Good Times!

This week's LateNightStampers Challenge is to do a card that has a summer theme. I saw the ducks from Wagon Full of Fun and thought the little guys would be fun to use for this card. I stamped the ducks 3 times, fully colored in 2 and only colored and cut the wing on one duck. I used a Hobby Blade to cut between the slats of the wagon. It's hard to see, but I used a Brilliant Blue brad to attach the handle of the wagon, and 2 Chocolate Chip brads for the wheels on the wagon. I sponged Kiwi Kiss along the bottom of the white Top Note cardstock, and used a water color brush to add some blades of grass. I then sponged YoYo Yellow at the top left-hand side for the sun, and then filled in with Bashful Blue for the sky using another sponge. Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a good one!

Stamp Sets: Wagon Full of Fun, Celebrate Everything (saying)
Inks: Basic Black, YoYo Yellow, Real Red, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black Marker
Papers: Bella Rose DP, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Brilliant Blue Brad, Real Red Brads, Chocolate Chip Brad, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Top Note Die, Big Shot, Ticket Corner Punch, Window Punch, Water Color Brush, Hobby Blade, Paper Piercing Tool, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scissors

Thank You In Ruby Red!

This week's LateNightStampers challenge was to make a card using the colors Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Kraft. These aren't colors that I normally gravitate towards, so it was fun to come up with a card using them. I inked up the flower image using a Ruby Red marker and then lightly touched the edges with a Chocolate Chip marker. The stems were inked with an Old Olive marker. I then stamped the image 3 times on a piece of white cardstock. The edges of the cardstock were distressed and then I added some color with a sponge. Here's the details:

Stamp Sets: Flowers in Silhouette, Warmest Regards
Inks: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Papers: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Whisper White
Accessories: Chocolate Chip and Old Olive Brads, Chocolate Chip Double-Stitched Ribbon, Eyelet Texturz Plate, Big Shot, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Spiral Punch, Photo Corners Punch, Distressing Tool, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals

Blog Tour Projects - Stayed Tune for Another Tour in July!

I hope you enjoyed the awesome blog tour that I was a part of for the past 48 hours! I had a wonderful time going from blog to blog; what an incredible group of artists! The links are gone for this tour, so I hope you bookmarked all your favorites. Our next tour will be July 27 and 28. It will coincide with the launch of our yearly catalog, so be sure to stop back here in July for updates!

The following were projects I did for the blog tour. I chose to show projects using the awesome Mat Pack and Paper Piercing technique. The paper piercing template in the Mat Pack is awesome to use not only as a guide for piercing paper, but for setting brads and eyelets. I try to incorporate some type of paper piercing in almost all of my projects. Other ideas for paper piercing would be: create borders, rain drops, scallops, creating motion - paper pierce the trial of a butterfly, bee or bird, or create stems for flowers. The possibilities are endless, and it's a great way to enhance your creative works of art!

The projects are posted below. I hope you like them!

The above card is one that I did for the LNS Challenge this week. I paper pierced around the edge on the Brocade Blue c/s and just at the corners on the Chocolate Chip c/s (sorry, it's a little hard to see). I lightly rubbed a sponge over the stamped image using Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue and Always Artichoke. The moon image was made by punching out a circle with a 1-1/4" circle punch on a post-it-note. I layered this on the card after I stamped the flowers on the bottom.

Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes, Oval All
Inks: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Papers: Whisper White, Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip DP & C/S
Accessories: Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Large Oval Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch Brocade Blue Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Hodgepodge Hardware, Sponges, Post-It Note, Mini-Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

We actually did this card at my last stamp camp and it was a lot of fun to make. In the finished card, I also paper pierced just the border on the left-hand side of the card, and the scallops on the Baja Breeze scallop oval. I cut the flower image a part and layered each piece separate. The butterflies where layered together using Mini-Glue Dots and silver cording. Here's the details:

Stamp Set: Soft Summer, Oval All, Great Friend (butterfly image)
Inks: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black
Papers: Walk in the Park DP, Whisper White, So Saffron, Baja Breeze
Accessories: So Saffron Ribbon, Oval Scallop Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Silver Brads, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Water Color Brush, Scissors, Silver Cording, Mini-Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

To create the swirl of the butterfly, I drew a pattern on a piece of vellum cardstock. I then paper pierced the swirl following the pattern.

It might be hard to see the pierced squares, but here is the finished product!

Stamp Sets: Soft Flowers (Saying)

Papers: Bella Rose DP, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette DP & C/S

Inks: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Brads, White Brad, CAD, Large Dots Texturz Plate, Daisies #2 Dies, Big Shot, Ticket Corner Punch, Window Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals

This is what the designer paper looked like after I was done "connecting the dots"!

To create the dots on the designer paper, I lined up the Mat Pack as shown and paper pierced a row at a time.



The final product! The rose was embossed with white ep and the watercolored in using Cameo Coral and Apricot Appeal reinkers and an Aqua Pen.

Stamp Sets: Fifth Avenue Floral, Dear Friend (Saying)
Inks: Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal
Papers: Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Vellum c/s
Accessories: Manhattan Folder, Large Dots Texturz Plate, Little Leaves Die, Big Shot, Window Punch, White EP, Heat Gun, Water Color Brush, Aqua Painter, Whisper White Ribbon, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Scissors, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals


I lined up the template from the Mat Pack and pierced a border along the edge.

