Just For Your Saturday!

Yeah, it's been a crazy kind of week around here! So far the weekend has been perfectly relaxing! But I got to stamp last night and I wanted to post today to first of all, play along in some challenges, and secondly to remind my customers that I am putting in an order Monday and if you'd like to save on shipping (and get some FREE Sale-A-Bration items!) this is a great time for exactly that! Give me a call, shoot me an email, message me on facebook, whatever you like!

Now for the card... I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch which is to just keep the lines clean and put the greeting in the center. Done and done! This fun Sale-A-Bration stamp set is perfect for such an idea! I didn't keep the card "clean" because I sponged the edges, but the clean lines are still there...
Also, since I used a Sale-A-Bration item, I get to link up with the Nacho Average Challenge blog!

Supplies:
Stamps: Botanicals For You
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Crumb Cake
Paper: Whisper White, Blushing Bride card stocks, Love Blossoms DP
Accessories: Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit, Dimensionals, Stamping Sponges

Cards In The Mail

I was thinking I need to get my swaps going, and I started getting several in the mail, so it must be time to share them! *grin
Names are on each photo for proper credit!

This first one comes entirely from the Holiday Mini. However, only the snowflake DP has retired!

And I really should get mine done this week...!

Christmas in January!

Well yesterday's post never went live, so we'll pretend today is still the 25th, HA! I had my Cards of Love stamp class yesterday morning and then all the things that normally happen in life took up the rest of the evening and cards weren't photographed until now! (Tuesday morning)
~~~~~
Another of the paper-crafting goals I have set for myself this year is to not end up making 50-something Christmas cards in the month of December, ever again. haha...It's not nearly as fun as it sounds. I have decided instead to feature a few Christmas cards on the 25th of each month leading up to December! That should make a good dent in what I need done!
The funny thing was, my mom asked if she and I (or sometimes just me) could get some Christmas and Halloween cards made throughout the year, instead of cramming the week or month of. Sounds like a great idea, doesn't it??
For years I have seen a group on Splitcoaststampers.com that does a monthly Christmas card goal, just like my monthly scrapbooking goal. I don't want to commit to a number this year (maybe next year, let's see how it goes...) but I am going to share something for Christmas, every month.

So first, my stash. I had time to fit three cards in this day, and I thought I'd stick to the same general supplies. I used the Gentle Peace stamp set, which is still available if you're interested! Check HERE.

Supplies:
Stamps: Gentle Peace
Ink: Versamark,
Markers: Old Olive Blendabilities (retired), Wisteria Wonder Blendabilities (retired), Nude Blendabilities (retired), Mossy Meadow, Pear Pizazz, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Tip Top Taupe, Crushed Curry
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Lost Lagoon card stock
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Dimensionals

Supplies:
Stamps: Gentle Peace
Ink: Versamark
Markers: Ivory Blendabilities, Mint Macaron, Rich Razzelberry, Blackberry Bliss, Blushing Bride, Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, So Saffron, Tip Top Taupe
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay card stocks
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Hexagon Punch, Dimensionals

Supplies:
Stamps: Gentle Peace
Ink: Versamark, Smoky Slate
Paper: Pool Party, All Is Calm DP (retired)
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

And here are the cards I made at my mom's a couple weeks ago. She had just ordered the Subtles Markers so I thought I'd use that...I pulled out one sheet of Pool Party card stock and three sheets of Whisper White card stock, and grabbed a few stamps and pulled up a sketch. These were all intended to use the same sketch but it didn't quite work out...on the first I trimmed it wrong, haha... on the third I left off a snowflake, because I was running out of that sheet of card stock!

 So these two used the latest from the Viva La Verve sketch blog!

I decided to play with another snowman "set" (altho this one came by itself) and this is what I created. The greeting also came by itself.

Now my mom has five hand-stamped Christmas cards ready to mail!

Stars!!

I really enjoy looking at the night sky. I find it extremely calming. Growing up, my parents always pointed out the Big and Little Dippers in the night sky. I took an astronomy class in college, which was fascinating and I'm sure I would have done great if it wasn't at 8am, in a dark room with the night sky, and an old professor with a calm, quiet, {monotone?} voice. My first baby's room had a star/moon/sun theme. On our camping trip this summer I hauled my kids over to a big meadow at like 11pm to show them the moon and stars. (and we don't even live in a truly well lit area!)

