Oh...Happy Day!

Howdy folks....got another little sneak peek for ya....I created this one for the sketch challenge over at Clean and Simple Stamping.  Initially I put score lines inside and outside the ribbon, with nothing in the center panel.  It was too blah!  So, I re-did it and wheeled the Betsy's Blossom image up the center strip.  Much better. I scored on the outside edges of that panel.    I'm good with the final outcome.  Have to admit tho....it's going to take some getting used the this Summer Starfruit color.  But....I'll also say, I've used almost all of it up out of one pack of mixed In Colors.  That's more than I can say for....Crushed Concord!  Bye-BYE Crushed Concord.  You are too purple for me!  I do like how this color combo reminds me so much of watermelon.

Alright - stayed up late 3 nights in a row....must go to bed!  Nighty-night!

Meet today's card...

But before you peek - let me warn you.....if you are a member of my downline, this is a sneak peek at tonights make and take card!  If you don't want to see it in advance....don't look.

I'm serious!

This is your chance to look away....

Turn away from your computer....

Here's the close - up :

I really love this pick-up but I don't pull it out very often because of it's need to be colored and a lot of times I just don't have time to meticulously color.  BUT....since I've been playing more with my Aqua Painters, I'm finding that I don't always have to be so particular in my coloring - that I CAN embrace the watercolored look, and I can achieve that look pretty quick!  I especially like using the aqua painter with watercolor paper.  It just moves the color better and it doesn't "puddle".  That's what I used here.  It really is simple and quick - much faster than my typical coloring and blending with my markers on watercolor paper - that gives you a look VERY similar to coloring with COPICS.  But, this is much, much faster.

Here's my card.  I followed this week's Mojo Monday Sketch - but put a little bit of a spin on it.  

Not only did I turn it, but I opted for the banner flags instead of the strip.  It just seemed to work better.  I left the sentiment off.  Wasn't sure what I wanted to use this card for yet....birthday, fathers day, just because????  

What do you think?  Are you a watercolorer?  

Oh....the start of Summer

Summer vacation has begun at our house.  We had a little shaky start .... We had some friends out to the farm yesterday with their kids and little kid sized four wheelers.  We have a large four wheeler and haven't ever let the kids drive it because it's just too big.  But, with the small four wheelers we let Will give it a shot.  He's pretty cautious and doesn't typically take risks.  Kinda like his mama!  He was just driving in the lawn right around us for about half an hour and doing really good, going slow and turning wide.  After a while he'd venture a little farther.  Then a bit farther.  He never went very fast - and they don't go fast anyway.  BUT...he got to a spot in our driveway where there was a hill and turn at the same time.  I don't know exactly what happened, but he tipped the four wheeler and hit his head on a rock.  Nothing major at all.  Not that I didn't completely FREAK OUT!  CUZ. I. DID!  There was blood and tears and me running frantically for ice and getting it crushed and on his head.  We got it all rinsed and ice put on it.  Yeah - a little teeny cut less than a 1/4 of an inch.  But it was our start to summer.  I think it was more traumatic when I made him wash his hair!  It's all good now.  I told my girl friend this morning, when she asked how Will was doing, that he's normal.  He woke up crabby and mouthy...his typical morning self!  

So, you came to view a card right.  And I have one for you.  As my kiddos slept in this morning, I had time to whip up this little fella:

Some of it's new and some is about to retire.  I stamped the wheat images from Autumn Days (retiring) in the new Midnight Muse on Midnight muse.  Then I added some new DSP - from Comfort Cafe.  The frame image is stamped in Always Artichoke on Very Vanilla and then I hand cut it.  Then stamped the sentiment from Delightful Dozen with Early Espresso on A. Artichoke, die cut it with some fantabulous new dies, sponged it and lastly added those great new wood buttons.  Very manly, I'd say!

Alright - boys are begging me for some t-ball time.....yep, tis summer!!!

Berry Sweet...

The strawberries in our garden are starting to ripen....so I just HAD to break free from my normal SU stamps and whip up a couple of cards.  SO, I'll apologize, but there is nothing Stampin' Up! about this card except for the card base, inks and ribbon....(card base is the new Primrose Petals in case you are wondering) and I love the card too much not to share.

I used a couple of the Friendship Jar stamp sets from Papertrey Ink along with coordinating dies, and the patterned paper is from October Afternoon.  I used an aqua-painter to color the strawberries.  I don't do real well with my aqua-painter.  It's that whole lack of perfectionism that I have to deal with when I use it.  I just have to let go and do it.  And with a little practice, I kinda got the hang of it.  It's just so much wetter and the color moves more than the blender pens that I'm used to.  However, I did feel that it was easier using the inkpads with the aquapainter than the blender pen.  I could get the color to blend quite a bit better. So, I'll keep at it.

