My Paper Creations

checking in

2010-09-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I was just playing around and noticed that there are still quite a few of you subscribed to my old blog (this one) feed. Have you made it over to my current blog? I've been blogging over on Typepad for almost 2 years now. I just thought I would post a quick message to see if anyone hadn't checked my current blog in a while. I'm giving away some blog candy so now is the perfect time to visit! *wink*

Niki

new blog address

2008-12-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

My New Blog Address: http://nikiestes.typepad.com/my_paper_creations/

Come on over and visit my new home. *smile*

Riley is off for adventures!

2008-12-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

I can not believe it is already time for another Hanna Stamps release. Seriously, November just flew by! How did it get to be December 1st already?! Three new stamp sets and two new Rileys are releasing this Friday.

Hanna Stamps is releasing two new Rileys this month (Van and Trailer Rileys). I had to use them together, of course, so my image is really long. They are so adorable! I stamped my images first and colored them with copic markers. Then, I cut my card base from kraft cardstock (5x7 inches). I stitched my patterned papers to my card. I stamped my sentiment and then, I punched some holes to thread my ribbon through. I attached my ribbon with brads. I matted my image and added it to my card using foam adhesive. I finished off my card with a row of brads above my image.

I updated my sale post. I decided to just always post stuff there so it's all in one place. Just thought I would mention this because I added my SU stamp cubes to the list.

I've been thinking about changing my blog provider. Anyone have any info or experience they would like to share? I've always wondered if I would like typepad better than blogger. Anyone ever used both and have a preference? Seriously, I would love to hear about your experiences. Would you all follow my blog over to a new address? I am also worried that if I switch, I will lose some of my readers who won't want to bother with following me to a new blog. Hmm. Not sure what I am doing yet. Just doing a little researching.

Have a fabulous Monday!

Recipe
Stamps: Van Riley, Trailer Riley (Hanna Stamps), Wonderful Adventure (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)
Cardstock: kraft, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Boxer (Basic Grey)
Accents: pure poppy twill (Papertrey Ink), brads
Tools: copic markers, slot punch tool (Making Memories), sewing machine

O' Christmas Tree

2008-11-30T02:00:00.000-08:00

Last year, our cats loved our Christmas tree. It was their first Christmas and they batted more than a few ornaments off the tree. Between the cats and our kids, all the nice ornaments go way up high on the tree! lol

I just received this Callie Christmas Kitty stamp and had to use it for this week's High Hopes Challenge. The challenge this week is Metal Madness brought to us by the very talented, Amy.

I had to use my new Basic Grey Wassail paper for my card and used Papertrey's ripe avocado cardstock because it is a perfect coordinating color. I started by stamping my kitty on white cardstock and cutting it out with a petite scalloped circle die. Then, I colored my image using copic markers.

I cut my card base and patterned papers and stitched them together. Then, I cut a piece of velvet olive ribbon. I attached it using some brads and added a silver metal Christmas tree and more brads in the corners of my card.

I stamped my sentiment on my card before adding my kitty to my card using foam adhesive. Isn't she cute?! I think I will be sending this Christmas card to my grandma because she loves kitties.

I actually got a photo of the copic markers I used again for this card. Be sure and stop by the High Hopes challenge blog. The divas have created some amazing stuff for the challenge and you won't want to miss it!

Have a Happy Sunday!!

Recipe

Stamps: Callie Christmas Kitty (High Hopes Rubber Stamps), Merry and Bright (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Wassail (Basic Grey)

Accents: velvet olive ribbon, brads, metal Christmas tree (Making Memories)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, petite scalloped circle dies (Spellbinders)

A Must Read

2008-11-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Just say No to image harvesting and hot linking.

I am so glad Julie Ebersole posted about this on her blog yesterday. This is something that really bothers me and I can't believe how many cases I have heard about recently. You have to read Julie's post because she has some great info (not to mention fabulous cards! *wink*) and, of course, she addresses the problem more eloquently than I ever could.

I've had it personally happen to me and I'm not even close to a big name in the stamping industry. Just today I added to my copyright info (before I read Julie's post). I added this sentence: Please do not save my photos and post them on your own blog without getting my permission first. Please show respect for your fellow crafters and don't take what is not yours. Most of us are more than happy to share when you ask permission before lifting the photos.

This is not referring to linking to other bloggers. That is completely okay and something we all do. This is referring to taking the images off of someones blog without their permission and uploading them to your own blog or site. Some people even go so far as to claim they made the item. If you have questions, please ask. Please join the campaign against harvesting images and hot linking.

And Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all are getting to spend some wonderful time with your family and friends! If you're not celebrating Thanksgiving today, I hope you have a marvelous Thursday anyway!

Gavin is bringing birthday wishes

2008-11-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

I got the chance this morning to play in the SCS sketch challenge. (Shh, don't tell anyone! I'm supposed to be cleaning house, baking pumpkin pies, and doing all the other stuff to get ready for Thanksgiving. *wink*)

Now, I'm not too sure about this card. I don't know for sure what it is that I don't like about it, but something is bothering me. It may be my need for layers under the patterned paper and on the card base. But anyway, I love this dragon! Actually, I love all the High Hopes dragons because they are so cute! Who would have thought a dragon could be cute?!

I stamped, cut out, and colored my dragon first. Then, I cut my card base and used a glue pad to stamp the pattern (using Papertrey's Background Basics Stars stamp set) and added red fun flock. It is nice and fuzzy! Then, I cut my patterned papers and added the black stitching. I tied a ripe avocado ribbon around one piece and added some brads and my sentiment before assembling my card. I added a little white pigment ink to the edges of my card for a little contrast. I did get fuzzy on my inkpad, of course, so I don't recommend using a good ink pad.

And I have to have a close up of Gavin' the Givin' Dragon just because he is cute!

Here is the copic marker colors I used to color the image. I don't usually list the colors because I rarely take a photo of a card the same day I make it, but I decided to snap a quick pic this morning when I made this card.

Hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow has a fabulous Thanksgiving! I better get busy! *wink*

Recipe

Stamps: Gavin' the Givin' Dragon (High Hopes Rubber Stamps), Background Basics Stars, Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), night of navy (SU)

Patterned Paper: Box (Basic Grey)

Accents: ripe avocado stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink), red and blue brads

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, rectangle nestability die, red fun flock, glue pad, white pigment inkpad

Holiday Greetings

2008-11-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

This was a card that I had a vision in my head for right after the release of the Merry and Bright stamp set. I finally got a chance to sit down and create it. I started by stamping my patterned paper on vintage cream cardstock and coloring in the stars with coordinating copic markers. Then, I stamped my trees and cut out the rectangles using a nestability die. I sponged pure poppy ink around the edges and used a black pen to fill in the centers of the stars. I cut my card base from ocean tides cardstock and added a thin pure poppy mat to my patterned paper. Then, I added a ripe avocado scalloped layer and some pure poppy swiss dots ribbon before adding the pieces to the card. Last, I stamped my sentiment in the bottom corner and added some red rhinestones.

Tonight is the Papertrey Blog Hop. I haven't had a chance to create anything, but I can't wait to see what everyone came up with. There are always lots of great ideas. So, stop by the forum and join in the fun. Have a great afternoon!

Recipe
Stamps: Merry & Bright (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, pure poppy, ripe avocado, ocean tides (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: pure poppy, ocean tides, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)
Accents: pure poppy swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), rhinestones
Tools: copic markers, long rectangle nestability die (Spellbinders), scalloped punch (SU), black pen

Just Stuff

2008-11-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

How was everyone's weekend? Hope you all had a great weekend and have some great plans for Thanksgiving if you're in the US. I thought I would do a post to just catch up on some stuff.

My email was being all wonky this weekend so if you emailed me and didn't get a response, I probably didn't get it. My email provider is also blocking emails from blogger right now because of all the spam involved with blogger. Hopefully, the emails will start going through again soon.

I changed my comments over to moderated. I tried unmoderated without the word verification a while back and started getting spam comments right away and had to turn the word verification back on. So, we'll try it this way and see if it works better.

All items from my sale posts that have been paid for have been mailed out as of today. I hope they arrive quickly and in perfect condition. Please let me know when you get the packages. Thanks so much for your purchases!

Many of you asked about what system I ended up going with for my unmounted stamps. I am using ez mount and these storage panels from Sunday International. I use the light weight ones. They are punched for three ring binders and I got some large binders at Costco. I was a little leery that the stamps might fall off the sheets, but they stick really well. A friend of mine uses these storage sheets and stores her stamps in large ziplock baggies instead of binders and uses the clip it up clips. Hope that helps someone out. I definitely understand the cost and hassle of trying to find a system that works. I think I will be very happy with this storage system for my unmounted rubber stamps.

I can not tell you how much it means to me to read the comments people leave on my posts. I love hearing what everyone thinks. Blogging can sometimes feel very one sided. You all keep me going and I love to hear from you. Your comments mean the world to me! With that said, I have received some blog awards and I appreciate them so much. Thank you so much to Karen, Claire, and Sue! Be sure and check out their blogs because they are super talented ladies!

Well, I am finally going to get a chance to go stamp something. Hope everyone has a great week!!

Kiss Me

2008-11-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, is that not one of the funniest images you have ever seen?! I love Kissy Face Frog! I love frogs and this image is so funny. This week's High Hopes challenge is a sketch challenge brought to us by the amazingly talented Ila. You can see the sketch on the challenge blog. If you click on the photo, the red parts won't be fuzzy. Maybe it's just my computer, but the sentiment looks fuzzy and it's not really.

I usually always start my cards by coloring my images. So, I cut an oval shape and stamped my frog in the center. Then, I stamped my image again on a post-it note to create a mask and cut it out. Then, I used a pink copic marker and my air compressor to spray the pink around my frog while my oval was still in the die. Then, I removed the mask and colored my frog. I cut a black scalloped oval and added it to my frog. I added some dimensional glaze to my frog's lips and set it aside to dry.

Then, I cut all the layers for my card. I stamped the circle and heart pattern on some pink paper and then sewed it to the black layer. Then, I stamped the hearts and "love you" sentiment on the white and pink polka dot paper and sewed them to the black layers. I cut a ribbon slide for my sentiment, stamped the sentiment and created a black mat. I tied my ribbon and wrapped the piece around my patterned paper piece. I added all the patterned paper layers to my card. Then, I cut a red scalloped piece and added it. I added a chipboard heart and my image with some foam adhesive. Last, I added a few green buttons.

Another photo that shows the dimension a little better. The chipboard heart and the frog image are on foam adhesive.

Have you joined in the High Hopes challenges yet? Tina is so generous and has been having a random drawing each week among the participants with a free stamp as the prize. You have to join in for a chance to win! Be sure and check out all the design team ladies' creations for the challenge, too. They are always fabulous!

Have a great Sunday!

Recipe
Stamps: Kissy Face Frog, Kiss Me (High Hopes Rubber Stamps), Love Circles (Art Warehouse)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), black, real red (SU)
Patterned Paper: SU retired
Ink: noir (Palette), pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accents: chipboard heart, green buttons, red satin ribbon (Target)
Tools: copic markers, air compressor, oval nestability dies, ribbon slide (Spellbinders), scalloped punch (SU), sewing machine

Celebrate Today

2008-11-21T18:22:00.000-08:00

I hear people are starting to receive their PTI goodies! Have you played with any of the new stamps yet? This was one of my favorite cards I made for the release. I just love the colors aqua mist, dark chocolate, and kraft together.

First, I cut an aqua mist card. Then, I stamped my star pattern in dark chocolate ink across the top 2/3 of my card. I sponged the edges with dark chocolate ink.

I cut a strip of kraft paper and used my scorepal to score lines along the entire piece. Then, I sponged dark chocolate ink on all the edges and adhered it to my card. I cut my tag out using a cuttlebug die and embossed the sentiment in white ink. Then, I cut a piece of dark chocolate satin ribbon and tied my bow. I cut another dark chocolate ribbon to go around my card. Then, I added hemp to my button and tied it around my bow and ribbon. Then, I added my ribbon and tag to my card.

This week has been so hectic. Seriously, I don't think I have gotten anything done really and yet I have been doing stuff all week. Next week will probably be worse with Thanksgiving coming. I did manage to get one page of my calendar done. I'll try to get a photo of it to share next week. Do any of you make calendars? I make one every year. I love looking back through all the photos from this year and picking out which ones I want to use. When I'm finished, I scan the calendar and print copies onto photo paper for all the grandparents and great-grandparents in our family. They love them and every year that is their only request for Christmas. This year, I am behind on getting started, but I have one month done. Just eleven more to go! *wink*

Recipe

Stamps: Background Basics Stars, Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: aqua mist, kraft, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink), versamark

Accents: dark chocolate satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), button, hemp

Tools: scorepal, sponge, heat gun, white embossing powder (Papertrey Ink)

Wishing you every Blessing

2008-11-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

The final set that released last week at Papertrey Ink is Melissa Bickford's Heartfelt Basics. I LOVE this stamp set! I love the sentiments in the set, the fonts, and the ability to customize the sentiments.

I thought this sentiment would be perfect for a baby card. I stamped the onesie on a piece of patterned paper and on a piece of ocean tides cardstock. Then, I paper pieced the onesie so that the collar and edges are ocean tides. Then, I cut the entire onesie out. I used a petite scalloped nestability die to cut out a piece of ocean tides cardstock and sponged ocean tides all over the center piece while it was still in the die. (I wish you could see it better because it does add a nice contrast.) I cut a piece of vintage cream cardstock using a long rectangle nestability die. Again, while it was still in the die, I sponged antique linen ink around the edges. I did not sponge the entire thing so the center is light and it gradually gets darker. I stamped the sentiment on the bottom of the rectangle and then added the ocean tides scalloped circle. I added the onesie using foam adhesive.

I cut a vintage cream card base (card is 5x7) and my ocean tides and patterned paper layers. I inked and distressed the edges of the patterned paper before sewing it to the ocean tides layer. I assembled my card and added some vintage cream stitched ribbon.

I really like the look of the sponged ink and light center on the rectangle layer. I think it helps highlight the sentiment.

If I were remaking this card, I would not ink the edges of the patterned paper quite as much. But overall, I think it has an interesting look.

Recipe

Stamps: Heartfelt Basics, Bitty Baby Blessings (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream, ocean tides (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Honey Pie (Cosmo Cricket)

Ink: noir (Palette), antique linen distress ink (Ranger), ocean tides (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: vintage cream stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: sewing machine, long rectangle and circle nestability dies (Spelldbinders), edge distressor, sponge

Just a little note

2008-11-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

Another card that I created for the Papertrey release. I created this card using the new Out of the Box stamp set. I started by creating my card base using plum pudding cardstock. Then, I stamped the flower on the card using plum pudding ink. I cut my patterned paper and stitched it to the vintage cream mat. I tied my ribbon and wrapped it around my patterned paper before adding it to my card.

I stamped my sentiment on vintage cream cardstock and punched it out. Then, I stamped the flower in the center. I tied some thread through a mini button and added it to my flower center to finish off my card.

