Polly wants some cocoa!

HI Stampers!!!

Today is Blogger's Challenge Day! We were to do a sketch challenge this week. Our Challenge "mom, " Lisa, provided us with a great sketch that I will use again and again, I'm sure!

I'm not sure why it is so small.....I uploaded it on large setting.....argh!!!!

Here is my take on it:

I'm in a hurry today...can't get into too much detail - I have a Stamp Camp tonight and I still need to make some goodies :)

The designer series paper is from Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper in the mini catalog. This paper has a metallic sheen to it.....wait until you get your hands on some - it is divine!! The stamp set is my beloved cold and cuddly. I absolutely adore that set!!! Polly, the polar bear, is stamped with whisper white craft ink onto kraft card stock, as is the hat and cup of cocoa. Now that could be any hot drink you desire....but I am a hot chocolate girl, through and through! I blinged up her hat, steam and iceberg with dazzling diamonds and a two way glue pen. The ribbon is soft suede polka dot grosgrain ribbon.

See Polly?

For the brad placement, I used three white grommets and I placed large red rhinestone brads from fire round rhinestone brads in the center - more bling!!!!

Leave me some love, I would love to know what you think of Polly.

Make sure you check back - my next stamp camp is awesome - if I can toot my own horn ;)

A beary good birthday

HI everyone!!!

This morning, I pulled out my new set from the holiday mini, beary best friends. It is the sweetest stamp set from Stampin' Up!'s build a bear collection. You know, even if you aren't into build a bear - this stamp set makes the cutest kids cards or for people who are a kid at heart. Wanna see it?

Isn't she sweet? I will start at the card base though. It is pale plum that I embossed with my big shot using the stampin' up exclusive texturz plates. I love the subtle amount of texture that the plates offer. The designer series paper here is from cottage wall. Remember the ribbon from yesterday?? You know, the white ribbon with the red stitching along the edges????? Well...remember when I said it was from a 2 spool collection???? That gorgeous old olive taffeta ribbon with the white edges is from the other spool! That is right - both of those are from mistletoe ribbon collection! I have a feeling I will be going through a LOT of that ribbon!

The bear was watercolored with close to cocoa and an aquapainter. I colored her shoes in with the rich razzleberry stampin' write marker. Here dress was paper pieced with the same paper on the card - how cute is that?? I accented her collar, waist band and her sleeve bands with the white gel pen. The balloon was stamped on rich razzleberry card stock. Before cutting it out, I put crystal effects on it and sprinkled some dazzling diamonds on it. Doesn't that balloon look like a fun time? lol!

well, that is about it today - I have to get some laundry done.....argh!!!!

Frosty Penny

Hi Stampers!!

When I saw the scs color challenge today - real red, kraft, chocolate chip and we could use black and/or white as neutrals - I immediately thought of my new set, cold and cuddly. It will be in the upcoming holiday mini catalog that starts September 1. It is 40 pages of "Oh My GOOD-ness!!!!"

I also went off of the mojo monday sketch for a starting point....I was going off of memory, so I am a little off - ok...a lot off! lol!!!!!

Isn't he darling!??!?! The card base is real red. I stamped the snowflake image from delightful decorations (also in the mini) in whisper white craft ink and embossed it with white embossing powder. I also stamped the north pole sign at the bottom just for fun :) All of the edges are sponged with whisper white craft ink with a sponge dauber. Moving up to the penguin tag....It is kraft card sotck that I stamped the iceburg in whisper white craft ink and embossed it with white embossing powder. I accented the sides of the iceburg with a two way glue pen and dazzling diamonds. Now that is what I call "chilly goodness!" I rounded both of the right corners with a corner rounder and matted it with chocolate chip. I inked up the penguin with stampin write markers and cut him out. He needed the red top hat, don't you think?? It has a band of dazzling diamonds around t as well :) The ribbon is also from the holiday mini - it is from the mistletoe collection of ribbon. It contains two full spools of ribbon - and this is one of them - {luv} it! I accented it with a kraft corduroy button and some crochet thread.

you gotta see Penny a little closer - he is a handsome fella!!

