Bike Challenge - Week 20

TGIF!  This week's Cuttin & Stampin Challenge is Use a Bike.   It's perfect timing for a card like this one, too, since my husband just got himself a bike last weekend.  He's been through so many surgeries, and we think it'll be a perfect way for him to get out and get a little bit of exercise.

This card features a new technique for me:  stamping over an area painted with acrylic paint.   Here it is:

The stamps on this card are from Hero Arts, and the papers are from My Mind's Eye.  I added a little bit of bling on the flowers and the polka-dot strip to dress things up.  Rounded corners add some visual interest.

We'd love for you to participate in our challenge -- and you've still got all weekend to work on it.  This challenge ends on May 27th.  Click here to enter your creation.

Happy Stamping!

Friday - Friends - Five

It's Friends with Flair Friday at Unity Stamp Co. today.   It's also their FIVE YEAR anniversary this week.  Congratulations to Angela & her whole team!  In celebration, I'll share a "celebrate" card made with one of their fun {itty bitty} stamps.

This particular stamp appeals to me -- probably because I grew up in Fort Lauderdale and our home decor had nautical themes.  There were shells in the living room, a fish sculpture in the den and even a ceramic octopus on driftwood in the hallway.   (Said fish sculpture made it to landlocked Idaho and now hangs in the kitchen.)

I'm a big fan of the plaid paper used on this card.  It's from the Lost & Found 2 collection by My Mind's Eye.  I'm always in search of a good plaid.

In other fun news this week, I had a card published in the new 400 More Ideas for Handmade Cards from The Stampers' Sampler.    If you'd like a peek, check out this post from August.  It's the one with the adorable ice cream cone.

Happy Stamping!

Thank You Card Challenge

It's a new week and time for a new challenge at Cuttin' and Stampin'!   This week's challenge:  Thank You Card.   It's a great reminder that it's always good to have a few thank you cards on hand.  You never know when you're going to need one.   

I have a few cards on display at Cuttin' and Stampin', but I wanted to feature this one here.  I've been lucky to have several terrific teachers in my life, and I'm so grateful for them.

This card features a tree from Unity Stamp Company, the sentiment from the Kim Hughes (designer at Paper Smooches) collection from Cornish Heritage Farms, and red brads for apples.

So whether they're ultra-feminine, juvenile, masculine, minimalist or super-fancy, silly or serious, show off your Thank You Cards!  We'd love for you to link up and join our challenge, so click here to enter your creations.

Happy Stamping!

The Garden

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Cuttin' and Stampin'!   This week's challenge is:  GARDEN.

Spring is upon us and so is our newest challenge!  I'm posting from the Boise area and it's not quite time to plant yet here.  We've got about another month before it's safe to put plants outside.  However, the chill in the air doesn't prevent me from being excited about getting those first seeds sown.

So in anticipation of the first seedlings, I present my project:

This card features stamps from Unity Stamp Company, papers from Crate Paper, washi tapes from Freckled Fawn, and "noted" and ticket embellishments from BasicGrey. 

Now it's your turn!  Create something wonderfully reminiscent of the garden...  plants, flowers, veggies, etc.   Don't forget to show it off at Cuttin' and Stampin'!

Happy Stamping!

Thanks So Much

Here's a sneak peek!  One of my cards will be in the Apr/May/Jun issue of The Stampers' Sampler, scheduled to hit newsstands April 1st.  (No, it's not an April Fool's Day joke!)   You'll see this one on page 75.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Chit Chat (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  Lime Rickey (BasicGrey)
Paint/Ink: Memento Ink in Pear Tart, Bahama Blue, and Danube Blue (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Felt Arrow (Creative Imaginations)

This card is my first published since I returned from my all-too-long stamping hiatus.  I'm hoping to spend lots more time stamping as (a) my husband has had his kidney transplant and (b) my doctors prescribed stamping to help me with my Caregiver Stress Syndrome.  I'm lucky to have some wonderful friends to stamp with, and I hope you do too!

Speaking of sneak peeks...  Stampington & Co. often posts a few pages of upcoming magazines to advertise for that issue, and I noticed one of my cards shown on the page for the new 400 More Ideas for Handmade Cards (formerly called Catch Up Issue), hitting newsstands on May 1st.  If you've read my blog, you'll recognize the card.  It appeared here and is one of my favorites.

Happy Stamping!
 

Prayers Sent

Hubby & I are so lucky to have so many friends and family sending prayers and happy thoughts our way.  He unexpectedly got "the call" a few weeks ago, and we rushed to Salt Lake City for his kidney transplant.  We were out of town for weeks and are now driving back & forth to SLC for checkups on his new organ.  He's doing well so far.  As thrilled as we are for him, we're also thinking of a very sad family somewhere whose relative gave the gift of life.  We're so thankful.

This card features stamps from my favorite designer, Kim Hughes @ Paper Smooches.  Her style is so fun & whimsical, but it can also be used with softer patterns for more somber projects.  The soft patterned paper is from Memory Box.

I'm especially glad to have met a new stamping friend in the SLC area.  I grabbed a few of my supplies on the way out the door, and I even got to stamp with her one day while we were there.  She was so nice and even spent time with me at the hospital while hubby was in surgery.  I'm sure we'll be friends for life.

Happy Stamping!

Quick & Cute Valentine

It's time for a brand new challenge and a sweet project!

This week's challenge is to create a Quick & Cute Valentine.  For my Quick & Cute Valentine card, I had to go sweet.  I just can't resist the stamps in the A Muse Studio's Sweet Love set.

Here's a sneak peek of my project:

You'll have to head over to Cuttin and Stampin to see the whole card and to participate in this week's challenge.

