Rita's Creations

FMS22: Elephant Birthday

2012-02-15T00:00:00.001-06:00

This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is a fun, yet challenging one. The design team did a fabulous job showing off some beautiful ways to use it, so be sure you check the blog to see them all.

For my card, I kept things pretty simple. I am always in need of children's birthday cards at the local shop that sells my cards, so I have been trying to focus on making up some for that. I pulled out some retired designer paper and my favorite retired stamp set for this one. It came together pretty quickly and I think it would be just perfect for a little girl.

I hope you'll find time to join us this week!

Double the Challenge

2012-02-13T18:04:00.000-06:00

Today I decided to work on the idea for Just Add Ink that I didn't have time to finish on Saturday. After seeing this week's Mojo Monday sketch, I did change up things a bit. I thought it was a neat sketch and lent itself to a more clean-and-simple card which is what I had time to make. :)

I chose primary colors for my card since it is meant for a teacher thank you card. I added in a few other elements like the School Lines stamp and the spiral order punch. Those both work perfectly with the school boy from Greeting Card Kids. I stamped him on a scrap of Whisper White and then colored and cut him out. He is popped up on dimensionals and stands out quite nicely. :) I will say that it is not a card that I'd normally make, but working outside our comfort zones is what makes us better stampers, right?

Stamps: Thank You Kindly, Greeting Card Kids, School Lines
Ink: Real Red, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Blush Blossom
Paper: Real Red, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Brights DSP stack, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes and Houndstooth embossing folders, Labels framelits, scallop circle punch, spiral border punch, blender pen

FM45: Penguins!

2012-02-10T00:00:00.002-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project using the "Spotlighting Technique".
Or Make a project featuring "Penguins".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project featuring "Penguins using the Spotlighting Technique".

How fun is this new challenge from Lisa at The Friday Mashup? I think my pregnancy brain lost the spotlighting technique as I traveled from the living room to my stamp room, but I did remember the penguin! My husband and I are big penguin fans, so it made me happy to make this card. A local friend had asked me to make a card for her to give to a friend for their birthday and it just so happened that she wanted a penguin one! Perfect, right? Two birds, one stone thingy. I found this lovely card by one of my favorite stampers, Teneale Williams and used it as my inspiration starting point.

Now while I'm not a fan of pink, I LOVE me some purple. I really love purple paired with green! The pretty paper from the Cheerful Treat hostess pack was just perfect for that combination. I didn't have any penguin stamps that were big enough, but the owl punch and a bit of surgery made a pretty passable penguin I think. A bit of bling, some yummy ribbon, and a button finish it off and add those extra touches that really make a handmade card special.

I hope you'll join us this week at the Mashup with either a lovely penguin card of your own, perhaps a spotlighted card, or if you are an overachiever, a mashed up card featuring both! :) Also be sure to submit your idea for an upcoming Fan Favorite challenge! We'd love to see how you'd mash it up!

Club Thank Yous

2012-02-09T14:38:00.000-06:00

Out for Delivery!!! Don't we love those words? I get so excited and have to contain myself ALL day because my UPS man doesn't come until dinner time. Well, unless he has an order with my stuff in it and then he doesn't come until 7. Not sure what's up with that! Anyway... today's package contains my orders for this month's club, so I made up these cute little notes with matching envelopes to tuck in their orders. The envelopes were so easy using the new diagonal scoring plate for the Simpy Scored. Three more weeks and you can get your hands on that baby! :)

Keep On Rockin'

2012-02-09T00:00:00.003-06:00

Look familiar? :) I loved our sketch at Freshly Made Sketches so much this week that I made 2 cards! This one isn't clean like the other one though. As I was making the first one I knew I wanted to do another one in some boyish colors but add in a bit of distressing. I hope it doesn't look too Halloweenish. I did use the retired DSP from the last Holiday Mini, so it probably does. :) Hopefully there is a Halloween fan out there who will appreciate a birthday card in black and orange. Gotta use up all that paper somehow!

FMS21: Rock On!

2012-02-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

It's time for another fun sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches! We had an amazing 75 entries last week! I can't to see how many beautiful creations we get to see this week. I am happy to say that I had a fun time creating my card for this challenge. Yay! It's the first time in a while that I've enjoyed stamping. I think that was due in part to Lesley's great sketch, so thanks my friend.

Isn't this a fun card? I sell my cards locally in a children's consignment shop, so I try to keep some child and teen birthday cards in stock. I think Grunge Rock is a perfect teen stamp set and one that I also LOVE using. It is strange because it isn't my style at all, but I just adore it! I am thankful that Stampin' Up! put it on sale and tempted me to buy it. :) I've definitely gotten some use out of it. I also used some of the hostess designer paper that I've had for a while. It is gorgeous paper and perfect for girly cards.

Stamps: Grunge Rock, July the Fourth

Ink: Melon Mambo, Concord Crush

Paper: Melon Mambo, Concord Crush, Whisper White, Cheerful Treat Hostess DSP

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3 inch circle die, Basic Rhinestones

Before I sign off, I thought I'd share these adorable Valentine's towels that my club hostess brought me last month. I love my ladies, so it made me tear up a bit when she gave them to me and thanked me for being a wonderful demonstrator. I waited a long time to get enough customers to get a club together but they made it well worth the wait. They get along so well and our meetings are always full of fun...and eating. :)

MDS Monday

2012-02-06T07:53:00.002-06:00

As I was sitting and catching up on the news this morning, I decided to pull up My Digital Studio and start a swatch book for my little girl. I love these cute little books and think they will make nice gifts for family members this year. :) It only took a few minutes to put together and I love that I can go back and change up the colors or elements without tearing the page apart!

If you think you'd like to try My Digital Studio, you can...for FREE! Stampin' Up! is giving everyone a free 30 trial of My Digital Studio Express! All you need to do is visit my website and download it today.

With the FREE trial, you’ll get:

Full access to the software at NO COST for 30 days.
Full design functionality.
Exclusive artwork that comes with My Digital Studio Express. See included content here.
Opportunity to purchase additional downloads from designer templates to stamp brush sets--and everything in between.
Access to our professional print services.

Once your trial period expires, simply contact me to purchase the downloadable or disc version of the software to continue enjoying My Digital Studio.

If you'd like to see tons of examples, watch some how-to videos, or connect with other MDS users, you can visit MyDigitalStudio.net for all that and more!

February Stamp Club

2012-02-04T00:32:00.003-06:00

Tonight was my monthly stamp club and we had some fun projects to make! The first was another card inspired by my super duper creative friend Kathy. I think this design is seriously one of my favorite cards ever and now I'm hooked on making them. I wish I could hug her for sharing such a great idea!

Next we tried a new technique called the Grid Technique or Faux Tile. I love showing off my Simply Scored tool and it is such a perfect way to do that. This card also features a lot of the Sale-a-Bration products that are free with each $50 order right now!

Finally, with it being February, I just had to make a cute little treat holder! I had pinned one by Jill Hilliard that I loved and I came up with a version using some of the supplies that I had.

Finally, as it was the last month of this session of club, I made up some little treat boxes full of chocolate for each of the members. They are such a fun group of ladies and bring so much joy with them each month. I have been really blessed to have them as my customers. We do have one spot open in the new club that will start next month, so contact me if you are interested in joining. :) We'd love to have you.

(Ugh. I had to take these pictures in a hurry because I needed to finish cleaning before everyone arrived tonight. Sorry for how icky they are!)

FM44: All You Need is LOVE

2012-02-03T01:00:00.000-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project using the "Inspiration Photo".
Or Make a project using the colors "Cherry Cobbler, Regal Rose & Whisper White".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Inspired by the photo using the colors Cherry Cobbler, Regal Rose & Whisper White".

I love John Lennon and the Beatles and do a lot of crafting to their music! I love Holly's graphic for this challenge. :) Heidi is our hostess with the mostest at The Friday Mashup this week and she gave us a color combination and/or inspiration picture to work with. I think I mashed it up, but not exactly sure? LOL

I must have been thinking about this challenge earlier this week when I tried using Regal Rose. I was NOT happy when I saw that I had to try it again! For some reason it seemed easier to use this time and and I kinda like my project. I thought it turned out really cute! I might put chocolate in it and give it myself. :)

Just for fun, look what I got in the mail from my mom today:

Is that not THE MOST GIGANTIC sock monkey ever?? I was having a major breakdown and he really cheered me up. I figure he's so big that he might can function as my pregnancy pillow pretty soon! :)

FMS20: Pink Flower

2012-02-01T01:00:00.000-06:00

I can't believe we are on sketch #20 at Freshly Made Sketches! It feels like we started the challenges just yesterday. Lesley is our hostess this week and challenged us for sure! It took me a long time and a lot of tears to get my card made this week. I have really been struggling creatively and have wanted to lock the door on my stamp room and never go back in lately. I hope that feeling goes away soon as stamping is supposed to be fun, right?!

Anyway, here is what I came up with this week:

I decided to try and make an A2 card with the sketch as I don't own any long, skinny envelopes. Maybe that was my first mistake? The second was using Regal Rose. I told you guys that I don't like pink and I wasn't kidding! It made me SOOO grumpy!! I am determined to work on the idea for this one again one day as I think it does have potential. I just need to do something with the vanilla parts of it; perhaps replacing the First Edition paper with plain vanilla card stock that's embossed or something? We'll see. For now I'm done thinking about it!

Be sure you got check out the blog and the other design team cards. They all did a great job and I think you'll find their projects inspiring.

Catalog Cat

2012-01-30T18:05:00.002-06:00

There are so many wonderful products in the Stampin' Up! catalog that sometimes you need a nap after looking at them all! :)

Just Add Kathy!

2012-01-29T16:36:00.000-06:00

I hope you don't pass out when you see this post! I actually did a challenge that I'm NOT on the design team for! It feels like forever since I've done that. I just had to play along with this one though. The challenge this week at Just Add Ink is to CASE my awesome friend Kathy! So, I did! :)

Here's the card of Kathy's that I picked to do:

Gorgeous, huh? I thought so. In fact, I got bought the square punch just to make similar cards! I just hadn't found the time to do one yet, so this challenge was perfect! I wanted to do a birthday card for mine, and here is what I ended up with:

My pictures never turn out that great anymore, but I promise this is just stunning in person. I combined some of my favorite sets, both current and retired, along with one of my favorite colors, Early Espresso. I didn't have the Neutrals brads, so I used some of the much-neglected Vintage Trinkets instead. I think it turned out wonderfully and now I'm thinking up other stamp sets that would work with this design. Thanks so much Kathy for the inspiration!

Stamps: Gently Falling (R), All Holidays (R), French Foliage

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Early Espresso, Naturals White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, sponges, 1 3/8 square punch, Vintage Trinkets

FM43: Sketchy Fun

2012-01-27T01:00:00.002-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project using the "Sketch".
Or Make a project using "Something NEW in your stash". (Stamps, ribbon, pretty paper...anything!)
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "using the Sketch & something NEW in your stash".

It's Friday, Friday, Friday! Oh sorry. I got stuck on the most annoying song ever. Goodness. Anyway, it IS Friday and time for a challenge from The Friday Mashup! Kim has a fun sketch challenge for us this week! The other part of the challenge is to use something NEW in your stash of stampin' goodies. I just know you have something that's sitting there unloved, so that part should be easy! :)

I went to bed on Wednesday night knowing that I had to make my card yesterday morning. I guess my brain was processing the sketch all night because I had the idea for this card when I woke up! Don't you love when that happens? I couldn't remember the colors my brain picked, but I wanted to use Crumb Cake for some reason or other. The new product was the Wisteria Wonder baker's twine and of course I had to use my new diagonal scoring plate! :)

This is a very different card for me. I love clean-and-simple, but to me they are the most difficult cards to create. I like to challenge myself to try them sometimes but get frustrated with them pretty quickly. My sweet friend Marla helped me via our iPhones yesterday so it was good to have a buddy to talk out the design with. I love my demo friends so much! I hope you enjoy it and will come play along with us!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Versamark, Elegant Eggplant

Paper: Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies die, Boho Blossoms punch, Simply Scored w/ Diagonal Plate, In Color Dotted brads, Wisteria Wonder baker's twine

Baby Talk

2012-01-26T10:20:00.000-06:00

So I thought I'd do a little sharing about the little one. Since she is apparently eating my creativity, I don't have cards to post as often as I wish. I sure hope she comes out stamping! lol I've already discovered one huge drawback to having a girl...pink! Everything is PINK! Guess who doesn't like pink? Yeah. So, I keep looking around for yellow, green, purple...anything that's NOT pink. However, seeing as how we are doing her room in giraffes, I had to buy this cute little sleeper last week. The giraffe print caught my eye and had me laughing and the cute little giraffe on the front just won my heart. So, we have some pink in the house now.

