My STAMP room and a CCEE challenge

Here is a picture of my stamp room! (Well, this box IS in my stamp room) This is just one example of how my son has chosen to entertain himself while I have been unpacking boxes. UGH! Lucky for him MOST of them peeled off the box.

And I DID manage to get some stamping done this weekend (even though my stamp room is not fully functional yet!)

Each Monday, a group of friends and I do challenges and post them on Splitcoaststampers and on our CCEE blog. With the move and vacations, I have missed the past few challenges and will miss the ones in July (insert sad face). So I wanted to participate in this week's one. The challenge was to "Make a card using black and brown. You may use other colors in your image, but I want the card to read mostly black and brown." You can check out the other cards and play along HERE. (If you are reading this on Sunday, it will be posted on Monday!)

Not wanted to get the "BUZZER" by my friend Cindy for not following the directions--I created this:

It definitely reads mostly BLACK and BROWN! Despite being a joke, I love the general concept of the card and I think I will be making another one like it (that doesn't read black and brown) soon!

I cut the flower out of dp from the Paper Studio. I framed the flower using lines created by my Scor-Pal. The words along the border were created on my computer.

Here is a close up of the dimension on the main flower.

Materials used: Cardstock-very vanilla, black, caramel; black brads (The Paper Studio); Designer paper (The Paper Studio); Scor-Pal; computer (generated words); button (The Paper Studio); tab punch (Stampin' Up!); dimensionals (SU!).

Here is the other card I created for the challenge. It features a new stamp that will be available from My Favorite Things on Wednesday night! I used most of the stamp (I opted not to use the "Peppermint" that appears at the bottom of the container.)

The main image is colored with Prismacolor pencils and Copic markers. I added some purple stickles to the flowers.
The background sentiments are from another My Favorite Things set called "Behind the Scenes."

Here is a close-up view of the main image. TIP: I threaded the ribbon around the pot by poking two small holes on either side of the pot and pulling the ribbon through.


Materials used: Stamps: Pepermint (Annie La Point for My Favorite Things Presents), Behind the Scenes (My Favorite Things); cardstock-white, caramel, brown, black (Stampin' Up!); ribbon (May Arts); brads (Bazzill collection); white gel pen (SU!); purple stickles (Ranger); Spellbinders nestability dies and Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Oval punch (SU!); dimensionals (SU!); brillance black ink; brown and caramel inks (Stampin' Up!).

FUN NEWS:

My Favorite Things is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, July 2 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. July marks MFT's 2nd birthday, and Kim's 40th, so we'll be celebrating all over the place!

*$2.00 US shipping for orders under $40, and for Intl orders and US orders over $40, they'll receive the same $2.75 discount until July 15th.

*FIRST 50 orders will receive a full sized stickles glitter glue!

*The Girl Who Wants It All special for the July Collection is $49.95.

Head over to the MFT forum on to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

Thanks for stopping by!

SALE!

I am almost unpacked (grin!). Gonna get some stamping done this weekend---even if it kills me (The it in that sentence would be my husband!)

I just wanted to pass along this fun news. Stamper's Dream is having a sale on Saturday----20% Off All Inque Boutique. To get the discount just use the coupon code "AMAZING". Paper pads are on sale too!!!

Happy Shopping! I will be back soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

All Moved and QUEEN for a day!

It has been an exhausting week but----We made it. We are now in our new house (surrounded by boxes!) I promised my dh that I would unpack my stamping stuff last (what was I thinking???) so I don't have a new card to show you but I thought I would share one I made before I was blogging!

It is a simple card--made by brayering the background and sponging the edges of the mustard yellow piece. The rooster is stamped and cut out and popped up to create some dimension.

I used my Stampin' Up! word window punch to create the easel opening at the top of the card. The scrolling punched corners finish off the card.

Materials used: Stamps-rooster (Stampendous); Carte Postale (Stampin' Up!); Paper-black, white; Copic markers; Ink- mustard, black, close to cocoa (SU!); corners scroll punch (SU!); brayer; word window punch (SU!); dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for hanging in there with me! I, hopefully, will get my craft room up and running soon!

Fun News: I received a call from PaperCrafts Magazine last night letting me know that I was a winner in the Stamping Royalty Contest! Woohoo!!! My response to the person who called was: "Are You Kidding Me???" lol!

In addition to winning $200 worth of fun stamping stuff, my card will appear in the Nov/Dec issue of PaperCrafts! How very exciting!

My husbands response when I told him: "Of course you are royalty, your last name is KING!"

