#imbringingbirthdaysback

The last card I designed for my Birthday Card Class might possibly have ended up my favorite one. I'm not usually a huge fan of Brights, but I'm liking this one. This one can go to anyone at all, and even fits my husband's requirements for birthday cards- showing some kind of cake or balloons! Done and done! haha!

I used a recently passed Retro Sketch for the layout, and while I used birthday stamps from the Occasions Mini, I used DP from the main catalog. And because I used Occasions Mini products, I can link up with the Nacho Average Challenge blog too!

Supplies:
Stamps: Party Wishes
Ink: Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder
Paper: Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Curry & Whisper White card stocks, Cherry on Top DP
Accessories: Party Punch Pack (balloon), Hexagon Punch (flagged ends), Dimensionals

And all we have to do is mail out the birthday cards!
What about you? Are you ready to "bring birthdays back" and mail them out to your loved ones??

Birthday Card Class #4!

Finally Friday!!! Hooray! haha... It has been a very long, and exhausting week, but I finally got some more stamping done! A lot of it in fact, which means I'll have things to share again for a little while!

Today I'm sharing the 4th sample for my Birthday Card Class.
I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch for the layout.
The DP is from the Sale-A-Bration mini (you can get it FREE with a $50 order!) and it is where I got the color combination.

Supplies:
Stamps: Just Kidding
Ink: Memento Black, Calypso Coral and marker, Hello Honey marker, Blackberry Bliss marker, Lost Lagoon marker
Paper: Lost Lagoon & Whisper White card stocks, Wildflower Fields DP
Accessories: Hexagon Punch, Dimensionals

and actually....her hair should be colored with Hello Honey, but I grabbed the Delightful Dijon marker on accident....the paper has Hello Honey.... whoops!

New Sale-A-Bration Items!

I haven't been able to share these on the blog, but there are youtube videos on the new products, so I'm going to share THAT.
Remember, you can get any of these items for FREE, just for ordering $50 worth of products before March 31!

First, the new Metallic Tape, which looks so fun!

Then the Party Pants stamp set...perfect for #imbringingbirthdaysback! It comes in both wood mount or clear mount, whichever you prefer.

 And finally the Pedal Pusher stamp set, which is a photopolymer stamp set, and perfect for coloring!

Which one is your favorite?

A February page!

Yeay! Two out of two months I have managed to get a calendar page or two done in time to post on the 20th!

This time I did the February page for my inlaws.
I coupled it with a challenge {HERE} to use sets of threes. In this case I used three sheets of DP, three buttons, three brads and three clusters of embellishments.
I used some photos from this month and pages going back to December.

Supplies:
MDS: Back To School DP (lines and red), Button Latte (vanilla and saffron), Jumbo Button (pool party), Sending Love epoxy brads

Vacation Project Life!

My creative time has been extremely limited this month, but I did assemble most of a second PL album the other day!
I'm not yet counting these pages as "done" because there is zero journaling...
and I do still have probably ten pages that need photos trimmed to fit the slots.
But! the kids have already been looking at this album, and discussing memories of the vacation and what we could do this summer, haha!

Once again, my PL process is to put the photos in order, add PL cards to my stack, put them in the PL pages, trim down photos, then add journaling and card stock to fill the empty slots. And it is SO fast and that motivates me to do more! Can't beat that! *grin

I took this picture of the pile of pages, ready to be trimmed. I didn't complete it all before I had to clean up, but I liked how it showed the reality of the process, haha.

And some completed pages for your inspiration!

Of course most of the currently fully completed pages have no journaling spots, haha, but just add it to the facing page and you're covered! And you already know how many photos I take and like to fit in my scrapbooks- just another reason this is a great method for me!

Our vacation included some camping in the mountains, the kids first time to play in a lake and at the "beach" of said lake, and camping at the only amusement park we have in this state, and then a day spent there. A little hiking, and a lot of game playing.

Boy Birthday

Today's card is one I think is really fun.

