CAS & Retiring!

Yesterday I cleared off my display board and discovered I need 17 new cards for it. Wow! I also happen to know I need 3 thank you's, and a few birthdays... 
Today I set out all my about-to-retire stamp supplies and got creating!

This card uses a tipped version of the current CAS sketch, and only retiring products!! I used a Gumball Green textured card stock base, and then the rectangles use Epic Day DP, which I stamped right over! Both stamp sets are retiring too! But the best part is I know exactly who this is going to! Yeay!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Simply Sketched
Ink: Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Early Espresso, Soft Suede
Paper: Gumball Green textured card stock, Epic Day DP

Double Retro

I got to stamp! I had written out the sketches I typically use, and then while my son was using the computer for his science project (and Dad was helping), I managed to put two cards together! They use the same sketch (Retro Sketch #102) but I had a lot of ideas for it, so here are two!

First I used a fun DP print for the largest area.

Supplies:

Stamps: Wanderlust, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Basic Gray, Soft Sky, Gumball Green

Paper: Very Vanilla card stock, Epic Day DP

 

Then I thought I'd stamp the card front and leave the greeting area plain.

Supplies:

Stamps: Yippee-Skippee, Wonderfall, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink: Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Paper: Crumb Cake & Old Olive card stocks

Double Sketch

I wrote out all the sketches I could find to maybe work on today, and I ended up using the same sketch twice! It comes from the Freshly Made Sketches blog, sketch # 109
First I thought I'd make a simple card and play with this tree and fall leaves! Pretty sure I've never done that, haha...

Supplies:
Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip markers
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla card stocks


Then I made this card. I used MDS to find a color combination to go with Gumball Green! How handy is that?? Also, I just love (ha!) that both my greetings came out crooked.... niiiice.....

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Six Sided Sampler
Ink: Cajun Craze, Gumball Green, Early Espresso
Paper: Gumball Green, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Big Shot, Woodgrain Embossing Folder

Blog Hop: Fall Fun!

Welcome to our October Blog Hop!!

This time Jolene has chosen the theme of Fall Fun and since autumn is my favorite season, I definitely have projects for that! 

First up, I have a double-page layout that I created in MDS. This is one of my family's favorite traditions and is a day full of Fall Fun for us! These pictures are from last year's adventure. I have to say, I love using a scenic shot as the "background paper" in MDS!

Supplies:
MDS, Frightful Sight DP, Days to Remember content Disk, cropping tool

Next up I have a card with a Fun technique on my Fall leaves, haha. (this also uses a recent CAS Sketch) I used the Rock & Roll technique with each of these leaves at the top. The bottom one with the greeting is plain to make it lighter.... I stamped a bigger greeting and it came out all smudgy, so I had to cover it up, haha...

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Simply Sketched
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Baked Brown Sugar
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Neutral Buttons, Linen Thread, Glue Dots

Let me know what you think of my Fall Fun projects and then go check out Julie's, and everyone elses! :) Should be plenty of fun things to get you in the mood for fall!

Blog Hop: CASE that Pin!

Its the first of the month, so that means its time for another fabulous blog hop!

This month's theme was chosen by Julie, and she'd like us to focus on using our pinned projects on Pinterest! Smart girl! How many of us find our Pinterest boards are full of ideas that we never, ever get around to trying? Not to mention how handy it is to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) your projects - you simply find a project you love and you make it! No thinking required! *grin Hopefully you'll stick with the whole blog hop and be inspired to use your own Pinterest boards in your papercrafting!

First up, I have this quick and cute sample...which is linked right HERE. I love stamping on DP! The sample card uses retired DP but I'll show you how to use supplies you can order right away to make your own! And to make it my own, I went with a standard A2 size card, instead of a square note card. I find I don't use those very often...

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Midnight Muse, Wild Wasabi, Basic Gray
Paper: Midnight Muse card stock, I Am Me DP
Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Rhinestones

And then this pretty one, found HERE, took a few more stamp sets, hee hee....

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Wanderlust, Simply Sketched
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Hexagon Punch, Rhinestones, Linen Thread, Neutral Buttons, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Well, I hope that inspires you, just like it did me! Its so easy to swap out the supplies you have and create a card you already love! Hop through to each stop and maybe you'll even find more to pin! Next up: Julie!

Blog Hop: You're The Man!

Yep, its time for another Blog Hop!
Today's theme was selected by Cathee, and its all about celebrating the men in our lives! Be sure to stop by everyone's blog for plenty of masculine inspiration!

Many people struggle with masculine cards, I think because we crafters want to put ribbons and other pretty things on the cards that guys aren't really in to. *grin. I took this challenge and ran with it- I was surprised with as many of my favorite masculine sets retiring that I still had so many current! Hooray for that!