Happy Stamping!

Love or Hearts Challenge

This is my first challenge project for the weekly Cuttin and Stampin challenges.  This week's challenge is to use LOVE or HEARTS in your creation.  I'm a bit of an overachiever, so I used both.  Here's a quick sneak peek of my project:

You'll have to head over to Cuttin and Stampin to see the whole card and to participate in this week's challenge.

Happy Stamping!

Time to Celebrate!

Here it is, the day we've all been waiting for! We are having a blog hop celebrating the new Cuttin and Stampin DT and kicking off our weekly challenge blog. Each of us has produced projects to celebrate in style! (If you got here from somewhere other than Teresa R's blog, please click here to start at the very beginning of our hop.)

This blog hop includes the 11 new Design Team members, plus the final stop. Those hoppers who leave a comment at every blog in the hop will be entered to WIN blog candy -- two $25.00 gift certificates to A Muse Studio are up for grabs. So relax, grab a cuppa, and hop along to meet the NEW CUTTIN and STAMPIN Design Team.

For those who are first-time visitors to my blog, my name is Kim and I live near Boise, Idaho, after growing up in Fort Lauderdale, FL (big change!). Hubby Chris and I are owned by two sweet cats, Digit and Dusty. Chris developed life-altering chronic illnesses in 2001 shortly after we were wed, and I left corporate life shortly thereafter to care for him. Stamping was a nice, quiet hobby (sans the heat gun, hammering, etc.) for me. Throughout my stamping journey, I've met so many wonderful people and learned so many techniques... I wouldn't trade any of them.

For my project today, I have a celebratory birthday card created using the sketch from the Take Ten magazine's Winter 2013 issue:

Supplies:
Stamps: At First Sight (A Muse Studio)
Paper: Solid cardstock in sugar & grapefruit and chevron cardstock in grapefruit (A Muse Studio)
Paint/Ink: Grapefruit (A Muse Studio)
Accessories: Baker's Twine in cherry/white (A Muse Studio), Birthday sticker (Bella Blvd.), pop dots (3L)

I want to thank you all again for stopping by and being part of our CELEBRATION Hop. (Don’t forget to hop all the way through and comment at each blog to be eligible for the big drawing.) Your next stop is CallyAnn's blog, where she's got two wonderful projects to share.

Here's the complete blog hop lineup, in case you need it:

Tammy – http://cuttinandstampin.blogspot.com
Teresa K – www.createenjoyshare.blogspot.com
Janet – http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com
Doris – http://momsbeenscrappin.blogspot.com
Sherri – http://sherri-iloveflipflops.blogspot.com
Pam – http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com
Robin – http://create-a-latte.blogspot.com
Teresa R – http://freshandrenewed.blogspot.com
Kim – http://kimross.blogspot.com
CallyAnn – http://callyanncraftycreations.blogspot.com
Daphne – http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com
Wrap Up – http://cuttinandstampinchallenges.blogspot.com


Hope you've had a blast during our hop today! Challenges start soon, so be sure to check back!

Oranges and Golds

I grew up in South Florida, with no real change of seasons -- well, aside from Hurricane Season.  I just experienced my fourteenth autumn in Idaho, and I still miss the turn on my street because I'm mesmerized by the fall colors on the leaves.  I don't think I'll ever get over it.  With that in mind:

The stripes on the main panel were created using Tim Holtz alcohol inks rubbed across Stampin' Up! glossy card stock.   I've tried a zillion different glossy papers for this technique, and the SU paper is the very smoothest.  Others, for whatever reason, cause the ink to skip and bump.   The stamp is from Artistic Outpost.

This card's colors reflect exactly how the leaves in my neighborhood looked this fall.

Happy Stamping!

New Years Stampolution

I'm not usually one to make New Years Resolutions, so I'm going to have a New Years Stampolution instead.  In 2013, I will be stamping more (and, therefore, posting more) and having more fun!   I'm looking forward to lots of wonderful things in 2013, including a cool new challenge blog that will be kicking off later this week and an adorable new cat set that is debuting at Paper Smooches tomorrow.   Speaking of PS, I really dig Kim Hughes' designs.   They're super-cute and I thought I'd make a card to thank you for coming to my blog this year.

This whale stamp is one of several adorable sea creatures and sweet sentiments from the Surf & Turf stamp set.  Love it!  The plaid paper is from My Mind's Eye.

Happy New Year & Happy Stamping!

Third in the Series and Fun News

This the the final "Friends with Flair" for 2012, and also the final of the series of three green/teal/yellow butterfly projects using Unity Stamp Company's new Bold Butterfly stamp designed by Donna Downey and the DCWV Café Mediterranean patterned paper stack.

Today's card is simple.  It showcases the versatility of rubber stamps, which are shown layered.  There aren't any tricks to this, as long as you're sure to let the first image dry before you stamp the second.

Although 2012 is ending, I'm excited for 2013 to begin!   I have some exciting stamping news to report:  Cuttin and Stampin is starting a new weekly challenge series and I will be joining the esteemed new Design Team.  On January 4th and 5th we will be kicking off the whole enchilada with a big Celebrate Blog Hop.


The grand prize for the blog hop is a $25 gift certificate for A Muse Studio products.   There will be more details during the hop.

Then, on January 8th, we will be starting our Weekly Challenges.  These could be anything from a sketch to a color scheme or the use of a certain tool or embellishment.  Each crafter can enter up to 3 times per challenge.  Please join us as often as you'd like... these challenges are sure to expand your creativity!   (Personally, I find that challenges also help when my mojo has been misplaced!)

Happy Stamping!