What do you think?

Sweet Pea

HI stampers!!!

Today's blogger's challenge was to focus on punches. I have to admit, though, that I made this card last week. One of my club girls became Grandma for the first time - Congrats Fran!! So I made this card for her. I cased it mostly from Andrea - I fell in love with this pod of peas as soon as I saw it, so I had to put my spin on it.

The card base is regal rose. The main panel is whisper white matted with pretty in pink. I stamped the flourish from baroque motifs in old olive. The pea pod is made from the wide oval and 3/4 inch circle punch. The edges of all of the punches are sponged. I accented it with my white gel pen. The rest of the background panel was sponged with bashful blue.

I stamped the sentiment, from teeny tiny wishes, in regal rose. I then punched it out with the word window punch. It is matted with the modern label punch, also regal rose. I punched a hole on the one side with my crop a dile and threaded retired ( boohoo) pink gingham ribbon through it and around the main panel and tied it into a bow. I then adhered the sentiment panel down with stampin' dimensionals.

Did you see those flowers?? They are from the pretties kit. I colored the entire flower with pretty in pink and then used a sponge dauber to color one side with regal rose. I folded them up and adhered them down with mini glue dots. I then accented each flower with flat backed pearls from the pretties kit, also adhered down with mini glue dots.

I would love to know what you think :)

I am all fuzzy inside.....

....or would you call it on the outside???? Hmmmm????

Are you wondering what in the world I am talking, well - typing, about? lol! My mojo is on a roll, if I may say so myself. I am not one to toot my own horn...but I really love the card I made today.

The card base is soft suede.....a beautiful brown. seems a little strange using brown for a Christmas card base, huh? It just felt right.

Oh yeah! There are some brand new things here that will be in the Holiday Mini catalog - New designer series paper, new stamp, and a new punch. Oh how sweet you are new mini!!!! The designer series paper is from the beautiful new Christmas Cocoa. Oh my...wait until you see it all!!!! I matted it with old olive and rounded both layers with a corner rounder. The next layer is whisper white, even though it doesn't look white in the photo.....argh!! I stamped it with the flourish from baroque motifs in old olive and sponged the edges before matting onto old olive card stock. I punched a hole along the side with the horizontal slot punch and ran a piece of soft suede polka dot grosgrain through it before adhering it with stampin dimensionals. WHAT?!?!??! No polka dots?? Don't forget - it is only polka dotted on one side - plain on the other....perfect!

Check out that ornament! It is from a new set called delightful decorations. I absolutely love that set!!!! I stamped it in real red and punched it out with the brand new ornament punch. I tied some gold elastic cording in a bow and then took another piece and wrapped it to the back of the main panel to make it look like it was hanging. I had to add some bling! I used my two way glue pen and dazzling diamonds to accent the swirls on the ornament - LOVE IT!!!! The ornament is also mounted on stampin' dimensionals....no surprise there, huh?

Are you sitting there reading along, still wondering what in the world I am talking about being fuzzy??? lol!! Well, that is a sneak peek as well!! Take a close look at this paper:

Can you tell in the picture that it is flocked??? The damask design is flocked in white - it is soooo gorgeous!!!!!

I would love to hear what you think of this....I may have to do some serious producing of this card - I love it!

Wally is sending love!

HI Stampers!!

I jumped on scs to see what the color challenge was today and it is taken with teal, very vanilla and close to cocoa. I immediately thought of my new cold and cuddly set from the upcoming holiday mini!! I'm telling you - this upcoming mini ROCKS!!!! To be honest, I am still in awe of the regular catalog and then they throw this mini at us....my, oh my!!!

Well, I bet you didn't come here to listen to me drool over the catalogs.....I'm sure you do enough drooling of your own....lol!!!

Warning: I could not get this to look like taken with teal to save my life! But, trust me - it is!

