Nature Walk Collage

I cannot decide if I like this card or if its just a mess, haha... Does that ever happen to you? I wanted to make a kind of collagey print using the Nature Walk stamp set and some retiring card stocks, and I sponged everything to help it "age". This is what I ended up with:

Supplies:
Stamps: Nature Walk
Ink: Old Olive, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Versamark, So Saffron, Not Quite Navy marker
Papre: First Edition DP, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, River Rock card stocks
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Linen Thread, Stamping Sponges, Woodgrain Embossing folder, Big Shot

Bingo Birthday!

Hello again! In recent weeks we have had a lot of birthdays and my stash is seriously depleted. I decided it was time to make some birthday cards that can be used for anyone, although I especially need kids cards.  Here's my first one, which also uses the current Freshly Made Sketch:

Supplies:
Stamps: Bingo Card, Collage Curios, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Gumball Green, Basic Gray
Paper: Sunshine & Sprinkles DP, Real Red, Lucky Limeade & Whisper White card stocks

The Bingo Card can be quite overwhelming, but I thought it could be a fun little snippet, with these cute hot air balloons! What do you think?

Week 14!

I got week #14 done this week! This is really good because I am still 4 weeks behind...haha! It was hard for me to choose which photos to use because this week was so packed. We went up to visit family for Easter and stayed for Spring Break. That means a lot of fun, and a lot of photos! My favorite part of this page is that I used a photo of freshly dyed eggs as the background, haha!

Supplies:
MDS, Lemonade Stand content disk

Collage Curios & Mojo!

Both of today's cards use the current Mojo Monday sketch, which I have used already, haha, but I thought it would be great with this stamp set! This set is so fun because the tiny images coordinate with so many other stamp sets, as I show below!

This first one I added a "square" to the sketch, and managed to coordinate three butterflies! The Swallowtail image in blue is really nice! I like that its subtle, even tho that really means I needed to refill my ink pad, haha!

Supplies:
Stamps: Collage Curios, Swallowtail
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Paper: First Edition DP, Not Quite Navy & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, Scoring Blade

And this card is for a friend who has been to Paris!

Supplies:
Stamps: Collage Curios, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Basic Gray
Paper: First Edition DP, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Crochet Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, 1 3/8 inch square punch

Springy Tree

Now that the retired lists are out, I have separated out my inks, card stocks and designer papers, my stamps, and my accessories that are about to go away. I am going to spend the next few weeks featuring them so that you can SEE all these fabulous products in action and decide if you want to get them before they really are gone!
(I've put the retiring supplies in italics for you to quickly note which are going.)

Yesterday I had a day off from my other job, I pulled up all my "go to" sketches and decided what upcoming events need cards and created a nice stack. Now I have plenty to share with you!

Today's card uses the current Retro Sketch, and plenty of soon-to-retire product! I {heart} this stamp image with the little girl on the swing. And I love sponging color onto the tree to make it look like its springtime! I was also excited to trim the First Edition DP to be a tree-themed dictionary page, haha!

Supplies:
Stamps: Forever Young
Ink: Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade
Paper: First Edition DP, Sunshine & Sprinkles DP, Lucky Limeade & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, Paper Daisies, Printed Brads

Life Is A Daring Adventure

Recently my kids had Spring Pictures at school. I don't typically get the school pictures because experience shows I take WAY better pics than the photographers do...ahem...but on this day I was asked to come in and help with the whole thing, and the parent helpers get a free sheet or something like that. Huh. Well, I do love to keep EVERY photo of my children (I've said to my husband that its the only time that exact look is captured) so I went ahead and picked the two 5x7's - one copy for each kid's scrapbook and one copy for my scrapbook! Perfect!

Here's the page I made with my son's photo for his book, and I used THIS sketch:

Supplies:
Stamps: Daring Adventure
Ink: Midnight Muse
Paper: Marina Mist card stocks, Parker's Patterns DP
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, Regals Brads, Mat Pack, Stapler

The journaling is beneath the tag, in the blue, but I've blurred it out. Pretty sure this is the first time I've used Marina Mist... I like this quote and I like using quotes or lyrics or other things in my kids' books. I like them seeing how they personally fit into the world of quotes and how it can apply to them. This child of mine has BIG dreams and always has a plan for some adventure he's aiming towards, so I thought this one suited him well.
And! We discovered yesterday that this fun Daring Adventure stamp set is soon retiring, darnit! Hurry and get it if you love it too! The brads are going too!!