I love this stamp set, and I love to use it for little boy birthday cards. (and big boy too...mine is not so little anymore...) One of the things I'm doing with this card is showing different images to use, and different ways of coloring it.

So here's the sample, using the latest from the TGIF Challenge blog. And for this one, I used the robot image.

Supplies:
Stamps: Boys Will Be Boys
Ink: Memento Black, Tangelo Twist marker, Bermuda Bay marker, Cucumber Crush marker
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Tangelo Twist, Whisper White card stocks, Wildflower Fields DP (SAB)
Accessories: Bermuda Bay stitched ribbon

However, I'm going to allow the stampers to choose their own boyish image, to suit their needs. (there is also blocks, a yoyo and a parachute guy) I know legos are a huge favorite- which is why I still use it, haha! So I'm including a sample of three different ways to color the images.
- First the pen side of the marker, which is the same way I colored the above robot.
- Second, the marker end of the marker, and the bold colors are very fun for a little boy, but maybe too bold for some people's taste.
- Third, using the markers to color each lego separately, directly on the stamp, which is a great way to color just about anything!

Just For Your Birthday!

Today I have my second Birthday Card Class sample for you!

I mostly used the just-too-late Retro Sketch for this card's layout.

This is another weird color combination, but I wanted to use the slicy Garden Green lined DP from the Love Blossoms DP, and I wanted to use all the stamp images from the Botanicals For You stamp set, and! I wanted to use the Washi Tape that has the flowers that match! But- I've come up with a new plan for handling my classes, more "shoebox swap" style, where all the supplies for each sample are in one box (ie: one spot). And I'd already claimed the Cajun Craze ink pad for a different card. Soo... I concluded that at least in my late night dining room light, Cherry Cobbler was a close enough coordinating shade for the Washi Tape and stamps.

Anyway, I think the card turned out both fun and pretty. What do you think?

Supplies:
Stamps: Botanicals For You
Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Hello Honey
Paper: Whisper White card stock, Love Blossoms DP
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Washi Tape, Dimensionals

Birthday Cupcake!

Today is Feb 15 and that is the LAST day to order these fantastic Sale-A-Bration items! If you haven't gotten them and love them, place a $50 order RIGHT NOW!

~~~~~
This weekend, I finally managed to get some stamping done and that means I get to start showing off sneak peeks for my upcoming Birthday Card class!

If you follow my facebook page, you probably saw some social media "news" featuring the hashtag #imbringingbirthdaysback. If you missed it, check it out HERE. The point is that thanks to email, but mostly facebook, birthdays are simply celebrated with a typed one-liner. Lame. Don't you miss getting birthday cards in the mail?? I definitely, absolutely love cards in the mail, and I know my kids do. So, a girl who happens to work at Stampin' Up! decided, completely on her own, that she wants to mail birthday cards to anyone who wants one. And, ironically, haha, a new hashtag was born combating social media 'birthdays'. Makes me giggle. And I am a huge fan.
And I didn't even know this was a thing when I set up my card class theme! That's just a bonus!

So here's my first card for the class!
The card layout comes from the latest Freshly Made Sketch. The color combination came from the black strip of Washi Tape. The circle comes from tracing the containers our embellishments come in, and cutting it out, haha. The greeting strip is flagged with the Hexagon Punch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sprinkles of Life
Ink: Mint Macaron, Cajun Craze
Paper: Hello Honey, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Washi Tape, Hexagon Punch, Dimesionals

Valentine's Prep!

I have created things, just not stampy things... until this morning, when I crammed all of my Valentine prep!
At our house, my husband and I put out very small Valentine gifts at everyone's spot at the table for them to wake up to. Its not really a big deal, but it is fun to see something special just for you!
~~~
I have one child still in elementary school, which means a class Valentine exchange. Tuesday I put the kids to work peeling wrappers off the broken crayons in our stash...and I chopped them all into smaller bits.