Well?!?!?!? Isn't he the cutest thing ever??? Wait until you see his play mates! I used only the three colors that were listed. The taken with teal horizontal panel across the card front is embossed with the finial press embossing folder and the big shot. The very vanilla panel on the front is embossed with the new stampin' up perfect details texturz plate. This is sold by itself in the catalog for only $3.95!!!!! Everything is sponged with close to cocoa ink and a stampin' sponge. The main image panel (circle) was cut with the circle scissor plus.

Here is a closer look at Wally and his sparkly ice block:

It is hard to see in these pictures, but I blinged up his ice with a two way glue pen and dazzling diamonds!

Now, before you ask...Stampin' Up did not start naming their stamps in sets....that was my doing ;)

And you know how I am about dimension......so check out all of these dimensional panels:

What do you think? I think he is super cute!!!

OH MY WORD!!!!!

.....I am sooo in love with Build a Bear!!!

Stampin' Up! has partnered up with Build A Bear to make an exclusive line of stamps and dies for the Big Shot. Unreal!!! Let me first say that even if you don't go to build a bear, or even don't plan to - these dies and stamps are still a great idea for you!! They make the cutest kids cards, gift bags, gift tags, and more! I used them today to make a scrapbook layout. We have been to build a bear a few times, so I have the pictures to scrap with! lol!!! Here is the two page layout:

The page base is regal rose. The designer series paper is from tall tales. The photos are matted with rose red. I used my big shot and billboard alphabet die for the title. Did you notice the pictures are numbered? I don't usually do this type of journaling, but since build a bear is a sequence of events I figured I would label them in such a manner. I cut out flowers from the designer series paper and layered then with a 1" circle punch in old olive, using a stampin' dimensional. The numbers were stamped in brilliant blue and the calendar alphabet and number stamp set onto very vanilla. I punched them out with the 1/2 inch circle punch and then adhered them down as flower centers with stampin' dimensionals.

Here is a closer look at the bears:

I sponged around the edges of both bears with chocolate chip classic ink and a sponge dauber to bring them to life :) They are both adhered to the pages with stampin' dimensionals.

***OH YEAH - I forgot to mention these products will be available in the Holiday mini that starts on September 1. Oh sweet mini catalog.......

Beauty of the Earth

HI stampers!!

Guess what?? I got to stamp today - whooohhooooo!!!!!! I really feel so much better when I carve out the time for me to create. It really takes my mind off of life. If you aren't taking time daily or at least every other day to stamp and create, you really should try to...it is so therapeutic!!! Well..I'll hop down off of my soap box, for now ;)

I have a huge preorder of goodies coming from the Holiday mini catalog tomorrow, and I still have some other goodies that haven't been loved. So I pulled out two things from my latest order and decided I was going to use them today. I absolutely love the designer series paper, Nouveau Chic and I just got it in an order last week along with a new hostess level one set, Of The Earth. So, I decided I would do an earthy card with chic colors....follow me??? lol!!

I started with the mojo monday sketch this week. To me, it screams out to use different designer series papers. That is what is so awesome about Stampin' Up!'s designer series paper collections....the guess work is done for you. If it is in the same pack - it coordinates! Like here, I used 4 different patterns. That is pretty bold for a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch canvas. hehehe!!

Here is what I came up with today. All of the designer series paper is from nouveau chic. The back three panels are layered with basic grey. The card base is sage shadow. Now to move up to the front panel. I inked up the flower and butterfly stamp with sage shadow leaves and stems. The flowers are sooo subtle, but I inked the up with barely banana and hit the tips with apricot appeal. The butterfly was inked with basic grey and the wing tips and body are basic black. I stamped two butterflies so I could mount one on a stampin dimensional. I had to bling it up a bit with a two way glue pen and dazzling diamonds. It is layered with sage shadow. I used barely banana brads from the soft subtle brads collection in the four corners. That whole panel is up on stampin dimensionals. The first grey panel behind that is basic grey that had been stamped with the single flower stem in basic grey, stamped off first. the grey layer behind that is from nouveau chic. It is accented at the top with a half circle from the 1 1/4 circle punch. I broke up the starkness of the vanilla with a basic grey corduroy button ( which is actually a brad ;) ) It is mounted up on stampin' dimensionals over the three panels and the "ribbon." I took a piece of sage shadow card stock and embossed it with the finial press embossing folder with the Big Shot. I then sponged sage shadow ink over it to highlight the embossing.