If you haven't already, be sure to enter my blog candy. It closes today at noon (PST). I also listed some stuff for sale if you're interested in anything. I will announce the winner of the blog candy this afternoon.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Out of the Box (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream, plum pudding (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Guide Lines (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: noir (Palette), plum pudding (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: vintage cream grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink), button

Tools: sewing machine, square punch (Marvy)

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

2008-11-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

The long awaited Men Of Life set was released last Saturday at Papertrey Ink. It coordinates with the Women of Life and Women of Life Additions stamp sets. One of my favorite things about these sets is the fonts used in the titles. I just love those fonts. They are perfect for cards and scrapbook pages.

I started my card by cutting the layers. Then, I stamped the patterned paper on the vintage cream cardstock using ocean tides ink. I stitched it to the pure poppy layer. I cut some circles using nestability dies and stamped the boat that coordinates with my stamped patterned paper. I stamped my sentiment on the card base and the boat. Then, I added the red dots using a marker. There was something missing on my card and it seemed a little unbalanced so I stamped the image across the bottom to finish off my card.

Have a great day!

Recipe
Stamps: Men of Life (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, aqua mist, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: ocean tides, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)
Tools: nestability circle dies, sewing machine

Believe Santa

2008-11-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

I am excited to finally get to share my creations from the Papertrey Ink release. One of my personal favorite new sets is Background Basics: Stars. I love the patterned paper you can create with this set! It works just like polka dot basics and is so easy to use. The patterned paper on this Santa card is created using this set. It looks like patterned paper you would buy, doesn't it?!

This was a fairly quick and easy card to create. I stamped the patterned paper and sewed it to my pure poppy mat before adding it to the bottom of my card. Then, I stamped Santa on white cardstock, colored him with copic markers and cut him out. I cut a piece of vintage cream cardstock using a nestability square die. While the cardstock was still in the die, I used a copic marker and an air compressor to spray the background where I was going to add Santa. I added a pure poppy mat.

Then, I added Santa to my square using foam adhesive. I added a little liquid applique to Santa's beard and the trim on his hat and suit. I heated it using a heat gun to make it nice and puffy. Be sure to let it dry for quite a while (usually I let mine dry overnight) before you set something over it or mail it or anything like that because it will squish the liquid applique. Last, I tied a bow in my pure poppy stitched ribbon and added it below Santa.

Be sure to scroll down for my High Hopes blog candy post. *wink* Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Background Basics Stars, Believe (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream, pure poppy, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: pure poppy stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: copic markers, air compressor, sewing machine, nestability square dies, liquid applique, heat gun

Santa's Surprise

2008-11-16T01:00:00.000-08:00

It's time for another High Hopes challenge. This week's challenge is buttons and brads. I had a vision in my head of a row of altering buttons and brads. I'm not too sure that I like the Santa brads. My card didn't quite live up to my vision, but it was such a fun challenge. I think I will try it again some time with regular round brads and buttons.

I started out stamping and coloring my image (info below next photo). Then I cut all my layers and patterned papers. I added some stitching. Then, I wanted to use altering brads and buttons on top of some ribbon. So, I cut a slit in the spine of my card and slipped my ribbon through. Then, I stitched the buttons to the ribbon and added the brads and stuck the ribbon down. Then, I added my image and some more buttons in the corner.

I just love this Santa. I think he is so adorable. This is Santa's Surprise. I colored my image with copic markers. I added a little gray using koh-i-nor pencils and gamsol. It is light and great shading, but it is hard to see in the photo. Then, I created a mask and using a copic marker and an air compressor to spray the background around Santa. (It was originally a piece of white cardstock.)

I added some dimensional glaze to the candy cane and used a clear copic spica pen to add some glitter to the bows and ribbon on the presents. It was hard to photograph the glitter, but I finally got a photo that shows it pretty well.

I hope you join us in the challenge and have a great Sunday! Be sure and stop by the High Hopes challenge blog to see what all the design team ladies came up with. They are fabulous!

Recipe

Stamps: Santa's Surprise (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: pure poppy, white (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Accents: pure poppy stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink), buttons, santa brads

Tools: copic markers, air compressor, sewing machine, dimensional glaze, copic spica pen, koh-i-nor pencil, gamsol

Teacher's Gifts Galore

2008-11-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to get to share a sneak peek with you of one of the new releases coming to Papertrey Ink. This is the new Teacher's Apple set. I just love all the sayings and different apples in this set! Nichole wanted us to come up with a teacher gift and card for this set. I wanted to make some things that we fairly quick and easy to make, but still looked cute and this is what I came up with. I wanted to create a coordinating set so I used the same basic supplies for each item (hand stamped apple paper, polka dot paper, pure poppy, kraft, and spring moss cardstocks).

This is our first year having a child in school since my son is in preschool. He is already excited to give this to his teacher. I was planning on using the set as a Christmas gift, but I don't know if he is going to be able to wait that long. He wanted to take it this morning! lol

I stamped the apples with pure poppy ink on kraft cardstock and inked the edges with jardin moss ink. Then, I stitched my patterned paper to my pure poppy card base. Then, I cut a strip of polka dot paper (from Vintage Holiday Prints) and matted it with pure poppy cardstock. I added some stitching and tied a ribbon around the piece before adding it to my card. Then, I stamped the sentiment on spring moss cardstock, created a pure poppy mat, and stitched the two together. I added it to my card with foam adhesive.

I also altered a little mini composition book. I created the same stamped patterned paper and wrapped it around my notebook. I inked the edges with jardin moss ink. Then, I added the patterned paper and sentiment in the same way I created the card.

I also created a quick and easy post-it note holder. I cut a piece of kraft cardstock 8 x 3 1/4 inches. I again stamped my apple pattern and inked the edges. Then, I scored my cardstock at 2 inches, 2 1/2 inches, 5 5/8 inches, and 6 1/8 inches. I adhered the post-it notes to the inside.

Then, I created the sentiment and apple for my cover. The apple was stamped on white cardstock and cut out. Then, I added dimensional glaze and let it dry so the apple is nice and shiny.

I added a little Velcro to the inside to hold my post-it note holder shut. You could also use a magnetic clasp or just a little slit to slide the top piece into.

The last piece that I created in my gift set was a holder for miscellaneous teacher supplies. I used Nichole's amazing template from last month. I altered it a little to create a third spot to hold supplies (measurements below). For the outside of my tin, I cut a piece of kraft paper to wrap around my tin and stamped it in the same apple pattern. I added some polka dot paper and a thin pure poppy mat. I stamped a tag and cut it out with nestability dies. I added some stitching and an eyelet and tied a white ribbon around the tin and added my tag.

I printed out Nichole's pdf for her Christmas tag holder. I used the same long section and then altered the patterned from two spaces to three spaces on the other side. I created the piece the same width, but changed the length to 8 3/4 inches. Then, I scored the piece at 1 3/4 inches, 2 5/8 inches, 3 1/2 inches, 5 1/4 inches, 6 1/8 inches, and 7 inches. I created the same folding and rounded the corners just as Nichole did. I filled the tin with some miscellaneous teacher supplies. I added paper clips, glue stick, brads, and large clips. You could also use tacks, rubber bands, erasers, small post-it notes, etc.

I can not wait to see what the other design team ladies came up with for this challenge. Be sure to check out Nichole's blog for all the creations and the other designers blogs for more info on their projects (links to the right or on Nichole's blog post).

Have a great day and can't wait to see you all at the release party!

A Friend Like You is a Special Tweet!

2008-11-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the High Hopes dragons. They are all so adorable! Who knew a dragon could be that cute?! Every month High Hopes has a special where stamps are 25% off. This month's special is Lenny's Love Me Nots, Special Tweet saying, and Lg Ribbon/Rose 2 pc. set. You can purchase the set and see a couple more cards created by the design team using the set here.

I finally got a chance to make my card for the special and it was perfect timing because I used the SCS sketch 202 for my layout. I stamped Lenny and colored him in using copic markers. I then I cut all my layers. I sponged dark chocolate ink along the edges of the heart patterned paper before adding the red stitching.

I added all the layers and used foam adhesive to add my image and the ribbons and roses (after I cut them out). I sketched in the grass with a copic multi-liner pen before coloring.

Since there was stitching showing on the inside of my card from when I stitched the patterned paper to my card base, I decided to line the interior of my card. I cut a piece of pink cardstock slightly smaller than my card. Then, I cut a strip of patterned paper that was the same as that on my card front and stitched it to a piece of dark chocolate cardstock before adding it to my card.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Lenny's Love Me Nots, Special Tweet, and Lg Ribbon/Rose 2 pc. set (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white, dark chocolate, sweet blush (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Blush (Basic Grey)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, square punch, scissors

Sparklemania Challenge

2008-11-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

This week's High Hopes challenge is sparklemania. I decided I wanted to use the new Festive Wreath image. I chose a piece of Basic Grey patterned paper and then colored my image in coordinating colors. Then, I sponged ink around my image while it was still in the nestability die. I cut all the layers for my card and added some gold to the edges of the ocean tide and pure poppy layers using a gold paint pen. Then, I embossed the ocean tides layer with an embossing folder and sewed the layers to my card base. To bring out the embossing more, I inked the raised embossing with an ocean tides ink pad. I cut a piece of patterned paper, added a pure poppy mat and used a punch to create the scalloped edge. I added some gold stickles to the circles in the patterned paper and let it dry. Then, I wrapped a gold ribbon around the piece, added a bow, and adhered everything to my card.

I used the gold paint pen on the beads on the wreath, some gold stickles to the poinsettia centers and added some shimmer to the wings. I added a pure poppy mat and used foam adhesive to add my image to my card.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Festive Wreath (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white, pure poppy, ocean tides, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Ink: black (Momento), ocean tides (Papertrey Ink), antique linen distress ink (Ranger)

Accents: gold ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: copic markers, square nestability dies, sponge, scalloped border punch (SU), sewing machine, gold paint pen, gold stickles, angel wings (Shimmerz)

Groovy Baby!

2008-11-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have one more sneak peek of the final set being released tonight after the release party in the Hanna Stamps forum. This is Hippy Chick. Isn't she groovy?! lol

I decided I wanted to create a pocket card for this set. I cut my base at 5x7 and then cut my layers. I chose some bright patterned paper and pulled my colors for it. I colored Hippy Chick in coordinating colors and cut her out. I sewed my patterned paper to the kiwi kiss mat and then stitched the pocket onto my card.

I wrapped some ribbon around my card and used a ribbon tag to add my sentiment. I colored the letters in with a copic marker. Then, I added Hippy Chick on foam adhesive.

Have to have a close up because this image is so cute! I added a little glitter to the flowers on her pants, the rings on her belt, and her head band using copic spica pens. I also added some to the sentiment. Wish you could see it in the photo. Just imagine them all glittery. *smile*

I cut my cardstock to fit my pocket. (Kiwi kiss base is 4x6.) I cut a piece of patterned paper and stitched it to a piece of regal rose cardstock. I rounded the corners and assembled the pieces. Then, I added a few dew drops up in the corner.

When I put the piece into the pocket, I decided that the top needed something extra. So, I stamped some flowers onto the regal rose cardstock above the pocket to add a little something.

The release party is tonight and there is always lots of fun, chatting, and prizes so be sure to join us! The party starts at 9 PM EST.

Recipe
Stamps: Hippy Chick (Hanna Stamps)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), kiwi kiss, regal rose (SU), pink (Prism)
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Accents: dew drops (Robin's Nest), ribbon
Tools: copic markers, detail scissors, sewing machine, corner rounder, ribbon slides (Spellbinders)

chocolates and get well wishes

2008-11-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Meet Couch Riley. He is the second Riley being released this week from Hanna Stamps. For my card, I chose my patterned paper first and then colored my image in coordinating colors. The rest of the card went together very quickly. I cut the layers, added some stitching, ribbon, and flowers with brads and put everything together.

The third Hanna set being released this week is Get Well Hanna. I really like the flower bouquet and balloon in this set and wanted to highlight them on my card. I stamped the images and colored them. Then, I sponged ink over my image while it was still in the oval nestability die. This creates the nice white edge without having to mat the image.

Then, I added some dimensional glaze to the balloon, flower centers, and to create water in the vase and set it aside to dry. I cut the layers for my card and created a stamped patterned paper using more images from the set (a box of tissues, a bowl of soup, and a cut of tea). I sponged some ink to the edge of my patterned paper and to the edges of my kraft card base. Then, I stitched my patterned paper to the white mat. I added some ribbon and buttons and assembled my card.

I'll be back with my last sneak peek card for the release tomorrow. Have a great day!

Recipe for first card

Stamps: Couch Riley (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), riding hood red, pink pirouette (SU)

Patterned Paper: Blush (Basic Grey)

Accents: pink pirouette ribbon (SU), flowers (Prima Marketing), brads (Queen and Co)

Tools: copic markers, rectangle nestability die, sewing machine

Recipe for second card

Stamps: Get Well Hanna (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: kraft, white, ocean tides (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: ocean tides ribbon (Papertrey Ink), buttons, hemp

Tools: copic markers, oval nestability dies, sewing machine, sponge, distress ink (Ranger)

Babies are Heaven Sent

2008-11-04T07:40:00.000-08:00

I have another sneak peek for you today of another set releasing this Friday from Hanna Stamps. This is one of the stamps in the new B is for Baby set. I love the baby clothes hanging on the laundry line.

For my card, I wanted to create the look of a baby quilt behind my image so I used a square punch to punch out pieces of patterned paper and then stitched the pieces to a piece of baja breeze cardstock.

I stamped my image on white cardstock and cut it out with a long rectangle nestability die. I created a mat from kiwi kiss cardstock and colored my image with colors that coordinate with my patterned papers. I added it to my card with foam adhesive and stitched some buttons onto my "quilt." Then, I added everything to my kiwi kiss card base.

I used a sentiment from Papertrey's Bitty Baby Blessings. It fits perfectly under the laundry line. I have sneak peeks of the other three sets coming soon so be sure to drop back by!

Recipe
Stamps: B is for Baby (Hanna Stamps), Bitty Baby Blessings (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), baja breeze, kiwi kiss (SU)
Patterned Paper: Lily Kate (Basic Grey)
Accents: buttons
Tools: copic markers, square punch, sewing machine, long rectangle nestability die

Hanna Sneak Peeks

2008-11-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

I can not believe it is already sneak peek time again at Hanna Stamps! There are 4 new Hanna sets and 2 new Rileys being released this Thursday night at midnight EST.

My first sneak peek is of the new Read My T Hanna set. This is such a cute set. It comes with this adorable Hanna. Her t-shirt is blank. Then, the set also includes a bunch of sayings and a few symbols that you can stamp on her t-shirt to customize it for whatever occasion you are needing. It is such a cute idea and this Hanna is so adorable!

I decided to create a birthday card for my niece. Her birthday isn't until February, but I'll be all set. I picked a color scheme and colored my Hanna to match. Then, I cut some patterned papers and sewed them to my card base with pink thread.

I added some ribbon, brads, and a sentiment to finish off my card. This American Crafts ribbon went so well with my color scheme. I stitched some pink thread through the ribbon and then created the ruffle look for some extra texture.