The other part that has been making me crazy is trying to pick a name! I wanted a traditional name (Elizabeth, Catherine, something like that) while Jason was all into unique or different names. The only thing we both liked was Elise for the middle name. To be funny, during my Target trip this week I went and checked out the names of the Cabbage Patch Kids. Well, there were two that actually had good names! (I still have mine from childhood and her name is Lorna Zora. What?) Anyway...we talked about the two and decided that we did like one of them a lot! AGREEMENT? Sound the alarms!! That night we went back and purchased Laila Elyse! So now we have a strong possibility for a name, but have to figure out the spelling. It's never just simple, right? I like Layla Elise, but he likes Laila. I'm thinking a good game of paper, rock, scissors might happen at the hospital! Either way, our little girl will have a cute doll with her name. That's kinda cool, but I hope she isn't upset about being named after a doll!

The moral of that story? You can find everything at Target, even a name for your baby. :)

FMS19: Roar!!

2012-01-25T01:00:00.002-06:00

The fabulous Jen Mitchell has a great sketch for everyone this week at Freshly Made Sketches. I love scallop borders, so I was all ready to jump in and get to stamping! I hope you'll find some time to join us as well!

I had so much fun making my card. I used some new products and a new-to-me stamp set. I have always loved Wild About You and was thrilled when my former demonstrator gave me of box of things with it in there. I think it is one of my favorite sets ever! I paired it with my favorite die, Tasteful Trim, and a brand new product that will be available on March 1st, the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate! I was lucky and won it at the Regional on Saturday! Exciting, huh? I hope you can see the scoring on the Baja Breeze card stock. The Color Coach picked out the colors for me. I wanted to use Island Indigo since it has been a while. I love that color and I think I was trying to hoard it a bit. :)

Be sure to stop by and check out all the fabulous cards by the design team!

Stamps: Wild About You

Ink: Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry

Paper: Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Simply Scored Diagonal Plate, Brights brads

Sale-a-brate Good Times!

2012-01-24T09:17:00.000-06:00

Woo Hoo! I hope you are as excited as I am to welcome in the most wonderful time of the year, Sale-a-bration! There are some amazing products this year that you can get for FREE! Who doesn't LOVE free? I know I do. I've been enjoying my SAB goodies for a while, but now it is your turn! Be sure to go check out the catalog here.

For customers, you guys get one free product from the SAB catalog for each $50 you spend (before tax/shipping). Yay for free stuff; there are lots of fun goodies to pick from too!

For workshop hostesses, you earn an exclusive tote bag for a $150 workshop and a free Hostess Bundle for a $400 workshop. The bundle includes the Fresh Vintage stamp set, the Everyday Enchantment designer paper, and the Everyday Enchantment ribbon and brad bundle. Those are my favorite products from Sale-a-bration, so what a deal!

If you want to sign up as a demonstrator, you get a great discount on the Starter Kit! It's only $125 during SAB AND you get an amazing bonus! For each month that you remain active in 2012 and place an order, you get a free pack of designer series paper or digital download! I wish I could sign back up for that deal! Wow!

Be sure to contact me if you want to place an order, host a workshop, or want more information about signing up as a demonstrator! :)

San Antonio Regional 2012

2012-01-23T18:06:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share some pictures from my day at the Regional on Saturday. It was a huge event and freaked me out a little. I don't do that well in crowds, so I was thankful to have some wonderful friends to lean on. I finally got to meet my sweet friend Anne Marie and she came with two bonus friends, Amy and Minnie! As we were wandering around, we ran into Shellie and got this awesome picture! I also got to see my friend Ann Schach again which was wonderful. She is so feisty and cracks me up!

These pictures are our make-and-takes. I can't even tell you how stressed we were trying to make these! You would have thought we'd never stamped before in our lives! I think being in unfamiliar settings was stressful for our creativity or something. :) Both cards use the adorable kite set that you can find in the Occasions Mini catalog.

This card is too cool because it turns so you can see 3 different kites! It was a bit of challenge to put together and I totally forgot a few details, but I still love it. I think both cards have a whimsical feel to them. While I love that look, I have no idea how to design cards like that!

Finally, my sweet roomie from Convention, Jackie Topa, found me and gave me this adorable gift! Isn't it the cutest? I LOVE purple, so it was just perfect for me!

It was a very nice weekend away with one of my best friends, Rebecca. I hope she found some inspiration in the event and enjoyed the magical feel of a Stampin' Up! event.

FM42: Lovely Heart

2012-01-20T01:00:00.004-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project featuring "Paper Piercing".
Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red & Early Espresso".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red & Early Espresso with some Paper Piercing" .

It's Friday, which means a new challenge from The Friday Mashup! I am the hostess this week and I'm excited to share my fun challenge. You already know that I've been stuck on Valentine's Day cards, so my challenge includes some fun colors that are just perfect for those. However, if you are not really lovin' your Valentine right now, this challenge is also for you. You can work out some of that anger and frustration by paper piercing! :)

For my card, I used the sketch from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch to help get me going. I also used a new product, the Lots of Love letterpress plate! It looked so pretty that I was a bit sad to cover up all that Early Espresso. I definitely want to make a card that will let that part shine, so stay tuned. I love the look of the letterpress plates with Versamark. So, so pretty! Other than that touch, I kept it pretty clean, simple, and sweet! Not much stamping at all in fact. :)

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Versamark, Riding Hood Red

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, In Color Hostess DSP stack (retired)

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Lots of Love letterpress plate, Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit, Full Heart punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing tool, Riding Hood Red ribbon (retired), Basic Pearls

I'll be heading out today for a fun weekend in San Antonio! I can't wait to attend the Regional event and hang out with some of my fellow demonstrators. Blogging has really blessed me with some amazing friends and I sure hope they aren't afraid of hugs because I am a hugger. :)

FMS 18: Candy!

2012-01-18T01:00:00.002-06:00

My buddy Linda has a fun new sketch for everyone this week at Freshly Made Sketches. I love simple sketches because it really allows my mind to think up so many possibilities! I did struggle to narrow down what I wanted to do this week, but as I was waking up yesterday I got an idea for a card. I love when that happens.

My idea was to make a shaker card using the Candy Conversations a la carte stamp from the new Mini catalog. I LOVE candy hearts, so this stamp was on my very first order from the catalog. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out quite like what I wanted as I am not feeling very creative lately. I know I had mentioned that I wanted to stamp every day this month, but it just hasn't happened. Hopefully I will get around to doing it a bit more. I've just been so discouraged with my results lately that I've been avoiding my room. I do think I'll try the idea again in some different colors. Pretty in Pink is just not a color that I like that much so maybe that's why I'm not loving my card.

I hope you'll come play along with us this week! I'm off to find some candy now. :)

I'll try to post a few pictures of the new things I picked up for the baby this week and some ideas I had for the wall color of the nursery. I know a few of you warned me about the gray, but Pinterest has me determined to make it happen!

Remembering Eli

2012-01-14T09:17:00.000-06:00

Today is one of the two days of the year that I dread seeing. Three years ago we said goodbye to our beautiful little boy. The anniversaries (today, his birthday) always bring the emotions flooding back just like it was yesterday. I figure we'll be going through a lot of tissues today. I am hoping I can at least go in his room and find some good memories that might bring a little smile as well.

Here's Eli with his crab toy. In his short time with us, it was his favorite and the crab has become somewhat of a symbol of remembrance for us. We've bought hundreds of them so that the infants in the children's hospital can have a little brightness in their stay. This year we will be donating 108 of them once they arrive next week. I hope the tradition is one that we can keep up for a while as it feels like we are doing something to keep his spirit alive.

I wasn't planning on stamping today, but perhaps I should dust off Crab & Company and make up some cards to drop off at Ronald McDonald House. If I do, I'll be sure to share them with you.

FM41: Thank You Flower

2012-01-13T02:00:00.001-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a "Thank You" themed Project.
Or Make a project "Using Designer/Patterned Paper".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Thank You project with Designer/Patterned Paper".

It's Friday, so time for a new challenge from The Friday Mashup! This week's challenge was put forth by Lesley and it is a perfect one for this time of year. If you are like me, you are a bit behind on those Thank You cards for Christmas and could use a kick in the butt to get them finished. :)

After battling a bit of food poisoning, I was a bit wiped out yesterday. I decided to keep my card fairly simple; that's best anyway because I need to do quite a few of them. I started with black and vanilla, but I plan on trying a range of colors today. I'll be sure to post the successful attempts. :) I seriously love my Fun Flowers die. I had been wanting to use it on the First Edition designer paper and I love the result. I recently got the Boho Blossoms punch and I love how it finishes off the center of the flowers. It doesn't show up well in the picture, but the whole card is shimmery as I sprayed it with my homemade shimmer mist.

I hope you'll find the time to join us this week!

Blue Valentine #2

2012-01-12T19:19:00.000-06:00

As I was working on my card for Freshly Made Sketches, I couldn't help but think how it would look all dirtied up. :) I decided to make another one with some distressing and sponging. I ended up not liking it nearly as much as the other one, but I think I might go back and add a few more hearts to the panel and see if that will help. These cards were the first ones I had used my new Netting background on and I really liked it. Do you have that one yet? It add a fun bit of interest to your background which is nice.

MJ Update

2012-01-11T17:03:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share that I got a note from MJ's caregiver today letting me know that MJ has received a number of hand-stamped cards. They wanted to send lots of hugs to everyone for taking the time to send them. Today made day one hundred for them this hospital stay. Can you even imagine that? I am ready to leave the hospital after an hour so I can't imagine one hundred days. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts.

FMS 17: Blue Valentine

2012-01-11T02:00:00.002-06:00

It is my week to host the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and here is the sketch I came up with to challenge everyone. I was excited because I saw a reason to pull out my new favorite thing, the Tasteful Trim die! I am definitely happy that I picked it to use my awesome birthday discount on from Stampin' Up! It is such a great die; who doesn't LOVE rick rack?!

I decided to continue my efforts to get a lot of Valentine's Day cards made up. I took the colors from the the Pals Paper Arts color challenge (Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla) and came up with this card. I do have to go back and straighten up that crooked rick rack, but just pretend it is straight, okay? :) I wanted to leave off the ribbon and bling to make it a truly masculine card, but I felt that it really need SOMETHING and that ended up being rhinestones!

I hope you'll come play along with us this week!

Inspiration Stamping

2012-01-10T20:43:00.000-06:00

I found some really cute baby bedding on clearance at Target today and I went ahead and picked it up. They didn't have all the pieces, so I will have to go check out the other Target near me tomorrow to see if they might! I love gray and yellow together and had been thinking about that combination for the room. I hope I didn't jinx myself by buying something so early.

Anyway, I wanted to stamp a bit more today so I decided to go make a card inspired by the bedding! I think it turned out really cute too.

Stamps: Fox & Friends, Petite Pairs

Ink: Basic Gray

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White (textured), So Saffron

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Designer Frames embossing folder, XL Oval punch, Basic Gray 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)

I'm not sure Jason is looking forward to all the painting, but at least it will just be one color this time! I'm thinking gray walls and yellow curtains right now! If anyone has any ideas for wall decor, please share! I wanted to try and make a few things myself to put in there, but we'll see how that goes. I'm not very crafty with decor items. I know I want to get a tree (vinyl wall art) to go on the wall behind the crib, but that's about all I've come up with so far.

Before I go, isn't the matching mobile just adorable?

Exciting News!

2012-01-09T17:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally feel like it is about time to share a bit of news with all of my wonderful followers. That picture up there is our little girl that we will hopefully be welcoming into our family in July. My lack of blog posts and stamping for the past few months are totally her fault as she thinks we need lots of naps and rest (and strawberries and cake too!). :) Thankfully the nausea has finally let up a bit now that I hit the second trimester. We still have a long road ahead, but for now we know she has a normal set of chromosomes and will not be affected with SMA. I can't even tell you how much I cried the day our genetic counselor called with that news. The holidays were spent waiting on test results and I was so glad that they came much quicker than we hoped. I feel like we are over one big hurdle for now and am crossing my fingers that we can just be a normal pregnant couple for the rest of the journey.

Before I sign off, I want to thank those of you who took time to mail off cards to MJ. I know they will be so appreciated; I can't even begin to imagine how trying it must be to spend months at a time in the hospital! Also, I've received some really nice emails lately from a few of you and I will try to get some replies out soon. I'm so behind with everything these days!

I wish everyone a wonderful week.

Stamp Club Valentine pt. 2

2012-01-08T17:40:00.000-06:00

Did you miss me yesterday? :o) I took a bit of a day off from paper crafting and spent it with a good friend. We shopped for all the 'ingredients' for a diaper cake and managed to get the diaper part of it put together. She was going to add the ribbon and little accessories later, so I don't have any pictures to share. It was a fun adventure for sure! We managed to mix in some football and snacks too!

