Storybook Birthday - Attack of the Aliens

Our Hero!

cute little aliens

Here is  a card I created that has been rambling around in my head for awhile. It uses the Storybook DSP which I love.  I wanted the super hero to bust out of the paper to save the card from the little aliens. Aren't they cute?! The Storybook DSP comes in 12 x 12 sheets and has fantastic artwork that you can color. My biggest challenge was how to use this paper for a smaller card. I decided to focus on smaller images that I could cut out and use to set up the card. 

I have another Storybook card rambling around in my brain but have to focus on our school auction for the remainder of the week so check back on Sunday or Monday for the next "chapter".  

Paper - Storybook DSP, night of navy, old olive, pumpkin pie card stock

Ink - old olive, pacific point, real red, crushed curry, pumpkin pie, blush blossom

Stamps - Vintage Labels ( sentiment)

Accessories - Square lattice embossing folder, pumpkin pie brads, dimensionals

Women's Retreat Bookmark

Each year I provide bookmarks as gifts for our church's Women's Retreat. This year's theme is nature, art and music. I used a scan of a hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" and printed it on whisper white card stock.  I then stamped over the musical bars using the flower from Of the Earth stamp set. I really like the effect of the image stamped over the music. The bird is stamped , punched and embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a little shine. To keep the natural feel, I threaded twine through the top instead of ribbon or floss.  

Stamps - Of the Earth, God's Beauty (retired)

Paper - kraft, old olive, ruby red and whisper white card stock

Ink - Ruby red, old olive, chocolate chip

Accessories - Clear embossing powder, daubers, twine

PPA39 KISS - Keep It Simple Sweetie - Summer Preview

Ahhh! I finally have time to stamp after a very busy week and weekend. 

This weeks PPA challenge is to keep it simple. I needed to make some thank you cards for my son and decided to post them for this weeks challenge. I love the new Pedaling Past stamp set from the new Summer Mini-Catalog and couldn't wait to use it.  This stamp set will be available May 1st.

Paper - To the Nines DSP, chocolate chip, whisper white, and soft sage card stock

Stamps - Pedaling Past, Trendy Trees (sentiment)

Ink - soft sage, going grey, chocolate chip

Accessories - Kraft corduroy button, chocolate chip satin ribbon, dimensionals

PPA38 - Sketch Challenge - Inspiration Contact Case?

This weeks PPA challenge is a sketch challenge provided by Margaret Moody, whose work I adore. She has such a wonderful sense of color and her designs are crisp, bold and clean. Visit Margaret's blog at
http://margaretmoody.typepad.com.

Anywhoo, I look at my contact case every morning and love the bright colors and design. I have been working it out in my head how to transfer this inspiration to paper and this sketch challenge helped me realize my idea. The flowers from the pretties kit nearly match the flowers from my contact case. I just added a small punched circle and a black brad. I created my own background paper by simultaneously cutting four sheets of coordinating colored card stock in my design. I then glued alternating colored pieces to white card stock leaving a narrow gap between pieces. Just trim and you have your own unique background paper! I am definitely going to implement this method again soon since I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Paper - black, whisper white, certainly celery, old olive, taken with teal and tempting turquoise card stock.
Ink - basic black
Stamps - Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories - Pretties Kit, brads, whisper white ribbon, square - modern label - word window, standard hole punches, dimensionals

Stamping Royalty - KISS Challenge

This week's Stamping Royalty Challenge is KISS ( Keep It Simple Sweetie). I had just made this card for our Spring Card Class and it fit the bill. I got the layout from a Kim Kesti design in PaperCrafts magazine. I loved the simplicity of the layout and incorporated Bella's Bloom stamp set into the design.  Bella's Bloom is such a sweet, pretty stamp set that makes a fresh and simple card.

Paper - Pink Flamingo DSP (yes, the blue is from Pink Flamingo), kraft, real red, tempting turquoise and whisper white card stock
Ink - Real Red and Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers, basic black and tempting turquoise classic ink
Stamp - Bella's Bloom
Accessories - Real red polka dot ribbon, circle punches, tag corner punch, linen thread

Spring Theme Card Class

Here is a sneak peek at one of the cards will will be making for this weekend's Spring Card Class. We will be celebrating Mothers and Flowers. I CASE'd the layout of this card from Marianne Lamb who showed us this amazing flower technique at our last stamping group meeting.

Paper - Cottage Wall DSP, old olive, certainly celery, orchid opulence, whisper white card stock, white printer paper

Stamps - Lovely Letters Alphabet, Baroque Motifs, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink - old olive, rich razzleberry

Accessories - Finial Press texture folder, scallop punch, brad, old olive satin ribbon, dimensionals, daubers

Mojo Monday 134 - Whole Lotta' Flamingo Going On

[  Meet Fabio - He flew into our yard Halloween night and has made our flower bed his permanent home. ]

Mojo Monday's Sketch Challenge had me reaching for the Pink Flamingo DSP again. Fabio also inspires me. I am really enjoying the bright colors and designs of this paper. In addition to the blog challenges, I am challenging myself to use all my different DSP, especially since we will be getting new DSP in a few months. I can't wait!

For this card, I stamped my sentiment right on the DSP since I wanted flowers on the sentiment. I also used the Fleurettes II laced flowers. I combined two of the flowers and pinned them together with a summer sun corduroy button.

Tomorrow I will be on to Storybook DSP.

Paper - Pink Flamingo DSP, melon mambo, whisper white card stock
Ink - basic black
Stamp - Full of Life
Accessories - Fleurettes II, summer sun corduroy buttons, scallop border punch, whisper white taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

Stamping 411 Sketch - PPA Flowers

Ahh, it's good to get back to stamping after Spring Break. I combined this weeks 411 sketch challenge with PPA's theme challenge - flowers.  It's a bit gloomy here in CA so I reached for some bright Pink Flamingo DSP for these challenges. I just love the combination of the bright colors and flowing flower patterns. The flowers in the paper are so pretty and perfect, I just cut them from the paper and popped them up with some dimensionals. I think this card would be on spot for a teen birthday.

Paper - Pink Flamingo DSP, tempting turquoise, basic black, whisper white card stock
Stamps - Well Scripted
Ink - Basic Black
Accessories - whisper white taffeta ribbon, scallop trim border punch, button latte, dimensionals

My Closet and Organizers

One of the blogs that I love to visit is Snappy Stampin with Arielle. Well, her latest post really made me laugh as she showed her stamping/blog area. It reminded me of when my kids were little and all the toys, baby gates and all their paraphernalia. She asked other bloggers to post their stamping spaces, so I wanted to share mine again.

My space is actually a closet that I converted to a stamping space. I am very envious of those who have large crafting rooms to utilize. We have every room in our house taken, so my craft space is rather small but I love it.  I come in and close the door, put on a little music and stamp away. My dear friend Ellen Berman designed the shelving system for me and it works beautifully. All the shelves and baskets help keep me organized. During a project I am always messy, but once I am done, it is very easy and quick to clean up since I have a designated spot for everything.

I also love looking above my work space at the pictures of my family. It always puts a smile on my face. I just love my little stampin' closet.

While others such as Ricky Martin are coming out of the closet - I go into mine:)

Above my work space I have created a wall of family photos and the Stampin' Up! Definitely Decorative wall decor "Life Milestones"

My little "helper" Boo - who is always making her presence known

I keep my ink pads in the Stampin' Up! color caddy and all the tools I use daily in containers on a tray. They are always on hand and I don't need to "put them away".

I keep my ribbons in the Stampin' Up! ribbon organizers and all my small embellishments in clear kitchen drawer organizers I purchased at a large discount store that starts with a "T".

I  organize my paper in rainbow order in upright organizers that I purchased again from the large discount store that starts with a "T". I put smaller scraps on top and larger pieces back in the slot. 

My Big Shot dies and folders are kept in a dish rack - again from that big store that starts with a "T" all other items such as texture plates etc. are kept in the linen bins.

One of my favorite things in my closet are my metal basket drawers. I keep both my punches and my stamp sets in these drawers.

So that is my little closet and  how I organize the items I use the most. I joke with my daughter Megan that as soon as she goes to college, I am taking over her room and converting it to my craft room. If she wants to visit home again, her brother has a nice trundle bed ( he he he).

We're Baaa-aack

We had a wonderful Spring Break in Mammoth. The snow was unbelievable! Most first levels of homes were covered with snow. We had fabulous days of skiing followed by evenings of competitive board game playing. Boy were they competitive games! We were also able to meet up with a few other families and enjoy some dinners together.

Our last day was perfect with a sunny full day of skiing and lunch on the deck of Main. While eating lunch, we watched the skiers and snowboarders come down the half-pipe and jumps. They were just stunning. We finished our day sitting on our condo deck with a glass of wine, looking at the mountains and talking about our week - then dinner and more board games. A perfect ending to a much needed Spring Break.

For the Bride to Be

Here is a card I made for a bride-to-be. Yes, the dress is from Humor in High Heels, but I have modified the skirt to be much fuller for a wedding dress. I added a little tule and pearls and of course some glitter. What would a bride be without pretties and a little bling?

Stamps - Humor in High Heels, Matchbox Messages
Ink - basic black, going grey
Paper - Bride, whisper white and basic grey card stock
Accessories - Sizzix finial embossing folder, lots of tags die, pretties, dazzling diamonds glitter, whisper white taffeta ribbon, dimensionals, tule.