So I let him know that now I am upgrading to QUEEN status!

Thanks for stopping by!

Taking flight...

...this is IT! Thanks for all the wonderful comments/emails, etc. regarding our move. My computer gets packed up tomorrow so this is my final post for a bit. But...I shall return (hopefully in a week or so with an update!)

I leave you with this card-
-Created with lots of masking, embossing, layering, sponging. This is one of my favorites (lol--I KNOW I say that a lot!)

Here is a close up view of that center butterfly that looks like it is about to fly off the card.

Stamps: Butterfly wood mounted stamp by Anna Griffin (All Night Media); French Script background (Stampin’ Up!); Friend sentiment from Boho Blossoms clear stamp set (My Favorite Things); Ink-Brilliance Black ink (Tsukineko); Old Olive classic stamp pad (Stampin’ Up!); Cardstock-whisper white, old olive, basic black, more mustard (Stampin’ Up!); Threading Water punch (Fiskars); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Mosaic embossing folder (Provocraft); Oval punch (Stampin’ Up!); Sponge (Stampin’ Up!); Jumbo eyelet (We R Memory Keepers); Mustard grosgrain ribbon (Stampin’ Up!); Sakura stardust gellyroll pen; Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!)

*****Be sure to check out Gina K's blog all this week as she (and her awesome design team) will be previewing the new releases that will be available at Gina K Designs on FRIDAY! You are gonna love em! (--sobbing that I have to sit this one out!)*****

Thanks so much for stopping by! HUGS!

Watercolored Flowers

Before I get to my card tonight--I want to give a special shout out to two of my stamping friends---Carole and Denise--who were just both added to the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen today! Congrats girls---you are both truly amazing and very inspiring stampers!

I love this My Favorite Things image---I have used this A LOT and never tire of it. For this card I decided to watercolor the image. I love the effect watercolors has when you are painting water...always gives it a nice touch.

I stamped the "friend" sentiment on a piece of twill ribbon and used my Stampin' Up! Weathered background to provide some texture. (Sob! Did you hear that SU! is retiring that background???? I am so bummed!)

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Materials used: Stamps: In Full Bloom (My Favorite Things); Weathered (Stampin’ Up!); Cardstock-watercolor paper, barely banana, old olive, ruby red (Stampin’ Up!); Brilliance Black ink; Old olive classic marker (Stampin’ Up!); Barely Bannana classic stamp pad (Stampin’ Up!); Reinkers: artichoke, ruby red, brilliant blue, summer sun (Stampin’ Up!); Paintbrush; Paper piercing tool and mat pack (Stampin’ Up!); Hemp (Hobby Lobby); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Rectangle Nestability dies (Spellbinders); Corner punch (Stampin’ Up!); Brads (We R Memory Keepers); Twill ribbon (Stampin’ Up!); Crimper (Fiskars); Sakura Stardust gellyroll pen; Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!)

Thanks for stopping by!

My Crack..

........cracked windshield, that is!

I figured there would be at least one person asking for a picture, ahem Carole!
Here it is! (Disregard the dirty van, but checkout the cool cloud reflection in the dirty windshield!)

PSA!

Did you know?
....IF you put an ice cold drink on top of a car that has been sitting in 100 degree heat....and that drink gets knocked over---the cold contents of the drink CAN ACTUALLY crack your windshield? It CAN. Ask me how I know....

One of my sweet Splitcoast friends emailed me the other day saying that during this hectic period....take a few minutes and imagine a place that brings you peace! So....here is a card sharing one of my favorite places on earth---

The Beach!

I created this simple card for the newest Gina K Designs release party and realized today that I never uploaded it to my blog or galleries (gasp!). The image and sentiment are from You Are My Sunshine.

I used my Scor-Pal to create the pattern on the caramel cardstock. I used a crimper to make the corrugated piece behind the main image. I love the simplicity of this. Just enough...

Here is a close up of the main circle and the braided hemp detail.

Materials used: You Are My Sunshine (Gina K Designs); brilliance black ink; Close to cocoa classic stamp pad (Stampin' Up!); cardstock-white, creamy caramel, banana, cool caribbean; Copic markers; Crimper (Fiskars); hemp (Hobby Lobby); Scor-Pal; paper piercing tool and mat pack (Stampin' Up!); circle punches (SU!); scalloped circle punch (SU!); dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Goin Bananas!!!

.....so I thought I would share this today!

