Sad News

My grandfather passed away on Friday, so I will be traveling to West Virginia for the service and to be with my family. Needless to say, there will not be any new posts for the next couple of days.

All About Alphas

The November Stamp Camps are just around the corner, so here is a little sneak peek as to what we'll be doing! The theme for November is "All About Alphas" - we'll be incorporating different alphabet sets into each one of our projects! Trust me - alphabet stamp sets are good for more than just titles on scrapbook pages!

This project uses one of my absolute FAVORITE alphabet sets, the Jumbo Outline Alphabet. (I've uploaded a project or two with this set before) These letters look great when they aren't perfectly aligned and they overlap a little bit. The Chocolate Chip cardstock is stamped with the new Dotted background stamp and the Old Olive cardstock is distressed with the Cutter Kit. For the stamp camps, I think we'll use the gorgeous Chocolate Chip satin ribbon from the Holiday Mini. (Its on its way to my house as I type!)

Keep checking back for more pics of this month's stamp camp projects! I'll also be posting sneak peeks of the Stampers 7 projects, too!

Edited to Add: I forgot to mention that I CASE'd this card from someone on Splitcoast - so I can't take credit for the cute design!!

Warm Wishes Sympathy Card

I got a phone call today that my great-uncle had passed away and I really wanted to create a card for my great-aunt that expressed my sympathy without saying "With Sympathy". I thought that this "Warm Wishes" sentiment would work nicely. I'm not sure what exactly inspired the color combination of Close to Cocoa and Ruby Red...(maybe it was the fact that my great-aunt's name is Ruby???)...but it works.

This wasn't exactly how I pictured this card turning out...but I do like the finish product. I tried to do a card that wasn't so even and symmetrical, but I think the OCD side of me kicked in! I just wasn't feelin' it! So, I centered the main image and then added a strip of Whisper White to balance it out a bit.

Here lately it seems like I'm running a little low on my stampin' mojo...I'm hoping it comes back soon!

Eat Cake!

I love the Eat Cake stamp set! The present, the cake, the candles...all so very cute! This is a card that I made a while back and then just tucked away in my card box. I used a gender-neutral color combo so that I could grab it and go when I needed a last minute birthday card. When a co-worker (who just so happens to love birthday cake as much as I do) celebrated her birthday last week, I decided this would be perfect!

The card base is Whisper White. The 4 pierced squares are Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Bordering Blue, and So Saffron. The streamers for the present were stamped first and then the present was stamped, cut out, and popped up with a dimensional. Then I stamped the candles along the bottom of the card. And don't forget the perfect birthday greeting...Eat Cake!!

Out of Town

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that I'll be out of town this weekend, so that means do posts for a couple of days! Check back the beginning of next week for some fresh new projects!

Glenda's Halloween Card

Along with all of my goodies from her downline swap, Glenda also sent this fabulous card in the package! I love it!! It has patterned paper and ribbon, how could I not love it?!?

Its a square card (fits in the 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" envelopes). The short flap on the left leaves just enough room for writing a short note on the inside of the card! Cute, huh?

I think I'm going to CASE this layout for my Christmas cards...Thanks Glenda for making the "design" process a bit easier!!! :) Now all I have to do is decide which stamp set and patterned paper to use!

Happy Mail!

Guess what Mr. Postman brought me today??? Bills - nope. Junk mail - wrong again! He brought my swap cards! A couple of weeks ago I posted the swap card that I was sending to my demo-friend Glenda. And this is what I got in return! Pretty fabulous, huh?!?

The back left is a tent-topper card with the jumbo Snow wheel shadow stamped on the front. (You know where you wheel the image in white ink first and then you wheel over it with a darker color? Yeah - I can never get mine to match up but this card turned out BEAUTIFUL!) The back middle is a card that pairs reverse masking with the Stem Silhouettes stamp set. The color combo is awesome!! The back right is like a stained glass window in real life. The tag from Holy Triptych is stamped and then the inside is cut out. The Mary and Joseph image is stamped on another piece of cardstock and then layered under the cut out window. (That probably makes no sense, but I'm trying to do this card justice!)

The middle left uses a trio Season of Joy Christmas trees. They are masked to give the main image a bit of dimension. The colors on this one are fabulous! The middle card on the middle row uses some of the delicious wrapping paper as the background! How cute is that?!? And with the amount of wrapping paper that comes on a roll, it would last forever!! The middle left card also uses the Season of Joy Christmas tree, but this one pairs it with the Dashing designer series paper for a totally different look. Real Red brads were also added for a little bit of WOW on the front of the card!

The front left card uses one of my all-time favorite holiday themes - SNOWFLAKES!!! And the way that the creator used a snowflake for the "O" in JOY...just precious! The front right card has some awesome circle tags from the Naughty or Nice stamp set. Each one is double-matted and "hung" with a bow!

I love each and every one of these cards! These gals are SUPER-talented and I love to participate in their swaps!!

Punkin' Seeds

I saw these super-cute seed cards on SCS and the original poster (I can't remember her name!!) attached the .pdf file for others to use. I chose to CASE the Jack-O-Lantern seed packet card - I thought it would be perfect for my Halloween cards this year!

The card base is River Rock. I matted a piece of Apple Cider designer series paper (which is just as yummy as it sounds!) on to a piece of Close to Cocoa and attached it to the card front with dimensionals. I printed the faux seed packet on to a sheet of Whisper White cardstock. I stamped the short, fat pumpkin from Carved and Candlelit with Really Rust, the stem is in Wild Wasabi and the face is Basic Black. The seed packet is mounted on to the card front with dimensionals and the card is topped off with a bit of Wild Wasabi double stitched grosgrain ribbon!

Isn't this a super-cute idea?!? If you are interested in the seed packet cards, drop me a comment and I'll send you the .pdf files! In the mean time, I'm going to back track and see if I can find out who the original artist was so I can give her the proper credit!

WANTED

My hubby and his family love horses and have a barn full of them on their farm. So, when I first saw this stamp set in the Fall-Winter Collection, I knew that I had to add it to my arsenal! This stamp set, Wanted, closely coordinates with the Style Watch Collection Boho West. So, of course, I had to also order the Outlaw Designer Series Paper and Jumbo Eyelets!!

I normally don't use whole lot of Sage Shadow, but I really like the way it looks when you pair it with Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa. So, for the base of the card (which measures 5 1/4" x 5 1/4") I pulled out a sheet of Sage Shadow. The card base is stamped with the large circle design and then I sponged the edges for a distressed look.

I used a sheet of patterned paper from Outlaw for the background behind the image. Its matted on a piece of sponged and distressed Chocolate Chip. I used my Chocolate Chip Craft Pad to stamp "WANTED" at the bottom of the patterned paper.

The main image is a piece of distressed Very Vanilla cardstock lightly stamped with the large circle design in Close to Cocoa and the paisley image in Sage Shadow (I stamped off twice before I stamped the images on the Very Vanilla). The horse image is stamped first with the Chocolate Chip Craft Pad and then repeatedly stamped - without reinking.

The card looked a little plain as it was, so I added some twill tape that was sponged with Chocolate Chip ink and two Jumbo Eyelets. (Setting the Jumbo Eyelets is SUPER easy with the Crop-A-Dile!!) Perfect for my favorite cowboy!

Bundle of Joy

One of my stamp campers just found out that she's having a baby boy, so I had to pull out the Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery! This stork is from the last catalog...or maybe even the one before that. Either way, I love this little guy!

The stork image is colored with Stampin' Write Markers and the little baby face has a dab of Crystal Effects. The congrats stamp from Circle of Friendship is stamped with Bashful Blue and then punched out with the 1 1/4" circle punch. Its matted in Bashful Blue cardstock and then popped up onto the scalloped circle.

Have you guys tried the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon yet? Its FABULOUS!

