A New Ink on Life

Think Pink

  

 Well here I am finally posting, such as life is, it has been a crazy busy week and a half and with my little one sick all of my time has been spent tending to her. Enough about that, I am so excited I finally got to stamp today, although it was a quick card and was made because my daughter needed a birthday card for a party that she was going to tonight. I went to one of my favourite challenge blogs Pals Paper Arts for inspiration and this weeks challenge is "In The Pink", in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. And what girl wouldn't like to recieve a pretty pink card?!

I started with a Kraft cardstock base for a very clean and simple look plus I really love Kraft. The Designer Series Paper is from the Pink Flamingo pack and unfortunately because the lighting was not great I don't think you can see in the picture, but I used my Paper Crimper on it to give some texture to the design. Then I pulled out one of the first stamp sets I ever purchased; Garden Whimsy. I just love the whimsical images in this set with all the light swirls and dots. The butterfly was stamped using one of the very first techniques that I learned as a new demonstrator (2 years ago yesterday since I held my first stamp and signed up on the spot!); the Rockn' Roll Technique. I remember being wowed when I first saw this done, even now it is sometimes fun to go back to the basics. The two colours I used were Pretty In PInk Classic Ink then I lighty rocked the edges of the inked image in Cameo Coral Classic Ink. I stamped the butterfly slightly of the paper on Whisper White and the matted it on Cameo Coral. Then using my Eyelet Border Punch I created a decorative edge from Whisper White and attached it to the right side of the matt. And my favourite part of this card has to be the Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon. I used my Sticky Strip to bunch up the ribbon and attach it to the card. The Kraft Corduroy Button was threaded with a very thin strip of Chocolate Chip Cardstock and attached with a Dimensional. "Friend to Friend" is from the stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes and was inked up with Chocolate Chip Classic Ink.

There you have it a quick Pink card and finally a post. I really hope to get back to a regular posting schedule soon. Thank you for visiting and be sure to check out the PPA Challenge this week as they are giving away some great Blog Candy and raising awareness for the fight against Breat Cancer. 

Enjoy Today

 

I just love the Holiday Mini and in my opinion is anything but Mini! There are so many beautiful stamp sets and accessories that it was hard for me to narrow down what I was going to order from it- so I basically had to get it all! (NO,no I did refrain-some.)  But I knew as soon as I saw the set Autumn Splendour I just had to get it. What I really like is the versatility of the leaf images and because they are line art you could get a really beautiful result watercolouring them as well. For this card I just chose to stamp them in the colours More Mustard, Dusty Durango and Crushed Curry with Classic Ink. Fall is such a gorgeous time of year and I really wanted to capture it with this card-all too often we hurry through the day consumed by a list of things to do and don't take the time to enjoy today. Lately I have really being feeling that way so I am on a mission to learn how to work SMARTER-NOT HARDER and enjoy more of the blessings I have around me! (Yeah I know it will be hard but I AM determined to get more organized LOL!)

This card starts off with a base of Confetti White Cardstock that I stamped first using my Woodgrain Background and Creamy Caramel Classic Ink I then stamped the leave images over top. For the main image layer I wanted to incorporate added texture and did this by first crinkling up a piece of Soft Suede Cardstock really well. I then carefully peeled back one of the corners and separated the cardstock, being left with two pieces that were almost "sueded" looking on one side. This is called the " FAUX SUEDE" technique and was the first time I had tried it. I have got to say it really works with this type of card and will being doing it again, plus I am left with 2 pieces to play with instead of one! The sentiment is from the set Hope Happens and was inked up using More Mustard and stamped on Confetti White and I lightly sponged Soft Suede Ink all over. I think one of the best elements on this card are the little Acorns because they were stamped on SU!'s really cool Wood Sheets then punched out with the 1 1/4 Circle punch. I sponged the edges of the circle with More Mustard. These Wood Sheets are just so fun to work with and can easily be cut to size using SU!'s Table Top Cutter, punched out or ran through the Big Shot. I also just had to add some Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon,Vintage Brads and Linen Thread to finish the card off. The panel was then attached to the card base with Dimensionals.

Hope you take the time to ENJOY your day and thank you for stopping by!
   
 

Ustamp Pass Winners and My Lil' Pumpkins!

 
 
  
Okay is this not just the cutest?! I know I am biased but I just love these pictures of my "little pumpkins!" Today Stampin' Up! released New Digital Downloads for the My Digital program and I just knew that they would be perfect for these pictures that were taken this past weekend at the pumpkin patch. The new downloads include CAST A SPELL DESIGNER PAPER and PUMPKIN PATCH STAMP SET that I have used here, as well as a few others. Be sure to check out my WEBSITE to view all the new downloads and while you are there don't forget to check out the current CLEARANCE RACK items-there are some really great deals!  Well we all had a great time and picked out our pumpkins that we will carve a few days before Halloween. And the kids just love all the farm annimals, especially the baby bunnies. They were sooo cute and only three weeks old. I lots more pictures from our weekend adventure and will have more pages to show later that are just as cute LOL!

So now on to the fun part-THE USTAMP PASS WINNERS! I just loved reading all of the comments left about your holiday traditions and want to thank you all for sharring them. There are definately some that I will add to my tradition list for this year too!

I used Random Generator.Org and if I wasn't so technically challenged I would post the result here from the website, but since I am challenge (technically and other wise lol!) I will just have to post the numbers here....... 6  and 14

Ilene B. said:

Our tradition now since our sons have their own families is Christmas Eve dinner and opening gifts. Thanks for the chance to win the pass to UStamp, it's an awesome prize!

Joanne Murray said:

My favourite holiday tradition is the 'treasure box'. On Christmas eve, we have a chest filled with little goodies for each person at supper. The hostess goes around the table with the chest, giving each person their treat. It's so much fun!

Yippee ladies! Please email me so I can get you your "pass" as UStamps starts tomorrow! Can't wait to "see" you there. And I hope that those of you that did not win will join us as well. It will be so much fun to "stamp" with new friends from around the world!

Have great day everyone!

Tick or Treat- Yummy Blog Candy

 
Okay well it may not actually be candy but I know you will love it anyway! (and yes there is still REAL candy at the end of this post with the cute and easy treat holder I made with my Stamp Club this month)What could be better than a free pass to UStamp with Dawn and Friends?  Having 2 to give away! Yes that's right Dawn has given me TWO FREE passes this time and let me tell you, you will not want to miss this event. I am so excited and blessed to again be on the design team as a Creative Crew Girl besides the likes of Becky Roberts and Linda Hansen and so many other talented Designers.  The projects this round are simply AMAZING as always but not only that, this time they are all geared towards the Holidays so what better time than know to join the fun!

What is UStamp you ask? For those of you that may not know you can visit HERE to learn all about it. But if I was to sum it up in just a few words I would have to say-FUN, SHARING, FRIENDSHIP and of course STAMPIN' UP! Projects.

So all you have to do to enter is answer the following question and leave your answer in the COMMENTS section:

"What is your favourite Holiday Tradition that you share/do with your family?" 

Mine would have to be decorating the tree with the kids. Although I must admit that after they go to bed I do move a "few" of the decorations around LOL! But the "stress" of it not being perfect is so worth the look on their faces when it is all done and we turn on the lights-priceless!

Can't wait to read all your answers BUT REMEMBER you have only from now until the night of Wednesday OCT. 14th to enter and then I will randomly draw TWO people to recieve a FREE PASS!

Now on to my cute Halloween Treat Holder. This little matchbook is so quick and easy to make and I couldn't resist doing a little punch art pumpkin to sit along the bottom of the fence.

      

  

The measurements are really simple and I first saw it HERE on Kristine's blog and just loved how cute and easy it was to make. I changed up the measurements a bit and this is how I made it:
 

My Basic Grey cardrstock measures 3"x8 1/2" Scored at 1,4 3/4 and 5

I used my Frightful Fence Jumbo Wheel to wheel the fence across the front in Basic Black

I used Old Olive and cut the "grass" using the 1 1/4 Square punch alternating the angle of the punch corners to get the jagged shape and sponged it with matching ink. I then attached one piece to the Basic Grey and then the other piece with Dimensionals so my cute little Jack o Lantern could fit between then as if it was sitting on the grass.

For the Jack o Lantern I used Pumpkin Pie and my Large Oval Punch, then sponged all the ovals' edges with Soft Suede ink. The "face" is a stamp from Autumn Harvest.