So a set with a globe, a fancy compass, sweet sentiments, AND stars??? Oh yeah. It's mine. hahaha!

I used the latest Mojo Monday sketch and played with the star DP and the Big Dipper stamp thinking about for the upcoming class, but I voted against it. That's why I kept them small. And realized the long way that 3x3 was smaller than I wanted. haha...
I still like them a lot tho, and I even know who to give them to!

Supplies:

Stamps: Going Global

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Delightful Dijon

Paper: Elegant Eggplant & Very Vanilla card stocks, Going Places DP

Accessories: Regals Candy Dots, 1" Circle Punch, Dimensionals 

The star print is on Delightful Dijon and I was glad the Eggplant goes so nicely with it, to imitate a night sky! I had a hard time deciding how to do the greeting circle, so here is my creative process in action: I photo'd the three ways to decide which looked better! haha!

In the end, I went with one of each color ink, on the Vanilla card stock.

Valentines - Round 5

Today's card uses half the stamps in the Going Global set, because I really love this set, haha! Everything about it!!
I used the first January sketch from the Viva La Verve blog for the layout.
I cheated, giggle, in that I used a retired circle die to punch out the three large circles. I don't even care - it's what I own that fits! You (and I!!) could (should?) get the Circles Collection Framelits to make it work, and have a slightly smaller one for the compass and words!
And I stuck to an In Color palette for this one.

Supplies:
Stamps: Going Global
Ink: Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder
Paper: Whisper White card stocks, In Color Envelope Paper
Accessories: Sweetheart Punch, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Seasonal Frame Thinlit Die (retired!)

Once again, I can't decide if this will be a part of my card class or not....I know I really like it! But...maybe its too much stuff?

haha! ...too much, too little...I just can't be happy here, haha!
What do YOU think? 

Calendars for 2017?!

One of the paper-crafting goals I have set for myself this year is to not end up making two full calendars in the month of December, ever again. haha...I've done it a lot of times now and I end up totally fried and it isn't fun by the time I'm done! And so, I have decided instead to scrap a page or two, and share it on the 20th of each month! This helps me reach my scrapbook goals and complete the calendars! I'm excited!
Except...I was still fried, haha... So it took til last night for me to get actually started, and I got two pages done for my in-laws 2017 calendar! Yeay!!

January's page came from THIS sketch I found on Pinterest, and a challenge to use the colors from a room in your house on a page. There are four rooms in my house *I have had any control over how they look, haha, and two almost match. The bathrooms that we got to repaint...and one of them that we completely redid! (photo below)

Supplies:
MDS: Wonderfall DP, Christmas Jingle DP (recolored), Packed for You file tab punch, Back To School "snow play" & "winter"
Snowflakes: Winter Post, Season of Cheer, Old Saint Nick, Lemonade Stand, Best Wishes & More, Snowburst
Colors: Lost Lagoon, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Here's that bathroom we did last summer....we had to gut the floor and everything- but we love the way it turned out!! Who knew you could love a bathroom??!

And then I did December's page! This one came from a challenge to line up the photos, and cluster the embellishments. I had to separate the knot from the ornaments, for balance, but I think it still counts as a cluster.

Supplies:
MDS: Christmas Jingle DP, Satin Ribbon, Satin Ribbon Knot, Christmas Jingle Ornaments, Tree Trimmings string, Back To School Red Ribbon Frame
Colors: Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

2 down, only 23 to go, haha!
(because I usually design one cover for both calendars!)

Valentines -Round 4

Today's card is pretty simple but I really like how it turned out.
However, because it is so simple, I may not use it in my class after all... If I get a chance to create something else, I might swap it out-we'll see!
And again, this doesn't have to be a Valentine's card, it could go to anyone, any time!
This one also used last week's sketch from the TGIF Challenge blog.

Supplies:
Stamps: Going Global
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Soft Sky, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit, World Traveler Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Hexagon Punch, Glue Dots

Inspiration!

We can find it anywhere, can't we? The other day I was perusing blogs to get myself going and something caught my eye. Check out THIS post and tell me what catches your attention.

Well, what I saw was their blog hop header.
I immediately thought it could make a fun, bright card....
like...
this one!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Botanicals For You
Ink: Calypso Coral, Memento Black
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Aquapainter, Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit, Glue Dots