Okey-doke.  I need to go make up a bunch of make and takes for a Girls' Night Out at The Artisan tomorrow night!!!  Looking forward to some girly time.

Until next time - go stamp yourself silly!!!

Yet another SNEAK PEEK!

Howdy folks!  Gosh - meant to have this posted earlier today....but time got away from me.  We had Will's Track and Field Day at school today - what fun!  I think the kids had a blast - I KNOW my two littles did, they went down for naps at 2:30 without a fuss!  That gave me time to make Will's t-shirt that he needs for Letter People day tomorrow.  He's got Mr. W - Mr. W has a Wonderful Wink.  I think the shirt is a teensy boring.  I could have had more fun with Mr. B.  He has lots of buttons.  And I love BUTTONS!!!  :)

So, I ran across a new challenge blog - over at The Paper Players.  I thought I would play along this week and give their color challenge a try.  I'm not real wonderful with color challenges, but I think I handled this one okay.

I used my numbers in the new (sneak peek) Memorable Moments set to create a background.  I didn't get terribly fussy with lining the numbers up perfectly or anything.  No stamp-a-ma-jig here.  I just went with it!  And I like how that turned out.  I knew with the bold Poppy and Daffodil colors in this challenge that I was going to need to keep one of them to a minimum, I as much as I love the Poppy Parade, I thought it needed to be subtle.  I think it really worked too.  And I'm sure you'd like to know about the Daffodil Die Cut on this card....well, I did a little finagling with one of the new dies to do that, and love the results.  I may even come up with a video to show you how.  How would you like that.  It'll be coming at you next week sometime!  I'll give you something to look forward to....

Until tomorrow....go stamp something!

Class Placecards...

I was asked by my son's school to make some place cards for the 8th Grade Graduation class.  I was more than happy to!  These are what I came up with - very clean and simple, and classy too!  I used My Digital  Studio to do the majority of the work and the flower is a retired Big Shot die - one that I refuse to give up because I love it so.  It's a great size and they layer up so well!

I hope my pics look alright - I HAD to bring my 'puter outside to work some today, it's just gorgeous out!  And the screen has a terrible glare, even tho I'm in the shade.  Anyone know of a good anti-glare screen protector?  I could sure handle this working outside thing I've got going on!!!  But it's not real easy when the computer glares back at ya!    Frustrating.

K - I don't have a lot to share today....need to go make my littles some lunch.....hmmm...what to have....

Yummy Sneak Peek!

I say Yummy, because this card reminds me of a big ol' slice of juicy watermelon!  Aren't these colors so summery and well, watermelony???  This card showcases FOUR of the new five In Colors for 2012 - 2014!  They really work very well together.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to mix that yellow color in - Summer Starfruit.  It's just not calling my name very well.  But it worked on this card using a minimal amount of it.  Something tells me it won't be a color I use a lot of....too many green undertones maybe?  I don't know...

How about that background stamping???  Um....so easy when you use the new Betsy's Blossom Wheel!  I think I may be using the wheels a little bit more.  It was just a quick, fun thing to do on this card.

Okay - gotta run.  Very busy week.  So I better keep on moving!

Graduation gift...a little sneak peek!

I'll warn you right now, these pictures aren't up to my usual par.  I wanted to show you this project but since it's rather large, I didn't have a great area to photograph it.....so sorry about that!

On with the story.  My little sister, Megan, graduates from high school tomorrow.  She's the youngest.  (Although both of my sisters are 19 and 20 years younger than me! UGH!)  I put together a laundry basket of some college essentials, towels, washcloths, laundry detergent, dryer sheets....you know...stuff she can actually use.  I bought some fun colored towels - may have to give her a note NOT to wash the bright pink ones with her whites...and thought that the colors in our new (sneak peek) Floral District paper would be perfect for this little addition to her gift.  I found a frame that would fit two matted 5 x 7's and loved the size of it.  12 x 12 paper was wide enough to cover the width, and it's not too big that she can't hang it on her dorm room door.

I "built" the paper and ribbon portion on the paper with the fake photos that comes with the frame.  That way I knew I was getting the size right.  Then I inked up my chipboard letters with Tangerine Tango Craft Ink (bye, bye craft ink....it's been fun!) and sprinkled them with Tangerine Tango Embossing Powder and heated them up.  I attached them to the front of the glass with Crystal Effects - and they are now STUCK!  I used Crystal Effects for the buttons too.  I thought the frame needed something more....don't I always.  Then.  Just used a little circle of black velcro and attached the marker to the side of the frame.

