!!

Stamp happy!

One more day to NEW STAMPS!

I can't get this banner to animate, and show you the words "4 New Holiday Sets" or to tell you specifically that they'll be released on November 1st, but you get the gist, right? Be sure to go to http://kitchensinkstamps.com for the online store, and click on the link for "Sink News" to go to Maria's blog and get a sneak peek at some of the new sets! Then, right away tomorrow morning, go to http://splitcoaststampers.com and look for the banner ad! Click on it to take you to the store, where you'll receive 15% off your total purchase on November 1st! Can't beat that! Great new stamps, with a great discount! I promise, you'll love the stamps! :)

Are you ready for some new STAMPS!!!

Less than 2 days and counting until the release of new Holiday Stamp Sets from Kitchen Sink Stamps! Be sure to see the banner ads at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ on Thursday, November 1st! Click on the banner to order the new sets, and receive 15% off your order! Wow! How generous is Maria! An awesome chance to get some awesome stamps at an awesome deal! Do I sound like a valley girl, or what? Totally!

sadness

That's it.... just a plain black square. Our family lost a very dear friend to cancer this evening. I had made a few cards today that I intended to upload tonight but it's now furthest from my mind, so it's just a black square. This man was the absolute very nicest man you could ever hope to meet, let alone call a friend. Just one of those people that you're very lucky to have known... you know what I mean? Always kind and good to everyone, always there to help, always giving more than he got. And it's completely and utterly unfair that his life is over at age 55. And he leaves behind a wonderful family... a wife, 3 awesome kids, a daughter-in-law, 2 beautiful grandchildren, brothers, his mother, nieces and nephews and a ton of people that we so lucky to have had him touch our lives. If you are so inclined, please include the Lantz family in your prayers. And remember to let everyone in your life know how much they mean to you! Say "I love you" until you can't say it anymore!