So Chic

One more sneek peak at the October Stamp Camp projects...this one uses a SUPER-CUTE background stamp new to the Fall-Winter Collection. Its Tres Chic and I love, love, LOVE it! You can ink the entire stamp to use it as a background, or you can use Stampin' Write markers to only ink one or two words for your greeting.

The card base is Blush Blossom (a color that I just don't use enough...its really pretty, but it just not one of my "go-to colors). Tres Chic is stamped in Always Artichoke on to a piece of Whisper White and then covered with vellum. I think the vellum just gives it a bit of a softer look. The flowers are from Heartfelt Thanks. Then to finish it off...you guessed it! Ribbon! So much for my ribbonless-streak, huh?

Paisley & Perfect Presentation

Here is another card from the October Stamp Camps. This one features the Paisley background stamp, which happens to be one of my favorites. You can pair it with really dainty florals for a soft, feminine card or project...or you can use it with more rustic colors for a masculine look! Here, we are going to be using for a Christmas card.

The Paisley background is stamped on to the Ballet Blue card front with Ballet Blue Classic ink. The Christmas tree is stamped in Wild Wasabi on Whisper White and then matted on Wild Wasabi. The Real Red strip of cardstock is layered over the card front and secured with Real Red brads. Finallly, JOY is stamped on to the strip of Real Red with the White Craft Pad.

Do you notice something a bit different about this card??? NO RIBBON! Can you believe it?!? I actually finished a card without a single stitch of ribbon, hemp, or fiber! Don't worry, it wasn't for a lack of trying - I was out of the Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon!

Holiday Mini Swap

I've mentioned before that I often participate in swaps with my SU! Demo-friend, Glenda. She always includes me in on the downline swaps she hosts...even if I'm not officially in her downline. This one was for the Holiday Mini Catalog and I chose to use True Friend and the new Boho wheel.

The card base is Kraft cardstock and I used my Chocolate Chip and Whisper White Craft Pads to create the background. The Boho wheel was wheeled along a torn piece of Chocoalte Chip cardstock. The main image was inked with Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive Classic Stampin' Write Markers. I pierced the bottom of the Whisper White cardstock and then distressed the edge.

I can't wait to see the cards I get in return! This is quite possibly my favorite mini catalog yet and with only 2 months left, there are still quite a few items on my wish list.

Have I uploaded this one before???

I was looking through by blog pics folder for a Christmas card that we'll be doing at the October Stamp Camps and I came across this chef card. I don't think I've posted it here...but then again, its kinda late and my mind gets a little loopy when I'm up past my bedtime! If you've seen this one before, the you can just ooohhh and aaahhh at it again!

This card is for a subcontractor that the company I work for does a lot of business with - for Labor Day, he sent the people in the office Boston Butts! Hence the pig on the platter! The butts really are great and my hubby and I look forward to them every year!

The base of the card was stamped with the Canvas background stamp in Bravo Burgundy Classic ink. Then Print Pattern was stamped in Bordering Blue on to a piece of Bordering Blue cardstock. The chef image from Voila was sent to me by one of my SCS friends - she had stamped it with Stazon, so I used an AquaPainter and ink pads to color him in. The little piggy is from Very Punny (SAB 2007) and is popped up with a dimensional.

October Stamp Camps - Background Basics

The theme for the October Stamp Camp is Background Basics. Each of the projects will feature a background stamp from the Fall-Winter Collection. This is one of the projects that we'll be doing this month. You can't really see the background all that well, but I used Flannel Plaid stamped in Chocolate Chip Classic ink on the Chocolate Chip card base.


The main image is a pumpkin from the new Autumn Harvest set from the Holiday Mini. I love, love, LOVE this set!!! Its perfect for watercoloring! I stamped the tall pumpkin on Naturals Ivory cardstock using the Timber Brown Stazon Pad and then watercolored it using a combination of Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Classic Stampin' Pads in Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, and Chocolate Chip. I love the way this card turned out - it reminds me of fall!!