Retiring Lists have Arrived!

Yep! Today is the day!! The day we see what stamps and accessories are on their way out, and begin anxiously awaiting what fabulous things are in store!!

You can view the Retiring Stamps and Accessories by clicking HERE. Some items are even available at a discount!! You can order items on the Retiring Lists until June 3rd or while supplies last!
*Don't forget, retiring accessories tend to sell out very quickly.
You can place an online order directly from that link, and don't forget to select me (Tanya Harvey) as your demonstrator!
Also, this is a fantastic time to host, so let me know if you'd like to schedule a workshop!!

New Toys!

In the Spring Mini is an adorable dress set. There's a stamp and a coordinating framelit die, and you can choose to get it as a bundle! Well, my mom ordered the bundle....and I get to play with it!!
Patty has TONS of ideas on how to use this set on her blog HERE and especially after seeing her creations, I have been looking forward to creating with this kit! The other night I sat down and played with the dies and then this morning I looked for some sketches that the dresses would fit on. And here are my first projects.....!

This card uses the newest Mojo Monday sketch and I LOVE how it turned out! I used my scoring blade to make the square sections in the sketch as a subtle backdrop for the dress. The dress is so simple and easy, and fabulous! I would totally wear a dress like that, even with the Summer Starfruit color, LOL! (sooo not my favorite shade)

Supplies:
Paper: Patio Party DP, Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Basic Gray & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: White Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, Dress Up Framelits, Big Shot

This card uses the sketch found HERE. This card has kind of a weird color combination...I wanted a red dress and picked Cherry Cobbler ink, and then stamped it on Whisper White card stock. Then I needed a bit of DP with opposing colors.... I picked this green dotty print from the new Epic Day This & That bundle. I like the distressed look with this dress better than the green dotty from Sunshine and Sprinkles..maybe because the ink didn't quite "take" everywhere? Anyway, then I used the Pool Party from that DP for the base. Another glimpse into my brain, haha!

Supplies:
Stamps: All Dressed Up
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Epic Day DP, Pool Party, Basic Gray & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Neutrals Buttons, White Bakers Twine, Dress Up Framelits, Big Shot

and then just because I am excited, haha, I thought I'd show you how many of the dress forms you can get from one sheet of neutral card stock...That's not quite half a sheet of Basic Gray, only as far as the form is long.

And here are the first dresses I made!! *LOVE!*

You'll just have to check back for what I do with the rest of them!! *grin!

34 Years of Love!

Sooo my brain works in two ways:
1. Look at a calendar. Think "oh, this person and this person have this event coming up. I should make cards." make cards. forget to send. Look at calendar and think "Oh man!! That was today?!". Send out card late.
2. Forget about event completely til I look at today's date. Panic that "TODAY is ____ !!!" throw together card, mail late.

Yep. that pretty much covers it, 90% of the time. sigh. Today was scenario #1, but I caught it by a day. With any luck, I got it to the PO drop box in time, haha!

Tomorrow is my parents 34th wedding anniversary!

I thought it was a perfect time to use this sweet stamp set I won on Cathee's blog a month or two ago, and haven't had a chance yet to put to ink! I also found that my ideas fit the current Freshly Made Sketch just about perfectly, so I adjusted the pieces til it did! Hooray! I colored the little butterfly with the Watercolor Wonder Crayons, but did not blend it, just left it softly colored. And!!! I sent it on its way!!!
(I apologize for the lousy lighting...its very overcast today and when I tried to edit it, it made the colors all weird- and it HAD to get in the mail!!!)

Supplies:
Stamps: Affection Collection (retired)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Versamark
Paper: Baja Breeze card stock, First Edition & Patio Party DP
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Watercolor Wonder Crayons.