Then we stuffed this silicone heart mold full of crayon bits.

We learned to put them in standing up to get fuller hearts. We used THIS and THIS post via Pinterest to figure out how, but the gist is that I put the mold in the oven on 230* for 15 mins, let it cool on the counter about 7 minutes and then cool in the freezer about 10 mins. Then you pop them out and laugh at how different they look on the bottom than the top!
In between melting crayons, she wrote out her paper valentines to her classmates.

Thursday, she chose which crayon went to which person (just like her mother that way...) while I started hot gluing crayon hearts to the valentines.

 And once she had selected them all, she got to do the hot gluing!

Also Thursday when I was at the store I texted my husband- did he want me to pick up Valentine gifts for the kids?? Sometimes I get them, sometimes he gets them. As I browsed, I found reason after reason not to buy any of the things.....and then I remembered that my Paper Pumpkin kit -which I hadn't got to play with yet- was perfect for this!!!
So I picked up a few kinds of candy we like and this is how I spent my Friday morning!

The January Paper Pumpkin kit is these die cut paper hearts and banners, which can be embellished with stamps or sequins, and turned into either a conversation heart Valentine banner, or little gift pouches. I made them all different. It was so quick and easy!

Ready to go! 

And we'll set these out Saturday night, along with a card from my January class! How easy is that?!

If I did them all as treat pouches, there are still enough hearts to make 12 more! My Pinterest board also has idea for making them into cards! And I have ideas for scrapbooking and other fun ways to use the remaining embellishments and the stamps! I love Paper Pumpkin!

A Digi Page!

I didn't stamp a single thing last week and I think I'm going thru withdrawls!
This morning I stole some time (ha!) and started by looking at card sketches. When I saw the newest sketch from the Viva La Verve challenge blog, it felt like a page to me...! I have been wanting to work on our regular pages and I have yet to do that this year, but this was a good chance! I decided to do it in MDS with the big circle, and really it's a simple page.
And! These pictures are from this month!!!

Supplies:
MDS: DP: Petal Parade, Lemonade Stand, Punches,
Colors: Pool Party, Whisper White
Font: Book Antiqua

More Cards In The Mail!

I have had zero crafting time this week! I'm hoping that will change this afternoon but I make no promises...
Fortunately, I did get three new cards in the mail, which I will share with you now to keep YOU inspired while you are creating! ...you are creating, aren't you??
...me either.

But these ladies did! Their names are on their creations for proper credit.
Enjoy!

Blog Hop: Step It Up!

Hello and welcome back! A new month means a new Blog Hop and we are ready for you!

I really wanted to feature this fun Sale-A-Bration stamp set, because it will only be around another two weeks!!! (yes really! The items on pages 16 and 19 are only available until Feb 15! Don't miss your chance to get them FREE!)

So I decided to design a card to stick in my son's lunch box! I started with the latest TGIF Challenge Remix, using the sketch and color combo. I chose to use the starry DP for the starry background, with the greeting in the bottom right corner. And I used the black and "gold" for the first card.

Then I stepped it up!
At my card class last Monday, one of the attendees altered THIS card by stamping the plane and cutting it out, but placing it the same, so that it hung off like mine, except you could see all of hers. Make sense? I liked the idea of cutting out the plane, and I added a mini brad and bits of ribbon, then popped the plane and greeting up on Dimensionals. That meant I had the full color combo of silver, black and gold! And the ribbon is totally not girly, and I really think my son will love it!

Supplies:

Stamps: Sky Is The Limit

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black card stocks, Going Places DP

Accessories: 1/8 Silver Ribbon, Silver Mini Brads, Dimensionals

Here's a little close up of the embellishments...

And since I used Sale-A-Bration items I'll be linking up with the Nacho Average Challenge blog too! 

Now, carry on to Lynn's blog and see what she stepped up! Then hop on thru everybody's creations, and leave us your thoughts! We all love comments! 

(and yes, we're missing a few bloggers this time around...)