The project I'm sharing with you today is the second one we did at my stamp club on Friday night. I wanted to do a cute little box to match the card we were making. The Kraft Boxes were just perfect for that! Everyone got to pick the pattern of designer paper they wanted and cut all their own layers. We then used the new Apothecary Art stamps and matching Framelit dies to make a cute little label for the top. Isn't it cute?

Stamps: Apothecary Art

Ink: Real Red

Paper: Real Red, Brights DSP stack, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Labels framelits dies, Basic Rhinestones, Whisper White 3/8 taffeta ribbon, Kraft Boxes

FM40: Happy Birthday!

2012-01-06T06:40:00.000-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a "Birthday" project.
Or Make a project using "Pastels".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Birthday project using Pastels" .

Time for a fresh opportunity to mash it up with The Friday Mashup! A great way to start off the new year is to get that supply of birthday cards restocked, so this one is a great one to play along with! We have two new guest designers and some great samples from all to get you inspired!

I used the sketch from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch for the layout of my card this week. I thought it worked well to showcase all those lovely designer papers that I just can't use enough! I can't wait for Sale-a-bration to begin so that you can get some of it as well! I hope you'll join us this week and create a birthday card! If you are more skilled than I am, perhaps you can even mash it up and use your pastels!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB), Watercolor Trio (retired)

Ink: Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Paper: Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment (SAB)

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3 inch circle die, sponges, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, color spritzer, basic pearls

Stamp Club Valentine

2012-01-05T20:29:00.001-06:00

I hope you hadn't given up on me for today! I'm still hanging in there with my goal to create something daily. Toady I didn't manage to do a challenge, but I did make a card for my stamp club that meets tomorrow. I loved the card I made last week using the envelope full of hearts, so I thought I'd try another version of it today. It just makes me happy to see all that LOVE flowing out of that bitty envelope. I have a feeling I'll be making a lot of these. :)

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Real Red

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Brights & Subtles DSP stacks

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Scallop Envelope die, Tasteful Trim die, Full Heart punch, Heart to Heart punch, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, basic rhinestones

*Inspired by Darlene's card that you can find here.

Special Request

2012-01-04T11:36:00.000-06:00

As a maker of cards, I know how much one of them can mean to someone going through a rough patch. Today I'll be sending out a birthday card to an amazing lady who does so much for others. If you are a frequent reader or friend, you probably know that we lost our only child almost 3 years ago to a disease called spinal muscular atrophy. MJ is a survivor of SMA and will turn 24 on the 8th of this month. She and her caregiver Brenda are absolutely amazing. They coordinate many fundraisers for various SMA organizations and also make and send out blankets to newly diagnosed families. MJ is currently in the hospital and will be spending her birthday there. To make her day a bit brighter, she would love lots and lots of cards. I'm getting ready to put mine in the mail and I thought I'd see if some of my readers might also send one for her. If you have an extra one you've made on hand, that would be awesome, but any type of card would bring a smile.

Here is the address of the hospital if you have a moment to do this:
Nationwide Children's Hospital
c/o MJ Purk
700 Children's Dr. 5 Tower Room #5121
Columbus, OH 43205

Thanks so much!
Rita

FMS 16: Owl Valentine

2012-01-04T02:00:00.003-06:00

It is time for Freshly Made Sketches to start up again for the year! Yay! Tui has a fun sketch this week that should have your imagination going wild! There are so many possibilities for this one as you can see from the design team. We also have two new guest designers with us, so there are lots of fabulous examples to get you started.

Right now I'm trying to do as many Valentine's Day cards as I can to get my display stocked up at a local shop. I hope you won't get too sick of the red/pink before I meet my goal! For this one I pulled out a retired Simply Scrappin' Kit to use up some of the stuff I ~~hoard~~ have stored away. I thought it would work well with my cute little owl and new heart punch.

I hope you will find some time to come play along with us! Maybe you can make a Valentine for your sweetheart. :)

Valentine Hearts

2012-01-03T21:54:00.000-06:00

Tonight I decided to play along with the stampers over at Try Stampin' On Tuesday. I figured since I WAS trying to stamp on Tuesday, it was the perfect challenge! I love their sketch this week. So many possibilities!

In an effort to use up some of my retired things, I've been making some Valentine's Day cards with it. If there is ever a time to use up red and pink, it is this month, right? :o) This paper comes from an old Simply Scrappin' Kit that I LOVE. I'm a bit sad to use it, but I have SO MUCH STUFF and it really needs to get used. I did use some of my new heart punches, so it's not all old stuff AND I managed to sneak a few pearls on there too!

Bookmarks!

2012-01-02T21:25:00.000-06:00

In addition to creating something every day this month, my other goal is to get my area in a local shop well stocked. Today I made up two bookmarks to take over. This was my first time making them with the Fun Flowers die and I really like them!

Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Boho Blossoms punch, Subtles glimmer brads, crimper, giant paper clips (Target)

CCMC182: Vintage Valentine

2012-01-01T20:16:00.000-06:00

Isn't this a fun sketch?! I'm definitely pinning it so I can use it again later! It is this week's fun challenge at Create with Connie and Mary. One of my goals for this month is to stamp something every day. It might be a card for a challenge, a project for stamp club, or something to sell in my little space at a local shop. Today I wanted to do a challenge because I love them and I do miss doing them. I have club this Friday, so you'll be seeing a few of those projects in the days to come!

If you've followed my blog for a while, you know how much I love my Stampin' Up! and blogging friends. As I was emailing with my friend Kathy this weekend, she asked if I had gotten the new stamp set and ribbon/brad bundle that's coming up for Sale-a-bration. Well, I had but hadn't used them yet. She inspired me to pull those out tonight and try to make a card with them. I can tell by the way it turned out that I'm a bit rusty, but hopefully I'll be churning out works of art with it by the end of the month!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (Sale-a-bration), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Paper: Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment designer paper (Sale-a-bration)

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, sponges, color spritzer, Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad pack (Sale-a-bration)

Remember that Sale-a-bration begins on January 24th and runs until March 31st.

Year in Review pt. 2

2012-01-01T13:10:00.000-06:00

Let's finish off those favorites from last year so that we can get to some new stuff soon!

August: This card is now known as the million dollar card. I made it for a birthday blog hop for my sweet friend Lesley and thought it turned out so awesome. Well, others did too apparently! It has been copied without credit a few times that I've found and someone even went as far as taking my picture and posting it as their own. I joking said it is obviously the best card ever made and for sale for a million bucks. :)

September: August and September were good stamping months for me. I guess I must stamp better when I'm feeling sad? I had quite a few cards during these months that I really like. This next card was one I made for a Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I love the colors so much and the snowmen from Snow Much Fun are some of my absolute favorite stamps!

October: My other favorite Christmas stamp set and one I just might cry about in a few days when the Mini expires is Bright Hopes. My favorite card for this month uses it and I love it! It was another Freshly Made Sketches card that turned out way better than I could have hoped.

November: This card was actually a card I made for a class. I love the colors; I think purple and green look gorgeous together! It was actually inspired by a card from the Idea Book and Catalog. If you ever need a bit of inspiration, that's a great place to look!

December: I didn't find much time to stamp in December, but I did make one card that I adore. Again, it is using the chubby snowman from Snow Much Fun. I combined him with some of the new designer paper that will be available later this month for free during Sale-A-Bration! I wasn't sure about a distressed Christmas card, but I love it!

I hope you enjoyed my look back! I hope this year will be filled with a lot of good surprises and much happiness! Happy New Year!

Favorites for the Year

2011-12-31T21:50:00.001-06:00

I've noticed a lot of other bloggers posting their favorite cards of the year, so I thought I'd jump in and try it too! It is kinda fun to look back and see the creative highs and lows throughout the year.

January: I love this card and it is one of my all-time favorites. In fact, I still have it stashed away! :) I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day, but I did love this creation. Maybe I will be nice and give it to my darling husband next year. :)

February was not a good month, so let's skip over to March. :) I borrowed Inspired by Nature from my upline and had a blast with it. I can't believe I still don't own it for myself! I love the simplicity of this one and find it quite striking.

April: There are a few I love from this month, but this one is definitely my favorite. I still can't believe I used that many peals on ONE card!! It is gorgeous though. The shimmery white card stock really adds a nice element and it truly says 'wedding' to me!

May: I'm still a bit surprised that this card is actually one of my creations! It turned out so fun and absolutely perfect for a teen. I love to challenge myself by buying a stamp set outside my comfort zone and this one was definitely one of those!

June: I guess I really like the few wedding cards that I make! :) This was one of the cards from my time on the Creative Crew. I had to borrow the bird punch to make it and was so happy with how it turned out.

July: Emboss resist is one of my favorite techniques and this card is my favorite I've made using it. I love the colors of this one. Island Indigo is so gorgeous and it has been way too long since I pulled it out!

I'll save the other months for tomorrow, so stay tuned! :)

Happy New Year to you all and thank you for all the kind comments over the past year. It is so fun getting to know other bloggers and making new friends.

FM39: Happy New Year

2011-12-30T02:00:00.001-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project that "Sparkles".
Or Make a project "Celebrating the New Year".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Celebrating the New Year that Sparkles" .

Time for a new challenge at The Friday Mashup! Kasey has a fun challenge to make a New Year's project with some sparkles! Who doesn't LOVE sparkle? Now I must admit that I had to do something thinking for this week. I started trying to come up with an idea and realized that I have no number stamps or dies AND I had ONE sentiment that said Happy New Year. So, sparkly stars it was! :)

What do you think? Can it pass a fun sparkly card for the new year? I hope so! It definitely has a lot of sparkle. I used black with the silver glimmer paper in hopes of the silver really shining. I used a retired star stamp to emboss some small silver stars in the corner too. My original idea was one big star on a black background, so you can see I kept adding more and more to finally get something that seemed complete.

I hope you'll find some time between celebrations to play along with us this week!

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, July Fourth

Ink: Versamark, Staz On Black

Paper: Silver glimmer paper, Basic Black, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Stars #2 die, silver embossing powder, heat tool, basic rhinestones

FM38: Be My Valentine

2011-12-28T19:53:00.002-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project using the "Sketch".
Or Make a project using "Watercoloring".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch & Watercoloring" .

With everything going on last week trying to figure out if we were going to go out of town or not, I wasn't able to do my card for the Friday Mashup. My mind finally settled enough today that I thought I would at least attempt one. I was hoping to watercolor, but my Aquapainter seems to be clogged up or something. Anyone had that happen and have any suggestions? I tried hot water, but it didn't work. It is ancient, so it might just be time to buy some new ones. Anyway, I decided to do a card with the sketch, but I probably should have looked at it again before I started my card. I think it is still kinda close, but I'm not sure if my little envelope is close enough to the bottom. I tried though...that's more than I've felt like doing for a while now.

I was able to use a few new-to-me products and a much neglected one as well. The scallop envelope die was one of the first I purchased, but I never seem to use it for much of anything. I thought it would be cute to stick some of my new heart products in! Thanks to all the wonderful sales of the past two months, I'm all set for Valentine's Day with new punches and I {heart} Hearts. I also used my birthday present (the one I got myself), the Tasteful Trim die. I love that thing already. For my colors, I decided to play along with the colourQ challenge this week to use black, white, and one other color of our choice (red). I even used my light tent that Jason got me for Christmas too! I hope it will help my poor pictures, especially during the dreary winter days.

I hope you like my card and will find time in the next week to play along! Last week's challenge is still open as well, so you have lots of opportunities to create.

Thanks to everyone who left comments and well wishes on yesterday's post. Hugs back to you all.

Before I go, I thought I'd share some of our baking. I made some yummy cranberry orange scones and Jason makes homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

I used this recipe, but made my own orange glaze with orange juice and powdered sugar. Yummy! I'm addicted to anything cranberry/orange, so these were a perfect treat last week.

I don't have the recipe for these as it is in a booklet that came with our bread machine. I will just say they are delicious and leave it at that. I'm sure I gained 5 pounds eating them!

Ramblings...

2011-12-27T09:59:00.001-06:00

Eli's rose bush has been gorgeous for over a month now, so I thought I'd share a quick picture of one of the beautiful blooms we've had to enjoy.

It feels like ages since my last post; I apologize for that. This time of year is just so difficult for us and I haven't had the energy to do anything in my craft room. Last week on my birthday, my grandma passed away. She was a second mom to me during my childhood, so having that happen on my birthday and so close to the holidays was pretty hard. The airline prices and timeline of the funeral did not work out so that we were able to get arrangements made in time to make the journey to Kentucky, so that didn't help things either.

