Techniques!!

Annnd then I quit stamping..... Summer is so busy!! However, today I got several things stamped, so I'm set for posts for a few days...
This past week I had two rounds of my missed Christmas Card class. That was fun! And I was so excited to get planning my next class! That's a different story, haha, but at my classes when I would try to point out a tool or a technique on my display board, I kept discovering I didn't have any! With a little one, my crafting has become even more simple than it already was, and I literally use stamps, ink and paper and that's pretty much it! So when I placed my order I got stuff for a new-to-me technique! And today's card is full of them!

My card {mostly} uses the color combination found on the Fab Friday blog, the second sketch from the Fall to Layouts, and is heavily inspired by THIS card by Cathy Caines. It includes watercoloring, embossing paste, a punch, Wink of Stella and a little basic stamping. haha...!

Supplies:
Stamps: Little Twinkle
Ink: Stazon Black, Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide
Paper: Powder Pink, Mint Macaron, Watercolor Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper 
Accessories: Twinkle Builder Punch, Aquapainter, Embossing Paste, Pattern Party Decorative Masks, Palette Knives, Wink of Stella pen, White Bakers Twine, Glue Dots 

Maybe you can see the Wink of Stella on the big "twinkle" better here?

Anyway, it obviously took more time than my normal creations, but it was fun! I used Tranquil Tide ink, with an Aquapainter to make the background. After it dried I tried my hand at the Embossing Paste for the first time. I only wanted a few clouds, and they are more transparent than I expected but maybe I didn't use enough? I stamped the greeting, and after a minute added the Wink of Stella just to the scripty "twinkle". And then I used the punch on the glitter paper, sticking scraps in to get more stars. All of that was adhered with Glue Dots. I stamped the little constellation around the edges of the card base for a little interest and to reiterate the star thing. Finally I wrapped some Baker's Twine to keep with the sketch, and I love how it turned out!

And just to show I used the set again already, I threw together this baby card using an image I stamped and colored a few months ago.

Yeay card making!!

Things to know...

There are lots of things going on with the world of Stampin' Up!
First- this great sale on our beautiful patterned papers!!

This sale includes the following DP packs:
Nature's Poem
Twinkle Twinkle
Under the Mistletoe
Animal Expedition
Best Route
Petal Promenade
Tranquil Textures
Garden Impressions
Tropical Escape
Wood Textures

Next, if you sign up to be an independent Demonstrator, you can get a full color family of ink pads FREE. You should know there is no penalty for signing up just to get the starter kit- and you should know it is an AMAZING value. You select $125 worth of product and pay only $99. And, an entire color family of ink pads is another $75 added to that, which you would get absolutely FREE. With the color revamp, this is such great timing, and think of the money you'd save!

If you have never subscribed to Paper Pumpkin, today is a great time to give it a try! If you sign up before Aug 10, you'll get 50% off your first month! There is no penalty for dropping after that first month, but I know I sure love my kits! Sometimes I haven't loved the project that was designed, but I can always find another way to use the supplies- and you keep the stamps and ink spot forever!

Finally- I have a Christmas {cards} In July class coming up! This is the exact class I wasn't able to hold last winter, and so a few of the supplies are now retired. Some are on the Clearance Rack, and at least two are just gone forever. But I had several customers request the class, so if you want to come, it's my house on July 25. The cards are $12, and I need your RSVP by July 23rd so I can get your supplies prepared for you!

Whew! There it all is! Which are you most interested in??

A Scrapbook Page!!!

It has literally been five months since I last scrapbooked.
That.
Is.
Terrible.

I mentioned that on the 4th of July the one thing we always manage to do is take a picture, if not the family, then of the kids. I know, if you know me, you know I take pictures probably every day, but I mean a nice, posed, portraity picture. I liked how our family picture turned out so much I knew it had to be scrapbooked, and honestly, it's probably going to end up on the wall somewhere.
Annnd Thursday, I was on a roll, so I pulled up my very old, retired, reallynotuptospeed MDS and made a full layout!
Now all I have to do is print it four times so we all have a copy!
(that's the real trick here...)