My second sneak peek for today is Laundry Riley. Isn't that image hilarious?! For my card, I just picked a color scheme and went with it. I distressed the edges of the patterned paper lightly with sanding and then sewed it to the plum pudding mat. This was one of those quick and easy cards to make.

I'll be back tomorrow with more sneak peeks of some of the other new sets coming out this week.

Recipe for first card

Stamps: Read My T (Hanna Stamps), Women of Life and Women of Life Additions (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), regal rose (SU)

Patterned Paper: Sweet Always (SU)

Accents: brads (SU), ribbon (American Crafts)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine

Recipe for second card

Stamps: Laundry Riley, Things Riley Would Say (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white, plum pudding, lavender moon (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Guidelines (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: plum pudding satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), dew drops (Robin's Nest)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, circle nestability dies (Spellbinders)

Jingle All the Way

2008-11-02T04:00:00.000-08:00

Is that Santa image not adorable or what?! I love the new Tropical Santa. This week's High Hopes challenge is brought to us by the amazing Crissy Armstrong and the challenge is to create a holiday card in non-traditional colors. I think I definitely accomplished that! As soon as I read the challenge, I immediately thought of this Santa and had to use him.

I stamped my image and then used a nestability die to cut it out. I added the specks for sand and the horizon line using a copic multiliner pen. Then, I colored my image with copic markers. I cut a mat from Taken with Teal cardstock and adhered my image. Then, I added some liquid applique to Santa's hat and heated it to make it nice and puffy.

I cut my card base and all my layers (card size is 6x6). I added some stitching and ribbon. Then, I stamped my sentiment and added my image and some buttons.

I just love this image! Heck, I love all the High Hopes images so it's no surprise! lol Be sure to check out all the design team cards on the challenge blog. Tina is also offering a random prize for the challenge so be sure to join us for the challenge as well. Who doesn't want an adorable stamp?!

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Tropical Santa (High Hopes Rubber Stamps), Snowfall Additions (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), Taken with Teal (SU)

Patterned Paper: Bali Breeze (SU - retired)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette)

Accents: purely pomegranate stitched ribbon (SU), white buttons

Tools: copic markers, circle nestability dies, sewing machine

Birthdays are the Berry Best

2008-11-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

The last couple days were hectic to say the least. I spent Thursday morning with my son's preschool class. We had a Halloween parade and trick or treated some businesses and then we had the Halloween party back at the classroom.

Then, I spent the afternoon trying to find a dentist to get my husband an appointment with. He had a wisdom tooth that was crumbling and broke off. It was finally so painful that he had to have something done and couldn't work. So, I got the kids up early yesterday and took them to stay with my husband's grandparents and we drove 3 hours to a dentist. The dentist pulled the wisdom tooth and a molar that was loosened by all the swelling. We got back home to pick the kids up after 4 pm. My husband crashed on the couch and I got the kids ready to go trick or treating. I was ready for bed last night!

Thankfully, my husband is on the mend (but hungry since he hasn't been able to eat much for most of the week), we all got some sleep last night, and everything is heading back to normal.

Anyway, that's why I didn't post yesterday. But I do have a card to share with you today. As soon as I saw the ripe avocado and pure poppy colors together, I thought of the strawberries in the Green Thumb stamp set. The colors are perfect for yummy strawberries! I stamped the ripe avocado cardstock with the berries to create my patterned paper. Then, I cut my layers and added some stitching. I cut out a label for my sentiment and matted it with pure poppy cardstock. I added some pure poppy swiss dots ribbon and a couple strawberries that I had stamped and cut out.

To finish my card off, I added some white liquid pearls to the strawberries. If I had to do it again, I think I would stamp the stems with a darker color ink to help them stand out more.

Well, my sister and nieces are coming up to visit so that will be fun and I'm going right now to work on my High Hopes card for the challenge tomorrow. Hope you have a great weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Green Thumb (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, kraft, pure poppy, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: pure poppy, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: pure poppy swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: sewing machine, liquid pearls (Ranger), ribbon slide die (Spellbinders)

Quick Halloween Treat

2008-10-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, how about a quick Halloween treat today? I made these this past weekend to give to my kids. They were so easy and quick to make that they would be perfect as a treat for a child's class, too. I cut some white and black scalloped circles to fit the top of the small 2.5 ounce tins using nestability dies. (It could easily be done with punches, too.) I stamped the white circles using stamps from Spooky Sweets and Spooky Sweets II. Then, I added the white circles to the black circles and adhered them to the top of my tins. I added a little ribbon around the bottom (from my stash - I have no idea who made it). I filled the tins with candy corn and they were done. These seriously only took a few minutes to make.

Sorry I posted these Halloween ideas so late. Seriously, I don't know where the month went! Hopefully, some of you will be able to try one of these ideas or they could inspire you to create something of your own. Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Spooky Sweets, Spooky Sweets II (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), black (SU!)

Other: 2.5 oz tins, ribbon

Tools: circle nestability dies

Super Easy Halloween Lanterns

2008-10-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have a super easy and fun project to share today. Last month, I bought some small paint cans with the intentions of making some Halloween lanterns for my kids. Sunday, I decided I better get to it if I was going to get them done in time! I cut some vellum just a hair over 3 3/4 inches tall by 11 inches for each lantern. I removed the handles and then rolled the vellum pieces and put them inside the lanterns. I marked where the handles were on the vellum, removed the vellum, and then punched the holes for the handles.

I used Palette Noir ink to stamp images along the entire strip of each piece of vellum. I used images from both the Spooky Sweets and the Spooky Sweets II stamp sets. I dried the ink by heating the images with my heat gun.

I rolled each vellum sheet slightly and put them back in the paint cans. Then, I lined the holes up and put the handles back on. No adhesive necessary because the vellum isn't going anywhere anyway.

Then, I decorated the top of the lanterns. I cut some white and black circles using nestability dies. I stamped the pumpkins and sentiments and added the circles to the top of the lanterns. I did not do any other embellishing on the outside of the lanterns because my kids are way too rough on things and ribbon wouldn't last. I plan on letting them carry these lanterns on Halloween so they have to be functional.

To light them up, I just put a glow stick inside and put the lid back on. I love how they turned out and they were so easy and quick to make. My kids packed them all over the house Sunday night and can't wait to take them with them when we go trick or treating Friday.

Another view of the lanterns. If you decide to make up a Halloween lantern, I would love to see it! Be sure to leave me a link.

Recipe

Stamps: Spooky Sweets, Spooky Sweets II (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: black (SU), white (Papertrey Ink)

Paper: vellum (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: noir (Palette), pumpkin pie (SU), ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Other: small paint cans

Tools: heat gun, hole punch, nestability circle dies

featured stamper challenge, award, and tag

2008-10-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to play in the featured stamper challenge today. Today's featured stamper is Speedy Stamper. This is the card that I cased. The rules are you must change at least two things. I changed the following:
* stamps used
* used an embossing folder instead of crimper
* more red and no blue
* added a third flower
* added a ribbon

Everything is pretty straight forward. Line of dots is a stamp from Faux Ribbon. I inked the embossed kraft rectangle to help bring out the embossing.

I was awarded this I Love Your Blog award from Ila and Lacey. You all have to check out their blogs if you don't already read them. Both are amazingly talented! Thank you so much, ladies! It means so much to me!

I was also tagged by my friend, Michelle. Be sure to check her blog out, too. Michelle's cards are always amazing! Thanks so much for thinking of me, Michelle! The tag involves fives sets of five. I'll see if I can come up with something for each one. lol

Things I Love
1. My family (my son, my daughter, my husband)
2. paper crafting: scrapbooking, card making, stamping, altering, etc.
3. my friends (online and those I've actually met)
4. Our kitties, Otis and Smokey
5. camping

Things I Don't Love
1. bad drivers
2. flying: I've been scared to get on a plane since 9-11. I couldn't even go visit my sister and her family when the moved to Virginia for 3 yrs. Luckily, they moved back closer. It's irrational and I know it, yet I'm still scared to fly.
3. onions: I like the flavor so I use onion powder all the time, but I don't like actual onions . . . too slimy
4. mean people
5. black friday shopping: I refuse to do it anymore. I would rather pay more and not have to deal with crazy shoppers and extremely long lines.

Songs On My I-Pod
Hmm. I don't have an ipod and I'm usually listening to children's music with my kids. It's usually Little People music or Disney music. (Shh, don't tell, but I love Disney music (songs from the animated movies) and now that I have kids, I can say I'm listening to it because of them! lol)
If it's not children's music, I'm usually listening to my favorite singer/group: Rob Thomas/Matchbox 20.

Favorite Foods/Drinks
1. french toast
2. milk
3. ice cream (mint, cookie dough, chocolate, strawberry, etc. Pretty much any without nuts in it)
4. lasagna
5. spaghetti with garlic bread

Bloggers I'm tagging
1. Kim
2. Claire
3. Lacey
4. Geny
5. Adela

Be sure and visit their blogs, too! These are some of the sweetest ladies I have met online and they have amazing talent, too!

Hope you had a great weekend!!

Recipe

Stamps: Remember, Faux Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: kraft, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)

Accents: pure poppy satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: rectangle nestability dies, embossing folder (Provo Craft)

The Doctor is In

2008-10-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

This week's High Hopes challenge is a sketch challenge (sketch created by the ultra-talented Katharina.) I love sketches because they make some of the assembly of the card so easy. I moved a couple things a tiny bit, but overall, it is pretty close to the sketch. I first stamped my medicine man on white cardstock and cut out the oval shape. I decided upon some colors and colored my image with copic markers. Then, I cut all my cardstock and patterned paper pieces. I used two different embossing folders to emboss the always artichoke and really rust cardstocks. After embossing, I inked the raised embossing by tapping an ink pad all over the pieces. I like how that helps bring out the embossing. I sewed my layers and started assembling my card. I added some ribbons and rain dots to finish off the front of my card.

I always have to have a close up so you can see the inking on the embossed cardstock and a close up of the Medicine Man.

I finished off the inside of my card by adding a really rust layer. Then, I stamped the sentiment. Love that sentiment. I stamped the brewing pot on white cardstock, colored it, and cut it out. I added it to the corner of my card with dimensional foam adhesive.

Be sure to check out all the design team creations for the challenge and join us! Leave me your link if you join in the challenge.

Recipe

Stamps: Medicine Man, Doctor is In, Potion, Bubbling Brew (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), really rust, black, always artichoke, soft sky (SU!)

Patterned Paper: Boxer (Basic Grey)

Ink: black (Momento), noir, cognac (Palette), ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: rain dots, soft sky ribbon (SU!)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, embossing folders (provo craft), oval nestability dies (Spellbinders)

Snowy Days

2008-10-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

I got a chance this week to play in the Papertrey challenge for the week. This week's challenge was a sketch created by Kim. First, I decided upon the colors and then I started cutting layers. I like aqua mist and spring moss for winter cards. All the white layers are white shimmer cardstock. I love the shimmer it adds to the card without doing anything extra.

Here you can kind of see the shimmer on the snowman. I stamped him first on white shimmer cardstock. Then, I stamped the scarf and hat on spring moss cardstock. I cut them out and added them to my snowman. Then, I cut out my snowman. I added some liquid applique and fun flock to my snowman's hat. Then, I stamped the snowman's arms on my aqua mist patterned paper and added my snowman using foam dimensional adhesive.

Have a great weekend! I need to get back to cleaning and getting ready for the party tomorrow. Why, oh why, do I put everything off until the day before the party?! lol

Recipe

Stamps: Made of Snow (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white shimmer, aqua mist, spring moss (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Everyday Blessings (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: noir (Palette), dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: sewing machine, rectangle nestability die, liquid applique, fun flock

ready to party?!

2008-10-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we are having my son's 5th birthday party. I can't believe he is 5 already!! My baby boy is 5! This week's High Hopes challenge fit in perfectly with the coming party. This week's challenge is to create anything but a card. I decided to alter a gift bag. (Click on the photo for a larger version where you can see more details.)

I started out stamping Party Cat on white cardstock and coloring it with copic markers. I used a pair of my old decorative scissors to cut the layers for my image. Then, I sewed the layers together and added the image to my bag. I stamped some presents (Hanna Stamps Perfect Package set) on white cardstock, cut them out, and added them with foam adhesive to my bag.

I also stamped the balloons again on white cardstock and colored them with copic markers. Then, I added some dimensional glaze to the balloons and let it dry. After it was dry, I cut the balloons out and added them with foam adhesive over the image for more dimension.

I wanted to add a tag to my bag, too. I used the Perfect Package stamp set again. Then, I stamped the sentiment (Papertrey Ink's It's a Celebration set). I cut the layers and added an eyelet. I tied it to the handle of my bag with white polka dot ribbon.

Then, I cut a bunch of strips of ribbon different lengths and created the pom pom like ribbon bundle. I used a rubber band to hold the ribbons. I also added an extra ribbon through the back of the rubber band and used it to tie the ribbon bundle to the bag.

Have a great day!!

Recipe

Stamps: Party Cat (High Hopes Rubber Stamps), Perfect Package (Hanna Stamps), It's a Celebration (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), real red, always artichoke, tempting turquiose (SU)

Ink: black (Momento), noir (Palette)

Accents: ribbons, large eyelet

Tools: copic markers, decorative scissors, sewing machine, scissors, crop-a-dile, dimensional glaze

Chocolate Moose anyone?

2008-10-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since I got a chance to play in one of the SCS challenges. I finally got a chance today to do the sketch challenge. I love the new Sleepytime Riley and had to use him for my card. I stamped my image and colored him with copic markers. I also added some fun flock to his slippers to make them nice and fuzzy. The stars are cut from patterned paper using a star nestability die. The image and the stars are popped up on foam adhesive.

Well, I'm running behind today so this is going to be short and sweet. Have a great night!

Recipe

Stamps: Sleepytime Riley, Things Riley Would Say (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: kraft, white (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: stars - Bitty Baby Blessings (Papertrey Ink), blue (SU!)

Tools: copic markers, fun flock, glue pen (Sakura), star nestability die (Spellbinders), sewing machine

Warm Winter Wishes Just for You

2008-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

I just love the 2008 Holiday Tag Collection stamp set. I wanted to use it to make a quick and easy gift and had to make a card to go along with it. For my card, I stamped the background paper first (more on that below). Then, I matted it with dark chocolate cardstock and put it on my pure poppy card.

I wrapped some dark chocolate satin ribbon around my card. Then, I stamped the sentiment. I first masked the coffee cup and stamped the sentiment ring. Then, I inked the "Just for you" in pure poppy and stamped it in the center. I sponged dark chocolate ink all over the circle and added a scalloped pure poppy layer.

My quick gift is a single serving of cocoa. I just dumped a packet of cocoa into one of the small glassine bags along with some marshmallows. Then, I folded the top over and stapled it shut. I created a tag for the top by stamping the tag, sponging some dark chocolate ink on it, and adding a pure poppy scalloped tag.