Stamp Set Class: Countryside

Today I'm sharing the projects from my second stamp set class. This month we chose to focus on Countryside, a set I have been interested in for a long while. Its perfect for coloring (if you need the Regals, Subtles or Neutrals Watercolor Wonder Crayons, hurry!!) and I love the old fashioned images. They strike me as so calm and peaceful, which is rather funny because any work involving wheelbarrows, chickens, harvesting fruit and a hand pump is not calm and easy, haha, its hard work!

First up, this quick and simple card has a muted 4th of July feel to it and I felt it made a great Father's Day card, so I went ahead and threw the greeting on, haha. My card is stamped with Basic Gray ink, but it would look much cooler heat embossed in black, so that's what we did for the class.

Supplies:
Stamps: Countryside, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Versamark, Black Embossing Powder (Basic Gray ink)
Paper: Riding Hood Red, River Rock, Not Quite Navy (all soon retiring!)
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Heat Tool

This card uses a recent Freshly Made Sketch. Again, I'm keeping the cards in these classes very simple so that attendee's can recreate them no matter what supplies they have at home. I added the Lucky Limeade square on the top because it was looking too plain, even with the faux stitching.

Supplies:
Stamps: Countryside
Ink: Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper: Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Lucky Limeade & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Designer Label Punch, Mat Pack, Regals Brads, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pens

and this card is probably my favorite. It uses the current Retro Sketch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Countryside, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Certainly Celery (soon retiring!), Very Vanilla card stocks, Parker's Patterns DP
Accessories: Linen Thread, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pens

Again, I'm featuring soon-to-retire colors. Shall we chat about that? *grin I'll be honest, I am not happy that they're taking Baja Breeze or More Mustard. Those are two of my very favorite shades! However. We all go thru color "phases", and we move on to something else. For example, last month I used Certainly Celery and thought to myself that I used to turn to that shade for most projects...and its been quite a while since that was the "right" shade. Shortly after that thought they announced it's retiring! huh....like they read my mind... haha! And then there are the colors I do NOT love and truly struggle to use when I purchase the assortments, like River Rock. That one is fine to say goodbye to, haha. Anyway, how do you feel about these colors retiring, and returning?

Week 12!

MDS two days in a row! If you're interested in trying it out, you can still download the FREE trial and give it a shot for 30 days. Not only that, but I am offering a FREE MDS demonstration, on Tuesday the 16th. Stop by my house and I'll show you what I do!

And here's another catch up on my weekly pages for you!

I love that we can recolor embellishments, because that ribbon only comes in Pool Party, Island Indigo and Tangerine Tango- but now I have it in Melon Mambo! *grin! These photos don't have a whole lot of color to pick up, so I took the pale pink from my daughter's robe. She makes it into four of the five pictures so I think that's okay... The background paper is Pink Pirouette, so I used Pretty In Pink for the stamping. You know what else is great about MDS? The colors never retire- you can use them forever!!

Supplies:
MDS, Sale-A-Bration 2013 Content Disk

My Fav MDS Kit

{so far! hee hee!}
The MDS Monday challenge this week was to use your favorite kit. (they also had a sketch, but I didn't use that...does mine still count? hmm...) At the moment I {heart} the Lemonade Stand kit, which was a Sale-A-Bration item. I love the happy, sunny colors and the cute doodles and pretty elements. So! I used this kit alone to create my page for Week 12!

Supplies:
MDS: Lemonade Stand Content Disk

A sparkly birthday!

This is a busy card. Sometimes its just a challenge to make it all work, lol. I think my issue is the Regal Rose background, which 'coordinates' with the softer pink in the rainbow paper, rather than matches...or maybe its just too much pink. Not sure.. But this card is for my daughter. She looooved the Swallowtail when she saw it (here) and she has a bright, sparkly personality, so she needed the fabulous rainbow strip and the yellow chevron and the glitter paper! The butterfly is actually embossed with silver embossing powder because that's what I grabbed and poured on, instead of black, haha. I also filled in the banner outline (on the greeting) with the Lucky Limeade marker, trying to pick up the green in the rainbow. ...maybe that's the problem-too many colors?
Oh well, she'll be thrilled and THAT is, as always, the point!
This card mostly uses the Retro Sketch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Swallowtail, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Versamark, Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade Marker
Paper: Whisper White & Regal Rose card stock, Sunshine and Sprinkles DP, Silver Glitter DP
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

Pink Birthdays!

