Updates...

Wow. Can you believe it has been a whole month since I have been able to post. Obviously I can't start every post with an apology, but that seems like the way it is working right now. Not sure why life has gotten away from me - things just seem to get busier every day!! But in November and December I am taking a break from SU workshops and classes, so that I can focus more on some of the projects I want to do around here. Hopefully that will translate into more things to share with you!

I HAVE been stamping, but mostly for workshops and gifts, and did not take photos! I enjoyed making halloween treat bags for my daughter's preschool. This is what I came up with this year:
I used the Batty For You set, Batty wheel, Arachnophobia wheel, Creepy Crawly paper, Pumpkin and Black paper and ribbon, Circle, Scallop and Key Tag punches. I used 4 x 8 paper bags, and created front and back panels. They were pretty quick and easy, I like the way they turned out, and the kids enjoyed them.





My kids had a great time on Halloween this year! We went to a local church Harvest Festival - the kids got a TON of candy! We enjoyed spending time with our friends the Arch family too! Here are my cuties:


Lauren was Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). She was so lovely. She has been wearing the costume daily since the week before Halloween - she LOVES to dress up! Isn't she just the cutest EVER! (yes, I am biased).


My boys (Christian and Ethan) were Mario and Luigi. They had so much fun, and enjoyed the attention of being "recognized" by the gaming public.















Here are the photos with their friends Kean and Miriam...


In other news... Hmm, what else can I share?? My son Christian's soccer team will be in the Championship playoffs this weekend - even though the team lost every game of the season - go figure. They dominated at the tournament - came through when it counted I guess. He is excited. He also had his first Band Performance last week - he is LOVING band!

The other kids are busy with activities, and keeping me busy daily! Ethan is off track, so I am trying hard to keep him occupied. He learned how to Pogo stick this month, and can easily pogo 1000 times in a row! And Lauren is LOVING her new Smart Cycle - wow is that a great invention!

Me? I am focused on my weight loss and "life changes" and doing really well. I am quite proud of myself. I have lost 13 pounds so far, and still motivated.

I promise that next time I update, it will be with stamping to share!

Stamp a Stack cards...

Yes, I know - it has been FOREVER since I have shared something new, and I apologize. All of my "FREE" time has been taken over by my children's activities, and every spare moment I can squeak in to stamp has been spent getting ready for my Stamp a Stack this weekend. I love doing Stamp a Stacks, and they really do force me to get creative and use my stuff! AND I get to spend time with people I like doing my favorite thing! I am really looking forward to this weekend - we are making a variety of Thank You and Friendship cards. And since I have not done anything else creative this week, I thought I could at least share these with you. I really strive to create cards for these events that are simple to create, but really interesting - visually rich and appealing. Here are the cards for this class...If you are a customer and are coming to this event and want to be surprised - QUICK - Shut your eyes! (lol)


This first card is made with Artfully Asian and the Weathered background. I used Watercolor Crayons to color the focal image, and sponging for detail. I really do love the Tafetta ribbon, and this color (Bashful Blue) is just so pretty. Cardstock Colors are Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow, Blush Blossom, Bashful Blue and Whisper White.










This card is very simple to create, but I really love the color combination, and I personally think ANYTHING made with Baroque Motifs is just gaaaawgous! The colors here are Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke and So Saffron. I used craft ink to stamp the focal image, and sponge daubers to apply ink at the edges for a richer look.







Okay, I may have mentioned that Fabulous Flowers has climbed into my FAVORITES - I seriously LOVE this big flower! I did have a hard time coming up with "simple" for this set. But I am really pleased with how this came out. I used Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky ink and cardstock, basic stamping and some cutting. (with just a touch of glitter) I love these colors together! I do have some customers who DON'T love cutting (imagine that) and 3 layers per card might do them in, so I offered an alternate for those who preferred.

This is the alternate card. This color combo is much cuter in real life - I used Certainly Celery, Taken with Teal and Rose Red ink and Cardstock, with the In the Spotlight hostess set.








I really like this card. I CASEd this one about a year ago for my own use, and unfortunately did not record where I got the design idea from, and can not find it again! So if you are the original designer - holler so credit can be given. Anyway, I stumbled upon the card while planning and thought it was just right for this class. I used the Linen and French Flair background stamps, Carte Postale, and Sincere Salutations, and circle and square punches. Colors are Brocade Blue, Night of Navy and Very Vanilla. I used the White Signo Gel Pen to accent the swirls and add dimension.



And of course I needed a MANLY thank you...I love these western sets! So much fun to stamp with. For this card I used Bronc Buster, Wanted, Sanded (my new favorite background) and Amazing to Zany. I used a snip of the Outlaw Designer Series Paper, and a Pewter Jumbo Eyelet set with the Crop a Dile and tied with Hemp. I also distressed the edges with the cutting tool, and sponged. Colors are Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and Kraft. Focal image was stamped with Craft ink.



And finally, this card made using True Friend - I SOOOOOO love this set. It just makes me smile every time I use it! SURE do hope it makes it to the next catalog (hoping hoping hoping). For this one the colors are River Rock, Really Rust, Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa and Very Vanilla. I used Apple Cider designer paper (fab!) and Chocolate Satin ribbon (yum!). I also got a chance to share my scallop punch ... LOVE it!


Whew. That is all of them. I better get back to cutting...thanks for stopping by and have an awsome day!

Emerging Fall Colors

Okay, I love this technique! I have been wanting to try it for several days, and finally found a little time yesterday to play. I love fall colors, and love the way this flower turned out in these shades. You can find the tutorial for this technique, called "Emerging Color" here.



I followed the tutorial above, however with a slight modification for this card. Before stamping the colored images, I used the brayer to add More Mustard ink to the Whisper White cardstock, so that my focal image flower would have color as well. This stamp set, Fabulous Flowers (should I say it is my favorite???), is perfect for this technique.

The ingredients for this card:
Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, All Holidays
Cardstock: Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Really Rust, More Mustard
Ink: More Mustartd, Ruby Red, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive (classic and craft), Versamark
Ribbon: Chocolate Chip Taffeta
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Brayer, Heat Tool, Ticket Corner punch, Rhinestone brads, Dimensional Adhesive, Sponge Dauber

Tumbled Tile Coasters

One of my coworkers has been asking me to put together a tile coaster class for her and a group of her friends. I love making tile coasters, and have finally found some time to figure this out for her. I spent time this weekend making up some samples. Unfortunately, all of the stamp sets that I own that work best for tile coasters are retired sets --but rather than buy several new sets, I have decided just to use these - they are some of my favorites, and really work beautifully for this project! You can click on images for a larger view.






There are a variety of methods to making tumbled tile coasters, and everyone has their favorite way to do these. You can find tutorials on Splitcoaststampers.com for alternative ways to do these. I personally prefer not to use methods that require me to spray an acrylic sealer over the tile. Since I want them to be used as coasters, I want the natural stone to maintain it's absorbency.

The best stamp set choices for making tile coasters are those with fine line drawing images, and plenty of area for adding color. Fat lines and solid images do not stamp as well in my experience. I love choosing stamps that have a lot of subtle detail - images with shading and stippling add a lot to this project!

When I make tile coaster, I purchase the "Botticino" brand tumbled tiles from Home Depot. I wash them to remove the powdery residue, and allow them to dry before beginning the project. Once dry, I stamp my focal image in Stazon (permanent ink) - Timber Brown is my favorite color choice. I like to use a background (especially French Script) so I mask the focal image, and then stamp the background in Stazon as well. For best results, allow the Stazon to dry overnight (it really does make a difference!) Then I use craft inks and a blender pen to color my images. It takes just a tiny bit of craft ink - I have all 48 Stampin' Up! colors in the Stampin Spots, and I smudge my desired colors onto a palette (a blank CD works great for this, and we all have one we messed up on or has gotten scratched laying around - or a free one AOL sent us, right). I pick up a little of the lightest color choice first, then add color for accent in darker shades. Once I have colored my images, I bake the tiles to "really" set the color. About 5 minutes at 375 seems to do the trick. Colors do fade slightly once the tile is completely dry, so keep this in mind when coloring your image and make them more vibrant than you may desire in your completed work. Once they are baked (and cooled) I add felt pads to the bottom of the coaster. Tie sets of 4 together with a ribbon and add a cute handmade gift tag and VOILA! These are a lot of fun to make, and make awesome handmade gifts.