We did survive Christmas, but that's about all I can say about that. When you have dreams of having Christmases with your child and then lose them, the holidays are really never the same. Add in being so far away from family and it is almost just another day. Jason did get me a photo light tent with all the bells and whistles, so I have my fingers crossed for better photos once I get back to stamping.

Today is actually the three year anniversary of the horrible night we had to rush to the emergency room with Eli and Thursday will be three years since we first heard the words spinal muscular atrophy and fatal. If you don't see any new posts before the new year, just know that I'm struggling with a lot of memories and getting out of bed can be a challenge. My hope is that 2012 will bring some good news and joy will again return to our home.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to the new year.

Lots of hugs,
Rita

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-18T10:39:00.000-06:00

We are kicking off the holiday week with birthday celebrations! Today is my wonderful husband Jason's birthday and tomorrow is mine. While it sucks to have a December birthday, it is great to be married to someone who gets it. I always get a REAL birthday present, not a combination birthday/Christmas present, dinner out, and some sort of yummy dessert.

To make Jason's day start off special, I made this yummy oven omelet this morning. I did add a bit of chopped onion and some fresh baby spinach to ours. It was pretty darn good too!

This week was really trying at work for Jason, so I wanted to make him a funny card. Or at least one that would make him smile really big. :) We have an on-going Dr. Who joke about the Tardis, so I thought I'd try to make a Tardis. (I don't watch the show, but I always seem to wake up and hear Tardis on the TV). I am not a punch art person, nor do I draw or even write very well, so this was definitely a challenge! It isn't the best card, but he smiled until his face hurt. I'm calling that a success! Me and the kitties got him the newest Call of Duty game too, so he should be all set to blow up things today!

FM 37: Distressed Labels

2011-12-16T01:00:00.000-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project featuring "Chipboard (Precut or Diecut )".
Or Make a project using "Distressing (w/ ink, scissors or the Cutter Tool Kit)".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Distressed Project featuring Chipboard"

For a distressed, vintage card, that picture sure is loud! Yikes. I hope you have your sunglasses handy. I am accepting donations to the "Rita Needs a Photography Class" fund by the way. :)

This week at the Friday Mashup Heidi has a super fun challenge for everyone. If you are like me and put your chipboard up for safekeeping and can't find it, you can just do a card using distressing. If you are more organized and know where your chipboard is, you could mash it up and use chipboard and distressing. Or just chipboard. So many options, right? I love these challenges!

You are getting a lovely sneak peek at some upcoming products from the Occasions Mini and Sale-a-Bration. I'll pause and give you time to gasp and maybe jump up and down a bit.

All done? So yeah, there's awesome new paper and some stamp sets that have matching Framelit dies! This was my first time using them and well... I LOVE THEM! I think I got a bit carried away with my sponging and distressing; I guess I can always say I dropped it in a mud puddle or something. :) Distressing is a great way to get rid of those holiday frustrations, so I highly recommend it this week. Tear, rip, sponge, tear...you get it, right? :)

I hope you'll find the time to come play along with us!

Stamps: Apothecary Art (I always think of the Pottery Barn Apothecary Table episode of Friends) :)

Ink: Soft Suede, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Framelit dies, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, brayer, cutter kit, sponges, basic pearls

Clearance Rack Blitz!

2011-12-15T07:26:00.001-06:00

Oh my! Just in time to treat YOURSELF for the holidays, Stampin' Up! has updated the Clearance Rack with over 200 new items! I already placed my order this morning because as for any clearance sale, it is only while supplies last! Be sure to visit my online store to shop today!

Keep in mind:

Clearance Rack merchandise can only be ordered online through my store.

All punches are going to be the old whale tail style, not the newer style.

Non-clearance rack merchandise can also be added to orders.

Qualifying orders of $150+ are eligible for hostess benefits.

FMS 15: Be My Valentine

2011-12-14T00:00:00.002-06:00

Time for our last sketch of the year at Freshly Made Sketches! Cindy designed our sketch this week and boy did she challenge us! I am not good with tilted anything on cards, so it took me a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to make. I am officially done thinking about Christmas cards, so I moved on to the next fun holiday, Valentine's Day! Crazy, huh?

It feels a bit plain to me, but I wasn't sure what else to do with it. I wanted to add some embossing, but I wasn't sure it would look right on the pink panels. Greeting Card Kids is seriously the most adorable stamp set ever. I love it! I wish we had a few sets of them covering every possible holiday and event. :)

I hope you'll play along with us this week before the craziness of the holidays sets in next week!

Stamps: Petite Pairs, Greeting Card Kids, I Heart Hearts

Ink: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom (marker), Staz On Black

Paper: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Brights and Subtles DSP stacks

Tools/Accessories: Blender Pen, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, small heart punch, Pretty in Pink 1/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)

PP76: Gold, Cherry, & Vanilla

2011-12-11T04:00:00.002-06:00

It is time for the final Paper Players challenge of the year! Ann is taking us out with a bang and a gorgeous clean-and-simple color combination. It is perfect to sneak in one more Christmas card for the year!

I HAD to use Bright Hopes again. It has less than a month left as a current stamp set and I am going to miss it so, so much! It is one of my all time favorite sets for sure! I was excited to use my birthday present too! I treated myself to the Tasteful Trim die with my birthday discount and I am so happy to finally own it! I couldn't wait to use it, so it is an early birthday present of sorts. :) I love looking at creations with a lot of white space, so I tired to leave a bit more on my card this time. I'm not sure that I'd call it successful, but I did try at least.

I found this cool sketch at Card Patterns and wanted to use it for my card:

I hope you will join us in this final challenge for the year!

Stamps: Bright Hopes

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Brushed Gold, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3-inch circle die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Champagne Shimmer Paint

FM36: Brrrr!

2011-12-09T02:00:00.003-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project featuring "Snowmen".
Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze & Basic Grey".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Snowman project with the colors Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze & Basic Grey".

Baby, it IS cold outside! Brrrr!!! It has been in the 30s the last few nights and that is super cold for us Texans! It is time for a new challenge at The Friday Mashup! Kim is our hostess this week and challenged us with a set of fun colors and snowmen! Guess who LOVES SNOWMEN???!!!!! ME!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, I cheated a bit and didn't mash it up this week. I got a box full of new Stampin' Up! goodies on Tuesday and I just had to cut into my new paper! Isn't it gorgeous? Best of all? It was free! Gotta love Sale-a-bration, especially when it comes early for us demonstrators! :) I hope snowmen can be vintage 'cause mine is trying his best to be! I think he's rockin' the look; do you?

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Staz On Black

Paper: Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB)

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3 inch circle die, sponges, blender pen, Color Spritzer tool

I hope you'll find time to join us at The Friday Mashup this week! How you can resist making a card with SNOWMEN?! :)

FMS14: Gray Snowman

2011-12-07T04:00:00.004-06:00

Time for another Freshly Made sketch! Jen Timko is our hostess this week and challenged us with a card full of panels! I am not a panel card kinda girl as I create to get away from too much thinking, but it is good to get those neurons firing sometimes. I have a nice little drawing with some serious fractions on it on my desk after figuring this one out. :) I guess I am still okay at math after all these years.

I know, snowmen AGAIN! I can't stop using this set! It is seriously the most awesome set and if you don't have it yet, GET IT! For my card, I decided to forgo the square card and do a traditional A2 card. I find that my square cards are collecting in my bin and never getting mailed out, so I really need to figure out the correct postage on them or stop making them. I have been in a pretty gloomy mood lately, so I imagine that's why I picked these colors. They kinda work though, right? And I did add glitter!

I hope you'll come play along with us this week!

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Basic Black, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Staz On Black, Bashful Blue

Paper: Pick Your Poison DSP, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Northern Frost Decorative Strip die, Blender Pen, Dazzling Details, Basics Glimmer Brads

How on earth is that comfortable? That boy is so silly! Little sister is always by his side too!

PP75: A Dinosaur Christmas

2011-12-04T04:00:00.002-06:00

I have the honor of being the guest designer this month at The Paper Players. I love spending time with my amazing friends over there; they are such a great group of women! For the first December challenge, Nance asked us to create something for Christmas without using traditional holiday stamps or colors. I was a bit stumped with this one and still dealing with a never-ending sinus headache, so my card is a bit silly. I hope you'll find it fun though. I ended up really liking it and would love to make them as my personal card this year. It's just so different and I would think anyone receiving it would just have to smile!

What do you think? Too silly? The more I look at him, the more I laugh! I love him! I decided to use both non-traditional colors and stamps for my card. Maybe the Friday Mashup is rubbing off on me a bit? :o) I was trying to find a good dinosaur color combination and settled on Not Quite Navy (my favorite SU color), Pool Party, and So Saffron. Dino looked a bit washed out in saffron, so I changed him up to More Mustard so you could see him better. I probably could have left off the distressing, but I thought I'd add it in there since Ann kept hers clean this time. Somebody had to use the 7-sided tool and sponges, right? I added a bit of glitter to the stocking because even dinosaurs need a little bling at Christmas!

I do want to say a HUGE thank you to my friend Brandi for reminding me about the hat from Crab & Company. I was going to try to make one from the pennant set and punch and I have a feeling that would have made my headache much, much worse.

I hope you enjoyed my card and will pull out YOUR non-Christmas stuff and create something fun with us!

Stamps: Dinoroar, Petite Pairs, Crab & Company (retired), Northern Hearts

Ink: More Mustard, So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Staz On black

Paper: So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Whisper White, retired designer paper

Tools/Accessories: Cutter Kit, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, sponges, Dazzling Details

FM35: Shake it!

2011-12-02T02:00:00.002-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project featuring "A Shaker Card".
Or Make a project with a "Winter Theme".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a " Winter Themed Shaker Card. "

*Shaker Card Tutorial

Oh yeah...you are going to have that song in your head all day! I keep replaying the scene from Beetlejuice in my head as I sing it... Anyway! This week is my first turn to host a challenge at The Friday Mashup! Woo Hoo! I was a bit nervous about coming up with an idea, but I think it turned out to be a fun one! I purchased a package of the Shaker Frames from Stampin' Up! ages ago, but never found the time to try them out. By incorporating them into my challenge, I actually USED them! It's nice to use the things you buy! :o) Here's what I came up with:

I was inspired by my fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team member Jen Mitchell to pull out some of my retired designer paper and use it for a few Christmas cards. This sheet was loose, so I'm not sure of the original name. I just know it was gathering dust. :) My snowman is all snug in his shaker frame filled with mica flakes. There was a bit of a trick to using the frames and the flakes, but I think I managed to pull it off okay. I didn't end up screaming or throwing anything and that usually equals success in my world. Now the photography? Not so successful. Whisper White and rhinestones never photograph well, so this card didn't stand a chance of looking good. It is pretty cute in real life, so you'll just have to trust me on that!

Be sure to come play along with us!

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Real Red, Marina Mist, Staz On Black, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Real Red, Marina Mist, Whisper White, retired dsp

Tools/Accessories: Circles # die, Window Sheets, 2 3/8 scallop circle punch, 1 3/4 circle punch, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, basic rhinestones, shaker frames, mica flakes

Oh my! I stamped today!

2011-12-01T16:22:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, I actually stamped something today! Nothing like stamp club tomorrow night to get me in my room creating. :) I am usually not a last minute person, but I sure have been cutting it close lately. I hate that because my creativity is not its best under pressure. I have a nice pile of rejects on the corner of my desk and one more project left to design. I did repurpose one of my previous designs for one of them, but this one is brand new, hot off the presses. Isn't it pretty? I don't know why I've been feeling vintage lately. It is so NOT my style, but I keep wanting to use browns and pinks and sponge everything! This was my first time using one of the stencils from Stampin' Up! and I have to say, I'm a bit in love.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Paper: Early Espresso, First Edition DSP, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories: Kind Thoughts stencil, sponge daubers, Fun Flowers die, 3/4 circle punch, Antique Brads, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, basic pearls

Wish me luck getting that last project finished and the house clean! I think I have my first official cold of the winter and I just want to snuggle in bed with the kitties.

FMS13: Square Leaves

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Time for another fun sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! Lesley is our hostess this week and has challenged us with the awesome sketch! The possibilities are endless as you can see from the samples from the design team. I hope you'll find a bit of time to play along!

Are you confused? I've been having a horrible time dealing with the holidays these past few weeks and I think that might be a part of why I haven't had any desire to stamp. When I sat down to make my card for this week, I gave myself permission to make whatever came to mind, even if it was totally the wrong season. My Spice Cake paper and Gently Falling stamp set are two of my favorite products, so I grabbed them, hugged them, and got to work. While it is still not a masterpiece, I actually like it. Well, minus the crooked sentiment. Don't you hate when you get to that last step and mess up? I even used my stamp-a-ma-jig! I think I was just tired by the time I finished and my eyes were crooked. :)

I hope you'll go check out the blog and see all the other gorgeous samples that the design team created to inspired and motivate you. I can't wait to see what YOU create!

