Diorama card!

Hiya!  Happy Tuesday to you!  I have a fun, fun, fun little project to show you today!!  I met with my wonderful demo group over the weekend and we all participated in a swap called New, new, new!  We had to use new product from the new cattie!  I decided I wanted to do something other than a card so I went with a diorama box card!!  Take a look:

I used lots and lots of goodies from the new catalog!

It is three layers deep and has lots of fun little details!

View from the top!

This is layer number one.  I made the flowers using the new Simply pressed clay and molds.  Once they dried I colored them using an aqua painter and then heat embossed them with Iridescent Ice  EP. The butterflies are punched from the Bitty Butterfly punch and have pearl bodies.  I punched the circles out using the 1 3/8" Circle punch.

Everything got sponged to grunge-y it all up!

The middle layer is stamped with an image from Simply Sketched and the humming bird is from Wildflower Meadow.  I stamped him twice and fussy cut him, Then I added him with two layers of dimensionals.

Layer number three is stamped with Wildflower Meadow and then run through the coordinating EF Wildflower Meadow. I made the little flowers using the Itty Bitty punch pack and the sentiment is from Lovely Labels and punched out with the coordinating Artisan label punch.

This butterfly is punched in Crisp Cantaloupe and double layered.

Here are all 10 that I made for the swap!

The details:

Stamps: Simply Sketched, Sketched Birthdays and Wildflower Meadow

Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar and Crisp Cantaloupe

Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar and Soft Suede

Punches and Dies: 1 1/4" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, Bitty Butterfly, Itty Bitty Punch pack ,Wildflower Meadow EF and Bitty Banners  Framelits

Extras: Pearls, Simply Pressed Clay, Buttons and Blossoms clay molds, Iridescent Ice EP, Aqua Painter, dimensionals and sponges

These were really fun to make!  Would you like to make one too?!!   There is an excellent tutorial on SplitCoast here.  Have fun!! :)

Have a great day!  I will be back soonest with more to share!

ABC Challenge!

Hi there!  Time to get a new week rolling which means time for another ABC Challenge!  Today's challenge is called I {HEART} animals and you guessed it........it is to use an animal somewhere on your card!  I love animals!!  Over the years we have had the pleasure of sharing our space with dogs, cats, horses, cows, goats, mice, birds,  lizards, turtles, chickens, giant fish and even a snake!  My 14 year old daughter currently has a ball python named Lucy!  I personally have had 2 pet cows.  Animals have a way of sneaking into your heart and embedding themselves there!  They are really very special!  I considered lots of different options for today's challenge, but kept coming back to this one:

The same 14 year old kiddo mentioned above has decided to take on the adventure of raising chickens!  She   has spent her own money, found her own blueprints to build a chicken coop and spends lots of time caring for baby chicks right now!  She ordered them last week and they arrived in the mail!!  Anyhow, chickens are on my mind this week so today's card features a cute baby chick!

Peep, peep, peep!!!!

The details: 

Stamps: Oh, Hello

Paper: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Only Orange, Basic Black, Whisper White and Strawberry Slush

Punches:

Body: Top Note

Beak: Large Heart

Eyes: 1 " Circle and 3/4" Circle 

Hair tuft: Five Star Flower (Retired)

Wings: Scallop Circle

Feet: Snowflake (Retired)

Hair bow: 1 1/4" Circle

Here is a picture of the 2 day old chicks that arrived in the mail!

They are doing great and growing very quickly!!  

Be sure to head on over to the ABC Challenge blog and check out all of the other fun cards!

I hope that you have a wonderful day!  I will be back soonest with more to share!

Christmas card Sunday #23

Hello there! :)  Remember a few days ago when I told you that I had purchased some retired stamps from some good friends of mine?!  Weeeeeeeell, I could barely stand waiting until today to show this fun card I made using one of the sets!!!!!   Take a look at these sweet faces (and their oh so stylish boot-ies!!)

Are these not the cutest carol-ers that you have ever seen?!!  My mom (HIYA MOM!!!) lives in Alaska and tells me all the time about the moose that come and visit in her yard so when I saw this set I scooped it right up!!  Guess who this Christ-moose card will be going to this year?! 

I kept the card very simple because I really did not want to detract from the cute image!  I did slip in a little bit of paper piecing though!!  Their boots are stamped on the matching red and green from the card base for just a tiny little bit of pop!  

This stamp set goes waaaaaaay back to 2000!!  That is well before I became a demonstrator so  I am giddy that I was able to add it to my collection!!

Details:

Stamps: Merry Christmoose (Retired 2000)

Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar and Very Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede

Punches and Dies: Northern Flurries Big Shot die (retired)

Extras: Rhinestone (colored with a Sharpie)

Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,la, laaaaaaaaa....

Have a good day!  I will be back soonest with more to share! 

Creative Elements!

Hi there!  Saturday being good to you?! :)  I have had a crazy busy day and still have oodles to do but I wanted to stop by and share the card with you that I made this morning!  I challenged myself to use all scraps and only one stamp set and this is what I came up with:

I went poking through my scrap box and found a piece of Calypso Coral just waiting to be turned into card! I chose the stamp set Creative Elements and tried to use as many of the stamps in the set as I could!

After I did all of my stamping I ran the bottom half of the card through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice EF. I stamped the flower on the card base and then three additional times.  I fussy cut the extra flowers and layered them on dimensionals and added a strip of Pear Pizzazz to the center.  I added some faux stitching with a white gel pen.

Details:

Stamps: Creative Elements

Paper: Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla

Ink: Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede

Punches and Dies: Square Lattice EF and Word Window punch

Extras: White Gel pen and Dimensionals

I hope you have a great day!  I will be back soonest with more to share!

Wildflower Meadow bag-a-lope!

Hello there!  Ever wake up thinking about a project and wondering if your idea will translate successfully to paper?!  I do that all the time and couldn't wait to get to my stamp room to try this out!  I wanted to use the new Wildflower Meadow stamp set and coordinating EF, but I wanted to try them on a Bag-a-lope!!  I also wanted to do something a little different with stamp!  Here is what I made:

I must confess that this stamp didn't scream at me when I first laid eyes on it.  I bought it anyways because I felt like it had lots of potential!  After using it several times though I absolutely LOVE it!!  It is just so pretty!!  It stamps beautifully!  It has flowers and polka dots and that sweet, sweet humming bird!!  The coolest thing about it though is that after you stamp it you can floof (technical term!) it up with the coordinating EF!!  

To make my bag-a-lope I used the ever handy tried and true recipe on SplitCoast which you can find here.  I used a larger envelope and scored three of my sides at 1". After I did my scoring I folded all three sides under and stamped the image.  The different thing I wanted to try was that I used 4 different stamp pads to get a blended  color look! I started on top with the lightest color and ran it across the top of the stamp and then did the same lower down with a darker shade of ink and so on until I used all four colors and had covered the whole stamp. It is had to see in the pictures, but after I stamped it I ran it through the Wildflower EF to raise the image.

I stamped the hummingbird two additional times and fussy cut him and layered him over the original using dimensionals.

I also added some punched flowers from the Itty Bitty punch pack and some pearls to add some dimension and interest!

Another angle!

This cute little bag is great for gift giving!  It would hold lots of fun things!  It is also the perfect size to fill with chocolate goodies.....which in my opinion is the best sort of gift to give (or receive!! *BIG grin!)

Details:

Stamps: Wildflower Meadow

Paper: Strawberry Slush

Ink: Blushing Bride, Pretty in Pink, Primrose Petals, Chocolate Chip and Soft Suede

Punches and Dies: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Scallop Border punch and Wildflower Meadow EF 

Extras: 3/8" Primrose Petals Stitched Ribbon (retired), Pearls, White Gel pen, Dimensionals and an envelope

Hope that you have a wonderful day! :)  I will be back soonest with more crafty goodness to share!

June Class Schedule!

Hello!  Anyone else feel like there just are not enough hours in the day anymore?!  Between all of our kid's functions, activities and hobbies, trying to build onto the house, trying to maintain the current one, trying to build a stamping business and...the hours just zoom by! LOL  I looked up and realized that it is already the 6th of June!!!  Yikes!!  Decided that I better get some classes planned and then share them with you!  Here is my June schedule for all of my local buddies, but if you are not local and want to come just pack your jammies and tooth brush and head on over anyhow!  I make a mean French toast and we can  do double duty and stamp on into the night! :) Big grin!!

Here is my June class schedule:

June

**Friday 14th- Punch Art Class 6:00pm

-We will be playing with punches to create punch art!  We will make several punch art pieces and instruction cards to go with them (for a punch art book!)!
-This will be the first in a series of punch art classes.
-$10.00 fee per person to cover cost of supplies.


**Thursday 20th-Technique Class  6:30pm

-We will be learning several new techniques and then using them on a card or project!
-This will be the first in a series of Technique classes.
-$10.00 fee per person to cover cost of supplies.


**Friday 28th-Build A Card Class  6:00pm

-Come make 5 cards by building them yourself! I will provide the card layout and all of the prepared pieces, but it will be up to you to build your cards your way!  You choose the colors, the embossed backgrounds and the images to stamp!
-Envelopes are included.
-$10.00 fee per person to cover cost of supplies.


**Saturday 29th-Stamp Club Members Only Please! :) 5:00pm
-This will be our first month of six!
-We will be drawing names to see who gets the hostess benefits each month!!!
-We will be making a beautiful banner using all new products!!
-No class fee!  A $25.00 minimum order + $5.00 S&H due tonight instead.

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Also, I am in the process of putting together a very special team!!  I am looking for a group of folks that love to stamp, love to have fun and love to share that with others!  If you like the sound of getting a discount on your stamping goodies and maybe making a few extra dollars here or there then contact me!  Most importantly though it is going to be a fun, fun, fun place to be!!  :)  If you think you might be interested in joining my team you can e mail me or click here for more info!  I would love to have you!

 Hope you have a great day!  I will be back soonest with more to share!

One of a kind!

Hello! Want to see what I was working on this morning?!  I set out to put together a quick card, but I just keep fiddling with it and adding to it and doing and re-doing! LOL  Does that ever happen to you?  It wound up taking me over an hour to make this simple card! LOL  So much for that plan, huh?!  No biggie though!  I loved every crafty minute of it!

See!!  Oodles and oodles of stuff on this big guy!  Plus faux stitiching,  plus sponging, plus tiny little flowers and pearls!

I used  the fantastic new hostess set called Postage Collection and the adorable alphabet set called Notable Alphabet!  (I was so happy to see it made the new catalog!!)

Lots of texture and fun little details to keep your eyes busy with this one! I am pretty tickled with how it came out!!  Plus it was just fun, fun, fun to make! 

The details:

Stamps: Postage Collection and Notable Alphabet

Paper: Crumb Cake, Pretty In Pink, Pistachio Pudding and Very Vanilla

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Pistachio Pudding

Punches and Dies: Hearts A Flutter Framelit Die, Fan Fare EF, Stripes EF, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, 1" Circle punch, 1 1/4" Circle punch and  Small Oval punch

Extras: Sponges, Soft Suede Marker and Pearls

I have been pretty lax lately about adding the details for my projects lately, but have had several requests to include them again!  So, starting today I will start doing that! :)

I hope that your Wednesday is filled with wonderful!  Have a great one!  I will be back soonest with more to share! :)

Old stamps and good friends!

Hey there!  I had the best day yesterday!  I got together with some of my wonderful friends for lunch and a really nice visit.  These happened to be stamping friends and they happened to be selling some of their older way retired stamps sets and I am giddy with excitement over the sets that I bought from them!!  Most of them were sets that were sold (and retired) before I became a demonstrator and it was just so much fun to see  those!!  I made a card today using some of my new (to me!) goodies and thought I would share it with you!

I colored the image with markers and stamped it twice.  I fussy cut the flowers and adhered them onto the the main image with dimensionals. I paper pierced the main image rectangle and just a little under the sentiment.

**Edited to add! 

The details:

Stamps: Stippled Rose and Teahouse (both retired!)

Paper: Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke and Pretty In Pink

Punches and Dies: 1" Circle punch and 1 1/4" Circle punch

Extras: Paper Piercer and Pearls

I had the best time playing with these stamps today!  It made me want to pull out tons of my retired stamps and get them all inky too!  Stampin' Up! has some of the greatest stamps ever!!   I really wish I could spend all day long stamping and playing!  Maybe one day soon I will go on strike and do just that! ;)

Have a wonderful day! I will be back soonest with more to share!

ABC Challenge time!

Hi there!  Time for this week's ABC Challenge!!  Today's challenge was a true challenge for me!  It was to make a masculine card.  These are always tough for me because I want to bling them all up!  LOL  Here is my bling free, masculine challenge card for this week:

Isn't that rooster just too cute?!

I went with a subtle (and not flashy!) color combo. Browns and blues work so well together!  I didn't use any rhinestones, ribbon, buttons or pearls! Nothing shiny, bumpy, sparkly, lacy or frilly!  Despite the lack of extra stuff I am happy with the way it turned out! :)

Be sure to stop by the ABC Challenge blog and check out the other Design Team member's cards!  They all rocked this challenge!!

Have a wonderful day!  I will be back soonest with more to share!

Christmas card Sunday #22 and an addition update!

  Hello! It is Sunday again (already!) and that means it is time for another Christmas card!  My card today uses traditional Christmas red and green and white!  I love the way these colors look together.  They really are festive feeling! What do you think?

The stamps are both from retired sets, but the background is our beautiful new Quatrafoil embossing folder!

I added a little bit of bling and put the sentiment on the Modern Label punch. I like this design and may wind up making a couple of these for my stash of cards!

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In other fun news!!  We have been working our tails off on our addition the last couple of weeks!  Thought I would share a couple of photos of our progress so far!

Joists are all hung and we are working on the floor here.

Each joist got glued and then the flooring piece would get positioned correctly (tongue and groove) and then it would get nailed down!

My pink work gloves waiting patiently while we took a break!  It was stinkin' hot!! :)

Here I am!

 My daughter and I did the gluing!  It was similar to running snail adhesive from a tape dispenser! LOL

.....and allllll done! 

Another view!

From the end!  It is 32' long and 26' wide!  That is a lot of glue and nails!

So excited to be making progress!  Next we move on to the walls of the first floor!!!! Yay!!!!

Another view!

Empties! 

I will add more pictures as we make more progress!  It has been a really cool experience so far!

I hope you are having a productive weekend too! I will be back soonest with more to share!  Have a wonderful day!

New, new, new! :)

Happy Saturday!!  The sun is shining and it is going to be a beautiful day!!  We plan to work on the addition that we are building today, but I wanted to stop by and spend a few minutes with you first! :)  I made a card this morning using some of the new goodies from the new catalog!  See:

The background stamp is new and I think I may be head over heels over it!!  It coordinates perfectly with an embossing folder to create this raised look!  I just love, love, love it!!!

I made these sweet roses using the new clay and clay molds!!  Aren't they adorable?!!  They come in three sizes/shapes and you can color the white clay any color you want it to be!!  How cool is that?! There is also a fun button mold too!

Here is a closer look! :)

There are so many great new products in the new catalog!  Cannot wait to play with more of them!

Ok, I am off to get swing a hammer!  I hope that you have a wonderful day!!  I will be back soonest with more to share!