Today's post is quick and today's card is a simple one layer card, which is the best for mailing! Sometimes the fun buttons and knots get torn up, or even torn off when you send them thru the mail. I don't make them often becuase I struggle to make them look nice enough, haha.
This card uses some long retired DP (but it works so nicely!), and a recent Freshly Made Sketch. And don't forget, the Pretty in Pink color is going away soon!

Supplies:
Stamps: Make A Cake
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Pretty in Pink card stock, Banbury DP (LONG retired)
Accessories: Pennant Punch, Mat Pack

Birthday Season!

So this weekend we have a bunch of birthdays! That's what I'll be featuring this week, haha!
Today I sat down and put this card together, using the sketch from the Clean & Simple blog. The dots kinda make it not so much clean and simple, but it works for me! I also used some retiring colors for you! It even quit snowing long enough for me to run out and snap a picture!

Supplies:
Stamps: Million Dollar Moments, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Regal Rose
Paper: Lucky Limeade, Regal Rose, Daffodil Delight & Very Vanilla card stocks, Sunshine & Sprinkles DP

Week 7!

Easter, Spring Break and now I'm spending this weekend listening to my church leaders teach us and remind us of the word of God. Last night I did manage to get a catch-up page done tho, (because I am way behind in my weekly pages) and I'll share that with you now...

Supplies: MDS, Flirtatious content disk, SAB 2013 content disk

Don't forget the FREE SHIPPING that is available until tomorrow!! And don't forget the color refresh and the retiring crayons and pencils!!

Have you heard?!

Remember to check my "What's Going On?!" bar at the top to see all the latest news! In the meantime, here's a quick overview of today's announcements!

· Stampin’ Up! is offering FREE shipping on all orders placed between April 6-8! If you do an online order, choose me as your demonstrator to get the preferred price, and use Hostess Code R7V2C4GF.

· Ten colors are retiring with the catalog, and the products will only be available while supplies last, so now is your chance! I’ve attached a flyer with the list of retiring colors, as well as the new colors. Nine of the new colors are returning In Colors.

· Due to unforeseen manufacturing problems, Stampin’ Up! has chosen to retire the Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Watercolor Pencils. The Pencils and the Brights Crayons are now gone, but if you wanted the other sets of crayons, you’ll want to hurry!

Something Sweet

How was your Easter weekend? I am still off enjoying Spring Break with my kiddo's, but I'm stealing a chance to quickly get this posted!
I made this card last week, using the Retro Sketch #56. I wanted to use the Honeycomb embossing folder before bringing it up to my mom's. (she bought it!)

Supplies:
Stamps: Life Shared
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Whisper White card stock, Parker's Patterns DP
Accessories: Brights Buttons, Linen Thread, Honeycomb embossing folder, Big Shot, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pen

Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Stamp, Scrap, Sew, Share Create April blog hop! Michelle picked the theme of "Just Because" , so the projects I have for today are perfect for such a theme!

 

Nothing says "Just Because" to me, quite as much as scrapbooking! I take and print off hundreds of pictures and while sometimes I need to get a page done for some kind of event, usually its just because this is the set of pictures I want to scrapbook, lol! So! for a blog hop titled Just Because, I put this page together using THIS sketch....

Supplies:
Stamps: Collage Curios, Daring Adventure
Ink: Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade marker
Paper: Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade & Very Vanilla card stocks, First Edition DP, Sunshine & Sprinkles DP
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, 1 inch circle punch


This card uses THIS Freshly Made sketch, and is definitely a Just Because kind of card, just because I have a friend who could use something happy in the mail!

Supplies:
Stamps: Feel Goods, Creative Elements
Ink: Primrose Petals
Paper: Primrose Petals & Whisper White card stocks, Patio Party DP
Accessories: White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch

Now go see what everyone else makes when they have some Just Because time! *grin

Click button to visit Julie's blog!