Today is also Day 1 of the new catalog so you know I'm going to have new products to show off!!
Starting with the alphabet set on this scrapbook page for my son, doing a manly project (re-shingling a roof!) with his dad, uncle and adult cousin! haha! Can't get much more masculine than that!

Supplies:
Stamps: ABC123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers, Lovely As A Tree
Ink: Gumball Green, Basic Gray
Paper: Basic Gray, Epic Day DP
Accessories: Natural Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Staple

Next up, I have a very simple card using a recent Freshly Made Sketch. I love the woodgrain with the acorns, and of course Linen Thread has got to be one of my favorite guy accessories, hee hee. This features two of the new In Colors. I gotta say, the Baked Brown Sugar shade is a good brown. Its "warmer" and a bit gold-ish.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Linen Thread, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Finally, we have this card which was, ahem, inspired by a recent Retro Sketch. haha! I thought the map paper from the Epic Day DP went well with this ship! And the Natural Trim is another perfect-for-guys accessory. Its ribbon without being girly.

Supplies:
Stamps: The Open Sea
Ink: Basic Gray
Paper: Epic Day DP, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Natural Trim

That's it for me, but I hope I've helped spark some ideas for the Father's Day cards, or birthdays, or whatever you may have coming up for the men in your life too!
Now go see what Julie has created!

Falling Leaves

When I saw the Clean & Simple sketch I knew I had to play with it. It seemed to me that falling leaves worked well for the circles. So here's an autumny card on this hot summer day, haha!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Banner Greetings
Ink: Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizazz
Paper: Pear Pizazz & Whisper White card stocks

Thank You Gift

Last week my husband and I had the chance to see an early screening of the new Les Miserables movie! The catch was that the theater was about 90 minutes away from our house, and we had to be there close to two hours before the show started. Also, its a really long movie...and it was on a school night. We had to figure out who on earth could or would watch our kids from 4pm-11pm...! A good friend offered to keep them that long, and not only did she feed them dinner, but also her husband stayed home with her kiddos while she brought my kids home to get them in bed on time! She had plenty of her own commitments going on the same night so it was really extremely kind for them to keep our kids for us that particular day. So, we got them a gift certificate to a movie and a restaurant, and made up our own babysitting certificate to thank them!

I used THIS sketch from the Clean & Simple blog to make this card to use as the gift certificate.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Paper: More Mustard, Early Espresso & Very Vanilla card stocks, Orchard Harvest DP
Accessories: Mat Pack, Word Window Punch

And the inside looks like this, in case you're curious:

Now Scrap It!

Last night my friend hosted a workshop for me. We had a great time and now I have even more fun things to share with you! Our make n take was the card I shared here on Wednesday, and I wanted to illustrate how versatile our stamps and products are for all sorts of projects, especially for new crafters. I put together this scrapbook page ahead of time and brought it with. It uses the same stamps and DP, and a little of the same inks too. And yes, the acorns and the leaves on the side are all popped up on Dimensionals to help them stand out a little more.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall
Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo
Paper: Very Vanilla & Cajun Craze card stock, Orchard Harvest DP
Accessories: Regals Brads, Mat Pack, Dimensionals

Another one!

This card is similar to yesterday's, I know, but I wanted to try another idea...and I think I like this one even more!! All the same supplies, but I swapped out the other card stock, and I added a button. Oh, and a different greeting set... okay, so not really the same, but close! hee hee hee....
Too bad I can't move a stamp straight, you'd think I could, but apparently not. *smile With the "thank you" I inked it up once, stamped it toward the bottom and then twice more for a faded look and just a little something different.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Cajun Craze, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso
Paper: More Mustard & Crumb Cake card stocks, Orchard Harvest DP
Accessories: Natural Buttons, Linen Thread, Glue Dots

Wonderfall!

I think autumn is over at my house, lol, but I got this new stamp set, paper, and a new ink pad, and I need a card for some upcoming events so I played around til I created this! And then you know what I did? I stuck it in the mail!! That's an important step that I know I forget sometimes, and wonder how many of you don't mail or give the cards you make. hmm.... LOL!
Aside from that, I love this Orchard Harvest DP from the holiday mini. I really do! ...and I noticed that I have bought an autumny or leafy DP every year for the last three years... I need to start using it up! haha!
And incase there are questions, the acorn is cut out and popped up on a Dimensional, and the oak leaf was masked and the other leaf was stamped over it. Not a technique I use often, but a simple one!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Island Indigo marker
Paper: More Mustard & Sahara Sand card stocks, Orchard Harvest DP
Accessories: Linen Thread, Dimensionals