Stamped Patterned Paper Tutorial

It's been a while since I did a tutorial so I thought I would do a quick one with how I stamped my patterned paper for my card. It's really very easy I love how it reminds my of cocoa.

First, stamp the dotted circle from Borders and Corners Circles stamp set in dark chocolate ink onto vintage cream cardstock.

I wanted to use the coffee mug (without the sentiment) so I created a mask. Create a mask by stamping the tag image onto a post it note. Punch out the coffee mug so that you are left with just the sentiment on the post it note. Be sure to stamp the image up at the top of the post it note so you can use the sticky to keep it in place when using it as a mask. You can kind of see through the post it note so it is easy to center it over the dotted circles.

Now, you can stamp the coffee mug in the centers of the dotted circles and the words will stamp onto the post it note instead of the patterned paper. This way, you don't have to worry about being careful and only inking up part of the stamp. Just ink it all up and stamp in the center of the mask.

And this is what you will end up with. Stamp in the center of the rest of circles using the mask.

Now, the post-it note is not made of thick material and I started getting some marks on my paper where the ink bled through a little. If you want to prevent this, either use a few post-it notes layered together or use a thicker paper for your mask. I decided to embrace it and actually like how my paper turned out because of it. I sponged dark chocolate ink lightly all over my patterned paper. When I sponged, I inked the sponge up really well and then stamped it off on scrap paper before stamping it onto my patterned paper. Each time I needed more ink, I always stamped off on the scrap paper first. This helped get rid of a little ink so that it wouldn't be quite so dark. Then, after I cut my piece of patterned paper for my card, I sponged more dark chocolate ink on the edges. I think all the sponging really brings out the "cocoa feeling." Not sure if that is a real feeling or even makes sense, but I'm sticking to it.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Recipe

Stamps: 2008 Holiday Tag Collection, Borders and Corners Circles (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)

Ink: Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: circle punch, scalloped circle punch (Marvy), small glassine bags (Papertrey Ink), sponge

Recipe Box

2008-10-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

For the October release, Nichole designed a really neat recipe set along with recipe cards that will fit in the PTI egg boxes. I just love all the details in this set down to the stamps for the edges of the recipe cards.

Our kitchen is in bad need of paint, but the inspiration for my recipe box came from my red Kitchen Aid mixer. I like the retro feel. So I decided to paint my box red and white. I painted the entire lid red and then, I masked stripes on the box and painted the red stripes. I love how the stripes turned out. Very easy to do and you just have to wait for the paint to dry.

I stamped the label on white cardstock with pure poppy ink and added the title in black ink. Then, I matted it with pure poppy cardstock. I attached it to my egg box with some large silver brads.

I wanted my section dividers to be something easy to create. So I cut some pieces of pure poppy cardstock the same size as the recipe cards. I rounded the corners with a corner rounder. Then, I stamped the labels on white cardstock and punched them out with a circle punch. I stacked the dividers so I could see where each label would land and made sure they were not too tall for my recipe box. I made one extra divider to put in the back where I could store the blank recipe cards.

The custom recipe cards that Nichole designed are so nice. They are lined on both sides and have a section on the left where you can stamp. The set comes with four stamps that fit perfectly. And the Ingredients, Instructions, Temperature, etc are stamps that come with the set so you don't have to try to squish the ingredient list in a small area. Just list the ingredients and then stamp the instructions.

I can't see what everyone starts creating with this set. There are so many possibilities. If you haven't already, be sure to check out all the things in the gallery that the design team created with this set.

Recipe

Stamps: Recipe Box, Recipe Box Label (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)

Accents: silver brads

Tools: red paint (Making Memories), tape, paint brush, circle punch, corner rounder

Other: recipe cards, egg box (Papertrey Ink)

Happy Autumn

2008-10-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a card that is created with stamps that aren't from the new PTI release. (I'll finish up my last couple release things next week.) I got a chance to finally play with my Mailbox Greetings set that I got a while back. I love this set! There are so many possibilities and I love the sentiments in the set.

I made this card sometime at the beginning of the month, but I use the new Ripe Avocado cardstock so I couldn't share until after the release. I started out by stamping the image on vintage cream cardstock and cut it out with a nestability die. Then, I colored it with copic markers and stamped the sentiment on the bottom. I stamped the row of leaves along the mailboxes. (While inking the leaves, I inked them in summer sunrise ink and then sponged some orange ink around them to create the fall colors.) I put the rectangle nestability die back over my image and sponged antique linen ink around the mailboxes. I cut my card base from kraft cardstock and then cut a ripe avocado and a summer sunrise layer. I stamped the envelopes randomly on the summer sunrise cardstock and then sewed the layers together. I cut a piece of patterned paper, layered it with ripe avocado cardstock and sewed the edges. I wrapped the pure poppy grosgrain ribbon around the layers before adding them to my card. Then, after adding all the layers, I added a few dew drops.

Hope everyone is doing something fun this weekend. I'm hoping to scrapbook some more if I get a chance.

Recipe
Stamps: Mailbox Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, kraft, summer sunrise, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: First Fruits (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: ripe avocado, summer sunrise (Papertrey Ink), Antique Linen (Ranger), noir (Palette), orange (sorry, I don't remember what orange I used)
Accents: pure poppy grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink), dew drops (Robin's Nest)
Tools: copic markers, rectangle nestability die, sewing machine

A cup of cocoa for my friends out there.

2008-10-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

This cup of cocoa is for all my friends out there! Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement!

This was a really fun card to make. I started out by cutting my layers. Then, I stamped the cocoa mug on the scalloped vintage cream cardstock. I used a sticky note to mask the cup and added the polka dots. I stamped the sentiment while the cardstock was still in the nestability die. This helps you to center the stamped image easier. Then, I stamped the large vintage cream cardstock with polka dots (Polka Dots Basics stamp set) with dark chocolate ink. I sewed the vintage cream layer to the pure poppy layer and then assembled my card. I stapled the ribbon to my sentiment block for a different look.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We, or rather I should say hubby and some of his friends, are digging up the yard tomorrow to fix the sewer line. It's a yucky job, but someone has to do it. Luckily that someone isn't me.

Recipe
Stamps: Warm Happiness, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, pure poppy, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accents: Pure Poppy swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: circle and long rectangle nestability dies, stapler

baby, it's cold outside

2008-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Heather's new Snowfall and Snowfall Additions sets are so much fun to use. I love how 4 of the snowflakes coordinate with snowflake punches. Of course, you don't have to use them with the punches. It's just one extra possibility.

My favorite stamp in the set is the long bunch of snowflakes. They make it so easy to stamp a neat background paper. I stamped my card base using white acrylic paint. Then, I cut a piece of pure poppy cardstock slightly wider than my ocean tides stitched ribbon. I stamped the mittens on white cardstock and patterned paper. I cut the top part of the mittens out and adhered them over my cardstock mittens and cut them out. I added white paint to the edges of my card, pure poppy strip, and the mittens for a more snowy feel. I stamped my ribbon with versamark ink and embossed the sentiment directly onto the ribbon. Then, I added the ribbon to my cardstock and adhered the whole thing to my card. I added some rhinestones to the ribbon and added my mittens using dimensional foam. I wanted the illusion of a heart with the placement of my mittens. Does it kind of seem that way? My 5 year old told me they looked like a heart without me asking so at least he sees it. *smile* Then, my card felt like it needed something extra so I stamped a snowflake in pure poppy ink on white cardstock and punched it out using one of the snowflake punches (pink - mega). I added a button and put it in the corner of my card.

So, who's ready for snow? I'm not, but my kids are. They are ready to make snowmen. I'd like it to at least wait until after Halloween to start sticking.

Recipe
Stamps: Snowfall, Snowfall Additions (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white, kraft, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Vintage Holiday Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), versamark
Accents: Ocean Tides stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink), rhinestones (Me and My Big Ideas), button, hemp
Tools: embossing powder, white acrylic paint, snowflake punch (pink mega - Marvy), scissors

Silent Night

2008-10-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already time for another Papertrey Ink release night! All the new goodies are now up in the store. This month featured lots of new Christmas and winter sets. The stamp designers created some fabulous sets. One of the most elegant Christmas sets I have seen is the new Silent Night set. It's just beautiful.

For my card, I wanted something simple yet elegant. I stamped the star on vintage cream cardstock with pure poppy ink and cut it out with an oval nestability die. Then, I distressed the edge and matted it with a pure poppy oval. I stamped the sentiment on a vintage cream rectangle, punched the corners with the corner tab punch, matted it with a pure poppy rectangle and added some silver brads. Then, I created the card base from pure poppy cardstock. I cut a piece of patterned paper and matted it with vintage cream cardstock. I sewed around the edge and distressed the vintage cream. I added more silver brads and some pure poppy stitched ribbon. Then, I added the star and sentiment to my card using foam adhesive. My last step was to add some tiny rhinestones to the star.

So, do you have a favorite set from this release? I can't wait to see what everyone starts making when the new sets starting arriving.

Recipe
Stamps: Silent Night (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Let it Snow (Kelly Panacci)
Ink: pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)
Accents: rhinestones (Me and My Big Ideas), silver brads, pure poppy stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: ticket corner punch, oval and long rectangle nestability dies, sewing machine, edge distressor

Holiday Cards

2008-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is almost time for another Papertrey Ink release! The past month just flew by! We all know how busy the holiday season can be. One of the design team's assignments this month was to create a mass producible card. I wanted to create something that would be simple to create in just a few steps, but would still be pretty.

I love the new Holiday Tag Collection stamp set. There are so many great tags! There isn't a one I don't love. I had to use the set for my cards. I used three different patterned papers from the Holiday Vintage Prints collection. The sketch for my card is very quick and easy to mass produce lots of cards in just a few steps.

First, I cut all the pieces (card base, patterned papers, mats). Then, center the patterned paper over the pure poppy cardstock and adhere both layers to the ripe avocado card base.

Then, wrap the pure poppy satin ribbon around the card, tie a bow, and trim the ends.

Then, stamp the sentiment on the white cardstock using ripe avocado ink. Punch out the circle. Also punch a pure poppy scalloped circle. Center the sentiment over the scalloped circle and adhere. Pierce holes in the scallops using a paper piercer. Adhere sentiment to card using dimensional foam adhesive.

Be sure to stop by Nichole's blog. She put together a pdf with sketches, supply lists, and instructions for all the holiday mass producible cards the design team created. And don't forget to check out all the design team ladies' blogs to find out more about their awesome cards! (Becky Oehlers, Betsy Veldman, Dawn McVey,Debbie Olsen, Geny Cassady, Heather Nichols, Lauren Meader, Lisa Johnson, Melissa Phillips, and Michelle Wooderson.) So many wonderful ideas for quick and easy holiday cards to get you ready for the holiday season.

Have a great day!

Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Tag Collection (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white, pure poppy, ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Holiday Vintage Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink)
Accents: pure poppy satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: super jumbo circle punch, mega scalloped punch (Marvy)

Joy and Wonder fill the season

2008-10-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

This week's High Hopes challenge is to sew on your card (faux or real). I absolutely adore the High Hopes snowmen and snow ladies so I had to use one on my card. This is Snow Sweet Snowlady. I stamped and colored my image using copic markers. Then, I cut it out using a nestability die. While the image was still in the die, I sponged Antique Linen distress ink around my image. I found some great gold thread at my local craft store. I used it to sew my image to it's mat. Then, I added some gold stickles to the poinsettia and the snowlady's scarf and set it aside to dry while I made the rest of my card. I did not have any gold brads so I made my own with embossing powder. More layers, a little more stitching and ribbon and my card was done.

It doesn't show up well in the photo, but the thread is a nice, shiny gold. I love the extra sparkle it adds to the card. Isn't the snowlady adorable, too?!

I'm spending some time scrapbooking and really enjoying it. I'm trying to break myself of having to scrapbook chronologically. I like to have everything in order, but I've really been wanting to do more journaling about what is going on right now. One of the layouts I just finished is about my son who will turn five soon. I really enjoyed making something with more current photos. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Snow Sweet Snowlady (High Hopes Rubber Stamps), Christmas Wishes (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: wild wasabi, real red, baja breeze (SU!), white (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Ink: black (Momento), noir (Palette), Antique Linen distress ink (Ranger)

Accents: brads, wild wasabi ribbon (SU!), gold thread, gold stickles (Ranger)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, rectangle nestability die, heat gun, gold embossing powder, sponge

Welcome Autumn

2008-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge over in the Hanna Stamps Forum is to make an autumn card. I just love this Pumpkin Patch Riley and had to use him for my card. For a change, I decided to try coloring with Koh-i-nor pencils and gamsol. It turned out okay, but I still prefer my copic markers.

Anyway, if you have a question about something, let me know. Be sure and stop by and join us in the challenge. Your name goes into a the hat once for every challenge you complete during the month for a chance to win a stamp set at the next release party.

I think we skipped autumn and went straight to winter. Can you believe it was snowing yesterday?! It didn't stick, of course, but still . . . it was snowing! Edited to add: I wrote this post last night and we woke up to snow this morning that is actually sticking (for now anyway). Crazy weather. Have a great weekend!

Recipe
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch Riley (Hanna Stamps), First Fruits (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), old olive, more mustard (SU!)
Patterned Paper: First Fruits (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: noir (Palette), black (Momento)
Accents: old olive twill (SU!)
Tools: Koh-i-nor pencils, gamsol, sewing machine, square nestability die

A Good Friend is Easy to Spot

2008-10-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Phew! I finally got my stuff done for the next Papertrey Ink release. Then, my computer decided to give me fits when I try to download the photos from my camera. I finally got it to transfer and now I just have to edit all the photos and upload them to the gallery. You all are going to love the new sets!

I also finally got a chance to take a photo of my card for the High Hopes challenge. The challenge is to use blue, brown, green and any neutral. I just love this giraffe from High Hopes. His name is Stretch. Isn't he cute?! I chose my papers, cardstocks, and ribbon and then set about coloring my image with copic markers.

I used the embossed edge as a guide for my grass and sky, leaving a nice white border. I added the grass using a copic multiliner pen. Then, I cut all my layers, added my sentiment and some stitching, scallops, and ribbon.

Well, I have to run and get the kiddos in bed. Have a great day!!

Recipe

Stamps: Stretch, Easy to Spot (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), old olive, close to cocoa, baja breeze (SU!)

Patterned Paper: polka dots (Wild Asparagus - My Mind's Eye), brown stripe (LilyKate - Basic Grey)

Accents: chocolate chip ribbon (SU!)

Tools: threading water punch (Fiskars), copic markers, long rectangle nestability dies, sewing machine

let it snow

2008-10-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have become addicted to using white acrylic paint with snowflake stamps! It's messy and I love the look! This was such an easy card to make. I stamped the snowflake strip across the bottom. Then, I made the rectangle using kraft cardstock and a nestability die. While the cardstock was still in the die, I stamped the sentiment and then stamped the snowflakes around it using white acrylic paint. Then, I distressed the edges by swiping a foam brush with white paint on it along all the edges. I wrapped some pure poppy twill around my card and added the sentiment layer. A quick and fun card to make.