Seriously - this can be a 15 minute project!  Don't you just love the colors in this new DSP!

I got my new catalog in real life yesterday.  Although I've been drooling at the online version for almost two weeks now, it's much more fun to have the real deal.  Got my pages all marked, and made my wish list!

Would you like to reserve a copy of the catalog?  Email me and I'll have one saved for you or if you are long distance, I'll have one shipped to your door!!!

Cheerful Get Well

This is not so much a sneak peak.  Although, if you didn't buy this set in April, you won't be able to again until the new Catalog release in June!  

This is a card we made in my Stamp Clubs.  Our technique last month was Acrylic Distress.  You can see another example of this technique in this post.  I like how this one turned out - it's always wonderful to get a Get Well Card that is bright and cheerful!

Hope you like!

Sneak Peek #3!

Oh my goodness.....I've done it again!  I'm using purple!  What has happened to me????  It must be something about this Floral District DSP that has me all out of sorts!  Heavens to BETSY!  

For this card, I played along with the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  I took a bit of a different approach with my Blossom and stamped it then stamped it off and off again, cutting the images apart and stacking them on top of one another.  I tried to rock and roll the image and just couldn't get it to turn out like I wanted and went this route.    It looks much better this way.

Oh, and while I didn't use one of my new ink pads on this project, I must say the new firm foam pads ROCK!  Oh my goodness.  I can't begin to tell you how much easier it is to get a nice clean stamp, the first time and every time!  No blotches, no missed spots, just a nice even stamped image.  There is a huge improvement here and I can't wait to (slowly albeit) change out all of my ink pads.

Okey doke folks....gotta go....need to catch the end of Revenge....and it's getting good!  :)

Sneak Peek #2!!

Howdy folks - are you loving these sneak peaks?  Gonna have to keep it short tonight tho - it's already 10:15 and I'm wiped!  We were up for a couple of hours during the night last night with nightmares or something.  Will was constantly crying and he didn't even know why.  Almost like night terrors in a baby - I almost wonder if that's not what it was.  He didn't remember it this morning....!!!  I did - my coffee couldn't kick in fast enough.  And  now I need to get to bed.....

This is a peek at the new set, Memorable Moments.  It's like I said yesterday - kind of like a builder set - lots of changing up that can be done!  I LOVE it!!!  The paper - more from Floral District.  Ummm....don't tell my friend and downline Cindy, but I think I may be getting a hunkering for purple!!!  I love the way the purples in these papers pop - especially against the Basic Gray color!  FUN!!!  

Alright - Andy even told me to get going to bed....so off I go.  Want some more fun tomorrow???  See you then!

Sneak Peek!!! and a sketch challenge!

Are you as excited for some new, fun product as I am?? Oh, my MOJO may have finally returned.  I won't deny it, I've been in a creative slump.  Sometimes those slumps don't come at very opportune times....Oh well - I think the chance to play with new product just rejuvenates all of us! And this was the case today!

 I decided to play along with the sketch challenge over at Clean & Simple Stamping.  Notice that my center image is NOT a square - but what is that???  Hmmm....something new maybe???  Sure is!  New dies!  YAY!  The sentiment was stamped with a new set also that I am going to have a lot of fun with.  It's what I would call a builder set!  It includes numbers, sentiments and an outline image that coordinates with the Labels Die Collection.  The flower was stamped with another new set :)!  I inked it up with Primrose Petals and then rolled it with Raspberry something???  (sorry - I"m cuddled up on the couch right now and am too cold to get up and go check the color!!!)  The center is stamped with Tangerine Tango, then punched with a 1/2 Circle punch.  I then snipped the white portions that were left.

What do you think of this little hand stamped card?  Cute???  I think so if I do say so myself.

And now, because I haven't shown you any of our Iowa wildlife lately.....Alex tippy-toed into my craft room today and said, "you need to come and see, there are a bunch of those yellow birds in our lawn."  I told him I was busy at the time.  He was insistent - when isn't he? So I went to the window - and he wasn't kidding!  If I didn't have to zoom so far from the house, you would have seen this all over our lawn - I would bet there were at least 30 - maybe 40!

We are pretty big nature lovers here in Iowa - and I am pretty impressed that Alex remembered to tippy toe and stay quiet while watching the birds - he doesn't do anything quiet!  We did have the windows opened today and he must have thought that he'd scare them away.  But no need for loud mouthed, foot stompin' Alex to scare the finches off.....

We've got Jumpy Squirrel to do that!

And that's just what he did.  Wish I could have gotten a picture of what scared Jumpy off - a big black bird swooped down and pecked at him.  That sent Jumpy right up the ol' oak tree!

Alright - time for this girly to hit the hay!  I'll uncurl myself and climb up to bed I guess.  Nighty-night!

Everything Eleanor!

I don't actually know an Eleanor, that I know of anyway.  But I'd like to show you a little sneak peak of a new set in the upcoming Stampin' Up! Catalog.  I've had this set since Leadership, and just haven't played with it a lot.  Don't get me wrong, I really like it - it's got a really swell flourish in the set that I absolutely am smitten over!  I decided to take a little more modern approach to this card, other than going with the vintage feel that the stamp set has.

I feel I was able to keep it clean and simple and it still has that elegant look to it.  I really am loving the look of embossing powders on dark cardstock - here Melon Mambo EP on Early Espresso paper.  It just pops. (oops - about misspelled pops....)  And while the embossing powder isn't as vibrant as the paper (and I used Rose Red cardstock here) I like the mix of the two pinks.  You can't tell in the photo but the button really matches the embossed images.

Okay - I really need to go now - I just heard the UPS man pull up and I know what he's got on his truck for me today!!!  :)  Lots of brand new goodies - wanna sneak peak tomorrow????

Early Espresso CS	Rose Red Cardstock	Melon Mambo Embossing Powder	Versamark Ink Pad	Linen Thread
Seam Binding Ribbon

InLinkz.com

My Digital Studio ROCKS!

Do you know all of the things that you can do with My Digital Studio?  Did you know that you can download a FREE 30 day trial of it?  Yeah - free!  I just wanted to show you some of the things that I've been listing over on my Etsy Shop!

Quite honestly, I've been having so much fun with MDS!  This software is a breeze to use and I'm finding that the possibilities are endless creatively.   I have a problem with watching TV at night - I can't.  If I sit down to watch TV - and I do - after the kids go to bed - I will fall asleep within 10 minutes of sitting down.  It never fails.  Unless.  I have something to keep me occupied.  That's where I love MDS.  I can sit down with laptop in tow and be creative and watch TV.  It's like doing two things at once. It drives my husband crazy.  "Can't you put that computer down?"  I can, but I might as well go to bed then.  I think he really just wants the 'puter so he can creep around on FB awhile!

There you have it!  These are some of the most recent things I've put up on my Etsy Shop.

One great thing I really love about MDS is the fact that there is a great support system - http://mydigitalstudio.net  There you will find video tutorials, samples for inspiration, a friendly forum, plus the entire catalog of images that are available to you!

Go check it out for yourself!  My Digital Studio

IMG00061-20120505-1650.jpg

Here is a card I made for a graduation party we are going to. What do you think - suitable for a teenage boy? I'd like to hear your thoughts!

Hello!

You may have seen this post over on the Typepad blog that I was testing out, but after consulting with a very knowledgeable and extremely helpful person - Heather Wright-Porto at Blogs by Heather, I have decided to stick with Blogger and will still be able to offer the new features that I have in the wings!  I can't wait to get some of these cool new things implemented - I hope you'll be pleased!  So, this is a copy of a post I put over there on Typepad....
Let me start out my showing you a card that we made recently in my Stamp Clubs.  In April we used the Acrylic Distress technique - and let me tell you - you can get some amazing results!  Isn't this card a gem?

I love that it's so simple yet so vibrant!  Great pops of colors.
Well, I don't have a lot to share with you today....I still need to work out some of these new blog whoa's...til next time!

Stamp YOU Silly Rewards Program!

How would you like the opportunity to earn more free stamps?  Um.  Tough question right? 

Let me introduce you to my new rewards program - Stamp YOURself Silly Rewards!  You will earn Silly Faces for every $25 you spend, and when you get 10 silly faces you can begin redeeming them for free stamps!  Click on the image below to learn even more - or check out the Stamped Silly Rewards tab above.

FYI - this does not apply to Stamp Club purchases.  Sorry - but don't worry - I have some fun new things up my sleeve for you gals too!!!  

Keep checking back for more NEW things here on the ol' blog.  'Til then - keep on stampin'~!

Click on picture for more info

Stampin' Up! has made the opportunity easy for you to join my Stamp Us Silly team.  The Starter kit price has been drastically reduced and it's now completely customizable.  For $99 you can pick $125 worth of FUN products, and it also includes $65 worth of business tools to help you hit the ground running!  Not only that, you will have the Stamp Us Silly team as your own personal support staff.  We are here to bounce ideas off of, to offer moral support and to simply share what we love!  Near or far - you can be part of our Silly Little team!  :)