Room Makeover

2011-11-28T10:44:00.000-06:00

While I haven't been stamping too much, I did get to redo my room a bit over the past few weeks. It is much nicer to work in there now. I feel like everything finally has a place! I still need to get some baskets and bins for my shelves, but it feels like it is really starting to come together.

This is the most popular area of the room. My three furries battle over who gets the luxurious window seat. Bandit usually wins of course. :)

The Big Shot station is still in the same spot. Nothing too exciting there. It is fun to see my collection of dies grow each time I take new pictures. :) My birthday is coming up next month and it will be growing again when use my awesome Stampin' Up! birthday discount to get the Tasteful Trim die!

My punches! I might need to rethink this as my rack is a bit full. I'll probably just lose the non-SU ones as I never use them them anyway. There's always the back side of the door too, right?

My bookshelf needs some work, but at least it looks semi-organized for now. It was crowded and a hot mess!

My favorite part of the room, my stamps! I can't seem to part with my retired ones, so there is a mix of current and retired on my shelf. I still have way too many, but I'm trying to do better about that. Lately my purchases have been Big Shot dies, accessories, or ink/paper to finish off my color family collections.

Here's my desk with a card in progress. I love that I can work neater now that things have a place to go! I tried to keep the stuff I used a lot (ink pads, stamps) near my desk so that I can put them back right when I finish with them. I also love having my computer/TV monitor right on my desk. My awesome husband got that for me last year and it is great.

Finally, all my new shelves that make up the other side of the room. Bella is on her way to fight for the window seat or claim the bit of sunshine that's on the floor. :) I love these shelves from Target! I have 3 large ones and one small one now and they are just perfect. They just need some baskets and should be perfect!

Anyway, just thought I'd share that. I hated my room for ages and this has really helped. All I did was purchase 3 new shelves and rearrange a bit. I think it looks like a real craft room now! I just need to work on decorating the walls a bit and figuring out exactly where to store everything so that I can work efficiently.

Elegant Elizabeth

2011-11-27T17:50:00.001-06:00

Here's another card we made at my last class. I thought it would be work for different occasions, including a wedding or birthday. (and yeah, black and white cards NEVER photograph well...sorry!) I love the Elizabeth stamp; it is so elegant and I think all the sentiments from Teeny Tiny Wishes will fit in the oval. We embossed it with black embossing powder and added some spritzing before matting it on a torn piece of First Edition designer paper. Some pearls and black satin ribbon were the perfect embellishments to finish it off.

I apologize for my lack of posts recently. I haven't been feeling that great due to the weather changes. Every front that blows in seems to bring along whatever it is I'm allergic to. The constant sinus headaches have just worn me out. I hope that's what is wrong with my creativity; I haven't made a card that I truly love in a while now and it is a bit depressing. Do you go through that? I keep hoping for a break from exhaustion and headaches along with the return of my mojo. I should get some new Valentine's Day stamps in this week, so maybe they will be the thing I need to get back on track.

Have a wonderful week! Don't forget the Online Extravaganza is still going until the 30th. There are some great stamp sets on sale for 50% off and a nice bundle of heart/love stamps/wheel that would be perfect for getting a head start on your Valentine's projects.

FM34: Chocolate Christmas

2011-11-25T07:29:00.002-06:00

Here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project featuring "A Christmas Theme".
Or Make a project using the colors "Aqua, Chocolate and White".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Christmas themed project using the colors Aqua, Chocolate and White".

First, I apologize for the late post today! For some reason, my scheduled post disappeared! I can't find it anywhere on Blogger, so I have no idea what happened. Hopefully I didn't create it on the wrong blog or it end up double-posting on this one. Very weird!

Anyway, the challenge for The Friday Mashup is a fun one this week! I love any excuse to pull out my Holiday Happiness set and I thought it would be perfect for this challenge. I don't know why I love this set so much. Maybe it reminds me of the infamous Charlie Brown Christmas tree? :o) To give a bit more interest to my card, I added some bling in the form of Dazzling Diamonds and Basic Rhinestones.

I hope everyone who celebrated had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great day full of good food and good friends. I'll try to post a few pictures later this weekend. If you are out in the Black Friday madness, stay safe! I'm heading back to bed with my kitties for a bit more sleep!

FMS12: Gentle Spice

2011-11-23T01:00:00.001-06:00

It is Wednesday and time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! Jen created this gorgeous sketch for us to work with this week; isn't it awesome?! I hope you can take a break from the turkey and bargain shopping to stamp along with us this week!

Here's what I came up with for this week. Now to be honest, I don't love it. I think I should have used MUCH LESS Soft Suede or something. I do love parts of it, like the Spice Cake designer paper and the leaf from Gently Falling. I just wish I could have showcased them a bit better. I'm just starting to experiment with circles on my card, so hopefully my next attempt will work out a bit better!

Be sure to stop by and see what the rest of the design team has created to inspire you this week. I promise they did a much better job than my poor card! :)

For all my American friends, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We already started preparing some of our goodies today and I'm so excited!

Simple Gently Falling

2011-11-21T18:56:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share another card we made at my last class. I LOVE this one because it combines so many of my favorite things...Gently Falling, woodgrain paper, baker's twine, and embossing! I love how simple it is even with all those elements! This is a color combination I've used before and one I will definitely be using again; I just love how it looks!

Stamps: Gently Falling, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso, So Saffron, Calypso Coral
Paper: Early Espresso, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Frostwood Lodge
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, color spritzer tool, paper snips

2011-11-21T08:45:00.000-06:00

Visit my store today to get some great deals from Stampin' Up! The awesome Simply Scored tool and the fun new Sweet Pressed Cookie stamps are 20% off until midnight tonight!

Other great deals include fabric at 60% off, some stamp sets at 50% off, and even an awesome Big Shot die at 20% off! Check out the flyer here with the complete list and discounted prices! Happy Shopping!

PP 73: Silver Tree

2011-11-20T02:00:00.001-06:00

I have the privilege of substituting over at The Paper Players challenge this week! I love these ladies, so it is always a thrill when I open up my email and see that I get to play along. Jaydee has a gorgeous color challenge for everyone this week. I think this is one of my favorite combinations for elegant Christmas cards. There's just something about blue and silver that I love!

I decided to show another one of my older, but still current stamps a little love for this one. Season of Joy was one of the very first sets I ever purchased and I still adore it. I did have to pull out some retired ribbon as I didn't have any current Night of Navy ribbon. I love the 1 1/4 striped ribbon and think it looks great used as a divider like this. I'm definitely using this layout again for more cards! The sentiment is from another current stamp set, Contempo Christmas.

I hope you enjoyed my card for today. Hop over to the Paper Players to see what all the other designers came up with using these gorgeous colors. I know this week will be a busy one with the holiday, but maybe you can find a bit of time to escape to your crafty space and play along.

Stamps: Season of Joy, Contempo Christmas

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark

Paper: Night of Navy, Brushed Silver, Shimmery White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Snow Burst embossing folder, Regals buttons, Night of Navy 1 1/4 striped ribbon, white baker's twine, Silver embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, basic rhinestones

PPA120: Faux Linen Sketch

2011-11-19T17:17:00.000-06:00

So lately I've been feeling pretty down and not really enjoying stamping as much as I usually do. My cards are all feeling a bit plain and boring for me too. Sad face, right? Today I found myself a bit ahead of things, so I decided to sit down and do a challenge for fun. I wanted to add a new technique into the mix as well. I find that expanding my skills and trying new things a breath of fresh air, so I thought that might be just what I needed. I decided to play along with the Pals Paper Arts sketch and to try the Faux Linen technique. I haven't used my new Distressing Essentials kit very much yet, so it was a perfect time to put it to use!

I used the Tea Stain ink on my image panel and I don't think it was quite dark enough to allow the linen texture to show up in my picture. I know next time to go darker for that part, but I do like how the card turned out. I seem to be drawn towards browns right now; maybe because of all the dead trees we have from the drought? Or maybe cheery colors just aren't fitting my mood? Either way, I do like mixing them up. I never thought I'd be using Soft Suede as much as I have been! It is a bit of an ugly color. :) All the panels are sponged to give them some depth and I pulled out my favorite retired ribbon, Early Espresso satin.

Stamps: Best Friends Forever, Nature Walk, En Francais

Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Tea Stain distress ink

Paper: Glossy White, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Neutrals Patterns DSP stack

Tools/Accessories: Distressing Essentials kit, sponges, Early Espresso Satin ribbon

Online Extravaganza!

2011-11-19T07:39:00.000-06:00

Here's another card we made at my all occasions class last week. I think this is one of my favorite color combinations! It is perfect for a masculine card of any type, even baby cards! Paired with Circle Circus, it can become whatever type of card you need! Just change out the sentiment for the occasion you need!

Stamps: Circle Circus, Perfectly Penned
Ink: Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Paper: Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Marina Mist 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)

On Monday, November 21st, Stampin' Up! will be kicking off an exciting online extravaganza! If you remember last year, there were some great deals and sales, so don't miss out on this! This time there will be a 24-hour only sale from November 21, 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM (Mountain Time, so be sure to adjust for your time zone!) on two items!

The rest of the sale will run from the 21st until the 30th. Some hints of the deals to come:

*Free digital downloads valued at $40 when you purchase My Digital Studio Express

*60% off select designer fabrics

*30% off an exclusive ribbon bundle

I'll have more information on Monday, but you can find the deals starting at 12:01 AM (MT) in my online store!

FM33: Shabby Owl

2011-11-18T06:12:00.000-06:00

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

Make a project using "Paper Rosettes".
Or Make a project using "the Sketch Above".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Project with the Sketch using Rosettes".

* Here are some tutorials on Paper Rosettes if you aren't sure how to make one.

*From a Border Punch

*From a strip of Pattern Paper

* PDF - instructions

It's Friday, so time for another fun Friday Mashup challenge! I'm sure you noticed that everything is NOT coming up rosettes on my card. Guess who can't make a pretty rosette? Yep...it is that same person who also has a few attempts in their trash. I am officially THE WORST rosette maker in the world! Well, I did get one to turn out, but of course it was the one on my practice paper. lol I don't like being defeated by paper (or in this case, GLUE!), so I'll keep working on them!

My friend Linda inspired me to finally use my designer frames embossing folder this week. She says it looks like a turkey platter, but don't tell my owl! The rest of the card was inspired by another good friend, Ann. When I see where I am now in my paper crafting and on design teams, I do credit much of that back to her. Just following her blog really pushed me to try harder to make better cards and do the challenges that I so enjoy. You can see her influence here with the distressed layers and pearls! :) I picture this card being perfect for someone going for a shabby chic nursery; it has that look, right?

FMS11: The Open Sea

2011-11-16T01:00:00.001-06:00

Wow! Where has this week gone already? I can't believe it is already Wednesday! You do know that that means though! Time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! My awesome friend Linda designed the sketch for this week. Isn't it a cool one? So many possibilities! I pulled out one of my favorite sets, The Open Sea, because I just knew it would be PERFECT for this layout!

See what I mean? PERFECT! Now this stamp set is still available, but if you missed out on the gorgeous matching paper, you can only find it on My Digital Studio. I'm a bit sad about that as I love them together and should have bought an extra pack or four. :) You will be seeing some retired stamps and paper on here for a bit as I'm trying to be a good girl and use up some things. I reorganized my room and found lots of goodies that need some love!

I hope you'll go check out the rest of the samples from the design team and start thinking up some ideas for your own card!

Stamps: The Open Sea

Ink: Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition (retired)

Tools/Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Regals buttons, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine

colourQ 111, PPC41

2011-11-15T11:56:00.000-06:00

I finally managed to clear off my desk and stamp today! Yay! My sweet friend Lesley is a guest designer this week over at Scrapbooker's Paradise, so I decided to try their sketch with the awesome colors from colourQ this week. I thought they worked very well together and I love how my card turned out. I have been on a mission to make sure all my stamps are feeling loved, so today I used a retired set from the Summer Mini that I hadn't inked up yet. Now I'm sure you've never done this, but I thought I'd share how silly I am sometimes. I loved this set, but never had an order large enough to earn it. The day before the catalog expired I totally panicked at the idea of never owning it and put in an order to get it. It has sat unloved since I got it, so I don't know what I was thinking! :)

Stamps: Love & Care (retired)
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Versamark
Paper: Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Bright DSP stack, In Color Hostess stack (retired)
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Itty Bitty punch pack, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, basic pearls, Rich Razzleberry 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)

Just Believe class card

2011-11-14T22:42:00.000-06:00

Today I thought I'd share one of the cards we made last Friday night for my Girls Night Out class. I think this was my favorite! I took an idea from the Idea Book & Catalog and turned it into this beauty! I love purple and green together; it is such a lovely combination. Just Believe is a gorgeous set and you can do so many pretty things with it. I'd highly recommend you put it on your wishlist if you don't have it already!

