Blog Archives

Fab Gala

10/11/2019

Time to brighten things up at this week's Fab Friday #174!
First I went hunting for a vehicle for my fun colors - Butterfly Gala seemed like a perfect fit! Who doesn't love orange and pink butterflies? I found some Basic Black DSP scraps in my scrap folder, and added a bright sash of Melon Mambo ribbon, too - I also tried a stamped and stamped-off butterfly in the Pumpkin Pie - I just got a new pad for that one, and I think it's pretty saturated, lol. Anyway, I'm always cheered by my gala of wings!
So what will YOU create for us? I can't wait to see, over at the challenge!
Butterfly Gala Stamp Set; Botanical Butterflies DSP (retired); Whisper White CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Pumpkin Pie & Melon Mambo Inks; Butterfly Duet Punch; Melon Mambo Cotton Ribbon; Orange Sequins; #FabFri174.

Christmas Cards 2019 Part 2, Oct 12, 17 & 19!
Sleigh bells ring - are you listening?? Yay! It's time for part 2 of this year's Christmas cards - 6 beauties all from our new Holiday Mini Catty, that you just HAVE to get in on! You know me - always over the top festive around here, and this could be your chance to settle on YOUR new faves for the season, too! Class includes all supplies (bring your own snips and adhesive) snacks, drinks and a special gift from me, all for $25, or FREE with your order of $30 or more! I'll be holding THREE sessions for this one, to accommodate everyone's Fall Breaks: Saturday, October 12 at 3 pm; Thursday, October 17 at 630 pm, and Saturday, October 19 at 3 pm! RSVP now to save your jingle spot!

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Guy Greetings

10/10/2019

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Hm, after making us pull out the embellies last time, The Male Room #121 is about-facing and asking for clean and simple!
I decided to go back and pull my beloved Guy Greetings for this one - so many good guy images, and perfect funny little sayings to go with! Today was all about the shoes for me, and I couldn't resist putting them in a tone-on-tone Crumb Cake layer of their own - hopefully still CAS enough, lol. I turned the shoes every which way in their little column and added this fun saying - with a birthday greeting inside. Another super quick and fun one!
Guy Greetings Stamp Set (retired 2018); Crumb Cake CS; Early Espresso Ink; #TMR121.

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Frosted Foliage

10/9/2019

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Ahh, I love a wide-open layered field for stampin', like at this week's Inspire Create Challenge #053! Let's make a scene!
What a perfect chance to pull out my Frosted Foliage suite again - I'm going for a different color scheme this time. I thought these pretty pine needles would look good with Shaded Spruce, and I added a few sparkly rhinestones, too. Such pretty papers - it was hard to choose! This suite a super quick and easy, too!
Frosted Foliage Stamp Set; Feels Like Frost DSP; Whisper White & Shaded Spruce CS; Shaded Spruce Ink; Frosted Frames Dies; Basic Jewel Rhinestones; #ICC053.

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Great Places

10/8/2019

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Yum - check out our cool sketch at this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday #429! We have an optional purple-green-orange color challenge, too - hmmm...
I don't know why, but I decided to go for a pastel version of our colors, today - I thionk I thought I'd go in a baby card direction, but then wound up with some coloring time on Above the Clouds - I haven't used it in a bit, so I figured it needed to come play! I did our basic layout, though I've just noticed I'm missong the "circle" at the inside corner - sigh. Oh well - this is how it goes today! I'm still pleased with my pastels!
So, what will YOU create? I can't wait to see, over at the challenge!
Above the Clouds Stamp Set; Purple Posy, Soft Sea Foam, Grapefruit Grove & Whisper White CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Purple Posy & Soft Sea Foam Blends Markers; Grapefruit Grove Stamp-n-Write Marker; Polka Dot Basics EF; Rectangle Stitched Dies; Hot Air Balloon Punch; Green Faceted Dots; #TSOT429.

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The Secret Garden

10/7/2019

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VERY nice - this week's challenge from The Library Challenge #43 is The Secret Garden - one of my all-time childhood faves! I still have my copy - it's very different from this cover, which I've not seen before - pretty!
With such a cool cover remake, I had to try some color-on-black embossing - I don't heat emboss a lot, but I love the drama when I do, lol. I tried to go with some garden motifs similar to this cover, and keep things fairly translucent, rather than super opague. I like the effect, though I'm not sure how cherry this came out, lol. This sentiment is from 2010's Plant Hope set - and the whole reason I have kept it all this time, lol.
Swirly Bird (retired 2019) & Plant Hope (retired 2010) Stamp Sets; Whisper White, Basic Black & Mossy Meadow CS; Versamark Ink; White EP; Woodland EF; Stitched Shapes & Frosted Bouquet Dies; Champagne Mist Shimmer Dye; #TLC043.

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Beauty & Joy

10/6/2019

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I'm loving our crisp Fall colors this week at Sunday Stamps #215! They so remind me of the big bin of crazy gourds at our Trader Joe's, lol.
Anyway, I knew I wanted to go Fall with these, and I just kept coming back to our sweet new Beauty & Joy set - I love that I can mix and match my own pot, stem and leaf styles for this one, and these pretty oak leaves seemed just the thing! I really set them on fire by stamping off some Mango Melody over Pumpkin Pie - a regular burning bush, lol. A few Cajun Craze-colored pearls finish things off.
So, what will YOU do with our colors? I can't wait to see, over at the challenge!
Beauty & Joy Stamp Set; Whisper White, Basic Gray & Sahara Sand CS; Basic Gray, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Mango Melody & Cajun Craze Inks; Cajun Craze Blend Marker; Rectangle Stitched Dies; Basic Jewel Pearls; Layered Leaves EF; #SSC215.

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Christmas Sparkle

10/5/2019

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Here's an interesting challenge over at Less Is More #405 - add sparkle, and one other element, gloss, matte, pearl or chalk. Hm!
I think I'll go with sparkle and matte - I don't really trust myself to stay in the clean and simple zone with any of the others, lol. All the sparkle made me think Christmas, of course, and since I haven't played with it much, I decided to pull out Christmas Gleaming. Such pretty ornaments! I got to looking at this one, and wondered if I could combine some light coloring with tiny points of glitter - this is the result. There are awesome dies to go with this set, but I ended up fussy cutting this one - I did all my coloring and glittering first, and I didn't want to risk a mess by running it through the die cutting machine, lol. Well, a bigger mess, anyway. Let's just say as usual when I even touch glitter, I'll have an extra sparkle for the rest of the day!
Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set; Whisper White & Soft Sea Foam CS; Memento Tuxedo Black & Old Olive Inks; Real Red Blends Markers; Silver Glitter; Stitched Shapes Dies; #LIM405.

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Daisy Lane (& Christmas Cards Part 2 Class!)

10/4/2019

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Oh, good times - As You See It #210 has a "get well" recipe for us this week - cool idea!
Looking over my "ingredients," I decided the time was finally NOW to break out Daisy Lane - woot! This is a lovely companion set to Daisy Delight, complete with its own punch, sized a bit smaller - yay! I created a simple card using the fern-ish leaf from the set in the background, and then made a tag with a Stitched Oval. My get well is from the July 2015 Thanks A Latte Paper Pumpkin - loved this one for the cute cups, but the sentiments were awesome, too, lol.
Daisy Lane & Thanks a Latte Paper Pumpkin Stamp Sets; Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz & Soft Sea Foam CS; Memento Tuxedo Black & Pear Pizzazz Inks; Mango Melody Blends Marker; Medium Daisy Punch; Stitched Shapes Dies; Stitched White Grosgrain Ribbon; White Baker's Twine; Basic Jewel Pearls; #AYSI210.

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Stillness of the Season

10/3/2019

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I am LOVING this cool columnar sketch at In{k}spire Me #402 - so cool to play with shapes like that!
I thought at first I'd do something with a pretty DSP, but then I got to looking at the doe in our gorgeous charity set Nature's Beauty - she's tall and slender, and I could float a sentiment overhead - let's try it! I just so happened on this perfect phrase in Merry Moose, which is sitting on my desk talking about what it wants to do for class next month - how perfect! I kept everything else fairly simple and spare, to o along with this quiet interlude. Love it!
Nature's Beauty & Merry Moose Stamp Sets; Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, Sahara Sand & Gold Foil CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Pear Pizzazz & Crumb Cake Inks; Aqua-Painter; Stitched Shapes & Rectangle Stitched Dies; Banner Triple Punch; Gold Pearls; #IM402.

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Birds of a Feather

10/2/2019

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Oh gosh, whenever Retro Rubber has an "anything goes" challenge, I really want to dig through the vault for them, lol. Today I'll add in Hand Stamped Sentiments #324's colors, too - maybe they can help me steer! And at the last second, I realized I could sneak in The Sisterhood of Crafters "friendship" theme, too - woot!
I decided to go through my REALLY oldies today, and I started by browsing my wood sets. When I came across The More the Merrier from 2009, I knew I had hit the ONE. Not my oldest set by any stretch, but SUCH cute images, I just can't let it go. Even though I just realized I'm missing the snowman sentiment from it. Oh well, sigh... Good thing the birdies are up today! I love these little guys walking all over the place, spreading cheer! And they look adorable in this awesome color combo - wowza!
The More the Merrier (Retired 2009) Stamp Set; Mint Macaron, Pretty Peacock, Whisper White & Grapefruit Grove CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Mint Macaron, Pretty Peacock, Terracotta Tile & Grapefruit Grove Stamp-n-Write Markers; Fancy Frost Sequins in Mint Macaron; #RR120; HSS324; #TSOCFriendship.