The sentiment is from the Level 1 Hostess set Holiday Best and I stamped it in Basic Black then punched it out with the Scallop Oval. I then punched Old Olive cardstock out with the Modern Label Punch, cut it in half so it would fit behind the Scallop Oval and achored it with Basic Black Brads.

Thanks for looking and I can't wait to read everyone's comments!

 

Digital Memories - Playing Around with My Digital Studio

 

Can I just say I love, love love this program!  And I never thought I would say that. I love scrappin' and I love all the ribbon, buttons, brads, and the pretty papers that come with it, so needless to say when I purchased MY DIGITAL STUDIO I was a little hesitant. I completed these two pages from scratch and they took me about 20 mins each. Now there are some predesigned templates that you can use and all you litterally have to do is  drag and drop your photos! Seriously we are talking five minutes max! That alone should have anyone rush out and get it-and it is available for purchase starting October 1st!

Now want to know one of the best thing about MY DIGITAL STUDIO?! You have access to 25 punches, 100's of stamps, all the exclusive SU! Colours, and tons of differnt Templates for pages ranging from 5x5 for a mini book to 12x12! Oh and can you say USER FRIENDLY? Trust me if I can figure it out anyone can!  Now the question is will this replace my "Traditional Scrappin'?" Absolutely not, but I am loving the option and the fact that I can now make "Hybrid" pages by adding real embelishments and ribbons in Stampin' Up!'s fabulous Colours and know they will match perfectly.

Oh and I guess I should mention a little bit about these pages too-lol! NO I am not pregnant-these are pictures I had taken when I was pregnant with my third child, about 3 1/2 weeks before she was born. The first page I used the colours Basic Black, Pale Plum, Razzlebery, and Perfect Plum. For the second page I used Kraft, Creamy Caramel, Soft Suede and Pumpkin Pie. I also altered the colour of the pictures to B/W and Sepia using the program-how cool is that?!

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

Happy Bearthday -My Baby Turns 10!

 

Well here I am -"Bearly" okay could not resist! There is really no point to go into detail as to why my posts have been lacking but let's just say things have been crazy around here which is not unusual but then put a Very Sick Husband into the mix and forget about getting anything done lol! Thankfully he is now on the mend and I am thankful things should return to normal (the regular everyday chaos known as my life) by early next week.

So this is the card I made my "Peanut" for her birthday today. Wow she is "finally double digits"(her words not mine). She still loves her Build A Bears and I was lucky enough to be able to get her a Stampin' Up! one from Convention.

I will not go into total detail as to how the card was assemble, one because I am short on time and two because it is very straight forward. I will mention though that the Bear itself was cut out in Kraft Paper and I then sponged it heavily with Soft Suede ink to give her a more textured appearance. I also stamped the sentiment on a strip of Pretty In Pink then cut it out free hand in the shape of a banner.

* I will be back later to post all the supplies used but just NEEDED to atleast get something posted!

Thanks for stopping by,

ETA: Supply List

Stamps: Beary Nice Wishes  Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP,Pink Flamingo DSP, Rich Razzleberry,Very Vanilla,Pretty In Pink,Tempting Turquoise, Textured Chocolate Chip  Ink: Soft Suede, Melon Mambo    Accesssories: Big Shot, SU! Bear Bigz Die,SU! Beary Essentials Bigz Die, Tempting Turquiose Ribbon, Vanilla Hodgepodge ribbon slide, Pretty In Pink Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Final Press Textured Impressions 

Dream Big

   

I have been itching to ink this set since I received it over a month ago. As soon as I saw it in the catalogue I knew I just had to have it, because of the beautiful images but also because the school that my children go to teaches Japanese as a second language. I think it is so neat for them to be exposed to another language and culture. This year we are welcoming a new principal to the school and when we had our first PAC meeting of the year last night we gave him this card. I really feel strongly that teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world. I am always grateful at how they help our children "dream big", work towards fufilling their dreams and help them realize they can do anything if the believe in it and work hard. Okay enough rambling and on with the card details.

The base of the card is Basic Black and the next layer is Very Vanilla. I stamped the main image of the geisha girl on a piece of Razzleberry Lemonade DSP in Basic Black Craft ink and Heat Embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. There are so many little details on this card that I don't think you can see from the picture but the Dusty Durango piece of Cardstock was stamped with VersaMark and I then used my Stampin' Pastels to dab colour on the image. This technique is called "Poppin' Pastels" and is so fun to add a little more "POP" to your project. Plus with a Versa Mark pad and the Pastels you can have all 48 colours from our 4 main Colour Families. The pastels also work well to colour line art images with using a Blender Pen.

One of the details that I love best about this card is the little "dream" charater. I stamped it using Basic Black Craft ink on Crushed Curry Textured paper and embossed it. I then used my Wide Oval Punch, trimmed the ends and ran the piece through the crimper. I mounted it under the Basic Black Grograin Ribbon with Dimensionals and love the way that this looks like a paper lattern. For the inside of the card I used Very Vanilla, a strip up Dusty Durango and stamped the Tea Pot image with Dusty Durango ink. The setiment is from the Set Hope Happens and I absolutely love this saying.

Stamps: Hope Happens, Dream Garden  Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Dusty Durango, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Crused Curry Textured  Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black, Basick Black Craft, Dusty Durango  Accessories: Heat Tool, Clear embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Basic Black 1/4 Grograin Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Paper Crimper

Wishing everyone a wonderful day and hope that even as adults we still continue to dream big!

U r 2 Sweet!

I'm at it again! I am so glad to finally get some scrappin' done lately-okay so it's only two pages but that's a start right?! Again I chose a sketch from 52 sketches 52 weeks this time using sketch #20. I continued with pictures of my daughters birthday and also carried the focus of the #2 through to this page including it again in the title and using the same colour combinations. I plan on having these pages side by side in her scrapbook so it was fun to carry the theme over from one sketch to the next.

Here are the layouts together:

 

One thing that I love including in my scrapbooking is of course stamping, but also making my own embelishments from ribbon, paper, punches and chipboard. This page was no exception. I made a tag for the title by using Whisper White cardstock and the Tag Corner Punch,I love how this little punch let's you quickly create tags of any size. Then I just had to add the awesome Crushed Curry Polka Dot Ribbon with a Tempting Turquoise Brad. Speaking of Ribbon; it is a great way to add fun accents to any project and can be used in so many ways.  I wanted to mimic the idea of a ruffley bow on top of a present, so I just sort of started folding another piece of the Crushed Curry Ribbon back and forth until I created the effect I wanted and then secured it with a Jumbo White Brad then attached to the top corner of my journalling box with Mini Glue Dots. For the actual journaling I just used a sentiment from the Party Hearty stamp set and stamped it on strips of Whiper White and also directly on the Tempting Turquoise Top Note shape, that was Die Cut by the best toy-I mean TOOL ever- the BIG SHOT! The cupcake in the bottom right corner was inked up with two of the In Colour Markers, punched out and then layered on a  paper and Chipboard Circle. I then backed it on to a piece of DSP from the Pink Flamingo package and matted that on Crushed Curry. See how fun and easy it is to make your own embelishments?!

Here are the sketches that I used, I wanted to post them so you could see that a sketch is a great starting point for for your page but does not have to be copied exactly. That is what is so great about Scrapbooking and paper crafting- making something that is YOU, and sharing it!

 

Stamps: Contempo Alphabet, Party Hearty, Schoolbook Serif Numbers   Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Pink Flamingo DSP, Crushed Curry Textured, Rich Razzleberry Textured, Whisper White          Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Rich Razzleberry and Soft Suede Markers    Accessories: Crushed Curry Ribbon, Bold Brights and 5/16 Jumbo Neutrals brads, 1/2", 1",1 1/4",       1 3/4" Circle Punches, Big Shot, Top Note Die

U R 2!

 

My youngest turned two back in May and I am finally starting to scrap her Birthday pictures. (Never mine the older two kids that have none of the bday's done, lol! Oh except I did do a mini album of my other daughters 9th birthday). I started with  sketch #6 from 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. This is a great site to find lots of creative sketches to get you scrapping!

When I first sit down to scrap I choose my photo, then my lay out and then the colours. I like to draw colours out from my photo. For this page I actually decided to base the colours and titiling around her #2 birthday candle and build the page from there.