Next time you decide to stamp snowflakes, I encourage you to try acrylic paint. It's a lot of fun to use. Be sure to clean your stamps and blocks right away because it dries quickly. If you don't, it will still come off, it just takes a little more work. I just leave the stamp on the block and run water over it. I scrub with an old toothbrush to get in the crevices.

Can I share some exciting news? I had my first card published in Cards October issue (page 114)! It's exciting to see one in print!

I am also beyond slow in posting this. Tami Mayberry left me an award on her blog. Thank you so much, Tami! You are so sweet! Be sure to check out Tami's blog. She does amazing work!

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: kraft, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: noir (Palette)

Accent: pure poppy twill (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: rectangle nestability die, white acrylic paint

warmest wishes

2008-10-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I got a chance to play a lot with some stamps that had not seen ink yet. Where the time goes, I don't know. So many cute stamps and so little time. lol This is Carol Singing Charlotte. I think she is adorable.

This was a quick and easy card to make. I stamped the image, cut it out with a rectangle nestability die, and colored it with copic markers. Then, I cut all the layers and wrapped the ribbon around the patterned paper. I assembled everything and added my sentiment tag and poinsettia. I found these poinsettias at a local craft store. They are floral arrangement pieces. I just snipped off one of the flowers to use on my card.

I don't think you can see it well in the photo, but I added liquid applique to Charlotte's hat, sprinkled it with glitter and then heated to make it nice and puffy. Isn't Charlotte adorable?! I just love the Charlotte and Charlie stamps. Whiff of Joy has another release coming up, too, so be sure to check them out on Katharina's blog and her design team blogs. Cute stuff!

Have a great weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Carol Singing Charlotte (Whiff of Joy Stamps), Holiday Treats (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), real red, wild wasabi, baja breeze (SU!)

Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Accents: ribbon (Target), poinsettia (craft store), glitter, liquid applique

Tools: copic markers, rectangle nestability die, tag trio die (Spellbinders)

Hanna Stamps winners

2008-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Hanna Stamps release party last night was so much fun! It's great to get to chat with everyone. Kristi really know how to throw a party, too. There were so many prizes!! If you played in the challenges, be sure to check the forum to see if you won.

Blog Candy winners were also announced at the party. The winner on my blog was . . .

Lise said... A wonderful card. My little grandson, would love it. Thank you for sharing.September 30, 2008 7:02 PM

Congratulations, Lise!! You win a Riley or Sophie Stamp! Email : kristi@hannastamps.com to claim your prize!!!!!

You can find all the other blog hop blog candy winners in the forum as well.

I'll be back with a Christmas card in a bit. Have a great day!

Merry Christmas

2008-10-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's my turn to host a challenge over in the Hanna Stamps Forum for the week long anniversary celebration. Today's challenge is embossing (dry embossing or heat embossing). I decided to use the Vintage Toys stamp set again. I stamped the teddy bear on white cardstock and colored him with copic markers. Then, I inked the edges while he was still in the nestability die. Next, I cut the layers. I decided to do some dry embossing with a cuttlebug embossing folder and a piece of wild wasabi patterned paper. After I removed it from the embossing folder, I sanded the patterned paper to highlight the edges of the embossing a little more. Then, I stitched it onto my kraft card base. I tied some red ribbon around my card and added my image using foam adhesive. Last, I stamped the sentiment in black ink.

Here's a close up of the sanded dry embossing. Remember to stop in over at the Hanna Stamps Forum and join us in the challenges for a chance to win a new Hanna or Riley of your choice and be sure to check out all the sneak peeks from the design team.

Recipe: Vintage Toys, Everyday Sentiments (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white, kraft (Papertrey Ink), real red (SU!)

Patterned Paper: wild wasabi (SU!)

Ink: antique linen distress ink (Ranger), black (Momento), noir (Palette)

Accents: red ribbon

Tools: copic markers, sponge, embossing folder, sewing machine, rectangle nestability die, sanding block

Thar be a birthday fast approaching!

2008-09-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am so excited that the High Hopes design team started a challenge blog. They are one of my favorite stamp companies so I had to play along. This week's challenge is to make a birthday card and use brads. I can't help but say this is one of my favorite cards I have made in a long time. It was lots of fun to get all inky and distressed.

I started out by stamping On Guard Oberto and the treasure map on white cardstock. I started out coloring the map with copic markers. Then, I wrinkled it all up and distressed and tore the edges of the map. Then, I added some antique linen ink all over the map with a sponge. Then, I used the chocolate ink pad directly on the map to ink the high spots and the edges. Doesn't it look like an old torn up treasure map?!

Next, I moved on to Oberto. I wanted the image to look like an old worn photo so I did the same steps with him: colored with copic markers, distressed edges, inked with antique linen and chocolate ink.

Next, I cut all the layers for my card and inked the edges of the red layers. Then, I stamped the ships wheel in antique linen ink on the kraft paper for a subtle pattern. I stamped my sentiment in the lower right corner and added brads to the corners. Then, I wrapped the hemp around the brads and tied at the bottom. Then, I assembled all the layers. I added the map and Oberto to the card using dimensional foam so you can definitely see all the dimension, especially in the wrinkly map.

Here you can see the subtle pattern paper I made with the ships wheel stamp.

I wanted to finish the inside of my card as well so I cut cardstock layers to match the front and inked the edges. Then, I stamped the ships wheel again on the kraft cardstock. I stamped the sentiment and assembled the layers.

Last, I stamped the treasure chest on white cardstock and colored it with copic markers. I cut it out and then distressed the image with antique linen and chocolate ink.

This was such a fun card to make! I can't wait to play along with the next challenge. Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: On Guard Oberto, Treasure Map, Birthday Fast Approaching, Ships Wheel, Wishing Ye Treasures, Treasure Chest (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white, kraft (Papertrey Ink), real red, baja breeze (SU!)

Ink: black (Momento), antique linen distress ink (Ranger), chocolate paper stain (All My Memories), noir (Palette)

Accents: copper brads (Making Memories), hemp

Tools: copic markers, edge distressor, sponge

For the Soul

2008-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

For the Soul is another of the new sets releasing Thursday night at Hanna Stamps. I stamped Hanna on a piece of white cardstock that I had cut out with a long rectangle nestability die. I colored her with copic markers. Then, I sponged vintage photo distress ink around the image while it was still in the die. I cut my card base, mat and patterned papers. I wanted to use the cross image so I stamped the light yellow patterned paper with gold ink. Then, I inked the edges of both patterned papers with gold ink. I added the patterned papers and stitched around the edges with gold thread. I cut a slit in the spine of my card and added my ribbon around the card. Then, I added my image. I sponged gold ink onto a small flower and layered it over a blue flower and added a blue rhinestone brad. Last, I added some gold dew drops.

I don't know if you can see it in the photo or not, but I stamped Hanna's shirt on the same yellow circle patterned paper as I stamped the gold crosses. Then, I cut it out and paper pieced Hanna's skirt onto my main image.

This card is also for today's challenge over in the Hanna Stamps forum. Be sure to join us for a chance to win free stamps.

Recipe

Stamps: For the Soul (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), Pacific Point (SU)

Patterned Paper: Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: momento black, gold (Encore), vintage photo distress ink (Ranger)

Accents: blue velvet ribbon, gold thread, flowers (Prima Marketing), dew drops (Robin's Nest), rhinestone brad (Making Memories)

Tools: sewing machine, copic markers, long rectangle nestability die

Happy Birthday Blog Candy

2008-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hanna Stamps is releasing 4 new sets Thursday night after the release party. Vintage Toys is one of the new sets. I love this set! It has a bunch of great vintage toys (naturally) and it works great for so many things from birthday cards to holiday cards. I love how well this vintage plane works for a male birthday card.

I stamped the plane on white cardstock. I colored the plane and banner with copic markers and the sky with prismacolor pencils. I inked and distressed the edges and then matted it on red cardstock. Then, I stamped the sentiment on my card and scored two lines before adding my image.

Here you can see the embossed lines. I love the extra texture this adds to a card and it is so quick and easy to do. Sorry for the weird lighting.

This week, Hanna Stamps is celebrating their one year anniversary. What better way to celebrate than with a week of challenges and blog candy leading up to the release Thursday night. Every day, there will be a new challenge posted in the forum. Be sure to play along for a chance to win a new stamp set.

Did I mention blog candy, too? What's better than chocolate mousse???? New Riley's of course!!!!In celebration of Hanna Stamps first year in business, Kristi has lots of giveaways for you!!!!!

Visit our talented Design Team Blogs between now and Wednesday to see exciting sneak peeks and for the chance to win a never seen before Riley/Sophie Moose Image. Leaving a comment on each blog, will increase your chances of winning. One new stamp per Design Team member blog will be given out.

Winners will be announced at the Hanna Stamps Release Party on Thursday October 2nd at 9:00 p.m. So pop into the party for challenges, prizes, chatter, more prizes and to see what the amazing Design Team has in store for you.

If you want a chance to win blog candy ... leave a comment on this post (only comments on this post will be entered in the drawing).

Here are the rest of the Design Team members' blogs .... the more blogs you comment on the more chance you have of winning some blog candy.
Adela - Creations by AR
Amanda - Inkspirations
Beth - Freckled and Fun
Bev - Savor the Journey
Cambria - Stamp a Little Love Baby
Candice - Rubber Soul
Cindy - Cindy Haffners’s Corner
Frances - StampOwl's Studio
Janette - Stampin with Style
Jeanne - Inky Paws
Judy - Rock is Dead
Kittie - Kittie Kraft
Pam - Iris Garden
Patti - Design {U}
Shannon - Live, Love, Laugh & Stamp
Vicki - Summerthyme Studio
Kristi - Owner - Kreations By Krissy

Come back all week for more sneak peeks at the new sets. Have a great day!

Updated 10/1: Blog Candy is closed. The winner has been chosen and will be announced tomorrow night at the release party. Stop by to see if you won!

Recipe
Stamps: Vintage Toys (Hanna Stamps)
Cardstock: white, kraft (Papertrey Ink), red (SU)
Tools: edge distressor, scorepal, copic markers, prismacolor pencils

Heartfelt Thanks

2008-09-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Evening! I've been missing in action since last week. We went on a mini-vacation for the weekend and things have been hectic this week around the house with every day stuff and my son started preschool full time. This evening was the first time I have been able to make anything since the last Papertrey Ink release.

Have you read about Cammie's amazing blog candy and her stamp set, Whimsical Autumn, she released with all her proceeds going to the Alzheimer’s Association? Cammie is one amazing woman who is definitely making a difference. What a wonderful way to celebrate her grandmother's memory. It's neat to see so many great companies showing their support as well. This card is off to the wonderful people at the nursing home Cammie provided.

I love the colors aqua mist and dark chocolate together. I decided to use some of the Chocolate Remix patterned paper. I wanted some aqua mist in patterned paper so I stamped the large butterflies in aqua mist ink over the large butterflies in the patterned paper and used my brayer to color the polka dot patterned paper (it's a little more minty than aqua mist because it's over vintage cream patterned paper). I stamped the sentiment by stamping "thanks" first and then, inking "Heartfelt" and stamping it. Then, I sponged the edges with dark chocolate ink. I sewed the pieces to my card base. Then, I stamped the butterfly on vintage cream cardstock and added it with dimensional adhesive over my aqua mist circle (cut with nestability die). Last, I cut a slit in the spine of my card, threaded the dark chocolate satin ribbon through and tied it.

Recipe
Stamps: Butterfly Kisses (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: aqua mist, vintage cream (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Chocolate Remix (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: aqua mist, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Accents: dark chocolate satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: nestability circle die, sponge dauber, sewing machine

let it snow

2008-09-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, Made of Snow has to be one of the most fun snowman sets I've ever used. I love being able to customize the snowmen for my project and it is so easy to use. In true PTI style, Nichole designed everything to work together so easily.

For this card, I stamped my snowman, colored him with copic markers, cut him out with a nestability die, and stamped the snowflakes in silver ink. Then, I matted the image with black and pure poppy cardstock. I created my cardbase from white cardstock and cut the pure poppy and black layers. Then, I cut a piece of linen vellum, embossing it with a snowflake embossing folder, and inked the snowflakes lightly with silver ink. I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit under my vellum to help it stand out more. Then, I assembled all the layers and added some stitched pure poppy ribbon and silver tinsel ribbon.

I'm typing this up Thursday because we are off for the weekend for a fun family trip: riding a steam train, seeing a dredge, visiting some museums, and lots of other fun. Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Made of Snow, Rustic Snowflakes (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), black

Other Paper: linen vellum (Papertrey Ink)

Inks: noir (palette), silver (encore), pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: silver tinsel ribbon, pure poppy stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: snowflake embossing folder (cuttlebug), rectangle nestability die, copic markers

Dimensions: A2

Shalom

2008-09-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Papertrey Ink recently released a couple new sets called Mazel Tov and Mazel Tov Additions. I am not Jewish, but I love the new sets. The designs are very intricate and I love the fonts Nichole chose. She was very meticulous in her research and creation of the set. They are a great addition to the Papertrey stamp line. I used the Guide lines stamp set to make my diamond grid and then stamped the Star of David in the center using gold ink. I cut all my layers and sewed them. Then, I stamped, and punched out my sentiment. A very quick and easy card, but I like how it turned out.

The new Night Sky Shimmer cardstock is gorgeous. I think you can see the shimmer here. I was also trying to pick up the shimmer in the gold ink, but I don't think you can see it well. Very pretty in person.

Please, if I used anything incorrectly, let me know. I was very nervous using this set because I don't want to offend anyone. I love the set, but it was a challenge to use since I'm not very knowledgeable about the Jewish faith.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov Additions, Guide Lines (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, night sky shimmer (Papertrey Ink)

Inks: noir (palette), gold (encore), watermark (versamark)

Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)

Accents: gold tinsel weave ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: circle punches, sewing machine

Dimensions: A2

O Christmas Tree

2008-09-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Melissa's new Merry and Bright stamp set is so much fun! I love being able to customize the trees with different sizes and patterns. I stamped the trees on spring moss cardstock with spring moss ink and then cut them out. I also stamped the stars on lemon tart cardstock and tree trunks on dark chocolate cardstock and cut out the pieces. I tied some pure poppy satin ribbon around my sweet blush card stock, adhered the trees using dimensional adhesive with one tree being directly on the card. Then, I stamped my sentiment directly on my card. After everything was assembled, I added the red stickles to my trees for some sparkle. Very easy card to make and I like how the layers look with the trees overlapping.

Just a quick post tonight because I gotta get the kiddos ready for bed. Hope you're having a great week!

Recipe

Stamps: Merry and Bright (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: sweet blush, spring moss, dark chocolate, lemon tart (Papertrey Ink)

Inks: pure poppy, spring moss, lemon tart, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: pure poppy satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: scissors, red stickles

Dimensions: A2

Family Holiday Tradition

2008-09-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last year, we started a family tradition. My son made his first ornaments for our Christmas tree and even gave some to Grandparents for Christmas. He was so proud of them and couldn't wait to give them as gifts. I love how they turned out and they will be such a keepsake. I think it will be so much fun to look back on all the handmade ornaments that grace our tree years from now. So, when Nichole challenged the design team to create something with family traditions in mind, I wanted to create more ornaments with my kids (ages 2 and almost 5). The coloring may not be in the lines and the colors may be a little nontraditional, but I love how they turned out and my kids were so excited to get to stamp and use Mommy's stuff. *smile* They got to pick the stamp images, colors, ribbons, etc.