This card was sooo much fun! And it has a lot of dimension and texture. I don't know how easy that is to see in the picture.

Well....I better get some lunch made....the little one thinks she is going to fall over famished if she doesn't soon eat! lol!!! Let me know what you think.....

My Monday Mojo is a little late this week!

HI Stampers!!

I have been super busy this week between running my little one or her stuff around. When I did get some free time, I planned my club stuff for next week and scrapbooked. Boy - did that feel good!!! I will show you some pages soon....I must warn you though....I used a lot of retired stuff. I need to get it used up to make room for the new stuff that I have coming!!

I have sent out information about my next stamp camp coming up. I will post the information here too for kits to go if you aren't able to make it or live long distance :) Part of the camp fee is the stamp set, Razzle Dazzle. So doing the Mojo Monday sketch, I wanted to give my Razzle Dazzle some more lovin'! Here is the sketch:

I also wanted to incorporate today's challenge to ruffle something. I decided to ruffle my ribbon where there was a bow in the sketch.

Here is what I came up with today:

The card base is rich razzleberry. I have to tell you - this is my absolutle favorite purple Stampin' Up has ever offered! It pairs nicely with orchid opulence - which until lately hasn't gotten much love from me! See the gorgeous raspberry lemonade designer series paper???? LOVE it!!!! My sentiment is from fundamental phrases. I inked up my flower flourish from razzle dazzle with the in color stampin' write markers - crushed curry, melon mambo, rich razzleberry - before stamping onto very vanilla. I then cut it out, as well as the orchid opulence mat, with my circle scissor plus. That thing is soooooo easy to use and cuts circles like buttah!!

Did you see that ruffled ribbon? It is very vanilla taffeta ribbon. It isn't wonky at he top like it looks in the picture....I had it wonky from carrying it, apparently and didn't notice it when taking the picture. argh!

I did up the inside too:

What do you think? I had fun fun fun putting this baby together!!!

I wanna ROCK!!

HI stampers!!

Well, I think I am recovered from the birthday party and the water problems....i think. So hopefully I will back to normal - without the excess head spinning! lol!!

Last week, we went to my cousin's house for a birthday party for her son. He takes guitar lessons and I knew that he loved to play rock band. He is getting too old for a little kid birthday card....so I thought I would make a shaped card - you know - not your standard rectangle. :)

I emailed his mom and this is how it went:

me: "what color is Zach's guitar?"

her back to me: "red"

and I left it at that.....no back and forth about it....no more questions...lol!

So here is what I came up with:

I drew out a pattern on scrap card stock and traced it on a standard real red card base. I cut it out and then made the white guitar face out of shimmery white card stock. I know absolutely nothing about guitars - but they usually do have little knobby things on the front. I made my little knobby things from punching basic black circles with a 1/2" circle punch. I don't even know how many strings are on his guitar....I dated a bass guitar player in high school and i know it had four strings....but a regular guitar has how many??? So I just went with how many fit on the neck of the guitar, spaced out how I wanted them. That is called "Creative Liberty, " right??? lol! The neck is whisper white matted with creamy caramel. I rounded the one corner with the 3/16" corner rounder. I used my matt pack and paper piercer to place the holes for the strings. I used silver cord for the strings - which is coming out again in the Holiday Mini - whoohoooo!! I anchored the strings on the back with adhesive, but I put silver brads at the bottom of the strings - you know, to look like string holders - hahahaha!!!

So what do you think of my rockin' guitar?