Happy Together - A Sale-A-Bration Set

Here is a card I made for my stamping group. The lovely ladies from OC invited me in via Splitcoast Stampers and I am very lucky to be a part of this talented group. Last Friday our theme was flowers/spring. I started with a monochromatic pink and very vanilla card and was very unhappy with how it was coming along. Spring is so bright and beautiful I had to use some brighter colors. I pulled out my cute little "Happy Together" stamp set and put the little quail among some bright spring flowers. This adorable stamp set "Happy Together" is one of the stamp sets included in the Sale-A-Bration catalog.

Stamps - Happy Together,  ( additional flowers from Eastern Blooms and Sock Monkey)
Ink - taken with teal, melon mambo, old olive, pumpkin pie, going grey, basic black
Paper - whisper white, taken with teal, pumpkin pie
Accessories - 1 1/4" striped ribbon, dimensionals, crystal effects, tag punch

Sale-A-Bration ENDS TOMORROW! - Sale-A-Bration Card Class

These are the quick and simple cards we made in our Sale-A-Bration card class this weekend. We used the Happy Moments and Good Neighbor clear mount stamp sets. The two notecards would make a perfect Stamp-A-Stack project. You have until tomorrow to get your Sale-A-Bration stamps sets. Contact me to place your order today or click here to order directly from my website.

Mother's Day Card - Layout Challenge

With Spring on its way, I have been itching to try this stamp from Bloomin' Beautiful. I used a layout from the Stamping Royalty Challenge. I thought my mother would enjoy the colors and the stamped image, so I added the Wonderful Mother greeting from Well Scripted and now have her Mother's Day card finished.

Stamps - Bloomin' Beautiful, Well Scripted, Bella Toile
Inks - basic black, barely banana, summer sun, rich razzleberry, elegant eggplant, old olive, going grey
Paper - whisper white, barely banana, old olive, elegant eggplant card stock
Accessories - beads, Beautiful Wings embosslit die, Circle scissor, scallop die, blender pen

Sometimes a Chick Has to Get Dirty - PPA34 Sketch Challenge

This week's PPA challenge is a sketch challenge. I was feeling a bit chickish and thought I would take out  Country Morning. I had to give my chicken a proper rustic treatment and I couldn't find the right elements without diving back into Autumn Meadows. I am hoarding that now (yes the papercrafter's sickness) so I needed to use something different. That is when I decided to take the leap and ink my texture plates. I know, I know! Get my plates dirty? ... but it's my sacred crafting equipment! Well, I held my breath, turned the crank and immediately ran for the sink to wash my plates. When I actually looked at the outcome I was pleasantly surprised at the results. I am glad I took the leap because the paper turned out perfectly for my chicken and now that I have conquered that fear, I can create an endless number of background papers. 

Not only can you apply ink and paint to your texture plates, you can also apply ink and paint to your embossing folders. Since they are plastic, they clean up beautifully. I am sure you will see more of my inked textured papers in the future.

Stamps - Country Morning, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper - chocolate chip, not quite navy, ruby red, whisper white card cardstock
Ink - really rust, more mustard, going grey, basic black, sahara sand, old olive, not quite navy, real red, chocolate chip
Accessories- blender pen, chocolate chip corduroy buttons, antique brads, 1" double stitched chocolate chip ribbon, texture plates, Sizzix Big Shot.

PPA35 Anything But a Card - My Digital Studio - Scrapbook Page for Dempsey

Here is a quick 2 page spread I created using My Digital Studio. It was so quick an easy and it let me create a fun layout for our little guy Dempsey. So often I feel like I need to create a whole scrapbook at once and scrap all the big events. I have found that it is the smaller day to day things that really bring me joy and I will be scrapping those using My Digital Studio.

The great thing about MDS is that I don't need to run to the store to find the perfect paper, embellishments, adhesive, page protectors and go through the brain damage to find a perfect layout for just one page. Everything is contained right in My Digital Studio. Now I can scrap a page quickly whenever the urge hits me and all I need to do is walk to my computer. 

Contact me for more information on My Digital Studio.

Whole Lota Shakin' Going On

This morning we had a California alarm clock (a.k.a. earthquake) wake us at 4:00 a.m. I can never get used to how the house can shake and dance around me, the wood squeaking in the walls, the shutters rattling, watching the rooms sway and yet the house remains just fine. It is amazingly flexible:).

It reminded me of the last fairly large one we had in 2008 and both my kids were with friends. I can't tell you how panicked I was until I was able to reach them on the phone.  I created a scrapbook page ( prior to my SU days) with my kids stories of the quake and added some funny photos of how they felt when the earthquake hit. I included a map of the site and a bit of a news clipping.

SU's scrapping kits are fabulous items to have on hand to scrap individual events like this. Everything you need to produce beautiful quick scrapbook pages is included in the kits.  My Digital Studio is another fabulous tool you can use to produce scrapbook pages in a flash. Look for my next post for a quick My Digital Studio scrapbook page.

Contact me for more information on Stampin' Up!'s Scrapbook kits and My Digital Studio.

PPA33 - Color Challenge - A Simple Thank You

This weeks PPA challenge is a color challenge. Quite a difficult one for me since it does not include Old Olive - my go-to green.  I thought I would keep it simple and use the layout we used this weekend for my Stamp-A-Stack class. I originally found the layout in Papercrafts magazine. I like the clean simple look and it's super quick to make. I used this simple layout with one of the most versatile stamp sets, Trendy Trees.  A little butterfly adds a bit of dimension to this simple, easy card.

Paper - kraft, whisper white, garden green card stock, certainly celery patterns designer series paper.
Stamps - Trendy Trees, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink - garden green, chocolate chip
Accessories - Beautiful Wings embosslit die ( love, love, love this), spiral and corner round punches

Can't Wait Toile Spring

Ahhh Spring, with flowers blooming, birds singing and butterflies floating about. PPA's challenge this week is a spring theme. I immediately thought of my new stamp set "Spring Song". This card definitely evolved from the first layout I imagined.  I had something else in my mind when I started with this little humming bird. I knew I wanted to put him in a garden with his beautiful flower. I have had the idea in my head since last week, but along with the beginning of Spring comes baseball, softball, spring football,  and both my kid's birthdays - SO- I didn't have the opportunity to stamp until last night.  I pictured leaves and flowers layered over the hummingbird but I just couldn't get the effect I wanted until I put him over the Belle Toile stamp. I am pleased with how he turned out and am ready for Spring - and a nap!

Papers - whisper white and old olive card stock
Stamps - Spring Song, Belle Toile, Hugs and Wishes
Ink - Old Olive, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Real Red
Accessories - scallop border punch, old olive satin ribbon, dimensionals, perfect polka dots embossing folder