Now that Sale-a-Bration is over...! :D

Welcome to yet another Wednesday - the last in May! :) Can you believe it?!?!? The first quarter of 2013 is almost completely gone. Wow.

Anyway. :D Now that Sale-a-Bration is entirely over, I want to share this simple card that I made with my friend, Anna, when she came over in February. :)

The set, FEELING SENTIMENTAL, was a one-time-only set. So you can't get it - but you CAN use other sets to do this card. :)

We used Gumball Green and Midnight Muse card stock - I really like those colors together, especially for male cards - and Very Vanilla as our Neutral choice.

We stamped the bicycle stamp in Early Espresso ink, then used a Sponge Dauber and Crumb Cake to highlight the "grout" lines we scored in as tiles with our Simply Scored board.

We also used Crumb Cake around the edges with a wedge of Stampin' Sponge - and also around the edges of the "celebrate" we off-stamped first in Gumball Green ink, then fully in Midnight Muse.

Super simple, clean design. I really think you could make tons of this TYPE of card! :)

OK, I'm outta here. Have a wonderful day - and be sure to make the time to STAMP something!

Happy Birthday, A!! :)

It's Wednesday again! :) I hope your week is going well. Wow, can you believe we're this close to the end of the month already?

I told you that February was a big birthday month in my sister's family; this is for my niece, A - her big passion lately has been sewing. I've seen her do needlework; for a while, cooking was her passion. She's definitely a homebody, and loves taking care of people. So, I made this sweet card for her.

I was inspired by another card I saw that used an embossing folder that kind of looked like Aida cloth. So, I HAND-SCORED this whole thing with my Simply Scored. How's that for love?! :D

Then, I took my paper piercer and mat ad made the holes for the "needle" in the corners; every single diagonal was done with a ruler and a Rose Red Stampin' Write Marker!

The flowers are from FABULOUS FLORETS; by this time, you probably know by heart the stamp set the "happy birthday" is from. :D Yup, TEENY TINY WISHES. :)

I stamped off with Rose Red for the flowers before I stamped them on Very Vanilla; after I assembled the whole card, I put Dazzling Details in the center of them for a little shimmer and shine. I mean, most girls love a little bling, right? :D That is matted on Rose Red card stock. :)

It's all on a Pretty in Pink card base.

PHEW. :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day! Go stamp something, will ya?!? :D

MDS Monday - Kenneth Keith Stilger

Happy Monday Morning! Welcome to MDS Monday! :D Did you have a good weekend? I'm blogging way ahead, here, so by this time we should be in Northern California, I think. :) Check on Facebook, if you want to keep up with me! (We're going to try to keep in good touch!)

Here's the page that inspired this one. :) It was still a challenge from SUDSOL, but the challenge was to find a page on the Net and do your own. Again, this lets me get lots of pictures on one page - and I don't think a lot of journaling was necessary for this one. :D It was fun using different shapes and sizes, too. And, of course, it's one of my favorite subjects.... :D

I'm going to get these all printed one day, into a book. One of the things I love about My Digital Studio is being able to move pages around inside the book until I'm satisfied. That way, I can continue to do different pages of my family, and when I print them out, make sure that Kenn's are all together, and my mom and dad, and sisters, and.... :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a wonderful day! Be sure to take the time to CREATE something!!

Now, I AM excited about this challenge!

OK, I love this one! :D Oh, and happy Friday. :D

Is this not a super-easy sketch?? Well, I'm LOVING the Swallowtail stamp from the Spring Mini; I got it to do paper bag scrapbooks with my nieces and nephews, which I'll show you eventually. :D But I've got some rockin' cards from playing with it, too.

This one uses three basic colors of card stock: Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, and Basic Black. The heat embossing is done with Versamark and Tangerine Tango EP. By changing the colors of the layers and using white or black ep, I could totally change the look but use the same three colors! And this would ROCK with Melon Mambo, too! :D Or all neutral - do Sahara Sand, Whisper White and Basic Black, and BOOM.

OK, I'm outta here. :D Have a WONDERFUL weekend - and be sure to make the time to stamp SOMEthing! :)

Happy Birthday, E!

It's WEDNESDAY again! :D You've made it to the middle of the week!! :)

February is a big birthday month for my middle sister's family. You may or may not recall the card I made for R's 18th birthday; this is for E's birthday. E loves the outside; according to Grandma, she's doing the gardening this year. :) So I thought an outdoors-themed birthday card would be appropriate!

LOVELY AS A TREE. I mean, seriously. I don't think they'll EVER be able to retire this set, because it will be difficult to design a more perfect tree set! :D SO very versatile!

So, I stamped it in Jet Black Stazon, then used my Aqua Painters to add Wild Wasabi to the grass and trees, and Bashful Blue to the sky. Then I used the point of the AP and Raspberry Ripple to put some blooms on those trees. I also used it to do the "Celebrate" from the Sale-a-Bration-only stamp set, FEELING SENTIMENTAL. I stamped that and the trees on Whisper White card stock, the card base is Bashful Blue and run through the honeycomb embossing folder. That ribbon is from the special that Stampin' Up! ran a few months ago; that side needed something. :) Oh, and I punched out the "celebrate" with the decorative label punch. :)

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day - and be SURE to make the time to stamp SOMETHING! :)

MDS Monday - Birthday Flavors

Good Monday Morning! Welcome to MDS Monday! Did you enjoy your weekend? We finished our week with my family yesterday, and are now out on the road. If you think about it, would you say a prayer for us? Safety and anything else that God puts on your heart. Thanks! :)

So, I can't believe I haven't shared this with you before, but I can't find it as a post! I don't know if you remember my birthday post(s) last year, but - well, I'll admit it. I'm a foodie. :D I LOVE trying new things, and although it's a challenge, trying to balance keeping healthy with what my taste buds crave. :D As you can read in my journaling, I was blessed to celebrate last year with friends and food, for almost the whole month of June. And it's making my mouth water now.... :D

Simple layout, using Night & Day DSP and Whisper White photo mats. Sometimes, simple is best. :D

I'd love to hear if any of you have taken advantage of the free 30-day trial, and what you think of the software!

Have a wonderful day! Make the time to CREATE something!

Meh, A Challenge I Didn't Like to Begin With! :D

 

Happy Friday!

How are you doing? Have you had a good week? I'm believing we have - it's almost the end of our family reunion week. Believing we've been blessed with making wonderful memories and enjoying every moment! :)

So, this card is another challenge. It's almost exactly like the one we were supposed to CASE - I just changed the stamp set(s). I'm not crazy about the one we were supposed to copy, so I'm not crazy about this one. :D

It's made with Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stock, cut with the Ovals Collection Framelits. I stamped it with the "love you" from SEASONAL SAYINGS and the longer flower from FABULOUS FLORETS. I embossed the saying in Cherry Cobbler, and the flower with part white EP and part Wild Wasabi EP - and I used Versamark to stamp them with.

Last but certainly not least, I used the newest Simply Scored plate to add the texture on the left-hand side of the card front.

I think the color of the card front is what I'm not digging with this, but I'm not sure.... :D What do YOU think?

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL weekend! I hope you have big plans - but I also hope you remember to take the time to STAMP something!!!

:) Another Challenge Card!

Happy Wednesday! :D The week's half over! Bet you're rejoicing... :D

Today I have another challenge card to share with you. Of course, I can't share the original with you - but it was to be a CASE - copy and steal everything - but I don't have the Pool Party Core'dinations paper or the Hearts a Flutter bundle, so I changed it up a bit. :)

Mine uses Real Red card stock and Real Red Core'dinations card stock; I used the honeycomb embossing folder on the Core'dinations, then used the new sanding block - which is pretty cool! - to expose the interior core a bit.

I created the banner with Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, and the two side banners are made with Summer Smooches DSP and punches. I made the heart with the Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and the third-smallest heart from the Hearts Collection Framelits. Everything is attached with Dimensionals except my bow. :) The "happy birthday" is from TEENY TINY WISHES, and punched from Whisper White card stock with the word window punch. It's stamped in Real Red, of course! :D

So, what do you think? Do you like it? It really pops in Real Red, versus the original in Pool Party. I think it would really depend on the recipient's personality.... :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day! Be sure to take the time to stamp SOMEthing! :D

MDS Monday - Home in the Fall

Good Monday Morning! Welcome to MDS Monday! :D I have to admit: I find it ironic that I'm blogging this page the day after we left for my family reunion. :D I won't be home again until the house looks like this. It's hard for me to comprehend!!

Before I forget: I'm doing projects with my nieces and nephews this week. I'm going to share the projects themselves off and on for the next couple of weeks, until everything from them is shared. Except for MDS Mondays, of course. :D

OK. This page is another challenge page, but I simply love it. It shows off my parents' incredible mums, and the welcoming entrance to our house. I'm sure I'll love it even better when I see it again. :)

Do you have ANY questions?? I'd love to answer them! :D

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day - and be sure to take the time to CREATE something!