Before I go, I'd like to wish my sweet friend Anne Marie a very happy birthday! I was hoping to make a card and post it today for her, but my poor room is in shambles. I have been buying new shelving and reorganizing for a few days now. We are supposed to have a rainy day tomorrow, so I hope it will be the time I need to finish up in there!

Stamps: Just Believe, Tiny Tags
Ink: Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade
Paper: Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Beautiful Wings embosslit, jewelry tag punch, blender pen, Lucky Limeade ribbon, basic pearls

colourQ 110: CAS Leaf

2011-11-13T10:44:00.001-06:00

Aren't these colors lovely? I have to say, those cookies made me a bit hungry too! For my colourQ card this week I decided to go clean-and-simple. When you look at it, you're probably going to think it took minutes to make. I wish! For me, the simple cards are the most difficult! Every detail of this type of card must be perfect and the spacing must be exact in order for the card to look right. I think I had to redo this one a few times before I got it where I liked it.

I have to say, I do love how it turned out. For the background behind the leaf, I used Pool Party ink and one of my clear blocks and the A to Z background stamp (stamped off once). It gives a nice, but subtle frame for my gorgeous leaf. The leaf is inked with Peach Parfait and then rock-n-rolled in Cajun Craze (the closest color I had to Dusty Durango). I did this twice and cut them both out and layered them for a bit of dimension and interest. The sentiment is inked with Soft Suede. I hope you like it and will try your own CAS card soon!

Stamps: A to Z, Gently Falling, Thank You Kindly
Ink: Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede
Paper: Naturals White, Soft Suede, Pool Party
Tools/Accessories: clear block, paper snips, stamp-a-ma-jig

Cookin' with the Players

2011-11-11T16:56:00.000-06:00

Anne Marie has a fun recipe challenge this week at the Paper Players. It definitely requires some thinking, but that's why we call it a challenge! Now I've been prepping all day for my class tonight, so my brain is tired! I also had everything all set up, so I was limited in both brain power AND supplies for this one. I pulled together what was left in my craft room and here's the result:

I did cheat a bit and use the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. I couldn't figure out how to get the mix of designer papers to work any other way! I told you my brain was tired! I got a new color of card stock in my order last night, Pink Pirouette, so I had to make something with it. It wouldn't be an Anne Marie challenge without pink. :) I love pink with black, but I thought it would also look good with the black and gray mix. For my ribbon I used some black satin to make a little flag and some gray taffeta my flower accents. My glitter is on the silver glitter paper AND the glimmer brad; I love sparkle! The punch comes from the circle punch used for my flower center. So...I think that's it!

You still have a little time to go cook up your own card, so go get busy!

Friday Mashup Debut!

2011-11-11T01:00:00.001-06:00

I'm so excited to announce that I've been asked to join the wonderful design team over at The Friday Mashup! This week Kasey has challenged us to make a girly card, use our favorite technique, or mash it up and use our favorite technique on a girly card! Did you get all that?! :) I decided to go with some girly colors and practice a bit more on my vintage/aging techniques.

What do you think? Girly, huh? I love it! I'm not that into pink, but I do love Blushing Bride, especially paired with Early Espresso! I did a lot of sponging on this one. I think I got every edge of all the pieces of card stock in fact! I also added ink to the raised areas on my embossed panel to make it stand out more. Once I finished, I gave it a good spritzing with my homemade shimmer mist! Girly cards need a bit of sparkle, right? :)

Stamps: En Francais, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Paper: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing paper, Fun Flowers die, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, basic pearls, Early Espresso satin ribbon (retired)

Be sure to drop by the Mashup! blog and see what all the other lovely designers have created to inspire you this week!

FMS10: Snow Much Plaid

2011-11-09T06:26:00.001-06:00

It's Wednesday, so you know what that means! A new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Now this is a special sketch because it is MINE! :) Lesley turned us loose and let us design some for the blog. Scary, huh? I actually loved making up a few and I hope you'll enjoy playing along with us!

The fun thing about sketch challenges? Flipping them and interpreting them for your idea of course! :) I had this stamp set and paper on my desk when I started thinking about my card and if you own it, you know it is hard to say no to that adorable snowman. He wanted to be on my card and I was helpless to say no. He also wanted to sparkle like Edward, but as always it just doesn't show up in the picture. I guess I was in one of those layering moods when I made this one. I do love me some layers...just not the cost to mail them! Definitely a clean card, but not too simple with all the layering. I hope you like! I also hope you like my sketch and will come play along! :)

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Staz On Black, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Bashful Blue

Paper: Frostwood Lodge designer paper, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, blender pen, Dazzling Details

Bright Hopes for Club

2011-11-08T19:28:00.000-06:00

I have stamp club on Thursday and needed another project for it, so today I came up with this one. It's similar to one I'd made before, but I went with more traditional colors, added a bit of bling, and changed the ribbon to the gorgeous red satin. Instead of embossing the image, I stamped it twice and cut out one to get some dimension. Now I initially didn't do that, but when I showed the card to my husband he said it needed dimension. :) He has a good eye, so back to work I went! I hope the ladies will enjoy making this one. This set is one of my favorites and I can't wait to share it with them!

I did try setting up a little station to take pictures after dark, but I see that my Garden Green card stock looks more like Wild Wasabi. Back to the drawing board on that I guess!

Stamps: Bright Hopes
Ink: Real Red
Paper: Real Red, Garden Green, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Frost White shimmer paint, Real Red Satin ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Gratitude

2011-11-06T09:44:00.001-06:00

After a pretty crappy day yesterday, I decided to go play in my stamp room a bit before I went to bed. Making a card is the perfect cure for the blahs! I wanted to play along with a couple of challenges, so I decided to combine the Pals Paper Arts color challenge to use River Rock, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso with the Friday Mashup challenge to make a Thank You or Gratitude card.

Now I make a lot of cards and I like some of them, LOVE others, and hide a few too. This card is one that I LOVE and I'm amazed at how well it turned out! I have been trying to use some stamp sets that have collected a bit of dust, so that's where I got the Vintage Vogue inspiration. I wasn't sure about brown flowers, but I am in love with them! I think this card will go in my "I'm keeping it forever" stash. :) Now it is an overcast day here in Texas, so my photo truly doesn't do this one justice. I tried different locations and different lighting, but it just wasn't happening today. I really need to get that light tent ordered!

Happy Sunday!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Petite Pairs, En Francais
Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock
Paper: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Tools: Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 die, circle punches, paper snips, Basics glimmer brads, Early Espresso satin ribbon (retired)

Pink and Orange Friends

2011-11-05T15:03:00.002-05:00

I'm having a fun play day today, so I was able to do a couple of fun challenges! For this card, I combined the color challenge from Stampin' Royalty with the sketch challenge at Create with Connie and Mary. I think it turned out pretty cute. Those colors just screamed teen girl to me, so I tried to make a card appropriate for one. After not liking this stamp set, I've managed to use it two days in a row!

Stamps: Best Friends Forever
Ink: Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride
Paper: Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, In Color DSP stack (retired)
Tools/Accessories: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Paper Snips, Basic Rhinestones, Melon Mambo scallop dots ribbon

Drum Roll please....

2011-11-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

The Random Generator picked #56 for the winner of my card for last week's blog hop!
LILIANA said...

Two very cute projects! Love that dsp. Thanks for sharing.

Liliana, if you email me your address, I'll get this out in the mail to you!

colourQ 109: BFF

2011-11-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

I didn't think I was going to get anything made for this week's colourQ challenge, so this post is a bit of a miracle. :) I worked on ideas for hours yesterday and couldn't get them in the right combination to look right. I LOVE anything with a retro feel, so I was very disappointed in myself. I failed miserably at the challenge AND the new recipe I tried turned out horrible and had to be thrown out.

This morning I woke up determined to have a better day and headed off to my room to make something for the challenge...successfully this time! I put aside everything I had tried yesterday and started fresh. I grabbed a stamp set I hadn't used yet and started putting together different ideas until I finally felt like I had something I could actually post! (I also made pumpkin bread today to make up for yesterday's recipe disaster. I hope my club ladies will like it tonight.)

Now of course I made something that was difficult to photograph! :) I finally used the Best Friends Forever stamp set that we received at Convention back in July. It is not once that I would have normally purchases, but since I had it, I thought I'd try inking it up. I also had to add some Fun Flowers from my favorite die. I hope you enjoyed my card and will give the colors a chance to work for you!

Stamps: Best Friends Forever
Ink: Soft Suede, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Stripes embossing folder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Brights buttons, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Pumpkin Pie satin ribbon (retired)

Digital Scrapbooking Celebration!

2011-11-04T06:42:00.000-05:00

Dates: November 4-7, 2011

Celebrate Digital Scrapbooking Day with Stampin' Up! for a four-day online event designed to introduce more of you to our digital content. Digital Scrapbooking Day is November 5, but we'll keep the celebration going from November 4-7! The event will include free downloads, blog posts with exciting project ideas all weekend long, and the announcement of the 2011 My Digital Studio Contest winners.

Visit MyDigitalStudio.net to get these free, fun new downloads and find out more about the My Digital Studio program!

Brand-new, never seen before FREE downloads include:

I have found many uses for My Digital Studio and find myself opening it up for so many things! It will help you design wonderful gifts, make flyers or signs, scrapbook your memories, and let you print out images that you can use on traditional paper crafting projects! If you'd like to learn more about it, please contact me today to arrange a time to come over and play!

Hostess Club Card #2

2011-11-03T13:25:00.001-05:00

This beauty is the second card we'll be making at my stamp clubs this month. Isn't it pretty?! I am such a big fan of Lovely as a Tree. One of the ladies in my Friday night group mentioned she'd like to try to the Crayon Resist technique so I decided to plan a card with it. I love how it looks like snow! I hope you can see it; I didn't want a lot of sponging on my main panel, but of course the more you add, the more the resist will stand out. I'm really loving this combination of colors for Christmas this year. I've never been a big fan of Wild Wasabi in the past, but I have to say, I love it right now!

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Woodgrain
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso marker
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Naturals White, Cherry Cobbler, Frostwood Lodge designer paper
Tools/Accessories: white crayon, sponges, blender pen, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

FMS9: Cherry Leaves

2011-11-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

It's Freshly Made Sketches day! Tui designed this fun sketch for us this week; isn't it cool? Because it is a new month, we also have 2 new featured designers so be sure to stop by and say hello to Lauri and Christy.

My take on the sketch uses my favorite new stamp set, Gently Falling and one of my favorite new color combinations. Cherry Cobbler is so fantastic and by using it with neutrals, it really shines! My friend Ann inspired me to try using vellum to soften the background of my card. I love the look of it on this one and will definitely be adding it to more cards in the future.

Stamps: Gently Falling, Thank You Kindly

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso

Paper: vellum, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, neutrals (or antique) brads, Cherry Cobbler seam binding

FM34: Chocolate Christmas

2011-11-02T02:00:00.001-05:00

Lesley has a fun challenge for everyone this week at The Friday Mashup. The challenge is to make a card using Christmas as theme or to use the colors aqua, chocolate, and white. As always, you can also choose to Mash It Up and do both! That's what I did for my card:

Holiday Happiness is one of those sets that I just adore. It reminds me a bit of the infamous Charlie Brown Christmas tree I think. I thought it would be perfect for these colors! I added some bling (aka Dazzling Diamonds and rhinestones) to make it shiny like Christmas should be!

I hope you'll head over to the challenge blog and check out what the other ladies created to inspire you! I can't wait to see what you create!

November Promotions

2011-11-01T09:21:00.001-05:00

Stampin' Up! has an awesome promotion for the next 6 weeks! From today until December 15th, workshop hostesses will receive an extra $35 in hostess benefits for workshops over $350! Isn't that awesome?! If you host one and your sales reach the $350 mark, you'll get the normal $50 of free products and the bonus $35 for a total of $85 in freebies! What a deal! (Online orders do not qualify, so you'll need to contact me to get those extras!)

In addition, they also extended the Big Shot promotion until November 11th! There is still time to sign up for your starter kit and get the Big Shot (or $100 in products)! I'd love to have you join me in this fun adventure, so contact me today for more details.

Being a demonstrator has been the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. I have lived in Texas for 9 years now and have always struggled to make new friends. Thanks to SU, I was able to join a hostess club and find a network of people who share my love of stamping. Once I signed up as a demonstrator, my network expanded even more and now I have even more friends! Stampin' Up! events and my blog have also helped me make new friends from all around the world!