I created this card using some adorable images from High Hopes stamps. Lotsa masking going on---I stamped the banana image first, then masked it and stamped the monkey over it. Then, I masked the monkey and stamped the banana peel pile over the mask. Finally, I masked the monkey and peels and stamped the palm tree.

Tip: When masking an image, stamp the image on cardstock and then stamp off on a thin piece of paper (like printer paper) to create the mask. The thin paper will allow the overstamped image to meet the edges of the image you masked.

I colored the scene with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils. Brown buttons and fun twine were the final touches to the card.

Materials used: All Stamps (High Hopes); Brilliance black ink; Copic markers; Prismacolor pencils; Odorless Mineral Spirits (Gina K Designs); buttons (SU!); twine (May Arts); circle punch (Stampin' Up!); cardstock-olive, banana, white (SU!); My Mind's Eye designer paper; dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for stopping by! Back to packing!

Eight Days...

.....that is how long my daughter's cell phone lasted. Yep---she dropped it in the pool on Monday. Sigh! She was pretty devastated so to make her feel better I told her that I thought it would last at least two weeks---bawaaaa!

.....that is how many days we have before we move. Packers start on Friday---so time is ticking away!

Here is a picture of (most) of my stamping supplies that I wanted to pack up before the packers get here. Sigh! Makes me so sad to see it sitting there all organized! lol!

I also have a quick gift project to share with you. I made these for my son's and daughter's preschool teachers. I created these (super easy) sets of cards and tucked Border's gift cards into the back of them. Each set is tucked into these clear packages I purchased from clearboxes.com and I tied a piece of tulle at the top.

I used My Mind's Eye decorative paper slab to create the cards--then simply stamped these cute frames and greetings in black ink on white cardstock. The stamps are from a clear Hero Arts set called "Frames & Messages." You can find this and TONS of other stamps, embellishments and paper at Stamper's Dream store. If you haven't checked out this store yet---you should. Michelle has tons of fun stuff and is constantly getting new inventory in.

I chose to use the "thinking of you" sentiment because I figured they could use them for many occasions (birthdays, anniversary cards, mother's day, etc.) I kept the designs super simple so that the recipient would not have to worry about adding additional postage when mailing them. Each set has a variety of card designs.

Materials used: Stamps- Frames & Messages (Hero Arts); cardstock-white (SU!); My Mind's Eye decorative paper pad; brilliance black ink; clear card envelope; tulle.

Thanks for stopping by! Back to packing!

Crafts 'n Things!!!

Wow---is all I can say. I just received my August issue of "Crafts 'n Things" Magazine in the mail yesterday. I was blown away with all of the cool projects in this issue. I LOVE the "Flea Market Fabulous" section. I am crazy over the cool domino jewelry featured in this section. TONS of cool stuff and over 100 stamping ideas too! (woohooo!)

I have a few cards in the stamping section. Here is a peek at one of my projects featured. (See Page 58 for all the details!)

Stamp credit: Spiral Bouquet (Papertrey Ink)

I am thrilled to be in the company of lots of awesome stampers in this issue too---Tami Mayberry, Keri Lee Sereika, Lauren Meader, Julia Stainton, Linda Beeson and Lori Craig to name just a few!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Tea-riffic Week!

We are all a bit tired after this week's festivities---but our family had a fantastic week...filled with graduations, birthdays and visits....

Here is a card I created with this adorable tea angel image from High Hopes. Being a big tea drinker--I was immediately drawn to this image. I just love Crissy's drawings.

The image is stamped in brilliance black ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils and Odorless mineral spirits for blending. You can see a tutorial here on this technique.

I didn't use any ribbon on this card (gasp!)..instead, I used the flowers to create an embellishment where I would have tied ribbon.

Isn't she cute?

Here is a close up image of the coloring and flower accents.

Materials used: Stamps-Trish Tea Angel, sentiment (High Hopes Stamps); brilliance black ink; Prismacolor pencils; Odorless Mineral Spirits (Gina K Designs); paper-white; designer paper-My Mind's Eye; paper piercing tool and mat pack (Stampin' Up!); Primas; brads (SU!); circle punch (SU!); oval punch (SU!); dimensionals (SU!).

And here are some pictures from our busy week---

The first one is my sweet baby Lauren---blowing out her birthday candles (3!) yesterday. I never saw anyone so excited to have a birthday!

And, finally, Ben on his preschool graduation night. Isn't he a handsome bugger!?

Back to packing! I HAVE to take a picture of all my stamping boxes---wow---my dh is floored that I have so much stuff! (Actually, so am I!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Short and Sweet!

I have a few cards to share with you this week before the packers come and take my computer away on Friday...but most of my free time will be spent packing all things I want to pack myself. So, this week---"Short and Sweet!" is the name of the game!

We just got back from my dh's graduation---that makes the THIRD graduation for our family this week....and my daughter, Lauren, is turning three tomorrow! Yep-----things are so busy around here!!!

Here is one of my favorite designs ever. I created this baby card in the fall. I designed the baby walker and created a card out of it. To give it a realistic look, I even stitched the edges and detail. This is one of my favorite designs.

Back to packing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Elegant Notebook

Wow! The MFT release was jumping tonight....I was having a hard time keeping up and I guess it should have been NO surprise that the MFT site crashed when the new stamps were released (SIGH!) But all of the new releases are well worth the wait.


Here is a project that I created with a very special new release from the new line, My Favorite Things Presents! Kim explains, "My Favorite Things Presents! opens the door for us to work with new Illustrators and continue to offer images that are “Fresh, Fun and Completely Distinctive!” This spin-off brand will begin by offering images from artist Annie LaPoint. They will be introduced over the next few months, starting this month. Other Illustrators, as *need* arises, will be added as we find artists and styles we feel would translate well into the stamp world and as we see a niche we can uniquely fill. My Favorite Things original brand will continue to be drawn by the irreplaceable Christy Beckwith, whose style has so completely captured our hearts."


I created this notebook using the beautiful Chamomile stamp from Annie LaPoint. I found these thin notebooks (perfect for altering) at Borders (3/$10).



Here is a close-up of the image. It was colored with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils. I added some stardust gellyroll pen to the flowers to make them shimmery.

Materials used: Stamps-Chamomile-Annie LaPoint (My Favorite Things Presents!); Brilliance black ink; Copic markers; Prismacolor Pencils; Odorless mineral Spirits (Gina K Designs); whisper white cardstock (SU!); Designer paper by The Paper Studio, Dutch Girl by Cosmo Cricket; Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal); Spellbinders Nestability dies; Cuttlebug; ribbon (May Arts); small circle punch (SU!); brads (The Paper Studio); horizontal slot punch (SU!); Threading Water punch (Fiskars); Dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Simply Sweet!

Well, last night was so busy that I didn't get the chance to post my next MFTeaser! It was a great night---we all went to my son's graduation from Preschool....simply adorable!

Here is another card with the new set from My Favorite Things called "Here's the Scoop." This set will be available on the MFT site TONIGHT after the release party on Splitcoaststampers. I LOVE this set---so many fun stamps!

The ice cream cones were stamped on white cardstock and colored with Copics. I stamped the scoops on pieces of the Cupcake designer paper by Basic Grey and cut them out. I added some shading with my Copics.

Finally, I faux stiched around the main image. Simply Sweet!

Materials used: Stamps-Here's the Scoop (My Favorite Things); ink-brilliance black; real red (Stampin' Up!); Copics; cardstock-white, olive (Stampin' Up!); Designer paper-Cupcake! (Basic Grey); circle punch (SU!); olive brads (SU!); ribbon (Oriental trading); Nestability dies-petite ovals (Spellbinders); slider dies (Provocraft); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); paper piercing tool and mat pack (SU!); Dimensionals (SU!).

Don't forget: My Favorite Things will be holding their release party TONIGHT *WEDNESDAY* on Splitcoaststampers from 9-11 p.m. EASTERN time. A fun evening is planned including mfteasers of the newest sets, a special surprise release and a chance to become MFT’s next Guest Designer. Head over to the MFT forum for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blog Winner, Pictures, RAK and a Gift Set

LONG POST WARNING!!!!

Thanks again for all the well wishes for Cara. Here is the picture of her when she came home from school on Friday---we gave her the cell phone then. Look at her face as she opens her gift and sees the cell phone box. (Little did she know then that the cell phone inside was just a card. Bawaahwaaa!) I didn't make her wait too long for the real thing. I had her cell phone ring in the house after she opened her card---She really loves it.

Blog Candy Winner:
Random.Cara selected #176 this morning before school. I had to count the posts about 6 times to make sure I got it right (She couldn't pick an easy one, could she?) Woohooo! Congratulations to Christina Gerlof who said "Congrats on being 12! Wow, I remember when I turned 12 I was finally able to shave my legs! LOL Happy Birthday!" Congrats, girl! Please email me (email link is on the side of blog) so I can get your goodies to you!