By the Sea Challenge Card

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How are you doing? Did you have a good week? Do you have big plans for your weekend? My friend, Becky, from Tales of a Domestic Briefcase, is coming up to spend the night. Tomorrow we finish packing, and Sunday we LEAVE!!!!! AUGH!!!!!!!!!!! :D Prayers are greatly appreciated.

Today's was a challenge sketch. Let me say, big circles bother me. :D I am not crazy about this card, but here it is. :D

The colors are Whisper White, Sahara Sand, and Riding Hood Red. I stamped the lobster (pronounced "lobstah" by those from Maine and their immediate family! :D) from By the Sea in RHR, and offstamped the words in RHR, too. I do like this set! The words are also from it. And that's ALL there is to explain!!! :D

OK, I'm outta here. Remember, I'm pre-posting. Leave me comments, email me, but know how grateful I am that you read my blog!!!!!!!!! :) Now, go stamp SOMETHING!!!!

An Old Technique, but a FAVE! :D

Welcome to Wednesday! :) Are you having a good week? Have you stamped anything yet? :D

Well, for today's card, I went back to one of my favorite techniques - it's an old one, but such fun to see what you come up with! :)

This is one of the stamps from the BEST OF... release from January - the BEST OF BIRTHDAYS. :) It IS our 25th anniversary, after all! They're wonderful stamp sets, and I think they're at a great price, too! :) When I saw it, I decided I wanted to do something with a fun background for it. :D

I used Versamark and black embossing powder to stamp the stamp on Whisper White, then colored it in with Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write Markers. Those are the same colors of reinkers and card stock I used - those links will take you directly to the categories, not the specific colors. :)

Marbling is easy. I have one of the larger stamp storage boxes with five marbles in it. I store it that way, so it's always together when I want to use it. :) I should have gone a LITTLE lighter with the Pumpkin Pie reinker, but I'm happy overall with the background.

This card was MEANT to be super easy and quick. Otherwise, I probably would have done some Dazzling Diamonds on the flames, maybe some Crystal Effects on the candles or plate, brads or eyelets or something in the corner of the card front. :D

OK, I'm outta here!!We leave in FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Have a wonderful day, and be SURE to MAKE the time to stamp something!!!

MDS Monday - Lookout Mountain

Happy Monday! :D Welcome to MARCH!!! Can you believe it?!?!? Time is FLYING. I can't believe this is my last week in town. Will anyone *really* miss me? :D

Anyway. Today's is again MDS Monday. And there is not a SINGLE stamp on this page. It's all cardstock, DSP, punches, and text. While I do love pages where I can fit lots on, sometimes a photo needs a little more attention, and a telling of its story. That's where journaling comes in for me! I have thousands of photos, but not all of them will interest anyone but me. But these photos - well, their stories need to be told to family and friends. I can't stress how important I think journaling is!!!!

In case you were wondering, this came from a sketch layout challenge from SUDSOL. There are thousands of sketches on the net; if you have trouble knowing where to start, I would suggest looking at some sketches. They help me get out of my comfort zone, too, and try something I wouldn't have thought on my own - like the shapes behind the picture!

OK, I'm outta here. :D Have a WONDERFUL day! Be sure to take the time to CREATE something!

Fun with BY THE SEA!

Happy Friday! So, how's your week been?? I can't believe it's the first of MARCH! Eek!!!! Only one more week to get all my ducks in a row. Can I do it!?!?!??! EEP!

Anyway. Best get on with this, so I can get busy. :D

If you recall my Valentine's card, you'll recognize the background I embossed for that. Well, I had this piece left over, and so I decided to use it - and knew I had this stamp set on its way. So I got the base of the card ready - that's Lucky Limeade, Midnight Muse, and Very Vanilla - and punched with the scallop edge border punch. When the set got here, I mounted all the stamps, then decided to use the sea horse - I love sea horses! :D I off-stamped with the Lucky Limeade, then stamped it onto the Very Vanilla scrap. Stamped the "happy birthday" from TEENY TINY WISHES also that way, then stamped both of them with Midnight Muse. Used the curly label punch and the modern label punch, punched out a curly label window from the background, and mounted both punches with dimensionals.

I think it's a great neutral-gender card! What do you think?

OK, I'm outta here. :D Have a WONDERFUL weekend - be sure to MAKE the time to stamp something!