In addition to friends, being a demonstrator is also helping me build up the self-esteem that I've been lacking for most of my life. It is so rewarding to have people love your designs and enjoy learning about stamping from you. I get so much positive feedback from my customers and always leave events with a big goofy smile on my face. It is such a nice change from my old job where I always felt beat down when I left each day.

Finally, being a demonstrator and holding events allows me to pay for my own supplies and build up a nice set of tools and products. This is a bit surprising to me because I initially signed up just for the discount with no real intention of selling anything. I'm a horrible salesperson and I've had enough of those type jobs to know that. Thankfully, just doing what I love, stamping, sells the products for me and I can just relax and enjoy the time I'm spending with others. Stampin' Up! welcomes hobby demonstrators who just want a discount on their own supplies, so if selling isn't your thing, that's okay! You still get the perks of being a demonstrator like a free monthly magazine, 20% discount on your purchases, advance copies of catalogs, preordering products from the upcoming catalogs, and access to a demonstrator only websites with lots of samples and discussions.

There's really nothing to lose when you sign up... You get over $400 in products for the cost of the Starter Kit and all of that is yours to keep no matter what. I think you'll be surprised at how exciting it is to be a demonstrator and will want to keep going though. I love it. I just registered for a Regional event that will be held in San Antonio in January and I'm looking forward to it so much. I will get to meet some new friends that I've come to love through blogging and email and also reconnect with other friends that I met at Convention back in July. Being part of the Stampin' Up! family has changed my life for the better and I'm so thankful that the opportunity worked out for me.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T06:00:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone has managed to save some candy for the kids tonight. :o) I'm sneaking out to dinner with my dear husband and hiding out from all the scary monsters. Our kitties get so stressed over the doorbell and will sometimes try to run out the door, so it is just better for us to avoid the whole candy thing. I do miss seeing the kids in costume, but I usually catch a glimpse of them out the window after we get home.

This Friday is my Girls' Night Out stamp club, so I worked on our first project this weekend. I hope they will love Gently Falling as much as I do. I modified last week's Just Add Ink card to work for club and Thanksgiving and I love it! I don't use Pumpkin Pie a lot, but it looks pretty amazing with Early Espresso! Per the request of one of the members, we'll be making this card from scratch. It will be different for me to not be pre-cutting everything, but I hope it will help them learn how to utilize their supplies. :) I have a nice cheat sheet started in My Digital Studio for them, so it should be pretty easy to put together.

Stamps: Gently Falling, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain

Ink: Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Squares Duo, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Color Spritzer, Pumpkin Pie 1/4 grosgrain ribbon

Jason and I carved our pumpkins and got them all ready to shine for Halloween. I think they turned out pretty good this year. Mine is on the left and his on the right. I really love carving them; I think more holidays should involve carving up things. :) This year we also roasted the seeds from them and they are delicious!

Play Date Cafe #105

2011-10-30T11:05:00.001-05:00

The Play Date Cafe had a wonderful inspiration photo this week and I just had to play along. I am more than a little obsessed with any kind of coffee drink, so it took me a bit to quit looking at the picture and actually work on my card! Don't those look yummy? Anyway, on the the card....

I'll start by saying that I don't do vintage. It is totally outside my comfort zone and I find it very confusing. Distressing? I end up way more distressed than the paper! However, I love to challenge myself so I recently purchased the Distressing Essentials kit. I pulled out my tea stain ink and started swiping, wiping, and crumbling like an old pro. I hope I managed to achieve a vintage feel to it. Any suggestions or comments from you vintage professionals? I'm so happy that Stampin' Up! decided to carry this set over through June. I had no idea I was such a fan of nautical things until I got it.

I hope you enjoyed my card today! I'm off to start some pizza dough and get ready for some football! Go Texans!

Stamps: The Open Sea, Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink: Marina Mist, Crumb, Cake, Chocolate Chip, Tea Stain Distress ink

Paper: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Distressing Essentials Kit, Mini Brads - silver, 2 1/2 circle punch, Chocolate Chip 1 1/4 striped ribbon (retired), paper snips

Fall Blog Hop with The Paper Players

2011-10-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings! Welcome to The Paper Players Fall Blog Hop! The entire team, along with the fall guest designers, has created some beautiful creations to wow and inspire you. Some of the Players even have blog candy to share, so be sure to make your way through the entire hop!

Here's the list of participants with clickable links:
Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Cindy Hall

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Rita Wright (You are here)

Tara Bilbao

I have 2 projects to share with you, so let's get started!

When I hear fall this year, I automatically think SPICE CAKE! :o) This is my absolute favorite paper ever and I can't stop using. Now there seems to be a bit of debate about Pool Party being a fall color, but it coordinates so well with the others that I think they've welcomed it into their mix. One of the best ways to show off any gorgeous designer paper is to make a quilt card, so that's what I did. Isn't it pretty?! I added some embossing and sponging to really bring out the beauty and add some texture to the card.

I thought my card could use a matching treat box, so I pulled out my Fancy Favor die and made this cute box. I decorated the front some some gorgeous leaves from Day of Gratitude and added some sponging to them as well. I had to use my Spice Cake here too of course, so I added a little belly band of the More Mustard pattern. The box holds some yummy Godiva chocolates in a cellophane bag that has been stuffed with a bit of homemade confetti and tied with Pool Party ribbon.

I hope you enjoyed my projects. Before you head over to Tara's blog, take a minute to sign up to follow my blog and leave me a comment. I'll be picking a random winner from all the comments to send this lovely card to next Saturday (November 5th).

Be sure to visit The Paper Players challenge blog tomorrow for a new challenge!

Red and Pink Christmas

2011-10-28T17:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I've said many times that I love non-traditional colors for Christmas, so here's a bit more proof! When I saw the color combination at Just Add Ink this week, I knew I'd be doing a Christmas card. Cherry Cobbler always makes me think Christmas and I knew I could somehow work in Blushing Bride with it. One of my favorite products is Cherry Cobbler seam binding, so that was my first thought when I saw the Pals Paper Arts challenge to use ribbon. Nothing makes bows quite like the seam binding. I love it!

What do you think? I have a friend who just loves pink, so I know where this one is going next month! :)

Stamps: Bright Hopes
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories: Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, embossing buddy, heat tool, Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

colourQ 108: Roar!

2011-10-27T17:46:00.000-05:00

I love dinosaurs, so this set was calling my name when I saw it in the catalog. I'm not sure that Peach Parfait or Daffodil Delight dinosaurs ever roamed the earth, but for the sake of my card, let's pretend they did, okay? :o) This didn't turn out quite how I imagined it, but I think it's a cute card for a little boy. The colors are from this week's colourQ challenge; they are a fun mix, so go play along!

Stamps: Dinoroar
Ink: Black Staz On, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade, So Saffron
Paper: Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pick Your Poison DSP
Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Stamp-a-ma-jig

FMS8: Gently Falling

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Time for a new challenge from Freshly Made Sketches! Our featured designer this week is Holly Endress from HollyBeary Creations. Be sure to drop by and say hello! This sketch really has endless possibilities, so I can't wait to see all the wonderful creations this week.

I hope you'll like my take on the sketch. I tried a different arrangement of leaves to make it a bit more like the sketch, but I ultimately gave up and went with this arrangement. I enjoyed borrowing this set so much that I ordered my own over the weekend. I just know my club ladies will LOVE it as much as I do, so I had to get it so they could try it too!

Stamps: Gently Falling, Thank You Kindly
Ink: Pool Party, Soft Suede
Paper: Spice Cake DSP, Neutrals DSP stack, Pool Party, Soft Suede
Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Linen Thread

Christmas Keepsake Box

2011-10-25T12:47:00.000-05:00

Pretty, huh? If you'd like to have your own to make, you can now order one! It's such a gorgeous gift box and a steal at only $19.95! Now you will need a few supplies of your own to complete it, but most of them are pretty standard. It does come with directions and of course I'm always here to help out! If you like to order yours, you can get it in my online store (http://ritawright.stampinup.net) using order number 129024. They are just while supplies last, so don't hesitate if it is something you really want!

The additional products needed to complete it are:

Pines & Poinsettias stamp set

Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker

Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker

Wild Wasabi Stampin’ Write Marker

Adhesives

3/16" Corner Punch

Paper Cutter

Paper Snips

Needle

Glue gun

Bows and Boxes

2011-10-24T19:51:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to work on a hostess gift for my upcoming workshop. I have always wanted to try making a paper bow, so I pulled up the instructions on Splitcoast Stampers and got to work. I hope the rest of my designer papers know that they are in trouble now. I had so much fun making this that I can't wait to do more! I'm pretty sure there will be bows on everything soon! :) I used the lovely Frostwood Lodge designer paper from the Holiday Mini for this one. It is a bit rustic and works great with the cute Kraft boxes you can also find in the mini. :) Don't you want to make your own now? We'll be doing them next month at my Try It Thursday class, so you might want to mark your calendar and plan to attend!

Today I got an awesome box of goodies in the mail from my VERY talented friend, Brandi. If you aren't following her blog, go now and get that one your reading list. I absolutely love her work and as a bonus, she makes me laugh a lot too! Winning her blog candy allowed us to become friends and I'm so happy that the random number generator picked me! :) I can't wait to play with my new stamp set and drool a bit over my pretty card. Maybe my next workshop hostess will get lucky and get a decorated tin! Don't they look fun to work with? Thanks again, Brandi! You rock!

I do apologize for the crummy pictures. I didn't get in my room until late today and missed the good light. I am slowly getting together the pieces to make my light tent, so hopefully that won't be an issue in a few more weeks.

Gently Falling Duo Challenge

2011-10-22T19:28:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful day crafting with my two best friends today! I got up early this morning and made us some soup and banana nut bread to snack on during our girls' day. They were both yummy and helped fire up our mojo for some card making! This was the card I worked on today; it uses the fun sketch from Pals Paper Arts. I love this sketch and will definitely be filing it away for future reference! I also wanted to play along with The Friday Mashup and use twine on my card. I adore baker's twine and seem to be using it way more than ribbon lately.

I am really enjoying Gently Falling, so I'm pretty sure I'll be putting an order in for it tomorrow. :) To start my card, I played around with my Color Coach and decided I liked the look of Calypso Coral, So Saffron, and Early Espresso together. Once I figured out how much of each I wanted to feature on my card, everything went together pretty easily.

Stamps: Gently Falling, Falling Leaves
Ink: Early Espresso (ink and marker), So Saffron (ink and marker), Calypso Coral
Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, So Saffron
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Modern Label punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Antique Brads, sponges, Color Spritzer (just for you, Ann!)

JAI 90: Sketch Challenge

2011-10-21T14:52:00.000-05:00

First, I apologize for the lack of posts this week. It's been one of those weeks mentally and my heart just wasn't in trying to create anything. I decided to try making something today and here's my second card of the day. The first one you'll have to wait on. :) My upline, Denise, was kind enough to lend me her Gently Falling stamp set so I've been putting it to work. I'll definitely be sad to give this one back next week! How gorgeous is that leaf? I normally hate 2-step stamps as they don't fit completely in the lines, but I think I could manage to get over that with this one. :) Anyway, I thought it would be great for the sketch over at Just Add Ink. I don't own an oval die, so I hope it was okay that I used a square!

Stamps: Gently Falling, en Francais, Tiny Tags, Woodgrain
Ink: Soft Suede, Pool Party, More Mustard
Paper: More Mustard, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Squares duo die, Jewelry Tag punch, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, sponges

FMS7: Glitter Stocking

2011-10-19T00:00:00.002-05:00

It's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! We have another wonderful featured designer, Sandra Azzopardi, joining us this week, so be sure to stop by her blog and say hello! It actually took me a bit to find my card for this post! I knew I'd be in Florida and tired from the trip, so I made my card quite a while ago. I didn't want to have to stress about it when I got home and drive my poor husband crazy. I would probably make something totally different now; I must have been in a traditional Christmas mood when I put this together. :)

Red and green galore! I love the glitter paper; isn't it gorgeous? I wish I could wrap myself in it! I used a lot of the different patterns from the Brights designer series paper stack for this one. I love that stuff! I feel like I have used it so much and still have so much more left to work with! I used some of my favorite embellishments, buttons, baker's twine, and mini jingle bells to add a fun, festive feel. Hopefully I can stand to get it away with all those on there. :)

Stamps: none

Ink: none

Paper: Brights DSP stack, Red glitter paper, Old Olive, Real Red

Tools/Accessories: Stocking builder punch, circle punches, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Brights buttons, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, mini jingle bells

Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team made to inspire you this week!

Try Stampin' On Tuesday #37

2011-10-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

I hope you enjoyed the posts from the weekend. We took a trip to Florida so I was away and didn't stamp for a whole 4 days! I was ready to get back in my room and create today, especially since I got some new goodies yesterday! I decided to try a new challenge today, the Try Stampin' On Tuesday challenge! It was a very fun sketch to work with and I loved how my card turned out. Bright Hopes is such an awesome set! Do you have it yet? :o)

The beaches of Florida were amazing, so I thought I should share a picture. :) Our friends got married on the beach at Navarre and it was just gorgeous there. This picture was taken in Pensacola; we decided to stay there at a neat little bed-and-breakfast. It was a nice trip and we stayed busy for the few days we were there. I would love to go back someday and do a bit more exploring of the area.

Stamps: Bright Hopes, Woodgrain background
Ink: Garden Green, Real Red, Crumb Cake
Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP stack
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper and Stripes embossing folders, basic pearls, white baker's twine, Brights buttons, sponges, paper snips, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch

MDS Monday

2011-10-17T02:00:00.001-05:00

If you visited yesterday, this card probably looks pretty familiar to you. I wanted to recreate one of my cards in My Digital Studio to show you how nice it would look. Pretty close, huh? Stampin' Up! has done a wonderful job adding some of our favorite supplies to the digital side of things. Even better, the printing is guaranteed to match the SU colors we know and love.

The advantage to making this card in MDS? I can print as many of this card as I need without doing any further work. It's a great way to design your invitations or Christmas cards because you can do it once and have as many printed as you need. If you wanted to add some ribbon or brads, you can always go the hybrid route and do a lot of the work on MDS and then add a few embellishments once you get the cards from the printer.

If you like to purchase MDS, you can get it here on my online store. I'd love to answer and questions you have about it or give you a demonstration of how it works.

Upsy Daisy Birthday

2011-10-16T02:00:00.003-05:00

I have been getting a lot of customers who are new to stamping so to be able to help them, I've been looking through the catalog and getting some ideas of what products I think would work best for them. Upsy Daisy was one of the stamp sets I picked for my Starter Kit last year when I signed up. I think it's a great set for starting out because it has a nice image to work with as well as three different sentiments. You can make a birthday, thinking of you, or thank you card with just this one set!

This card would be fairly inexpensive to recreate if you leave off the embossing on the strip of Bashful Blue. You'd need 2 packs of card stock, 1 pack of designer paper, a stamp pad, baker's twine, and the stamp set. Not too bad, huh? You could get this stamp set for free in your Starter Kit if you decide to sign up to be a demonstrator. If you join this month, you'd also get a free Big Shot that would allow you to do that cool embossing too! It's a great deal for those of you starting out or who want to get a discount on the products you already love. :) Contact me for more information or visit my website to sign up today!

Be sure to come back tomorrow so you can see the digital version of this card!

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Early Espresso
Paper: First Edition Designer Series paper, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine

Inspired by Maureen's card that can be found here.

Catalog Inspiration: Bright Hopes

2011-10-14T21:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted a card that I copied from the Holiday Mini Catalog. For today, I wanted to share another card inspired by the catalog, but this one is a bit different. I loved the card on page 23 of the catalog, but I didn't have the stamp set that I'd need to recreate it. Instead, I looked at it and decided what parts I could do exactly and what I'd need to find in my supplies to do the rest. Looking at the image panel, I knew I'd need something to stamp in the background and a large sentiment of some sort. I looked over my stamps and decided to go with my new favorite, Bright Hopes, for the background image. My largest Christmas sentiment was from the hostess set in the Holiday Mini, Warmest of Wishes, so I decided to use that as well.

Here's the original card:

It's not quite the original card, but it is still gorgeous! Well, I think so anyway. :) I am enjoying the inspiration I'm getting from the catalog, so stay tuned for more cards. I'd love for you to try one too! If you do, be sure to come back and post a link to your blog or online gallery so we can all go check out your beautiful work!

Stamps: Warmest of Wishes, Bright Hopes
Ink: River Rock, Cherry Cobbler, Versamark
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan Letterpress plate, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, heat tool, clear embossing powder, basic pearls, Cherry Cobbler seam binding

Catalog Inspiration: Stitched Stocking

2011-10-13T20:01:00.000-05:00

One of the questions I get a lot as a demonstrator is where I come up with my ideas. For those of you who visit frequently, you know I love participating in various challenge blogs. I really enjoy starting out with a sketch and have quite a few of them printed out to use as a reference. If that sounds like too much work, you have inspiration right at your fingertips! If you look at the front of your Stampin' Up! catalog, you should notice that it doesn't just say catalog; it is also an idea book! There are so many gorgeous samples that you can copy or use as inspiration. You might like the design of one, the colors of another, and an embellishment you find on yet another one! I kept it simple with this one and copied a card from the Holiday Mini catalog. You can find it on page 34 of your catalog and here's what it looks like:

I did change mine to a normal A2 card and, but other than that, it is pretty much the same! Cool, huh?

Stamps: Stitched Stockings, Bright Hopes
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Brights DSP stack, Flirtatious DSP
Tools/Accessories: Stocking Builder Punch, paper snips, White baker's twine

FMS6: Bright Hopes

2011-10-11T20:56:00.001-05:00

It's time for another sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! This one has a lot of fun elements, so I think you'll have a blast playing along with us! Lauri Ingram is our featured designer this week, so be sure to stop by her blog to say hello. She has some gorgeous clean cards on her blog and I love her beautiful creations.

Here is my second take on the sketch. I'll show you the first one in a bit. :) Jen Timko, one of my fellow design team members, made some beautiful cards with the Bright Hopes stamp set and I had to have it after seeing them. Isn't it gorgeous? It is such an elegant set of stamps and one I know I'll be using for years to come. I paired the set with some equally elegant colors, River Rock and Cherry Cobbler. I love how it turned out! I haven't purchased the Cherry Cobbler embossing powder yet, so I did the next best thing and inked my stamp with Cherry Cobbler, then Versamark, and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. It gives it a much richer look than simply stamping it in Cherry Cobbler alone.

Stamps: Bright Hopes

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Versamark

Paper: River Rock, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Neutrals Designer Paper stack

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Northern Frost Decorative Strip die, heat tool, clear embossing powder, embossing buddy, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Basic Rhinestones

This was my first card for the sketch. I think it turned out nice, but it wasn't quite what I wanted for the challenge. I do love non-traditional colors for Christmas and I can't say that I've seen many pink and brown ones. :) Greeting Card Kids is such an adorable set of stamps and I'm so glad I finally purchased it.

Stamps: Greeting Card Kids

Ink: Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Bashful Blue

Paper: Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Whisper White, 2010 In Color Hostess stack (retired)

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Favor die (for the border), Backgrounds #1 Texturz plates, Northern Frost Decorative Strip die, blender pen, mica flakes, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon (retired), In Color Glimmer brads

Be sure to stop and say hello to my fellow designers:

Christmas Cards Class

2011-10-11T18:15:00.000-05:00

I started working on the cards for my upcoming Christmas cards class today. To keep the postage cost down, I'm going for cards that have a bit of wow to them but can still be mailed with a regular postage stamp. This one is gorgeous up close; the embossing adds a bit of texture and both the snowflakes and snowman are sparkly with Dazzling Diamonds. I think I'll make up a few more with different colors to mail out for the holidays. I love my Snow Much Fun set!

If you'd like to make some Christmas cards to send out to your family and friends, come join me! No experience required!

Here are the details for the class:

Christmas Cards #1

Oct 22
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM (Central)

We'll be making a total of 9 Christmas cards (3 each of 3 different designs) during this fun class. Drinks and snacks will be provided so we can relax and enjoy a day of creating together. Cost for the class is $25 and includes envelopes. As always, please bring along your scissors and favorite adhesive. If you don't have adhesive, you can purchase it the day of the event for $7. Please RSVP by the 18th to hold your spot.

PP67: French Foliage

2011-10-10T09:46:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy with classes and clubs for the past two weeks and missed out on doing my challenges. Last night I decided to take some time to play along with The Paper Players. It has been a while since I got to play along with them on this side of things and I've missed it. Jaydee is the hostess this week and presented a fun color challenge. I was a bit stumped at first because the only Bravo Burgundy I had was a scrap of ribbon and a marker. That's why they call it a challenge though, right? :)

Here's what I came up with; isn't it pretty? I was in a mood to really spend some time on a card last night, so this one has lots of things going on. I brayed the embossing folders, added some distressing and spritzing (totally channeling Ann), and fussy cut some leaves. I think it was well worth the time and has a bit of a wow factor when you hold it and look over all the details and feel the texture. I used last week's Mojo Monday sketch, but not in time to submit it.

I hope you enjoyed my card today. I know I had a blast making it. :)

Stamps: French Foliage, Tiny Tags

Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Bravo Burgundy (marker)

Paper: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper and Square Lattice embossing folders, Cutter Kit, Jewelry Tag punch, Scallop Edge border punch, brayer, color spritzer tool, sponges, linen thread, Bravo Burgundy ribbon (retired)

My Digital Studio Christmas Tag

2011-10-09T22:45:00.001-05:00

Isn't this cute? I was playing around in My Digital Studio tonight and thought I'd make up a few Christmas tags. I fell in love with the Holly & Jolly Rub-ons last year and was so happy when they were offered on MDS. Those trees are just too darn cute! Having access to retired products is one of the reasons why I love this program so much. There have been times when I loved a stamp, but it just wasn't in my budget at the time or else I forgot to order it and it retired. My Digital Studio allows me to get some of those and usually a bit cheaper too! I was able to go back and buy the Motorcycle stamp that I missed out on a few summers ago and I can print it on some Whisper White and color it in just like a stamped image.

With Christmas coming up, of course we are all starting to think about gifts. These images are part of a calendar that I made for my brother last year. He LOVED it and couldn't believe that I made it all by myself. I bought MDS and in just 3 days, I taught myself how to use it and made the calendar! I was able to share all the pictures I'd taken of his dogs in a way that he could enjoy throughout the year. I was quite proud of my first effort. :) I hope to do one for my whole family using pictures from our childhood. The good thing is that I can make it once, but get it printed as many times as I need!

If you'd like to know more about the program or would like to see it in action, let me know and we'll get together for a little digital stamping. :) It is a great program that does so many things including photo books, calendar, greeting cards, blog headers, tags, etc. My goal is to start using mine more, so be on the lookout for more projects here on my blog.

Friday Mashup: Halloween

2011-10-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

I finally found some time to do a challenge today! I made my next design team card for Freshly Made Sketches (well, I did two because I didn't love the first one) and then I had a bit of time left to do a challenge card! I decided to try the challenge at The Friday Mashup and really mash it up and do both Halloween and the colors!

Isn't this fun? I love the embossed panel and of course my witchy owl. I couldn't get a good picture where the sentiment didn't look so washed out, so you'll have to use your imagination a bit there.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Wicked Cool

Ink: Staz On Black

Paper: Concord Crush, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, Basic Black, Whisper White, Brights DSP stack

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Spider Web embossing folder, Little Leaves sizzlit, Owl builder punch

Simply Sent Special

2011-10-06T22:19:00.002-05:00

One of the specials for October is a free coordinating stamp set when you purchase 2 of the Simply Sent Kits. These kits are great for new stampers and for those times when you need a quick card, but still want something with a handmade look. I plan to pick up several of them to give as gifts for the holidays. I think 2 of the kits, the free stamp set, and a marker or ink pad all wrapped up would be a nice gift for both friends and family members. It's a great way to share your hobby with others and possibly gain some new stampin' buddies. :)

Now the kits themselves are great, but I decided to play around with mine a bit this morning and add in a few extras to dress them up. :) Just goes to show how they work for all levels of stampers, even demonstrators! I love that I have a gorgeous card and a matching gift box to give to someone special this Christmas. (Big thanks to my fellow demonstrators Leena and Lael for the inspiration and box tutorial). After making these, I decided to get 2 of this kit and add in a spool of ribbon and a package of the basic pearls for that special person on my gift list. I hope she'll like it.

If you'd like to order your kits, you can find them in my online store here or you can contact me to place your order. Remember this special is only good for October, so don't wait too long or you'll miss out.

Club Project #3: Stockings!

2011-10-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

Whew....I finally finished preparing for my clubs this week! I was so used to prepping for 4 or 5 people, so going up to 12 was a wow moment for me. I hope the ladies will enjoy them all. I had to pull out my new favorite Stitched Stockings stamp set and its matching punch. I also got in some fun new designer paper, Frostwood Lodge. Isn't it cute?! I can't wait to cut into the woodgrain paper in that one! :)

Stamps: Stitched Stockings, Petite Pairs
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Garden Green, Frostwood Lodge designer paper
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Houndstooth embossing folder, Stocking builder punch, Mini Clothespins (TOO CUTE!), Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine