SUDSOL Sketch Challenge Entry

Good FRIDAY Morning! Have you had a good week? I got notified today that the things I ordered for my prize are on their way here. I'm so excited! LOL!

Today, I'm showing off the card I made to meet the sketch challenge with SUDSOL this week. I really, really like it!

Now, I will tell you this: the red glitter paper scallop isn't securely stuck down. I'm out of Tombow Multi, so until I get it, there's not a lot that will make it stay down. But I really like this card!

Here's the "recipe" - if you have ANY questions about what I used, or what I did, please let me know!

Card stock: Whisper White, Real Red, Early Espresso, Silver Glitter Paper, Red Glitter Paper

Stamp sets: Lovely as a Tree, Come to Bethlehem

Ink: Whisper White craft, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker, 3/4" circle punch, white embossing powder, Embossing Buddy, heat tool, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details, Snail, Dimensionals

The card's on an easel, and it's at my eye level, so the top of the card is slanting away - that's why it seems a bit fuzzy in focus. :)

OK, I'm OUTTA here! It's going to be a busy, wonderful weekend here - hope it is for you, too!!! And don't forget to make the time to stamp SOMEthing!

New Stamp Set

Good Wednesday Morning! Are you loving the weather?!?!?!?! I am. :D Cool and crisp, and suddenly I'm getting a hankering for soups and cozy PJs. :D

So, I got this brand-spankin'-new stamp set this weekend; you might have seen it in the Holiday Mini. :) It's SEASONAL SAYINGS, from page 34.

And I'm working on another post, and I see my scrap paper, and I think, "I need to make a fall card with these colors."

And here it is. Just for you. :)

Card stock: Whisper White, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Bravo Burgundy

Ink: Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Bravo Burgundy

Stamp sets: SEASONAL SAYINGS, LOVELY AS A TREE

That's IT. Nothing special, nothing else. :) What do you think?

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day!!! And be SURE to make the time to STAMP something!

Well, you'll never believe it!

As my dear friend and professor, Dr. Marsha Ellis-Smith, would say, "Well, slap me naked and hide my clothes!" :D Why? Let me tell you the story. :D

Saturday was the Chattanooga Regional Stampin' Up! Demonstrators Convention; it was a one-day seminar for demos and their guests; we get to stamp, learn some fun things, get fun prizes, and meet with other demos from the region.

As most of you know, I was gone most of this week; because of that, I wanted to get my swaps done for the group I'm online with (I know I've mentioned SUDSOL before; it stands for STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATORS SHARING ONLINE.) before we left for our trip. I did one design, and got 20 cards almost done before I realized: I'd designed it with a stamp set that was retired, and I'd not pulled it out of my collection! AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, back to the drawing board. And the above is what I came up with. (It's pretty ME, right? Christmas and both heat and Big Shot embossing? :D)

So, back to Regional. There's a basket where you can put your swap cards; they post them for everyone to see, and I'm not sure what else they do with them.

Except pick a winner for design.

The person who was choosing couldn't choose just one. She chose two.

AND I WAS ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so danged excited! Ladies (and gentlemen!), you can now tell everyone that YOUR Stampin' Up! demonstrator is an award-winning designer. Yup, got a prize and everything.

I still am in shock, but can't wipe the smile off my face. :) It was a total fluke that I put a card front in the basket. I did another design for general swapping, and swapped them all out before I could put one into the basket. There are so many people at Regionals, and this was my second-choice design - I expected NOTHING. :D

So. I'm gonna go work on what I want for my Christmas cards, because that's what I'm going to use my prize for. How incredibly blessed am I?!?!??!?!

Have a WONDERFUL day! And be SURE to make the time to STAMP SOMETHING!!!!

Happy Fall!

It's another beautiful Monday morning! :D Are you ready for your week? Can you BELIEVE it's the last week in September?!?! I can't.

I went to a Stampin' Up! regional get-together this weekend; once I've got my head on straight, I'll probably be showing things from it to you. However, I'm trying to get ahead with my posting right now, so it might be a little bit before I actually get to the recent things. :D

Do you remember the card I posted on the 12th? The one we did with the hostesses, that had the leaves from LOVELY AS A TREE on it? Well, I had the card stock cut for one more card, and decided to show you how versatile that little layout could be. :) I flipped the card, so it's now a horizontal layout, and embossed the Soft Suede with the Perfect Polka Dots (I seem to be using that one quite a bit, don't I?) for some texture. The pear basket stamp is from the ALWAYS THANKFUL stamp set. I just used my Aqua Painters to color it, same as the other one. I centered the image on this one, versus placing it in the bottom right corner - but otherwise, the card's the same thing!

Can you tell I'm ready for fall? :D

OK, I'm outta here. SO much to do, and never enough time to do it in. :D Have a WONDERFUL day, and be SURE to make the time to STAMP something!

Be Well, Mary!

I hate saying goodbye. Don't you? One of my favorite songs is Boyz2Men's "It's So Hard" - you can listen to it by clicking on the title, if you don't know it. (I love a capella music, anyway. :D)

ANYWAY. Earlier this month, it was time to say goodbye to a dear friend and a great customer, Mary. She retired and moved to Iowa to be nearer her son and his family. And I'm SO glad she was able to do that; they're great people! :) But I miss Mary.

This was my little gift for her; I didn't spend a lot of time fancying up the topper, because those are the In Color dahlias, and I wanted her to feel free to take that tag apart and use them. :D

So, you see here another use for those great gusseted bags that are in the Holiday Mini. They're really nice bags; I was impressed with them! They're not going to tear or break easily, so you can load them up if you want. :)

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL weekend, and be SURE to make the time to stamp SOMETHING! And don't forget the ribbon special going on this month! If you want to take advantage of it, order now!!!!!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Wednesday! Are you having a good week? :) I really hope so - and that this weather sticks around. No more HOT days, please!!!!! :) (It IS the middle of September; surely it's got to be closer to fall weather, right?!?!?)

This little project is something we did at our hostess party. I wanted something that was super easy to do; some of my friends make treat packages for their office mates, and I wanted to show that it didn't take a LOT to make something really cute. :D

So that ghost? The owl punch, turned upside-down and with the feet trimmed off. Yup. that easy. Googlie eyes - and you can't beat the deal on them, just $2.50 per package! - finish off the ghost. We used the "Happy Halloween" stamp from TEENY TINY WISHES and embossed it with black embossing powder on Tangerine Tango card stock. We punched a hole through and used stitched Early Espresso ribbon to tie the bag closed. We have some wonderful fall ribbon; you can use whatever strikes your fancy. :D I didn't tie a bow, just a single knot, so it was easy to get into the candy apple for the person I gave it to. :D

I'll show you Friday what I gave Mary as a parting gift. She left over a week ago. MISS YOU, MARY!!!!!

OK, I'm outta here. :) Have a wonderful day! Be sure to make the time to stamp something!

Sixteen YEARS!

 Good Monday Morning!

Well, we made it. Kenn and I, that is. :) Made it to celebrating SIXTEEN YEARS together. In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that we were saying, "I do." In others, not so much. :D

ANYWAY. Because of everything going on around here (I'm in Missouri when you read this!), I decided to use MY DIGITAL STUDIO to make my card.

Seriously. You need to try this program out. You can do so for FREE for 30 days; check out the button on the sidebar there! It's SO easy to manipulate things, to design whatever YOU want. The words on the front are from various digital greeting sets I've purchased; I just mixed and matched and moved until I got what *I* wanted.

Oh, and in case you didn't know, our wedding colors were black, white, and red. :D (VERY me!!! :D)

For the inside, I used two stamps in MDS, then typed my message. It really couldn't be any easier! I printed off both the front and the inside, and matted them - I did use the retired ticket corner punch above, but YOU know it's one of my favorite tools of all time!

I used the  Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder on the very front of the card, to give it just a bit of texture.

So, now you've seen my anniversary card for Kenn. :D And know that we're working on year #17. And my wedding colors. If you've been around for a while, you might even know me better than I know myself... :D

Have a WONDERFUL day! Be sure and take the time to stamp something!

Christmas tag with Hostesses!

Good Friday Morning! Have you had a WONDERFUL week? I surely hope so! There's been lots flying around here, I assure you! :D

This is a fun tag we made last Friday night. It's a brand-new stamp set, called STYLIN' SNOWFOLK. It's SO much fun to use! :) (The "Merry Christmas" is from TEENY TINY WISHES. I'm telling you, if you haven't gotten that stamp set you, you really should!!!! SO versatile!!)

Colors are Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Early Espresso, and Gumball Green. It's one of the tags from the Two Tags Die. And the snow? Allllllll covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I LOVE THAT STUFF! And this uses the Big Shot, too, and we all know....
I ♥ My Big Shot!
:D
Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Be sure and take the time to STAMP something!

Fall Card with Hostesses!

Good morning! How's the week going? Are you enjoying it? :)

Today's share is one we did at our Hostess Party on Friday night. It was our last night with our friend, Mary; I've mentioned that she's retired and moving to be near her son and his family. I'm thrilled for her, but I'm SO going to miss her!

Anyway. :) It's that lovely woodgrain embossing folder again, done on Soft Suede with Soft Suede ink "highlighting" the texture.

We stamped the leaf from LOVELY AS A TREE in Chocolate Chip craft ink, then embossed with clear powder. I like doing that, because it give me a little ridge when I'm using my Aqua Painters, so the color doesn't go all over the card stock. :)

We used a little bit of Smootch ink on the acorn after we colored it in with Soft Suede; I didn't like that SUPER dark look. The pearlized surface is really reflecting the light back, so you can't even tell it's been colored! :D

Add a little sponging around the outside of the focal piece of card stock, and there you have it! :) I really, really like the woodgrain!!!! (Not that you could tell or anything.... :D)

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day, and be SURE to take the time to STAMP something!

Christmas is Coming!

 Happy Monday! :) Did you have a good weekend? Did you STAMP anything? :D

Hey! Did you know I have two other blogs? You can find them in the blog list on the right side of this page. :)

Well, it's getting to that time: decide on your card design, and start in on them! :D Some of you make lots of different ones, I know; some of us make one - and make a silly amount of them. :D No matter how many times I count, I always, ALWAYS have to pull out my supplies at least twice more. And then I usually still need more, but refuse to pull it all out again. :D

I really like this one. I was trying to do something else, which turned out to be a complete DISASTER, and then decided to play with this one. :D Not too bad, right??? (Please agree...! :D )

Here's the "recipe"!

Card stock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold

Stamp set: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: VersaMark

Accessories: designer label punch, Antique Wallpaper embossing folder, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Big Shot, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, modern label punch, heat tool, MY DIGITAL STUDIO 2 (WISHES & GREETINGS, CHRISTMAS LODGE)

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me! :) Have a WONDERFUL day! Be SURE to make the time to stamp SOMEthing!

Fall Florets Card

Good Friday Morning!
It's the last day before your weekend - has your week SEEMED shorter?? :)

Today is my 16th anniversary. Through lots of ups and lots of downs, Kenn and I have been through it TOGETHER. I'm SO blessed to have him!

Today, I'm showing you how to mat that curly label punch. Click on the photo to get it to enlarge! It's super easy, and you can change up its looks so easily!

So, I used the FABULOUS FLORETS set, along with the TRUST GOD set, to make this card. The colors are More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and Always Artichoke - with a little Very Vanilla card stock in there, too. :)

I really like the way this turned out. It's beautifully rich in real life. I'm SO ready for fall weather!! :)

So. Have a WONDERFUL weekend, and be sure to make the time to STAMP something! :D

Blessing Others

Happy Wednesday! It's a short work week; are you happy about that? :D

I want to encourage you today to do acts of kindness for others. It doesn't take much, but it sure makes you feel GOOD. :D

I have a friend who's an author, mother, wife, reviewer, makeup artist, and just plain BUSY. She posted on Facebook that her September was jam-packed, and she needed chocolate to get through it.

So guess what I did? :D Yup. I took her chocolate. It was only three Turtles, but she knew I listened. And sometimes, isn't that all we really want??

I took a Top Note diecut (Crumb Cake) and ran it through the woodgrain embossing folder. (Yes, Becky, you DO need that folder!!!!) I layered an Early Espresso modern label punch onto the designer label punch in Cherry Cobbler, and then embossed the "God Bless You" from TRUST GOD with white embossing powder. It was fast and easy - that's a 5x7 cello bag from Stampin' Up!, too. It took very little time or money to bless my friend. I love doing little things like that - even if I'm having a rotten day, it changes my attitude to do something for someone else!

OK, I'm outta here. :) Have a WONDERFUL day, and be SURE to make the time to stamp SOMEthing - and give it away!

Shark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY LABOR DAY! I'm sorry this wasn't up first thing this morning; I honestly thought I'd preset a post, but I guess I just THOUGHT about it. Sheesh. :D

So, this is another birthday card, this time for my nephew, D. His birthday isn't until the 14th, so I feel pretty good about getting it all ready. :D The last I heard, he wanted to be a marine biologist, and loved sharks. (What 10-year-old-boy doesn't?!?! :D) So, this is specifically for him.

I have to admit, I had no clue where to start. So I searched for "punch art shark", and this is one I came up with - you can see her original here.

Of course I tweaked it a bit. ;D And I LOVE LOVE LOVE my background on this card. The color is Pool Party - what else?!? :D I took some plastic wrap and bunched it up - I've been teaching this easy technique for YEARS! - and used it to dab VersaMark onto my card stock. Then, I took Iridescent Ice embossing powder and poured it all over. After heating it, I used Shimmery White card stock to make "bubbles".

Tell me what you think! :D Punch art is so much fun - it's so fun to take something like oval and heart punches and make them into an animal! :D

OK, I'm outta here. Got to get busy so I have more stuff to show you! :D Have a WONDERFUL day! I hope you make the time to STAMP something today!!!!