In my head, I totally intended to stamp the flowers from the stamp set and emboss them in gold but evidently I take my anti-gold-ness very seriously, hahaha, and I have no gold embossing powder! I really thought I'd caved one Christmas season but apparently not! So the sequins worked just as nicely.
*wanna hear a secret? some of the sequins are covering up a bit of black "shadow" from the edge of the stamp getting inked! Bam! *grin

And don't forget- this is a Sale-A-Bration exclusive stamp set, so if you love it, you'll want to place a $50+ order before March 31!!

Valentines - Round 3

Today I'm sharing a Valentine card....even if it looks like a wedding/anniversary card! But that's the point- we'll make five "Valentine" cards at my upcoming class, but you don't have to use all -or any!- of them as specifically Valentines. Switch up the greeting and use it for any occasion you need!

Personally, this is kinda what my husband's birthday and Father's Day cards turn out like...and any other time I think he needs a pick-me-up, or just a tiny reminder of how much I love and appreciate him. So I could make five Valentines and be just fine. But I try hard to make my classes apply to anyone who signs up, so I need to mix it up! I also like that this is not specifically wedding, nor anniversary, but either way!

Also, I used the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful Ride
Ink: Memento Black, Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride, Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Pear Pizazz
Paper: Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White card stocks, Love Blossoms DP
Accessories: Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit (doily, pearls, heart), Blender Pens, Stamping Sponges, Dimensionals

Valentines - Round 2

Okay, have you seen the Sale-A-Bration mini? Do you know how it works?? For every $50 you spend, you can choose a Sale-A-Bration exclusive item for FREE. This is my favorite Stampin' Up! promotion every year because there is always something I fall in love with- often lots of things! These things are only available as Sale-A-Bration freebies, and they are only available until it ends, which this year is March 31.
Something else important to notice...today's featured stamp set is found on page 16. This, along with the DP and the stamp set found on page 19 are only available until February 15th!!! That's even more limited-time than the whole promotion is! So if you love any of those three items, you'll want to grab them ASAP!
This fabulous airplane had to come home with my latest order because I have a weird obsession with all things travely, haha!

Today I have another two cards for you, haha, but this time it was totally deliberate. I wanted to use last week's Mojo Monday sketch with this stamp set, I just didn't get to play in time. My greeting square is much smaller than the sketch called for, but it works.
I also chose this greeting to show the versatility of the same supplies for any occasion you might need.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sky Is The Limit
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate
Paper: Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla card stocks, Going Places DP
Accessories: Natural Chevron Ribbon, Dimensionals

Then I had to adjust the sketch to fit the heart in the jet stream (what do you call it when it isn't coming from a jet??) so that it can be part of my Valentines Class!

Supplies:
Stamps: Sky Is The Limit
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate
Paper: Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla card stocks, Going Places DP
Accessories: Natural Chevron Ribbon, Dimensionals

What do you think?? Well, I think the non-traditional colors totally work for Valentines with an airplane! It's a great man-card! And it happens to be a great man-card any time of year!!
And because the stamp set is only going to be around for six weeks, you can definitely expect to see it more too!

Valentines- Round 1

I have been trying to plan projects for an upcoming Valentines Class, and yesterday I finally got to start. I had two ideas in my head for this card and I strongly prefer one over the other, haha! That's okay- its good to try things even when they don't work, haha!

I used a sketch for both tries. First up, a loose interpretation of the latest from the TGIF Challenge blog, haha.... I kept it pretty simple because this is for a class, with all levels of experience attending. The only trick is trimming the edges off the die cut piece, and adding glue dots to all the right places on the ribbon, haha.

Supplies:
Stamps: Honeycomb Hello
Ink: Rose Red, Blushing Bride
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake card stocks
Accessories: Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit (ribbon & sequins), Big Shot, Hexagon Hive die, Glue Dots

This card uses most of the same supplies, and the latest Mojo Monday sketch. I kept the hive die to go with the bee, and I chose one of the least "busy" flower prints in the DP but I don't think it worked out.

Supplies:
Stamps: Honeycomb Hello
Ink: Rose Red
Paper: Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake card stocks, Love Blossoms DP
Accessories: Paper Doilies, Big Shot, Hexagon Hive die, Dimensionals

December 2015 Paper Pumpkin

Today I'm going to show off my alternative plan for December's Paper Pumpkin! And as soon as the My Pumpkin Challenge blog is ready for this kit, I'll link it there! (they give you plenty of time to enjoy the surprise of your kit and have a chance to create!)

Usually the Paper Pumpkin kits are available for a while so that subscribers can order more of their favorite kits, or kits they missed. This one sold out before December 23rd- and they only start shipping on the 10th! So, I'm very sorry, but you can't order a refill, or an original kit.

Here is the video of how the kit was designed so you can see the original plan.

 Can I be honest here? I have no use for a desk calendar. And the two people in my life I might give one too certainly don't want a flowery one. My husband and I have a tradition that he gets a Dilbert Daily calendar with his stocking, haha....
So. How could I use it instead....?
I actually had two great ideas but only one I could do today....
The first idea was to use the DP and the flowery pieces and the calendars in scrapbooking. Maybe some Project Life albums, maybe traditional, but the calendars would be a fun way to feature each month in 2016!
but.....I don't have photos printed from 2016....and I'm not doing that kind of an album unless it's digital, HA. (see HERE)

So, plan #2- birthday cards made very specifically for the birthday girls!
I went thru month by month and thought of specific people and I created six birthday cards ready to be mailed to each of these!
annnd soooo the ones I made for people who check this blog have to stay hidden! HA!

This one is for January...

 This one is for March....

Here is April...

 And here is May!

Supplies:
Stamps: Dec 2015 Paper Pumpkin, Boys Will Be Boys,
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky, Soft Suede
Paper: Soft Sky, Soft Suede, Blackberry Bliss card stocks, Dec 2015 Paper Pumpkin
Accessories: Dimensionals

It's hard to tell, but the circle, and the little flower image I stamped on the person's birthdate are part of the stamp set. The birthday greetings I used came from the new Sale-A-Bration set Sky Is the Limit, and the Boys Will Be Boys set.
The other funny thing is that for being a person who really can't stand gold, I used it on every single one of these cards!
...the only trick will be remembering that I already have a card ready to go for 6 people...!

3 Random Calendars

Happy Monday to you once again! Today I have the last three calendar pages for the 2015 season to share with you!

First up, my inlaws May page. I have the birthday boy, the Mother's Day and Father's Day shots, and a couple random life. The layout came from HERE, and was really supposed to be a two page design but I crammed it into one! The color combo came from the color tool in MDS. I love that feature!!!

This is my parents August page. Again with the birthday boys (tho you can only identify one, haha) and a bunch of random life, but I got lots of us on there! 

And here is the September page for my parents. This is mostly the extra pictures taken on the same day as our June page, so I managed to get almost everyone on this page too. I threw on the epoxy brads at the last second, just before printing! haha...

The funniest thing to me is that they were printed before I realized August and September uses the exact same layout....! Whoops! haha....
But the calendars are done and everyone who saw them loved them, and that. is the whole point.

Beautiful Ride

Happy Friday to you! I am hoping to get some relaxing time in this weekend, how about you? ...I guess we'll see if I really do! haha...!
This is the third post this week featuring new stuff! How fun is that??

On this day I had several ideas with this cute set and I tried two of them. I love one of them. hahaha! We'll start with that!
I've seen a lot of 'watercolor wash'-ing done as backgrounds for cards so I tried it here. I used my Aquapainter and a couple drops of So Saffron ink in the lid of the ink pad and this is the result. Then I stamped the images over it and there you go- fun, bright, sweet and simple!

Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful Ride
Ink: Memento Black, Watermelon Wonder (hearts & flowers), So Saffron ink refill, Island Indigo marker, Calypso Coral marker, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper: Chocolate Chip & Calypso Coral card stocks, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: Aquapainter

Then I tried a different version on this card... I like the idea of the big bright flowers (from a recent Paper Pumpkin kit), but they seemed to overpower the rest of the card...maybe I need to color more of the car....I don't know.

Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful Ride, October 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit
Ink: Memento Black, Watermelon Wonder, So Saffron ink refill, Watermelon Wonder marker
Paper: Watermelon Wonder card stock, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: Big Shot, Arrows embossing folder

Quick Thank You

I got a little stamping done yesterday but only one of the photos turned out, so I guess that's the one I'll be sharing today! haha....!

This background stamp is in the main Catalog, but I only ordered it quite recently and this is the first chance I've had to play with it! I like the fun font and the variety of languages, and directions you can make it go, but really, I love that from this angle, the English and German words are the biggest and thus main focus.
20 (21?!) years ago I went to Germany for five weeks, did you know that? I took German from 6th-11th grades in school but I really couldn't get a handle on it and needed to drop it to save my GPA. But I know how to say please and thank you! haha!
Anyway, this background stamp makes for quick and easy card making! I recently saw a similar idea on the NAC color challenge, so I thought I'd try something like it. I chose to use two Stampin' Spots (they come in the Paper Pumpkin kits!) to make a colorful card front. I swiped the Pool Party ink around a bit, then filled in the dry areas with Tangelo Twist. I added two tiny silver brads to the flowers, layered it on the Tangelo Twist card stock and there it is!

Supplies:
Stamps: A World Of Thanks
Ink: Pool Party, Tangelo Twist
Paper: Whisper White, Tangelo Twist & Pool Party card stocks
Accessories: Silver Brads

July Pages

I'm ready to get these calendar page posts finished up, now that we're into the new year!
For today, we completely switch gears as far as weather....it is gray and wet here, but still with that cold, wintery white everywhere. So let's go hot and bright! ha!

First up, my parents July page. I have the flag in the middle, surrounded by all the children at least once....and the birthday boy and girl actually make it on here three times each! wow...!

And for my inlaws page, I have the bottom half of the flag image, but with plenty of patriotic looking banners and colors! I tried to take my kids portraits on the 4th, but I didn't love how they turned out...Still cute enough for the calendars tho!

Blog Hop: Step It Up Sale-A-Bration Sneak Peek!

Hello again and welcome to a new blog hop! We scooted the hop from the 1st til now becaaaause the brand new Occasions Mini AND Sale-A-Bration brochure begin today!!

That's right- two new mini catalogs for you to enjoy and fall in love with, and oh my word, I definitely have! My wish list is long...again... But lucky me, I get to preorder (you can too if you want to sign up!) and today I am showing off my first Sale-A-Bration item!

For this card, I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches, and the colors from the Nacho Average Challenge blog. (Yep, I already played along with that one, but I also made this in time for our typical blog hop on the 1st.)

First, I kept it very clean and simple. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Botanicals For You

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Whisper White card stocks

Then I stepped it up with a little heat embossing and flowers:

Supplies:

Stamps: Botanicals For You

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark

Paper: Soft Sky, Night of Navy card stocks, 

Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

And then, I put the greeting back on white, and added a few silver brads and a hint of silver ribbon! I also popped the front panel up on Dimensionals! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Botanicals For You

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark

Paper: Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Whisper White card stocks

Accessories: Silver Mini Brads, Mat Pack, Silver 1/8 Taffeta Ribbon, Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Dimensionals

Best of all, I know exactly who to send these to! I love that!! 

Now hop on over to see what Cheryl created! Then hop on thru and leave your thoughts! We all love comments! 

More December Project Life!

Saturday I printed off over 250 photos.
Last night I took an hour and plotted where to put the Christmas photos in this album, and added cards and things.
This morning I trimmed photos and card stock down, and added most of the journaling...
And now I have 25 pages done already for January!!!

So. The only trick to Project Life is having the right slot orientation for the photos you want. And it turns out I go thru phases where all the photos are either horizontal or vertical. Other than that, easiest thing ever. I have plans for a second Project Life album, and I also decided to add Halloween and Thanksgiving photos to this album and just call it Holiday Season 2015!
Now I just have to print those other photos.... HA!

Again, taking photos of these pages doesn't work too well since they're all in plastic, but I'm sharing them anyway to inspire you! Also- most of our Project Life products have a bundled (discounted!) price!!

These are two narrow pages, the front and back... and I added a tab to help the viewer remember to turn this page, haha!

 two more narrow pages, the front and back

 And again, two more narrow pages, the front and back...

I do have two more pages still that need more inserts, but that is a hefty dent in this one album!!