SCS Challenge Card

I had a little bit of time to stamp today and came up with this card for today's SCS color challenge. The flowers were embossed with white ep and then I used the new watercolor technique; which I don't know the true name of! Sorry I have seen so many different names for this technique - if anyone out there knows the correct name - email me!! I found it easier to put a little bit of water on the image with my water color brush and then added the color with the Aqua Pen. I felt it gave me more control over the amount of water on the image. After I inked up one of the butterfly image with Summer Sun, I took a Only Orange marker and added some color along the edges. Here's the details:

Stamp Sets: Oval All, Soft Summer, Great Friend
Ink Pads & Reinkers: Kiwi Kiss, Only Orange, Summer Sun, Old Olive
Papers: Retired Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Only Orange Eyelets & Ribbon, CAD, Silver Cording, Water Color Brush, Aqua Painter, White EP, Heat Gun, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Scissors, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots

It All Started.....

with these 2 cards...... I was going through my stash of cards and found these - the first 2 cards I ever made. I can't even tell you the name of the sets, but thought it would be fun to share them! I love stamping, and got hooked when I hosted a workshop in 1998 for my good friend, Lisa and her sister, Suzie. I think I signed up to be a demonstrator under Lisa shortly after that, and here I am 10+ years later!

Shimmery Flowers

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you're having a great day. I have to admit, that I feeling a little sad today and really miss my mom. She passed away 3 years ago after an 11 month battle with lung cancer. She was and will forever by my hero! I can't wait until I will see her again, and spend the rest of eternity with her!

I finally got my shimmery white card stock and had some time to try this new watercolor technique - now I can't stop! To create the effect, you need to first emboss your image using a VersaMark inkpad and white embossing powder. I tried this with gold ep, and didn't like the look at all. I then lightly ran the Aqua Painter over the image to get it wet; you can spritz some water on the card stock as well. Then took some color from the Apricot Appeal reinker and went over the image with the Aqua Painter, and added the Cameo Coral color from the reinker with the Aqua Painter. I believe that I first saw this technique on Patty Bennett's blog http://http://pattystamps.typepad.com/. After the card stock drys, simply cut it out and create your own work of art! I found that this technique only works on the Shimmery card stock - I tried it on Whisper White and Glossy and it didn't work at all. I am thinking of doing this technique at my upcoming stamp camp on Sunday, May 24th. Here's the details:

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
Reinkers: Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral
Papers: Shimmery White, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Accessories: Certainly Celery Ribbon, SU Little Leaves Die, Texturz Plate, Big Shot, VersaMark pad, White EP, Distressing Tool, Paper Piercing Tool, Mini-Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensional

Button Box

I made this button box for this week's LNS challenge - which was to make a project using circle. So I thought, why not make a button box - and here it is. The b and x are SU chipboard that I covered in designer paper. It was fun to make and I now have a place to stash my buttons! Happy Mother's Day everyone - hope you have a great day celebrating you!

Inks: Black Marker
Papers: Rainbow Sherbet DP, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Green Galore
Accessories: Clear and SS Buttons, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8", 1-1/4", 1", 3/4" Punches, White Eyelets, CAD, Green Galore & Tempting Turquoise Brads, Chipboard, Paper Piercing Tool, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal and Apple Green Ribbon, White Thread, Mini-Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Tin Box

Quick Thank You Card

I needed a super quick thank you card and came up with this one. Because the window sheets are so reflective, it was hard to take a good picture of the card. This card took me about 5 minutes to do! Here's the recipe:

Set: Matchbox Messages
Inks: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip Inkpad and Marker
Papers: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Clearly Thanks Printed Window Sheet, Baja Breeze Ribbon, Punches: Spiral, 1" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, Mini-Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot, Large Dots Plate

Top Note Die Purse

I made this purse gift card holder from a tutorial I saw on Becky Roberts blog (http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/2009/03/top-note-purse-instructions.html). I have seen these on SCS and really wanted to give it a try - so here is my version!

Stamps: None!
Inks: None!
Papers: Pink Pirouette card stock and designer paper, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Big Shot, SU Top Note Die, Flower Daisies #2 Die, Scallop Circle Die, White Brads, Trio Flower Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Pretty in Pink Ribbon, CAD, White Eyelets, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots, Scissors, Velcro Tab

Card for Bridal Shower

My nephew and his fiance's bridal shower is tomorrow and I made them this card. I am not sure which one I like better, the one with the pearls in the corner or without. This is how I made the dress: I ran a piece of vellum card stock through the Big Shot using the Manhattan Flower Die Folder. I then ran the vellum through the Big Shot using the Scallop Circle Die and then cut the dress out with a pattern I got from Patty Bennett. I layered the background of the card using Pink Pirouette c/s, then Pink Pirouette DP, then layered a dotted pattern from the Printed Window Sheets. I colored in a flower from the Pretties kit using a Pink Pirouette ink pad, then layered with a flower from the Filigree brads and added a pearl on the top. I colored in the saying using Pretty in Pink and Basic Black markers, and punched it out with a large oval punch. Thanks for stopping by; have a great weekend!

Sets: Oval All
Markers: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink
Papers: Pink Pirouette c/s and dp, Whisper White, Vellum c/s
Accessories: Big Shot, Manhattan Flower Die Folder, Scallop Circle Die, Pretties Kit, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Filigree Brad, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Clearly Thanks Window Sheets, Paper Piercing Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots