Monday, November 2, 2009

My first digital card!

I recently purchased My Digital Studio from Stampin Up! It took me a while to get around to playing with it, especially because I had to sort of "educate" myself before I could do anything. After watching a few quick videos, putting digital projects together is a breeze. I think my favorite use for this program is designing a card layout without having to use up all of your supplies while going the trial and error route...what can I say? I'm a cheap-o! Anyway, was there any doubt that my first card would be PINK!?! I went with the baby theme because my cousin just had a sweet little baby girl about two weeks ago. I also want to direct your attention to some WONDERFUL and PINK! blog candy here So here is my first shot at MDS...

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

New Cards

Hi there! So having a new puppy has been keeping me BUSY! But somehow I managed to complete a few cards this week. I got a huge order of new stamps a little over a week ago and I've barely had time to play with them. Luckily, Maggie likes to curl up and take a nap at my feet while I stamp...what a perfect match! Here is my giant order of stamps- It took a *few* minutes to mount them all :) Here is a cute card that I made using the Medallion stamp, the En Francais background stamp, and some oh so lovely shimmer paint. I think it came out really pretty and elegant and best of all, I made it so it could be used for almost any occasion- birthday, wedding, anniversary, thank you etc.. Here are two Christmas cards I made using the new ornament punch and the Delightful Decorations stamp set. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when stamps and punches coordinate together! Thats it for now, hope you like 'em!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Meet Maggie!

I just wanted to introduce my brand new pride and joy...Maggie I've been waiting for her to be available for adoption for about 3 weeks and I finally got to go and adopt her and bring her home last night. She is soooo sweet and she's already doing pretty good with potty training. She's very snuggly and loves to cuddle. She loves the twins and is getting along with them just fine. She is a lil mutt- She's a mix of lab, beagle, and golden retriever. It's so wonderful to finally have a fur baby back in my life. Now I'm off to go enjoy my new little friend!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

World Card Making Day Challenge Part Four: Australia

Finally we have Australia. I really liked this one. I've always thought that Aboriginal art was pretty cool ever since I did an Aboriginal art project in art class when I was in grade school. I happened to have a stamp that was made up entirely of dots- so it was perfect. I just went with an earthy color palette and put it all together. Easy Peasy!

World Card Making Day Challenge Part Three: India

Next we have India. This one was easy as far as colors and paper and I even had a stamp that I thought had an Indian feel to it, but I had trouble with the "bling" aspect. Indian design needs a lot of gold and jewels. I personally have an aversion to gold so I have NO gold accessories in my collection- not even embossing powder! So I just worked with the bling that I had and did my best- not my favorite card though...

World Card Making Day Challenge Part Two: Mexico

Next up in the WCMD challenge is Mexico. The ribbon that I used sort of reminded me of a Mexican tapestry and I chose the large rose stamp because it reminded me of something that I flamenco dancer might wear in her hair or something. These challenges are hard because I didn't realize how non-cultural my stamps are.

World Card Making Day Challenge Part One: Japan

This weekend I was inspired to participate in some challenges hosted by Papertrey Ink in honor of World Card Making Day. Each Challenge has a Culture/Country as it's theme. First up we have Japan.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Welcome October!

I love October! It's such a great month...mostly because it's when I was born :) Just kidding! It's just a lovely month. I love the weather and the leaves changing. I love to pull out the sweaters and hooded sweatshirts and get cozy. Other great things about October: World Card Making Day, Breast Cancer Awareness Month (which means I see pink everywhere- and that's ALWAYS good!), My birthday, and my Momma's birthday. This particular October is going to be great because I get to be in one of my best friend's weddings next weekend and it will be gorgeous. Plus this month I will be getting a new puppy! Yay! I can't wait. One of these little loveys will be mine in just two weeks :) They are a mix of lab/beagle/golden retriever. I'm not sure which one I will get, but whoever it is will surely be spoiled rotten. Since October is breast cancer awareness month, I will dedicate this post to all of the fighters and survivors as well as the wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends that we've lost to breast cancer. Needless to say I will be featuring projects in my signature color- PINK! First a few cutesy cards Here is a fabulous shadow box frame that I put together using a card front that I got when I participated in a swap at the Stampin Up! Cincinnati Regional conference last month. It was my favorite card that I got and it matches my bathroom perfectly. So I just embellished it a bit more and added some extra pieces of cardstock and stuck it in a shadow box frame. Cute huh?

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

I'm still alive...

In case you were wondering, I did not fall of the face of the earth! I just moved to Cleveland... I also have not stopped stamping. In fact I have been pretty busy with my friend Elly's bachelorette party invitations. I kept with what seems to be the"traditional" bachelorette colors of black and bright pink. I also threw in some cutey patootie polka dots and a hodge podge of bridal themed stamps. I used my two sizes of square punches and layered them. I love this look, but believe it or not I had never done it before because I only recently got both of the square punches. And you bet your A$$ that I would never take the time to tediously measure and cut several tiny squares...but with the punches it's simple and easy and looks perfect every time! Pretty sure you can't tell from the picture, but each of the images were colored over with sparkle pen, so it's very shimmery in real life. Here's my project...

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Fling before the Ring

p.s. Blogger is stupid and I can't figure out why my text is appearing underlined like a link...but frankly, I don't have the patience to mess with it right now...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Happy New Catalog Day!

Woo Hoo! The brand new 2009-2010 Stampin Up! catalog goes "live" today! It is a great catalog, and I have most of it memorized after obsessing over each page of my advanced copy. I'm loving the new In Colors and I'm also loving how much the color Old Olive is featured a lot. Old Olive was a color I never gave much though to but it looks great with a ton of color combinations. Just wait till you see them all! Here is a sweet little card featuring one of the stamps from a new level 3 hostess set. It's an awesome stamp set that is very versatile because it has several "seasonal" stamps...but of course my FAVORITE was the precious little CUPCAKES! I'm such a cupcake fanatic! These ones are super cute and very fun to color. Supplies: (All Stampin Up!) The More the Merrier Stamp Set (level 3 hostess) Certainly Celery CS Melon Mambo CS Pink Pirouette CS Whisper White CS Basic Black Classic Ink Top Note Die Melon Mambo Polka Dot grosgrain ribbon Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Regal Rose Stampin Write Markers White Signo Gel Pen

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Razzle Dazzle!

I'm so excited! I just played with my new Razzle Dazzle stamp set! It's not really my typical "style" but I really like it. I almost didn't buy it based on the picture of the set but once I saw some examples of things made with it I realized it was very cute and actually pretty versatile. In the cards I'll show you today I used the "flowery" stamp as the focal point but I've seen lots of cute cards where people have used this stamp as more of a "background" stamp which also looks really cool. To use the image as a focal point you have to have some patience because it really looks best if you color it with markers so that you can have multiple colors for the flowers and stems. Since the image is made of solid lines and shapes you can't just stamp with black and color it in later. TIP: Whenever you color on your stamps with Stampin Write markers always be sure to breathe on your stamp right before you stamp it so that you can re-moisten the ink. Supplies: (All Stampin Up!) Card One: Razzle Dazzle Stamp Set Crushed Curry CS Rich Razzleberry CS Melon Mambo CS Whisper White CS Razzleberry Lemonade DSP Stampin Write Markers: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay Scallop Edge Punch Card Two: Razzle Dazzle Stamp Set Crushed Curry CS Rich Razzleberry CS Old Olive CS Whisper White CS Razzleberry Lemonade DSP Stampin Write Markers: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry,Old Olive Scallop Edge Punch Modern Label Punch Word Window Punch

Saturday, June 27, 2009

I heart wedding cards!

Back again with another wedding card! I told you they're my favorite! Good thing I have several friend's weddings coming up to use all of my wedding cards. The inspiration for this card came from one of my friends in my Stampin Up! Demo group. We did a stamp camp with our group a few months ago and she created a card for it using this stamp set and color combo. To tell you the truth I had never paid much attention to this stamp set until I saw the card she created. It's just sooo stunning and elegant. So as soon as I could, I purchased the stamp set for myself and this is the 1st card I've made with it. I think it came out great. I just love how classy and elegant it looks. Supplies: (All Stampin Up!) Sahara Sand CS Basic Black CS Very Vanilla CS Basic Black Classic Ink Sahara Sand Classic Ink Together Forever Stamp Set Basic Black 1/4 in grosgrain ribbon

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Tis the season for graduations

My boss is graduating from her residency program this weekend. Graduations are old hat for her because she's certainly had plenty of them. First high school, then undergrad, then med school, and now residency! That's a LOT of school. She deserves a nice graduation card! I've been wanting to try this ribbon technique that I've been seeing around blogland lately. You basically just fold the ribbon over on itself in sections and staple it at the top. I combined it with my favorite Big Shot staple, the Top Note and used a little strip of paper to cover the ugly staples at the top of the ribbon. I used the brand new modern label punch that pairs perfectly with the brand new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set as well as the Word Window punch...Loving this combo! Supplies: (All Stampin Up!) Kiwi Kiss CS Pink Pirouette CS Raspberry Tart DSP Pink Pirouette 1 1/4 grosgrain ribbon Rhinestone Brad Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

First week of Summer and I'm Big on Spring

Summer is finally here! Woo Hoo! I'm headed to the pool with these crazy babies this afternoon! I love my job :) So sorry I havn't had much time for blogging lately but I do have quite a few cards to share. I think my new method of blogging will be to stock pile my creations and then photograph them all at once and blog them all at once but have them posts scheduled to publish once a day or once a week...something like that... For today in light of the sadness that comes along with all of the current Stampin Up! stamps that will be retired as of next Wednesday I will be highlighting my very favorite stamp set that has been retired for over a year now- Big on Spring. It's so stinkin cute and even though it's retired I still always come back to it! I am definitely one of those demonstrators that does not give up on my stamps just because they are retired. Don't get me wrong, I am also OBSESSED with getting to see, and buy, and play with BRAND NEW stamps, papers, and accessories so I also used one of the brand new In Colors on one of my cards. The first card I have to show you is one that I created (at the last minute) for my best friend's wedding shower last weekend. I used the Bride to Be stamp from the Big on Spring stamp set and colored it in with my Stampin Write markers. I added sparkle with my favorite little gem, the Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Pen...I can never have too much sparkle! And this pen just gives a nice subtle little shimmer that makes everything so much prettier. I also added some tiny adhesive pearls because they are just so precious and elegant and bride-like. I used SU Brushed Silver CS and embossed it with silver embossing powder and the Baroque Motifs stamp set. I used my favorite Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist Card stock. I am OBSESSED with this color...Next to pink, this is my favorite color. I really wish SU! would make this color as part of their collection. Not that I don't love PTI, but I can't be a PTI demo so I wish I had it as an option for SU! For the next card, I used the Let the CUTE begin stamp. Baby cards and wedding cards are actually probably my favorite types of cards to make so you can see why I just love this old stamp set! I busted out my very first sheet of my brand new In Color cardstock- which is my favorite perk of being a demo- I get to play with new stuff early! Yay! I used the Bermuda Bay color which looks so awesome paired with Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery. (It actully looks great with a ton of SU colors- stay tuned) I stamped an extra image on blue CS and cut it out and popped it up to give it some dimmension and a pop of color.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

Today I decided to participate in my first color challenge. I suppose I chose this as my first challenge because it uses one of my all time FAVORITE color combos AND it comes from my stamping idol Dawn McVey. She is absolutely brilliant! I want to be Dawn McVey when I grow up :) The colors for this challenge come from Papertrey Ink and they are Aqua Mist, Melon Berry, Dark Chocolate and White. I only own 4 PTI stamp sets and for this color combo I thought that the one that I have that lent itself the best was Bitty Baby Blessings. I used it for both cards that I made. I also used the PTI Bitty Dots patterned paper which is just the most precious stuff ever!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Holy Blog Candy!

All I can say is WOW! I've just come across the mother of all blog candy! Debbie is celebrating her blogaversary with the most generous blog candy I have ever seen! She is going to make one blog reader VERY happy! You should go check out Debbie's Blog and congratulate her (and enter to win!)

Monday, April 27, 2009

Cards, Cards, and More Cards

Here are some of my latest card creations...I havn't had time or energy to blog lately so instead of posting each card seperately, I'll just do them all in one fell swoop and I'll try to be better about blogging before my cards get stock piled :) Later this week I will also be posting some 3D projects I made using some "My Timeless Templates" from Papertrey Ink...so stay tuned for those. Here are my most recent card creations... My Challenge entry for my Stampin Up! demo group meeting...I didn't win :(