Missing and "Wanted"

One of my coworkers is ill, and will be off of work for several months. The office is kindly taking food to his family every week....but I don't cook. And for those of you that know me at all, you know that taking MY food to a sick friend is really NOT an act of kindness. So I decided to make some cards to send ALONG with the food that others are taking instead.
Of course, if you know me, you know that masculine cards are not my best thing either...but I am working on that. I had an excuse to buy these fabulous (truly FABULOUS!) new western stamp sets so that I could make a special "WANTED" card. I am so excited by these stamps.




I aged the paper used for the focal image on this card using lemon juice. This is a really simply technique, and looks GREAT for cards that you want to look aged and distressed. You simply take your neutral colored paper (in this case, I tore the edges of mine first) and use a sponge or paintbrush to apply lemon juice. I like to use an uneven coat of the lemon juice so that I get "puddling" in some areas if possible. Then you heat the cardstock with a heat tool. The heat burns the lemon juice on your cardstock and turns it brown. This takes a while, so don't give up! Heat it more in some areas than others for the variation in color. And BE CAREFUL - the paper can catch fire, and fingers can get burned (no real need to ask me how I know) so take your time and proceed with caution :)

You might also notice that I have been adding Jumbo Eyelets to everything lately - well that is because they ROCK! These ones are the pewter eyelets, and gol' dang if I don't just love em! And of course you can't love the jumbo eyelets without the crop-a-dile. I bought this tool on a whim one day when I HAD to make a chipboard coaster box, and then it sat on my shelf for months. I am so glad I dusted it off and put it back into use - it really is a nifty little gadget.

Ingredients for this card: (note that this is a 5 x 7 card)
Stamps: Wanted, Bronc Buster, Canvas
Paper: Outlaw DSP, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip (both classic and craft), Really Rust, Clost to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel
Ribbon: 5/8" Chocolate Grosgrain
Accessories: Lemon Juice, Heat Tool, Crop a Dile, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Sponge Dauber

Garden of Hope

As promised, here is another card made with the GAWGEOUS set, Garden Silhouettes. But as predicted, my "set sampler" ended at just these two cards, because my new toys arrived and, well I got distracted. Come on, you new it would happen. But I WILL come back to this set! It is worth spending some more time with.




This card was very simple to create. I sponged inks in More Mustard, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa onto Very Vanilla Cardstock. Then I stamped the leaf image in Chocolate Chip ink, and stamped off (stamped it again without re-inking the stamp) to create the shadow effect. I love how soft and ethereal this looks, but the colors are warm, masculine, and peaceful. I made this card for a coworker that is out ill - hope he will like it.

Pretty Pink Blossoms

Oooooh! I am so loving this new Hostess Set - why are you all not beating down my door to try to earn it?! Seriously, cute! I am so excited to have had a few minutes to stamp (well, neglected other things to make a few minutes really - but that is beside the point). I have decided to work on set samplers for a few of the new sets I have recently received, and this one was just calling to me. It is so versatile, and just so pretty. Look for a few more this week made with this set (I hope). I have new toys arriving later in the week, so I want to make a few with this one before getting distracted by other new things!
























The ingredients for this card:
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes (hostess), SO Many Sayings (hostess) Linen BG, Floral BG
Paper: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla
Ink: Mellow Moss and Regal Rose markers, Regal Rose Classic and Craft, Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke.
Ribbon: Mellow Moss 1/4" Grosgrain
Accessories: Ticket Corner punch, Word Window Punch, Artichoke brads, Dimensional Adhesive, Sponge Dauber