FWF: A New Set of Wheels

Happy Friday, everyone!   This week has seemed to drag on and on for me, so I'm especially glad the weekend is almost here.  Hope you have something fun planned, as well as (for my American readers) some time to reflect on those who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy.
 
I don't happen to know anyone who is expecting or who just had a baby, but I thought these stamps from Unity were ADORABLE!!  I love that they can go from girly to boyish with the change of color -- or done in a neutral color if the gender isn't known yet.
 

   
For this card, I used old things as well as new.   The stamps were new, and this was the first time I tried the new Hero Arts Ombre ink pads.   The pad was pretty cool, but it wasn't as "ombre" as I thought.  When opened, it just looked like one of those three-section Kaleidoscope pads.

As for old, I've had this paper for a long time.  A friend of mine had this DCWV Café Mediterranean mat stack, but it wasn't her style.  I traded her for one that I had that didn't float my boat.  It worked out great!  I love how the embossed flowers/circles on the paper mimic the wheels of the baby carriage. 
 
For a quick accent, I selected a button that matched a lot better in real life.   The photo is throwing off the blue for some reason.  I threaded the button with thin strips of the same navy cardstock I used to frame the stamped panel.   I love threading buttons with the paper used on the project.   There's almost always a little scrap somewhere, and it always matches!
 
Hope you enjoy visiting the FWF participant blogs!    Happy Stamping!
   

Hero Arts Christmas Cards @ Craft Warehouse

Today's the day!  Three of my cards are being featured on the Craft Warehouse Blog, along with several time-saving tips for crafters.

One of the tips I share there has to do with those long strips of bling...

Many of the bling gems come packaged in strips that stick together. This is very convenient when you want a row of gems (like on card #1 on the blog post), but what do you do when you only want them one at a time?

Check it out at http://shopcraftwarehouse.blogspot.com/2014/11/hero-arts-christmas-cards-by-design.html.

Happy Stamping!

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!

It's World Card Making Day!

One of my favorite days of the year is here... World Card Making Day!   I'll be away from the computer all day playing with ink & rubber, and I hope you will be too.   Here are a few of my most recent creations:

This Mother's Day card features stamps from Hero Arts.   It's for a "celebrations" challenge.

 

I love flip flops!   I even have flip flop earrings.   I was so excited when Unity Stamps came out with this {itty bitty} set!    This card is for a "spray" challenge.

There are lots of fun online happenings today!   Why not give them a try?

• Operation Write Home Blog Hop
• Paper Smooches Challenges
• Moxie Fab World WCMD Contest
• Ellen Hutson WCMD Blog Candy & Sale

Thanks & Happy WCMD!

Happy Fall!

It's September, but the Boise area is still hot -- today's high is in the 90's.  Tomorrow things are supposed to cool down, which means beautiful Autumn leaves are just around the corner.  I kept cool indoors yesterday making cards in the company of good friends.   The cards each represent different seasons.  Since fall is on its way, let's start there.

This is a CAS (clean-and-simple) card.  These stamps are from Unity Stamp Company.  The string is a rustic brown burlap string from May Arts.  The technique was easy!  I just inked the leaves with the gold ink all over, then overlaid the brown ink on top before stamping it on the paper.

Next up is Christmas!   This is a collage made with authentic vintage Christmas-themed postage stamps.   The "Par Avion", triangle post, and Roma postmark stamps are from Oxford Impressions' Travel Journal set.  The other reindeer and other postmark-style stamps are from Darkroom Door's Christmas Reindeer set.  There's not much of it visible, but the holly & berries patterned paper is from Echo Park.

 

And lastly, a Springtime card.  The butterfly and plants stamps are from Unity Stamp Company,   the sentiment is from Hero Arts, and the patterned office-style paper is from Memory Box.

Hope you enjoyed this STAMPtember post!   I have more stamping planned in the near future, along with a trip out-of-state.   Who knows?   Maybe I'll find some fun new stamping stores to visit!

Happy Stamping!

It came. It went....