These ornaments are very simple to make. We stamped the images on 3.5 inch circle coasters using noir palette ink. (I got mine from americancrafts.com, but they are sold by the 1,000. I have enough coasters to last forever and they were a great price. I'm sure there are lots of other places where you could buy fewer at a time.) My kids chose what stamps they wanted like which snowman parts, etc. Then, they colored the images. They chose what ribbons they wanted and I punched a hole using my crop-a-dile and tied the ribbon through. They each made 6 ornaments and I have to share them all followed by my ornament at the bottom.

First up are Madison's ornaments:

She has a thing for the swiss dots plum pudding ribbon. I think I'm going to have to order more! The present the snowman is holding is from last year's Believe stamp set.
Recipe: Made of Snow, Believe (Papertrey Ink), plum pudding swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), glittery gel pens

Recipe: Made of Snow (Papertrey Ink), pure poppy swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), glittery gel pens

Recipe: Merry and Bright (Papertrey Ink), lavender moon satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), chipboard snowflakes (American Crafts), glitter gel pen

Recipe: Merry and Bright (Papertrey Ink), silver tinsel weave ribbon (Papertrey Ink), glitter gel pens

Recipe: Merry and Bright, Believe (Papertrey Ink), aqua mist stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink), glitter gel pen

Recipe: Believe (Papertrey Ink), plum pudding swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), chipboard tree (American Crafts), gel pen

Now, here are Tyler's ornaments:

Recipe: Made of Snow (Papertrey Ink), aqua mist swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), glitter gel pen

Recipe: Made of Snow, Believe (Papertrey Ink), spring moss swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), gel pen

Tyler added dirt below each of his trees. He has an eye for detail!

Recipe: Merry and Bright (Papertrey Ink), spring moss swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), chipboard snowflakes (American Crafts), gel pens

I love his two tone tree!

Recipe: Merry and Bright, Believe (Papertrey Ink), lemon tart swiss dots ribbon (Papertrey Ink), gel pens

I think he's been watching me layering ribbons lately and he wanted the layer his ribbons, too.

Recipe: Believe (Papertrey Ink), pure poppy stitched ribbon, spring moss twill (Papertrey Ink), chipboard tree (American Crafts), gel pens

This was the first tree Tyler made. He actually stamped all the pieces. Clear stamps make it so easy for everyone to use them. I let him color this tree with my copic markers while Madison was sleeping.

Recipe: Merry and Bright (Papertrey Ink), pure poppy satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), copic markers, glitter glue

And here is my ornament for our tree this year. I used the new Home for the Holidays and Boards and Beams. I cut a circle the same size as my coaster and stamped my image. I colored everything with copic markers, sponged the sky with blue ink, and painted the entire circle with angel wings shimmerz paint to make it sparkly. It worked wonderful, but one word of caution. Be careful using it over the red copic markers as it wants to make the color bleed. It did not affect any other colors, just the red. Then, I adhered my image to the coaster. I added liquid applique to the eaves and ground, sprinkled it with glitter, and heated to make the snow nice and puffy. Let it dry for quite a while before turned it over and applying pressure when decorating the back or save this step for the very end because if you do it too soon, you will smoosh the snow. (Ask me how I know. )

Here you can see the shimmer on the ornament a little better. It's so hard to get a good photo of it, but it is shimmery without being overpowering.

Next, I added the lace to the back of the coaster. Then, I used nestability circle dies to cut out a pure poppy circle and a white circle. I stamped my sentiment and the stars from Merry and Bright. Then, I simply added the circle to the back of my ornament. Then, I punched a hole using the crop-a-dile and added the sheer dot ribbon.

I encourage everyone to make some ornaments with your kids. They have so much fun and they look so adorable on the tree.

Have a great day!

Papertrey Ink: Rustic Snowflakes

2008-09-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm typing this up right before the release party and can't wait to see everyone there. Papertrey Ink's new release is tonight. The sets this month are absolutely amazing! (Of course, they are every month, but I love Christmas so these are extra special to me.) I created this card using Pine's new Rustic Snowflake stamp set. I love the sentiments and snowflakes in this set. She has really outdone herself! I stamped the snowflakes on the new shimmer gold cardstock. This is so pretty in person. It's so hard to get a good photo of the shimmer, but trust me if you get it you will love it.

I tried to get a photo of the gold shimmer. You can kind of see it here and you can see the beautiful shimmer in the new Night Sky Shimmer cardstock.

Recipe

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: Gold Shimmer, Night Sky Shimmer (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: gold (Encore), noir (Palette)

Accents: gold tinsel weave (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: 1" circle punch, slot punch tool (Making Memories), sewing machine

Papertrey Holiday Gift

2008-09-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last year at Christmas time, we were given a wonderful gift from one of our neighbor families. They gave us a prebaked and constructed gingerbread house along with baggies full of candies and other things to decorate the house. It was such a fun gift! We had lots of fun decorating the house as a family.

So, when Nichole presented the Papertrey Ink design team with the challenge to make a holiday gift along with the packaging, I immediately thought of making a gingerbread house and packaging goodies that could be used to decorate the house.

I know how fun it is to decorate a gingerbread house with your kids, but having lots of the work done for you (gathering supplies and making the house) is even better. I started out by baking and constructing the gingerbread house. Then, I decorated an egg box to hold all the goodies in little bags and a tin to hold some buttercream frosting.

I started out decorating my egg box by creating a scene for the top. I just love the new Home for the Holidays stamp set! It is meant to be used with Boards and Beams. You can create the cutest little holiday scenes. I stamped the house and the snowman. Then, I masked the snowman and stamped the fences. Then, I masked the fences and stamped the trees. I colored my scene. Then, I stamped the door and windows on another pieces of paper, colored them, cut them, and adhered them in place. I love this Christmas house and will definitely be using this set a lot. I stamped the Fresh Baked sentiment in the corner from the Holiday Treats stamp set. Then, I matted my image with pure poppy and silver shimmer cardstocks.

This was my very last step, but I'm going to share it here while I'm talking about the top of the treat box. I added liquid applique and glitter to my house and let it dry. Then, I tapped the excess off and have some pretty shimmery snow.

I painted my egg box with dark blue acrylic paint and the lid and interior of the egg box with light blue paint. After they were dry, I used white acrylic paint to random stamp one of the snowflakes from Pine's new Rustic Snowflakes stamp set all over the bottom of the box. You can't tell in the photo, but there are little silver dots in the centers of the snowflakes (stickles). When everything was dry, I added some pure poppy stitched ribbon and some silver tinsel ribbon around the lid and added a bow.

Tucked inside my holiday treat box are lots of little glassine bags filled with all kinds of goodies for decorating the gingerbread house. I used the small glassine bags. I filled each one with a different type of goodie and then punched some scalloped ovals in silver shimmer and pure poppy. I layered the ovals, folded them in half, punched a hole through bag and all and tied them with pure poppy satin ribbons.

One last thing that I wanted to include in my holiday gift was a tin filled with buttercream frosting for decorating the gingerbread house. (It worked okay, but was not quite sticky enough. Another great option would be to decorate a container of premade frosting.) I filled the 8 oz tin with frosting first so that could wipe off any frosting that happened to get on the outside. (Luckily none did, but it was a good precaution to take knowing how messy I can be when I bake.) then, I cut a piece of silver shimmer cardstock to fit around my tin, random stamped some snowflakes, and heat set just for a second before adhering it to my tin. (Most likely, you would not need to heat set unless you were putting the cardstock right onto the container. If it sat for a few minutes, the ink would not smear.) I stamped the sentiment for the top of the container (from Holiday Treats) in pure poppy ink, punched it out, and layered it with a pure poppy scalloped circle. Then, I tied some ribbon around the tin and added a little tag.

After I got all the photos I need of the gingerbread house and goodies, my kids got to decorate the houses. I actually had plenty of dough when I made it and made two house so they each got to decorate their own. I spread the frosting and they decorated. They had so much fun and were hyped up on sugar right before bed!

Tyler's gingerbread house turned out so cute. When I bought the white fudge covered pretzels, I was thinking they would work great for a fence, but he wanted them on the front of his house and I love how they look. He pushed a little too hard while decorating the roof, so there was some bulging going on. It slowly collapsed on the backside not long after these photos were taken last night, but he still had so much fun making it!

Madison was so proud of her gingerbread house. This is how a 2 year old decorates her gingerbread house: put a few pieces of candy on the house, take one off and eat it, put a couple more on, take one off and eat it . . . *smile*

I had so much fun with this project and so did my kids. Gingerbread houses are always lots of fun and would make a great gift for a family at Christmas time. I can't wait to see what the rest of the design team came up with for this challenge. Be sure to check out all their blogs for lots of fun ideas: Nichole, Lisa Johnson, Lauren Meader, Heather Nichols, Mish Wooderson, Melissa Phillips, Debbie Olsen, Geny Cassady, Becky Oehlers, and Dawn McVey.

Recipe

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes, Home for the Holidays, Holiday Treats, Boards and Beams (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, pure poppy, silver shimmer (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)

Accents: pure poppy stitched ribbon, pure poppy satin ribbon, silver tinsel ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Packaging: egg box, 8 oz circle tin, small glassine bags (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: copic markers, liquid applique, glitter, white acrylic paint, sponge paint brush, tag trio die (Spellbinders), circle punch, scalloped circle punch, scalloped oval punches, crop-a-dile, silver stickles (Ranger)

I moose you

2008-09-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have a very special stamp to share with you today. Meet Ballet Sophie. She is adorable, isn't she?! A moose in a tutu has to be adorable, but that's not what makes her special. Hanna Stamps has teamed up with Electric Paperie to bring you this special little moose. A portion of the proceeds for the sales of this stamp set are being donated to The Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation. This cooperative venture is based on a young girl’s current battle against a childhood brain tumor, Kelly Laude. Please help us help Kelly fight her cancer. This stamp is only available through Hanna Stamps and Electric Paperie.

Here's a close up of Ballet Sophie so you can see her sparkle. I used Angel Wings Shimmerz after I colored my image. It added the perfect amount of sparkle.

Recipe

Stamps: Ballet Sophie, Things Riley Would Say (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: sweet blush, white (Papertrey Ink), wild wasabi (SU)

Patterned Paper: Pink Patterns (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (palette)

Accents: wild wasabi ribbon (SU), foam flowers (American Crafts), rhinestone brad (Making Memories)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, nestability circle dies (Spellbinders), angel wings (Shimmerz)

Celebrate

2008-09-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

I love aqua mist with dark chocolate. For some reason, I had a terrible time editing this photo so it looks a little light where the cake is stamped, but it is a true aqua mist color in reality. I used some of the aqua mist patterned paper from the Everyday Blessings paper pad and created my card base from dark chocolate cardstock and a liner from aqua mist cardstock. I rounded all the corners and stamped flowers on the liner and the sentiment on the front with dark chocolate ink. Then, I cut a piece of white cardstock and my dark chocolate scalloped mat using a nestability dies and stamped the cake with aqua mist ink. Then, I stamped the flower using dark chocolate ink. I wanted some really wide dark chocolate ribbon so I cut two pieces and wrapped them around my patterned paper. Then, I cut a piece of aqua mist ribbon, tied a knot and wrapped it around my patterned paper overlapping the seam where the two dark chocolate ribbons met. I assembled all the pieces and added some rhinestones.

You all will love the new releases. Wait until you see them all!

Recipe

Stamps: Piece of Cake (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, aqua mist, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Everyday Blessings (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: aqua mist, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: rhinestones (Me and My Big Ideas), dark chocolate satin ribbon, aqua mist satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: rectangle nestability dies, corner rounder

Moonlit Night

2008-09-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe the new Papertrey release is Sunday night (for me on the west coast anyway)! I will be making samples this week and it is my son's first day of preschool on Thursday so I may be a little scarce this week. I have a couple things already uploaded so I'll get to share them this week at least. I just love the Spooky Sweets II set that released last month from Papertrey Ink. I started out making the moon. I punched it out of lemon tart cardstock and sponged lemon tart ink on the edges and randomly on the front. Then, I stamped the witch flying in front of the moon. I embossed her to give her more dimension. I cut my card base from plum pudding cardstock and the spring moss cardstock for my patterned paper and stamped the spider web image randomly in black and white ink. Then, I matted my spring moss patterned paper with black cardstock and added some black ribbon. Then, I assembled all the pieces.

So, does the moon look somewhat realistic? I like how the sponging helps bring out the look of the moon.

My little ones woke up not feeling good this morning so I hope they start feeling better. Hope you all have a great week!

Recipe

Stamps: Spooky Sweets II (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: plum pudding, spring moss, lemon tart (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: noir, white canvas (Palette), versamark, lemon tart (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: black satin ribbon (Target)

Tools: sponge dauber, black embossing powder, circle punch

Kitty Hanna

2008-09-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for your well wishes. I am doing better today. The foot doesn't hurt as much and the neck feels better than yesterday. I iced it last night and during the night until the ice melted and it seemed to help a lot. Still a little sore, but better. I think I will actually get something done today. Unfortunately, it may not be stamping or scrapbooking because I need to pay bills and do billing for the business.

This is another set releasing Friday from Hanna Stamps. I believe the set is called Cats. I stamped the kitty footprint on the pink paper to make my own patterned paper. Then, I cut the patterned papers and sewed around the edges. I stamped, colored and sewed around Hanna as well. Then, I stamped the second kitty, colored it, and cut it out. I assembled the layers, added some ribbon, dew drops, and my second kitty.

Hope you're having a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Cats (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: SU (retired)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), sweet blush (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: dark chocolate satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), dew drops (Robin's Nest)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, large rectangle nestability die, scissors

Thanksgiving Hanna

2008-09-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post this morning. (I'm scheduling it the night before.) When I mentioned yesterday that I hurt my foot, I didn't go into detail. I had a slight mishap and wrecked my motorcycle Monday afternoon. (Not like a terrible wreck, just rolled down hill, tipped over, and landed in some rocks. Nothing serious hurt that I know of. Just some bruises, hurt foot and I must have done something to my neck.) My foot is starting to get better, but I think I may have pulled a muscle in my neck or something. My neck started to hurt Monday night and has been really sore today. Not much moving and I have gotten nothing done.

Anyway, that's the reason for the quick post. Thanksgiving Hanna is another set releasing Friday at Hanna Stamps. Everything is pretty straight forward. If you have a question, please ask.

I'm hoping I feel better when I wake up in the morning.