The base is a 12x12 textured piece of Crushed Curry and I matted the two 4x6 photos on Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. To the right of the photo is where I added all my embelishments journalling and title. The DSP is from the Pink Flamingo Pack and this pattern has Tempting Turquiose and Bashful Blue dots. The solid piece of cardstock is also Tempting Turquiose. I ran a strip of the yummy Polka Dot Razzleberry Ribbon to "join" the two papers together. For the titling I wanted to use Chipboard to give the project dimension but decided to leave it for the most part raw. I love Stampin' Up!'s chipboard for this reason, you can decide to colour it any color you want with their Craft Inks or for this page I used my markers to mimic the design of the birthday candle. For the "U" I just simply punched out a circle in Razzleberry and placed it behind the chipboard to bring out the letter.

For stamping on this page I used the Jumble Alphabet and the Party Hearty stamp sets. I just have to stamp on my scrap pages! The "Celebrate You" was inked up twice, once in Tempting Turquoise and once in Crushed Curry. I then punched them out with the 1 3/4" circle and the 1" circle. The 1' circle has a Circle Rhinestone brad and was then attaced to the larger circle with a dimensional. For the journalling I just cut strips of Whisper White and cut the end to make them look like a banner, then I wrote on them with a Razzleberry Marker. I then used Tempting Turquoise and Bashful Blue Brads to accent  and attached the journalling with Dimensionals. You can click on the picture for a larger view to see the details.

Wishing everyone a wonderful long weekend (what's left of it!) and happy stamping!

Stamps: Jumbo Alphabet, Party Hearty  Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade and Pink Flamingo DSP, Crushed Curry Textured, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry  Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Crushed Curry, Basic Black, several SU! markers  Accessories: Scallop edge, 1 3/4 & 1",1 3/8 & 1 1/4 Circle punches, Ice Circle Brads, Bold Brights and Soft Subtle Brads, Lots of Letters Chipboard,Playground Buttons, Rich Razzleberry Ribbon

Christmas in September?

  

 

So I know it is only September but with the mini catalogue now officailly available to order from I just couldn't resist posting the other stamp club project we did last week. Isn't it so stinkin' cute?! Just think of all the possibilities this could be used for. One of my customers roast their own coffee beans and will be using this idea to gift the coffee to their kids teachers for Christmas this year. I thought that was a great and unique idea.

I started with a jar that was purchased from a dollars store and used some of the fabulous Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper that has just a touch of metallic in it. This paper is so beautiful and also has 2 designs in it that are flocked!  We attached the paper to the jar with my trusty Sticky Strip (this red line double sided tape will hold anything together!) and also wrapped Real Red Ribbon around the paper again using Sticky Strip. There is a little bit of Silver Cord knotted on the ribbon to give it a little bit more pizzaz. The words "Holly Jolly" are from the new Rub Ons Merry and Bright. These Rub Ons are amazing with so many options and have all sorts of different Christmas sayings and also include Ornament shaped designs that can be punched out perfectly with the new Ornament Punch! Loving it!

Many of the other Rub Ons match up well the Scallop Circle Punch or 1 3/4 Circle punch which is the one I used to punch out my words then attach it to the jar with Dimensionals. I also used some of the snowflakes from the Rub Ons pack and put them directly on the jar and also the Designer Paper. The top of the jar was decorated using a 1 3/4 Circle of Real Red Cardstock and a tag created using the Delightful Decorations Stamp set. The Oranament "To/From" stamp was inked up with Soft Suede and punched out with the matching punch. Again Silver Cord was added and used to tie a bow around the top of the Ornament image. So easy to do yet such a great way to give candy, coffee or any type of treat in. Would also be super cute way to gift buttons, pieces of ribbon and other accessories in.

Thanks for popping by and have a great day!

Stamps: Delightful Decorations (Holiday Mini-HM)  Paper: Christmas Cocoa Specilty DSP(HM), Whisper White, Soft Suede, Real Red  Accessories: Real Red 5/8 Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Elastic Cord(HM), Merry&Bright Rub Ons (HM), Whisper White 1/4 Grosgrain Ribbon, Sticy Strip, Dimentionals, 1 3/4 Circle and Ornament Punch, Glass jar