I had to show you the room my son, Ben (5), decorated for Cara while she was in school on Friday. On Fridays, I take my littlest two children out for "Fun Friday." Every week we do fun stuff like go to the park, McDonald's for lunch and the dollar store to pick out a prize. This week, my youngest (almost 3) picked out balloons. When she was napping, Ben took some of her balloons and decorated the playroom for Cara so she would be surprised. I asked him what was on the wall with the balloons and he rolled his eyes and said "Stringers, Mom!" (I guess he was improvising because he didn't have streamers! I thought this was so cute (and I tried not to think about the fact that he must have CLIMBED the cabinets to hang the balloons---UGH!)


Onto a RAK. I spotted this ADORABLE card on Charmaine's blog last week. I LOVED it when I saw it and wanted to case it. Little did I know that it was coming to me. I was so excited when I got this in the mail on Friday....Thanks so much Charmaine. You can read all about her card here.

Did I mention HOW MUCH I loved Charmaine's card????? I told her I was gonna case it and here is my version. I am not normally a big caser but I HAD to do this----This card was such a cinch to make because Charmaine already did the hard part for me.

I used this adorable set from The Cat's Pajamas called It's a Mod, Mod World. I love this set---it has TONS of images and I cannot wait to play with every one of them. (I have used this set already but cannot post the card--heehee!)

I used a muse twinkle stickers for the cat's collar--they are so small and fit perfectly (even on the tag!)


Did I mention HOW MUCH I loved Charmaine's card---Well, I decided that the card would make a perfect gift set. So I used a clear box and created a little handle out of beads. (The beads are strung on hemp and tied through small holes punched in the top of the box with my Cropadile.)

And here is a close up of the matching tag (The It's A Mod, Mod World set has an identical small cat image PERFECT for a matching tag---YEAH!)

Materials used: Stamps-It's a Mod, Mod World (The Cat's Pajamas); cardstock-whisper white, celery (Stampin' Up!); American Crafts Designer paper; Brilliance black ink; Nestabilities (Spellbinders) and Cuttlebug (Provocraft); tag punches (Stampin' Up!); twinkle stickers (a muse); Cropadile; silver eyelet (SU!); silver cord (SU!); black craft beads (Hobby Lobby); hemp; celery ribbon (SU!); paper piercing tool and mat pack (SU!); dimensionals (SU!); clear box (www.clearbags.com).

Thanks again Charmaine!!! I will be back tomorrow with another MFTeaser for you!

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, June 4 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. LOTS of fun (and a surprise release) is planned including finding out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and we hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTeaser, CCEE Challenge

Thanks for all the awesome birthday wishes for Cara---she was so surprised with that AND with her new phone. I will be back tomorrow with a picture from her special day---until then---a MFTeaser for you!

This card features two of the new sets that will be available from My Favorite Things on Wednesday (June 4)! The ice cream dish is from Here's the Scoop and the cool circular "Congratulations" design and the sentiment is from Congrats All Around.

I created this card using the MFT sketch of the week (MFTSC33).
I also used this for my CCEE Monday challenge--which was to create a card using paper piecing. (I pieced the sundae dish and the ice cream!)

I colored the chocolate syrup with Copics and applied a layer of clear embossing powder on top to give it some shine. The cherry is dotted with red stickles. I completed the look by adding some Hero Arts gemstones to the corners of the main panel.

The bottom black layer is punched with my new Fiskars Threading Water punch. Love that toy! Finally, I added some fun May Arts ribbon!




Here is a close-up of the ice cream image. I pierced holes around the edges of the main panel and the layered panel.



Materials used: Stamps-Here's the Scoop, Congrats All Around (My Favorite Things); cardstock-white, celery, black (Stampin' Up!); Designer paper-American Crafts; brilliance black ink; certainly celery classic stamp pad (Stampin' Up!); Clear embossing powder (SU!); heat tool; versamarker (SU!); Threading water punch (Fiskars); red stickles (Ranger); Copic markers; ribbon (May Arts); Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); paper piercing tool and mat pack (Stampin' Up!); Hero Arts gemstones.

You can see the rest of the CCEE challenge cards on the CCEE blog:

http://cceestampers.blogspot.com/

*****Reminder--my blog candy winner will be selected tomorrow (Monday)morning!!!

FUN STUFF:

Kim from My Favorite Things has a contest on her blog--check it out for your chance to win ALL of the new releases that will be available on Wednesday!

Thanks for stopping by!