Recipe
Stamps: Thanksgiving Hanna, Everyday Sentiments (Hanna Stamps)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), pumpkin pie, old olive (SU)
Patterned Paper: SU (retired)
Ink: noir (Palette)
Accents: buttons, silver brads
Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, ticket corner punch (SU)

Kiss the Cook

2008-09-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

We got home from camping late yesterday afternoon. We had a good trip until yesterday afternoon. I have a bruised foot that is pretty sore, but other than that everything is good. When we got home, I checked my email and was wondering why I had so many emails when I found this on SCS. I love the featured stamper challenge. I am so honored to have been chosen this week. Thank you so much, Beth and Anna!! I am going to spend the morning looking through the gallery to see what everyone came up with. I am so excited to see everyone's cases!

Is that not the most adorable Hanna yet?!? Kiss the Cook Hanna releases this Friday. I love the vintage like feel of this stamp set and it inspired my colors. The cardstocks are embossed using cuttlebug embossing folders. Then, I sewed around the edges with white and blue thread. I'm not going to go into every detail, but if you have a question, please let me know. (Remember you can click on the photo for a larger version to see more details.)

A close up of Kiss the Cook Hanna. The pearls are dew drops that you can find in the Hanna Stamps store.

I am loving crocheted lace lately. I want to use it on everything. I found this lace at my local craft store. If you know of a company that makes crocheted lace, please let me know. I'm looking for lots of different widths, styles, and colors.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Kiss the Cook (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), real red, ballet blue (SU)

Ink: black (momento), noir (Palette)

Accents: pearl dew drops (Robin's Nest), crocheted lace, red satin ribbon (Target)

Tools: copic markers, embossing folders, threading water punch (Fiskars), long rectangle nestability dies, sewing machine

Enjoy the Moment

2008-09-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hanna Stamps is releasing 4 new sets on Friday the 5th with the release party Thusday night the 4th (my birthday ). We are gone camping for the holiday weekend so I'm scheduling this and hope it works okay.

Jump for Joy is one of the new sets. It's such a fun set with Hanna jumping into a pile of leaves! I stamped and colored the pile of leaves and Hanna with copic markers. I sprayed the sky above the leaves with a copic marker and air compressor. Then, I cut along the bottom of the leaves and cut Hanna out. I matted the leaves and stitched the layers together. I created the card base and patterned paper (random stamped the leaf image). Then, I roughed up the edges with an edge distressor and assembled the layers. Last, I added Hanna using foam adhesive.

Using foam adhesive to pop her up, created a shadow to make it look even more realistic.

I am blessed with some of the sweetest online friends and blog readers. This award was given to me by Michelle, Gina, Kim, Gabby, Mary, and Amber. Thank you so much, ladies!! Sorry I am so slow in posting this from some of you. I appreciate it so much! Each of you made my day! Everyone, be sure to check out their blogs. Their work is all beautiful!

I'm not going to pass the award on. Instead, I would love for everyone to check out each of these ladies' blogs. If you would like more inspiration, I have a few different lists on my blog with tons of amazing inspiration!

Have a great week, everyone! See you when we get back!

Recipe

Stamps: Jump for Joy (Hanna Stamps), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), taken with teal, pumpkin pie, more mustard (SU)

Ink: black (momento), noir, cognac (Palette)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, scissors, edge distressor

true strength is Delicate

2008-08-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

The poppies in Lisa's Remember set are so neat. I just love the style. For this card, I decided to stamp my flowers using plum pudding ink. I started out by cutting a piece of vintage cream cardstock using a long nestabiliy die. Then, I stamped my flower, stem, leaves, and sentiment. I matted my image with plum pudding cardstock. I pierced the dots around the center of the poppy and stitched on some seed beads. Then, I made my card base from spring moss cardstock, cut a patterned paper piece, and matted it with black cardstock. I punched some plum pudding cardstock with my MS border punch and added it to my patterned paper. I tied some plum pudding ribbon around it and adhered all my layers.

Here you can see the seed beads. I love the dimension that this simple element adds. As a last step, I added some black stickles to the center of my poppy and let it dry.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Remember (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream, plum pudding, spring moss (Papertrey Ink), black

Patterned Paper: Guide Lines (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: plum pudding, spring moss (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)

Accents: plum pudding stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink), black sead beads, black stickles

Tools: punch (Martha Stewart), long rectangle nestability die

at the pool

2008-08-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, I finally have a card that is not a holiday theme! I can never resist the cute little monkey whenever he makes an appearance in the CC Designs stamps. Last month, he came out in two new sets and I finally got a chance last week to play with one of them. This little monkey is from Summertime Fun.

I used the same layout as my sketch for the Hanna challenge a couple weeks ago. I stamped and colored my little monkey using copic markers. Then, I cut him out using a nestability rectangle die and matted my image. I cut my patterned paper strips out, embossed them using an embossing folder, inked some of the dots randomly with a sponge, and matted them with blue cardstock. I added my brad sentiment to my image and assembled all the pieces. Last, I added some blue grosgrain ribbon to the bottom. It needed a little something extra so I added some clear dew drops along the ribbon.

Then, I added some dimensional glaze to the monkey's innertube. Isn't he so cute?! My color combo started with the little sentiment tag. The cardstock is all from a DCWV card kit. I was trying to use up some of the stuff I've bought and never used. In making this card, I decided I likely won't use it and it went in the kids can use it area.

Recipe

Stamps: Summertime Fun (CC Designs)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), blues (DCWV)

Patterned Paper: Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), lemon tart (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: blue ribbon, clear dew drops, Summer Fun puffy brads (Making Memories)

Tools: copic markers, dimensional glaze, embossing folder, rectangle nestability die, sponge

you're one crazy cat!

2008-08-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last night was the Papertrey blog hop. Everyone's creations were amazing like always. I didn't play along for the first time. Feels weird, but there just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes.

I just love the cat image in the Papertrey's Spooky Sweets II set. I think it's the curled tail and whiskers! lol This was a quick and easy card to make. Basically just some stamping, matting, and stitching. One thing you can't see is I added sparkle to the kitty eyes using a clear spica pen.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the photos of the kids. I talked to my husband and he said it wouldn't bother him so I may just snap some extra photos next time I get the light tent out. I've never shared my layouts before. My style is all over the place kind of like it is in card making. Seems like many people have one style that you can recognize. I, on the other hand, do simple, vintagey, contemporary, etc. Weird, but it's whatever strikes me in the photos. I'm kind of the same way with stamping. Do you think I have a certain style I lean towards in my cardmaking? I've seen threads like this on SCS and I honestly don't know if I have a certain style or if I'm just a style of my own. That's it! I'm just be a style of my own. Don't want to be too "normal" anyway. If you waded through all that blabbering about nothing, thank you!! lol

Have a great day!

Recipe
Stamps: Spooky Sweets II (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), black (SU)
Inks: Noir (Palette)
Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)
Accents: black satin ribbon (Target)
Tools: tag trio die, sewing machine, spica glitter pen

feeling a little eel?

2008-08-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to play along with another featured stamper challenge today. This week's featured stamper is Kokirose aka Patricia. She is a sweetie and has a great gallery. This is the card I chose to case. Rules are you must change at least 2 or more things. I changed the following:

* the image
* changed the stitching to piercing
* added the color soft sky and kept the old olive and black
* changed the scallop layer
* changed how my sentiment is added

I got a chance to scrapbook Friday and it was so nice. I plan to do a little more this afternoon. I miss scrapbooking more so I'm going to be fitting it into my schedule better. That may mean a few less cards here and there. I feel weird about not wanting to post photos of my kids on my blog. I see so many people do it. Am I just weird about this? If I shared my layouts occasionally, it would make it easier finding the time to fit scrapbooking into my schedule. Hmm.

Recipe
Stamps: Edgar Eel, A little eel (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), old olive, black, soft sky (SU)
Patterned Paper: soft sky, old olive (SU - retired)
Ink: soft sky (SU), noir (Palette), graphite black (Brilliance)
Accents: black satin ribbon (Target)
Tools: copic markers, sponge, slot punch (Making Memories), paper piercer, mat pack (SU)

Tis the Season

2008-08-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

I got to play in another Hanna Stamps Friday challenge. I think I'm on a roll! This week's challenge is called "My First Hanna" and the challenge is to use your first Hanna you ordered/received. I believe I ordered the first two Hannas together so I chose to use the second Hanna Kristi released called Tis the Season Hanna. I think I am in a Christmas mood because I've been making lots of Christmas cards lately.

Stop by and join us in the challenge and have a great weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Tis the Season Hanna, Everyday Sentiments (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), baja breeze, riding hood red (SU!)

Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Accents: dew drops, green satin ribbon (Target)

Tools: sewing machine, copic markers, long rectangle nestability die, border punch (Martha Stewart)

Blessings

2008-08-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

This was one of my favorite cards I made for the Papertrey Ink August release. Not sure why, but I just like how it turned out. I stamped the wheat image on white cardstock along with the string and sentiment and cut it out. Then, I inked the edges in dark chocolate ink (with sponge dauber) and distressed them with an edge distressor. I like how it makes it stand out. Then, I matted my image with summer sunrise cardstock. Next, I stamped my patterned paper using the egg and dart image and dark chocolate ink. I sponged the entire surface lightly for a more distressed look (with yellow sponge). I again inked the edges (with sponge dauber) and roughed them up with an edge distressor. Then, I wrapped my ribbon around the patterned paper and assembled my card.

NOTE about stamps for sale: all paid for stamps shipped today. Thanks so much, ladies and enjoy your new stamps!

I hope you all have a blessed day!

Recipe

Stamps: First Fruits (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, vintage cream, summer sunrise, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)

Ink: summer sunrise, dark chocoloate (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: summer sunrise stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: sponge, sponge dauber, edge distressor (CTMH)

Season's Greetings

2008-08-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't Charlie adorable?! He's one of the new Whiff of Joy stamps I received in the mail this week. I don't have very many boy stamps and as soon as I saw Charlie, I knew he was perfect to fill the void. He's adorable and mischievous just like my son!! I could definitely see my son with snowballs and the same expression on his face. lol

I used Katharina's sketch when creating my card. I stamped Charlie and cut him out using a nestability die. Then, I chose my patterned paper and colored my image in coordinating colors. I cut all my layers and stitched the pieces. I poked holes and stitched around my sentiment by hand. Then, I assembled all the layers.

For some reason, I had a terrible time getting a good photo of this card (When I lightened the photos, it distorted the colors so the photos are a little dark in order for the colors to be accurate and you can't see any of the shading.), but I had to share one more photo of Charlie.

Can't you just see a little boy doing that? Season's Greetings, splat!

Recipe

Stamps: Charlie with Snowballs (Whiff of Joy), Holiday Wishes (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Blush (Basic Grey)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette)

Accents: red twill

Tools: nestability circle and rectangle dies, copic markers, sewing machine

Christmas Joy

2008-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

I hear on the Papertrey Forum that people are starting to receive their orders from the August release. I can't wait to see what everyone starts making!

This was the second card that I made for the release using the Rustic Branches stamp set. I started out making my patterned paper with no real plan. But as I created, it evolved into this card. I really like the dark chocolate color with pure poppy and jardin moss for Christmas cards.

I got a chance to stamp today so I'll have something new tomorrow, hopefully, if I get a chance to take photos. Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Rustic Branches (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)

Ink: pure poppy, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink), jardin moss (Palette)

Accents: pure poppy grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: sewing machine, scissors

Thanksgiving Table Setting Challenge

2008-08-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Nichole challenged the Senior Design team to make a Thanksgiving Table setting using the First Fruits stamp set that released on the 15th. I thought it sounded like fun and since I've never done anything like that, I decided to play along, too. My ensemble consists of a menu, invitation, place card, and a favor. There are so many great stamps in this set, but I decided to focus on my favorite, the pineapple. Be sure to click on the photos to see a larger version with more detail.

My favorite part of my table setting is the little favor basket I created. I used one of the 8 oz clear top tins. I started out by cutting the strip of paper of white cardstock to go around the bottom of my tin and stamping it with the pineapples. I sponged summer sunrise ink on the stamp and then sponged the edges using SU's pumpkin pie ink. I love those two colors together and I love how every pineapple is unique using this inking method (called rock n' roll, though I sponged mine for a little more control). (If only, I had thought to cut the pineapple like Nichole did. Isn't that amazing?!?) I wanted to carry on the look of the top of the pineapple, but since it wouldn't fit on my stamped paper, I sponged the edges of the spring moss twill instead with jardin moss ink. I attached the twill to the top of the tin. Next, I created my handle by layer summer sunrise satin ribbon and dark chocolate twill. I use my atg to stick them together. This made a stronger handle that wasn't floppy like it would have been with just the satin ribbon plus it carried out my color scheme. I punched holes in the tin using my crop-a-dile and threaded my handle through and secured it with glue dots. Then, I punched a couple holes through my handle and tin and added the silver brads for even more stability. I wanted to line the inside of my tin so I cut some summer sunrise cardstock and stamped the egg and dart image repeatedly using summer sunrise ink and lined the inside of my tin. Last, I filled my favor with dinner mints.

Here's a close up photo of the tin. I hope you can see the lining cardstock with the subtle pattern. Wouldn't these look cute sitting out on a Thanksgiving table?

I created my Thanksgiving menu by typing everything up on the computer, changing the fonts and color to a brown similar to Dark Chocolate and printing it on linen vellum. I love the texture of this vellum! I cut my layers for my invitation and added my two ribbons (again layered). Then, I stamped a pineapple on white cardstock and cut it out and added it to the corner of the menu. I used the rock and roll technique throughout making all my pineapples like I described earlier. I also used spring moss and jardin moss inks for the stems of the pineapples. I think creating the menu made me hungry for some oven roasted smoked turkey! I have a great brine recipe for smoking a turkey and can no longer eat plain old turkey! lol

For my invitation, I wanted something simple yet elegant. I started out by embossing my rectangle on white cardstock using a nestability die. (Nichole has a great tutorial here explaining how to do this.) Then, I stamped my pineapple and sentiment (using Warm Hospitality). Last, I added some layered ribbon to the top. I adhered the dark chocolate twill to the summer sunrise satin ribbon on all my creations. It gave me stability when tying them and kept everything just where I wanted it. I love the look of these two colors layer together.

My place card was very simple as well. You want something simple yet pretty when you're making lots of them for a dinner party. I started out my stamping my pineapple. Then, I added the name using the Trajan Monogram stamp set. I used Becky's name as a tribute to her for seeing her wonderful idea come to fruition. Congrats, Becky!! It's such a wonderful and versatile set!

I hope I inspired you in some way with my Thanksgiving table setting. I can't wait to see what the other designers came up with! Be sure to check out all there creations: Amy, Debbie, Heather, Lauren, Lisa, and you can see them all together on Nichole's blog.

Recipe for all items

Stamps: First Fruits, Trajan Monogram, Warm Hospitality (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, summer sunrise, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Papers: (hand stamped)

Ink: summer sunrise, dark chocolate, spring moss (Papertrey Ink), jardin moss (Palette), pumpkin pie (SU)

Accents: summer sunrise satin ribbon, dark chocolate twill, spring moss twill (Papertrey Ink)

Other: Linen vellum, 8 oz clear top tin (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: crop-a-dile, sponge daubers, rectangle nestability die

Papertrey August Releases

2008-08-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was the August Papertrey Ink stamp release party. It was so much fun getting to chat with everyone. The new August sets are absolutely fabulous and the design team has created lots of amazing stuff to share! I've had lots of fun creating with all the new sets. I shared my Black Cat Licorice tin the other day using the new Spooky Sweets II set. I'll have a couple cards to share using the set next week.

