Did You Hear the News?

Stampin' Up! surprised everyone with a great limited time only special. From now until November 3rd, the fabulous Wishing You Cheer stamp set is now 20% off. If you are interested in purchasing this adorable snowman stamp set, send me an email. I would love to help you out!!!!!

Today is the third birthday celebration this week. My loving husband turned 40 on Wednesday, a family friend turned 7 yesterday, and today is my wonderful mom's b'day. Can you believe she is only 29? Wow, I don't know how she does it.....LOL!!!! We are going out to lunch at Olive Garden (Mom loves it there) then back to my parents' house for cake and watching football games.

It's another beautiful Fall day here in MN......the air is crisp, the sun is shining!!!! DH is so sweet....he is busily working on my kitchen tile backsplash. I will post a pic when it is done. It is looking SO amazing!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. Happy Stamping everyone!!!

A Funky Tree!

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I borrowed "Jolliest Time of the Year" from Mom. Well, here is another card I made with that set.

The tree is stamped with Black StazOn ink on watercolor paper. The tree is colored using my aquapainter and reinkers: Certainly Celery, Summer Sun, Real Red, Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel. I then sponged around the edges with some Creamy Caramel to make it less bright, and I doodled some with my Real Red marker.

The basecard measures 4 1/4"x 4 1/4". It is made with Certainly Celery cardstock stamped with Certainly Celery ink using my Flannel Plaid background stamp.

The sentiment is stamped with Wild Wasabi, sponged with Creamy Caramel, doodled with Real Red marker, and punched with my ribbon slot punch. I threaded Real Red through the back of the sentiment and attached to the card with mini-glue dots and gold brads.

Of course, I added some Dazzling Diamonds after the fact to completely "glitterize" it. It's so pretty in person!!!!!!

Well, we have a busy day here planned. DH is working on my tile backsplash, and we have a birthday party this afternoon. It looks like another gorgeous day here near the Twin Cities....definitely no Minnesota gray today!!!

Enjoy your weekend....Happy Stamping everyone!!!!

October Technique Class

Tonight is the night for my monthly Technique Class. This class is so much fun!!! I love just chit-chattin with the girls while I inspire them to try new things. Tonight we will be learning reverse masking and reflection techniques. We always make a reminder card for each technique so they can easily recreate the same results at home.

At the end of class, we make a card that uses both techniques learned that night. This is the card that we will be making tonight. I really debated about adding a sentiment, but in the end, decided that it was serene enough to stand alone.

If you would like to attend tonight's class, I will not be prepping until about 1:00pm this afternoon. I have to babysit my baby niece all morning. Just send me an email if you live in the Twin Cities area and want to attend. My class fee for this one is a bargain.....just $7.00 for a girl's night out!!!!!

Card Details:
Stamp Sets: Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Whisper White, Bordering Blue, Night of Navy
Ink: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Coluzzle, Stipple Brushes, sponges, white gel pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Navy grosgrain ribbon, Ticket Corner punch

Happy Stamping everyone!!

Oh So Jolly!!

My mom bought a new stamp set, "Jolliest Time of the Year". She's letting me borrow it so I can make some samples. This is the first card I made with this set. Anyone who "knows" me on this blog knows that adore watercoloring. This set is PERFECT for watercoloring. I used a variety of watercoloring methods on this card. The red on Santa's jacket, pants and hat are colored with my aquapainter and reinkers. His face and buckle are watercolored using my aquapainter and SU markers. The black is all watercolored with my aquapainter (see a trend here?) and my watercolor crayons.

This card is intended to hold a family photo in the center panel. I really like to design a photo card each year. I love getting Christmas cards with updated pictures. I save all the old ones to see how the kids have grown over the years.

The inspiration for the card's design was from Santa's belt. The black band represents his belt and it "buckles" under the focal image.

Anyhow, the base card is Real Red. I did use my Christmas Chatter wheel with Real Red ink (which should've been reinked before I rolled because you can hardly see it). The 1 1/2" strip of Basic Black is sponged with Whisper White craft ink to soften the edges. I added some white gel pen doodled linework for added visual interest.

How I colored Santa is mentioned above, but I didn't mention that he was colored on watercolor paper. That step is very important!!!! I used my Corner Rounder punch on each of the corners of the focal image and also on the Summer Sun buckle piece. I formed the buckle by using my Word Window punch to make a slot for the belt to hook in to.

I did use something non-Stampin' Up! SU used to carry Liquid Applique a few years ago. I wish they would bring it back because it really "made" this card. I know you can still purchase it at your local craft store though.

The sentiment comes from the "Many Merry Messages" stamp set. I embossed it with my Gold embossing powder.

I think I babbled long enough about this card.......I hope you like it!!!

Happy Stamping everyone!!!

Tutorial - Thanksgiving Placecard Holder

Sorry this took so long. We've had a sick household and some medical scares. My camera battery is charging so I am going to talk you through the measurements and how I made the placecard holder rather than show through photos.

Cut a piece of Always Artichoke cardstock to 3"x6"

Score the cardstock at 1/2", 2.5", 3 7/8".

Hold your cardstock with the 1/2" score line on the left side. Use your slit punch to make a slit in the center of the right end of the cardstock.

The 1/2" section will tuck under the slit tab you just made.

Your placecard base is now ready to decorate. Mine is stamped with the Canvas background stamp.

The placecard portion of the holder (mine is made with More Mustard) measures 2.5"x3". The Very Vanilla piece is 2 3/8"x 2 7/8".


I hope this makes sense. Make sure to post a link to your creation!!! I would love to see them!!!

Happy Stamping everyone!!

The Most Gorgeous Hostess Set.....Garden Silhouettes

Rarely do I completely fall in love with a Hostess set. Well, this year's Level 2 hostess set, Garden Silhouettes, has changed my thinking. This one is a keeper for sure.

I made this card Sunday morning. I should've been getting ready for a family gathering at my brother and sister-in-law's house, but Garden Silhouettes was calling me "stamp me, stamp me". Of course, I had to oblige.

I am in an embossing mood lately. I decided to stamp the focal image with a combination of classic and craft ink. I first stamped the focal image with my Linen background stamp (well-loved in my stamping studio) using Creamy Caramel ink. I then stamped a few of the flowers also using the Creamy Caramel ink. I then pulled out my Close to Cocoa craft ink and inked that stamp up again. I then embossed it with Irridescent Ice embossing powder to give that final flower stalk some sparkle. It is simply GORGEOUS in real life. I punched my corners with the ticket corner punch and sponged with Close to Cocoa ink. I matted it on Choc Chip cardstock, and two eyelets from the Vintage Brad pack finish the focal image.

The base card is Blue Bayou (my favorite of all the new In Colors.....I will weep when this color retires). This base card is sponged on all the edges with Blue Bayou ink. I added a strip of Creamy Caramel cardstock (sponged with Close to Cocoa ink) with a length of 5/8" Choc Chip grosgrain. The sentiment (from Baroque Motifs) is stamped in Blue Bayou ink.

This card is truly lovely.......I'm so glad I resisted getting ready in order to finish it.

Happy Stamping everyone!!

My 100th Post......cool!

First of all, I want to thank all my readers who come here everyday!!! Thank you for taking the time to comment on my latest project....it TRULY means a lot to me!!!

Today's featured project is another from this Friday's Spooktacular Stamp Camp. It is a candy holder. This tote bag will be holding a cello bag filled with candy corn (personally I think this stuff tastes yucky but I love the colors.....DH on the other hand inhales the stuff).

This tote bag uses the Batty jumbo wheel and Batty for You stamp set. The tote bag itself is made with Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The band across the top is Summer Sun stamped with the Canvas background stamp using Pumpkin Pie ink. I used my Cropodile to add four black eyelets in each corner of this panel before attaching it to the tote bag.

The bat was stamped with Basic Black craft ink, sprinkled with Hologram Highlights embossing powder and heat set. I punched him out with the 1" circle punch. I then cleaned my stamp and restamped him using Basic Black classic ink on a piece of Pumpkin Pie scrap. This was punched out with the 1 3/8" circle punch. This was all finally mounted on a black circle scallop punch.

The handle for the tote bag was created using the Word Window punch. This punch is just so versatile. Finish the project with a black grosgrain bow, and the project is complete!!!

These make a wonderful and inexpensive treat for those special little trick-or-treaters in your life.

Happy Stamping everyone!!!