...but we're STILL going to party. My 1-year blogaversary (which coincided with my sister's birthday) was last week. I didn't forget, but never did get around to posting about it or the blog candy I've been collecting for it. Happy Birthday, Kris!

Here's the scoop on what's been going on around here:

- I am working on building a design team for Shimmerz paints. They are so much fun to play with! Last night, I made earrings from beads that were painted with Shimmerz. They're so incredibly shimmery and they dry on slick surfaces. {singsong}Love It!

- Speaking of earrings, I learned to make earrings last fall. They are now for sale at a new, artsy consignment store in downtown Nampa called Sparrow Clothing, which had their soft opening on May 10th and sold 30 pairs by June 1st... and they didn't even have their Grand Opening yet. All 30 replacement pairs are made, and now there's the matter of getting the holders printed and assembled before sending them out there.

- I've been helping out at Creative Cuts & More, with blog buttons and newsletter formatting. Terry has lots of terrific new dies and new products that she'll be adding the the Web site very soon. Bazzill Bling and Tacky-Tape shapes... here we come!

On July 4th weekend, I'll be hosting a Wish-RAK challenge at Splitcoast for patriotic cards to send to overseas troops to send home to their friends/family. I can't WAIT to see what people come up with! I'm planning on making my samples from the Kim Hughes "America the Beautiful" set.

Here's a birthday cupcake for Kris and my blog. I'll have goodies for both sometime soon. :)


Supplies:
Stamp: Clear Design Cupcakes CL158 (Hero Arts)
Paper: Classic Crest Solar White 80# Cover Smooth (Neenah)
Paint/Ink: Golden Wheat, Magenta, Royal Purple and Bubble Gum Shimmerz (Shimmering Products); Brick Beige E31 Marker (Copic); Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger)

We'll be heading off to Dave's coloring class this weekend, and then first thing Monday morning my husband is scheduled for abdominal surgery... so it may be another week or so before I'm able to post. Until then...

Happy Stamping!

New Card & News

Lots of fun new stuff on the stamping front today! First, a new card that was designed for the big stamping project mentioned in an earlier post. More than 150 items (cards, tags, envelopes, etc.) to be displayed in 5 different states were created and this is my favorite.

The stamp set used for this card is from Hero Arts. It's called Joyful Greetings and also includes a Christmas tree, star, two more snowflakes, a second big swirl, and sentiments. The blue cardstocks are two of the new Smoothies from Bazzill and WOW are they ever smooth! I love stamping with them!

Supply List:
Stamps: Joyful Greetings (Hero Arts)
Paper: Island Breeze & Tropical Breeze Smoothies (Bazzill Basics), Pearlized White Cardstock (Verve Visual)
Ink: VersaMagic Ocean Depth (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Light Blue Gemstones (Hero Arts), Ribbon (American Crafts), Bind-It-All (Zutter), Rotary Cutter & Scallop Blade (Fiskars), Pop Dots (EK Success)

On to some fun stamping news & sales:
-- Steve Vander Meer at Meer Image is celebrating FIFTEEN YEARS in the stamping business! All his tiny peg stamps are half price, and there are 27 brand new styles. Sale runs through 11/15/07.
-- Starving Artistamps has eight pages of new stamp images. There are two pages of equestrian stamps for you horse lovers out there.

-- Viva Las Vegastamps is having a huge sale called "Stampsgiving" on their unmounted sheets, giant grab bags, and Miracle Tape. They can be found in the Bargain Basement at http://www.stampostore.com/ or by scrolling down to “Latest Products” on the shopping cart home page and UM plates, just order your Plates in threes and put “Happy Stampsgiving” in the comments to get your FREE plate with purchase of two. Sale runs through 11/22/07.

I love the idea of Stampsgiving... Couldn't we all use a day to be thankful for the bounty of stamping? Think of all the people you've met and friendships that have developed because of this great hobby of ours, and the creativity and relaxation! Let me know if you think of any fun Stampsgiving traditions. :)

Happy Stamping!