Lisa Johnson designed the beautiful Remember stamp set. The poppies is this set are so neat. She has such a great style. Congrats on the wonderful new set, Lisa!! I love the new pure poppy red with black and white. (I just absolutely love this shade of red!!) I created my card base from white cardstock and then random stamped my poppy images. Then, I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and layered it with pure poppy and black cardstocks. Last, I punched a hole and tied some pure poppy swiss dots ribbon on the edge.

Heather Nichols also designed a set this month called Rustic Branches. This is her first set and it is such a versatile set. Congrats, Heather, on your first release! I used the berry stamp set to random stamp the red dots. Then, I added the word peace in the middle and the dove from Believe in between the dots. Then, I created my card base using pure poppy cardstock and matted my patterned paper using spring moss cardstock. I wrapped some pure poppy satin ribbon around my card and layered the new leaf ribbon over the top to finish it off.

Becky Oehlers collaborated with Nichole to create the new First Fruits stamp set. There are lots of great images in this set and it is perfect for so many things from Christmas cards to dinner invitations. I created the background patterned paper by random stamping the pine cone. Then, I sponged ink over my patterned and inked the edges. Then, I stamped my image, cut all my layers and inked the edges. I assembled everything added the pine cone to the center.

I have more cards that I made with each of the sets to share with you next week. I can't wait to see what you all start making with the new sets when you get them!

We are gone camping so I'm scheduling this to post. I hope it works okay. Have a great weekend!

Recipe for first card

Stamps: Remember (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), black

Ink: pure poppy (Papertrey Ink), noir (Palette)

Accents: Pure Poppy Swiss Dots (Papertrey Ink)

Recipe for second card

Stamps: Rustic Branches, Believe (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, spring moss, pure poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: pure poppy (Papertrey), noir (Palette)

Accents: Pure Poppy Satin ribbon, leaf ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Recipe for third card

Stamps: First Fruits (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream, kraft, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: hand stamped, chocolate remix (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink), jardin moss (Palette)

Accents: dark chocolate twill (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: sponge dauber, sponge, rectangle nestability die

Halloween Sketch Challenge

2008-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's my turn to host the Hanna Stamps Friday Challenge. I decided to have a Halloween sketch challenge (use Halloween stamps and the sketch). I used three more of the new Fall Riley stamps that came out a couple months ago. Aren't they cute!?! I started out by picking my patterned papers and coloring my Rileys in similar colors. Then, I stitched the layers and added some ribbon and copper accents.

The patterns behind the image are supposed to symbolize 3 different patterned papers. If you decide to play along or just want to use the sketch, leave me a comment so I can check it out.

Have a great day!!

Recipe

Stamps: Pirate Riley, Super Moose Riley, Vampire Riley (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), black (SU)

Patterned Paper: Boxer (Basic Grey)

Accents: black satin ribbon (Target), copper brads and ribbon slide

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, long rectangle nestability dies (Spellbinders)

Black Cat Licorice

2008-08-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to get to share a sneak peek at one of Papertrey Ink's new sets coming out on the 15th at midnight. I created my Black Cat Licorice tin using the new Spooky Sweets II set and a nugget tin. I first created the band to go around my tin by stamping the black cat and the border stamp repeatedly. Then, I matted it with black cardstock and scored it to fit around my tin.

For my label, I stamped the label circle and added my sentiment in the center. I cut it out with a nestability circle die and made a black mat for it. I punched holes for my brads. Then, I created my custom brads and cat charms.

I created my own velvet like brads by altering some brads. (Let me know if you'd like a tutorial for making your own fuzzy brads. *wink*) Then, I stamped the black cat image using staz on black on shrink plastic. I punched a hole in the top and trimmed my images. Then, I shrank them using my heat gun. To finish off my tin, I added my cat charms and brads to my label before adding the label to my tin and filling it with black licorice.

This set is so much fun and there are so many possibilities for using it. Be sure to check out Nichole's post with creations from all the design team members and then, visit the design team's blogs for more info on their creations.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Spooky Sweets II (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: pumpkin pie, black (SU)

Ink: noir (Palette), black (staz on)

Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)

Other: fuzzy brads (altered), cat charms (hand made), nugget tin (Papertrey Ink)

Tools: nestability circle dies, shrink plastic, embossing powder, fun flock

Many Thanks

2008-08-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do when stamping is to make my own patterned paper. For this card, I decided to use Papertrey Ink's Guide Lines and Wedding Day sets. The little stamps in this set work great with Guide Lines. I stamped my lines first in Sweet Blush Ink. Then, I used Dark Chocolate ink to stamp my pattern. I sponged ink on all my edges and sewed the layers. Then, I added dark chocolate satin ribbon and my sentiment before sticking it to my card base. This card is 4 x 9 and fits perfectly in one of the large business envelopes. (Click on the photo for a larger version where you can hopefully see the details better.)

Here you can see the pattern a little closer along with the sentiment and ribbon.

Tomorrow, I get to share a sneak peek at one of the new Papertrey sets with one of my creations. I am so excited! I love doing sneak peeks and I know you will love the new set I get to share!

Recipe
Stamps: Guide Lines, Wedding Day (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Accents: Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: sewing machine, sponge dauber, nestability circle dies (Spellbinders)

Hugs and Fishes!

2008-08-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to play in the featured stamper challenge over on SCS today. I love getting to look through the galleries and pick just the right card to case. This week's featured stamper is Kim aka blondie090277. This is the card I chose to case. I changed the following:
* colors
* image
* layers
* embossing folder
* how I added the sentiment

Isn't Puff Fishy adorable!? lol I cut my oval out, stamped my fish in the center, and while it was still in the die, I sponged soft sky around my fish. Then, I colored him with copic markers. As a last step to finish my card, I added dimensional glaze to his fishy lips.

Recipe

Stamps: Puff Fishy, Hugs and Fishes (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), pumpkin pie, pacific point (SU!)

Patterned Paper: soft sky (SU!)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), soft sky (SU!)

Accents: orange ribbon, orange dew drops (Robin's Nest)

Tools: copic markers, nestability dies, dimensional glaze, sponge dauber, embossing folder (cuttlebug)

Happy Fright Night

2008-08-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

This week's Hanna Stamps challenge is a sketch challenge. You can find the challenge here. Amanda created this fun sketch for us. I started by picking my colors. I knew I wanted to use the Witch on a Broom Riley so I needed some Halloween colors. I think Papertrey's plum pudding, summer sunrise, and spring moss work so well together for Halloween colors. I stamped Riley and colored him with copic markers. Then, I cut it out with a nestability die. I cut all my other pieces and then used spring moss ink to stamp the bats on the spring moss cardstock. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Spooky Sweets set. I sewed all the pieces and then assembled my card. Last, I added some dew drops to the corners. (I love dew drops and Kristi just got in over 40 different colors!!)

Have a great weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Witch on a Broom Riley, Trick or Treat Mini (Hanna Stamps), Spooky Sweets (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: white, plum pudding, summer sunrise, spring moss (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette), spring moss (Papertrey Ink)

Accents: dew drops (Robin's Nest)

Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, nestability dies (Spellbinders)

Heartfelt Thanks

2008-08-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to make a card! Between my daughter and business responsibilities, today was the first time I had a chance to sit down and make anything. I'll be working with the new Papertrey Ink stamps over the next few days. You will love the new sets!

For this card, I dug out one of my all time favorite sets. I love the Butterfly Kisses set. Those two sentiments are my favorites. I love the elegant first letters.

Do you see how glittery my flower is? I just got a new product called Shimmerz Paint. I used the Angel Wings paint to paint my flower and make it all shimmery. I love the effect and they are so easy to use. I just used an aqua painter like Cami mentioned (on her blog and the Shimmerz blog) to paint the shimmer onto my flower and let it dry. The colors are just gorgeous and the paints come in lots of different colors.

Another photo to share the beautiful shimmer on the flower. Such an easy technique and it adds so much.

Have a great day!

Recipe

Stamps: Butterfly Kisses (Papertrey Ink)

Cardstock: vintage cream (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Guide Lines (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: noir (Palette)

Accents: plum pudding satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), flower (Bazzil), brad (SU!)

Tools: Angel Wings (Shimmerz Paints)

Tutorial: Preparing Unmounted Red Rubber Stamps

2008-08-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

I've received many questions about how to use unmounted red rubber stamps, like Hanna Stamps' Riley Moose stamps and High Hopes Rubber Stamps. You can apply EZ Mount to the back, use double sided tape, or use Alene's Tack it Over and Over. I use Alene's Tack it Over and Over. I just received some unmounted red rubber stamps from High Hopes Rubber Stamps and thought I would share how I prepare them.

This is how unmounted red rubber stamps usually come. Sometimes they are in a large sheet and sometimes individual stamps, but you usually always have to trim them. (You can click on all these photos for a larger image.)

Use scissors that are meant to trim rubber. I use SU's scissors, but I have heard great things about the Tim Holtz Tonic scissors, too. Trim around the edges of the stamps. Make sure you do not undercut the image because that can affect how well the image stamps.

Clean the back of the stamps. I just rub them on my stamp scrubber that has been sprayed with stamp cleaner. You just want to make sure the back is not dirty.

Then, I lay all the stamps face down on pieces of transparency. I use transparencies under the stamps just because I don't want to get glue on my work space if I happen to make a mess.

This is what the Alene's Tack it Over and Over looks like. You need this and a foam brush for the next step.

Add a little bit of Alene's Tack it Over and Over to the back and spread it out with the foam brush. You just need a thin layer to cover the back of the stamp. Let it dry. I usually just let mine dry overnight. When it is dry, it will be clear.

After it has dried, it will be very sticky. I stick the stamp to the palm of my hand and remove it. Repeat this a few times to make the back of the stamp not quite so sticky. You don't want it to be stuck down permanent, just tacky enough to stick to the block.

Now, you can use your unmounted red rubber stamps with your acrylic blocks. They stick to the block and are easily removed when you are done. I store my unmounted red rubber stamps in dvd tins. CD cases also work.

Have a great day!

Aargh, it be Pirate Hanna!

2008-07-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

LOL Sorry for the corny title! The fourth set being released tonight at Hanna Stamps is Pirate Hanna. She is so fun! I stamped and colored my image. Then, I stamped the background paper using the map stamp. I matted everything and assembled the layers. This was a very fast and easy card to make.

Don't you just love that sentiment, "stamp or be stamped!"? The release party is over in the SCS forum tonight. Party starts at 9 EST. There is always lots of chatting, prizes and fun!

Recipe

Stamps: Pirate Hanna (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), river rock, chocolate chip (SU!)

Ink: black (Momento)

Tools: copic markers, long rectangle nestability die (Spellbinders)

Luau Hanna

2008-07-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Luau Hanna is so adorable. She will be released tomorrow night along with the Halloween sets and Teacher set. I went way out of my comfort zone with these bright colors. I colored my Luau Hanna first just using colors I liked and then found cardstock to match. I stamped the background paper. I really like how Rose Red and black look together. To finish my card off, I added some flowers from my stash. Sorry, I don't know who made the flowers, but the leaves are from Prima Marketing. The flower center is dotted with copics, punched, and layered with a Making Memories page pebble.

Also, I already starting getting spam comments so I'm turning the word verification back on. It lasted, what 24 hrs?! Sorry, I tried.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Recipe

Stamps: Luau Hanna (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), Rose Red, Green Galore, Taken with Teal (SU!)

Ink: noir (Palette), black (Momento)

Accents: organdy ribbon, flowers, leaves (Prima Marketing), page pebble (Making Memories)

Tools: copic markers, long rectangle nestability die

Christmas Wishes

2008-07-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have mentioned here how much I love Christmas and Snowmen. Christmas is my favorite time of year. When I saw the snowmen and snowladies at High Hopes Stamps, I fell in love! They are the most adorable snow people stamps I've ever seen! I picked up Snowlady Surprise last time I ordered and the rest are going in with my next order!

I am also loving the sneak peeks I've been seeing of Katharina Frei's new line of stamps called Whiff of Joy. She's having a guest designer contest so I decided to throw my name in the hat. She provided a sketch and details here.

I stamped my snow lady and colored her with copic markers. Then, I cut all my mats and patterned papers and used an edge distressor to rough up the edges and sewed the pieces together. I added fun flock to the snow lady's hat, mittens, and coat. Then, I assembled my card.

Here's a close up of the snowlady. Can you see the fun flock on her coat, hat, and mittens? I love the fuzzy texture it adds.

Well, wish me luck and have a great day!

Recipe
Stamps: Snowlady Surprise (High Hopes Stamps), Believe (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), Blush Red Dark, Herbal Garden Dark (Prism)
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)
Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette)
Accents: red grosgrain ribbon, pewter brads and eyelet, white fun flock
Tools: copic markers, edge distressor (CTMH), sewing machine, nestability rectangle and circle dies (Spellbinders), Sakura glue pen

Trick or Treat

2008-07-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that Hanna Stamps is releasing four new sets on Friday. Two of the sets are mini sets. One of the mini sets is called Trick or Treat. It's such a great Halloween set. I love the scarecrow. I have two cards today using him.

I decided to make a late night, Halloween scene using the scarecrow, bat, and pumpkin. I started out by stamping my images. Then, I colored them with copic markers. Then, I used the air brush system with the copic markers to spray the sky, moon, and ground. To make the moon, I punched a circle out of a piece of scrap cardstock and used it as my mask for spraying the moon. As a finishing touch, I sprayed the entire piece with a dark grey to make it look like it was dark outside. When I was making my card, I also decided to random stamp some cardstock to make my own pattern paper using one of the bats included in the set. I cut a mat and my card base, sponged all the edges, and stitched everything together with black thread. So, what do you think? I think I came pretty close to what I envisioned. The air brush system is so nice with the copics. It just lets you add something extra.

My other card is a very simple card. One thing to note with the copics, after I colored both my scarecrows, I used the colorless blender to make the clothes looked faded.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented yesterday. It's great to hear from each and every one of you. I guess it just helps me get to know my readers a little better when you comment so that is why I love hearing from you even if you just want to say hi. I turned the word verification off for now. If I start getting spam, I will have to turn it back on. We'll see how it goes. Thanks so much for sharing your opinions!

Have a great day!

Recipe for first card
Stamps: Trick or Treat (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), black, pumpkin pie (SU!)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette)

Tools: copic markers, copic airbrush system, sewing machine, circle punch, sponge dauber

Recipe for second card

Stamps: Trick or Treat (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), blue bayou, pumpkin pie (SU!)

Ink: black (Momento)

Accents: blue bayou ribbon (SU!)

Tools: copic markers, nestability circle and rectangle dies (Spellbinders), cuttlebug embossing folder