Anyway, here's the layout, which you can click on to see better...

 And then just for fun, here's each page for a close up! Because I am SUPER excited about this!
This page used the layout I have pinned HERE.

 And this page used the layout I have pinned HERE.

The goofy one at the top was me trying to do a selfie with my husband and the big kids photobombed. You can see bows at the bottom of our faces in the 'good' one as it is- big sister is holding the baby up to us. Sillies!

Anyway, Independence Day 2018 is literally in the books!

Letterboard Birthday

Happy Monday! I got three cards done Thursday afternoon, so here's the last one. I do love some good stamping time!
I love letterboards. I love words and I love quotes so that's not surprising. I don't have one, and I have no idea where I would put one, but I really like them. And I am pretty sure that's why I got this set, haha. I needed new words and I narrowed it down to three sets and placed my order and wondered if that was really the one I wanted..... but here it is and here's my second card with it AND I used the letterboard! So I guess it's a good one, haha!
This time I used the new-to-me Just Add Ink sketch. Every stamp image on the card came from this set, and I used two brand new colors- Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green!

Supplies:
Stamps: Tabs for Everything
Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Smoky Slate
Paper: Granny Apple Green, Gorgeous Grape and Whisper White card stocks

Maybe my next creations will take a few more minutes to make, haha, but I was excited to get three cards done in one nap time!

Birthday Note

Here is the second card I made yesterday, with my second new stamp set! This was the first set I knew I was getting from the new catalog- I absolutely loved it. Nap time is only so long, so I used another sketch challenge, this time from the Fall to Layouts at their new location, (altho I did flip it) and put together another cute and quick card! And I love it! 

Supplies:

Stamps: P.S. You're The Best

Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Memento Black

Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black & Whisper White

Accessories: Dimensionals

Adorable!

Yesterday was Independence Day, and we seem to do something different every year. One thing we always do is take pics of the kids - sometimes in new clothes just for the occasion, sometimes in whatever they have that is red, white or blue, haha. And since this is a post about a baby, here's MY baby, practically ready for college...! sheesh....

 
Anyway! My newest order just arrived and I got to play! Like, I opened the brown box, put together a stamp set (not the one I used in this card), separated the card stock assortment, looked for challenges and made two cards! YEAY!
Today I'm just sharing one card. Most of my favorite challenge blogs have quit doing challenges, darnit, so I had to find new ones. This card uses both the colors and sketch from the current challenge on the Fusion Card Challenge blog. Quick and sweet!

Supplies:
Stamps: Tabs for Everything
Ink: Smoky Slate, Mint Macaron
Paper: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Mint Macaron & Smoky Slate card stocks

We Create: Celebrations Blog Hop

Happy July! No wonder it's so darn hot! July means summer is already 1/3 over at my house, which is both sad, and cause for celebration! haha...

Today's blog hop theme is also "celebrations", and there are lots of celebrations in July! I thought I'd go with birthdays! My first card is a sweet and simple one. I used a TGIF Challenge sketch from a couple weeks ago for the layout, and just quickly stamped a few images from the Jar of Love set.

I even stamped on the inside! -I'm not kidding when I say I almost never do this, it was even a joke at my class last week, haha!

Supplies:
Stamps: Jar of Love
Ink: Memento Black, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Bermuda Bay & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: True Gentleman Buttons, Glue Dots

And then just for fun, I made this cute confetti card idea I've seen on Pinterest and wanted to try! It isn't a specific "celebration" card, but it looks like a party so I think it counts! This time I used the latest from Freshly Made Sketches but I tipped it on it's side.

Supplies:
Stamps: Jar of Love
Ink: Memento Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Gorgeous Grape, Pacific Point
Paper: Lemon Lime Twist, Melon Mambo, Basic Black & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Metallic Sequins, Glue Dots

What are you looking forward to celebrating this month? We have a milestone birthday at our house this month, on top of other fun things like state and national holidays! Yeay July!

Hope on over to Cheryl's blog, and then hop thru to see what everyone has created for you. Then leave us your thoughts- everyone loves comments!