Wednesday is my favorite stamping day of the week because it is Freshly Made Sketches day but today is even better because today I leave for Stampin’ Up Convention!!  Yea!!  First, about the sketch.  It is courtesy of the awesome Narelle Farrugia, queen of the elegant card!  I knew I would have fun with this one the minute I saw it.

I kept mine pretty simple since I have been running around getting ready for Convention (and flying too).  I thought that the prints from Gingham Garden DSP would be perfect for the sketch.  I hadn’t used these two and I love them together.  Something about the Island Indigo and Daffodil Delight feels like summer to me so I thought a butterfly would be a nice way to accent the card.  So another of the prints from the set was run through my Beautiful Wings Embosslit to get the two butterfly layers (they are facing prints).  The sentiment is from Six-Sided Sampler, a current favorite.  For the banner element, I chose to use some of the Sale-a-bration ribbon with a Daffodil button.  That ribbon is so pretty!  Yep, a fun and simple little card that just makes me happy!

I will say that the team has created their normal a-maz-ing cards for the week!  If you haven’t already, go take a look and hopefully you’ll be able to play along!

Convention!!  I am so excited to go that I can hardly sleep!  So many of my stamping friends together!  I am rooming with my fabulous upline Brandi and the oh-so-talented Heidi Baks.  I have swaps with the Control Freaks and all of the Artisan Award Finalists…those are both sure to be jaw-dropping!!  And of course, there will be the final announcement of the Artisan Award winners on Friday.  Plus, the full, full days of fun and stamping!  I FINALLY get to start sharing some of the things I have been working on.  Tomorrow I will share my roommate gifts, Saturday I will have my Artisan Finalist swap card and next week lots more.  I will only have my IPad with me on the trip and will have my posts pre-written.  If there are any big updates, I will do my best to add them in!

Ok, I hope your week is awesome and if you are going to Convention, I hope to see you there!  Thanks so much for stopping in.  See you tomorrow!

Stamp:  Six-Sided Sampler; Paper:  Gingham Garden DSP, Island Indigo, Whisper White; Ink:  Island Indigo; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Crystal Effects (as glue), SAB ribbon, Brights Buttons (ret), White Baker’s Twine

Take a look at this cool sketch!!  Clean and yet very modern looking, don’t you think?  Over at Freshly Made Sketches our sketch hostess this week is Linda Suarez.  She has such a great style and I just love that she brought us this to play with!!

I decided to keep this really clean and stamp the diagonal.  What better to use than the chevrons from Oh Hello!!  It seemed a little plain so I added a flower made from the Fun Flowers Die.  I spritzed the flower with water and then formed it a bit to give it dimension.  I added a little center from the Boho Blossoms Punch and a tiny button tied with Linen Thread.  The sentiment is from the new hostess set Express Yourself and I am in love with it!  Yes, I seem to always fall in love with a good sentiment set and this one is wonderful!

The variety of the cards from the design team is amazing!  No surprise…they always are!  Make sure you go take a look and let Linda know how much you appreciate the sketch!

I am about 75% done with my swaps for Convention and finishing up some roommate gifts too.  The good news?  Starting with Convention, I’ll have lots of things to post!!  For now, I’ll just keep working and taking pictures so I’ll be able to share.  I hope your week is fabulous!  See you soon!

Stamps:  Oh Hello, Express Yourself; Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Tea for Two DSP; Ink:  Calypso Coral, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Marina Mist; Accessories:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers Die, Boho Blossoms Punch, Neutrals Buttons, Linen Thread, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Happy Wednesday to you all!  I am back with this awesome sketch from the oh-so-talented Allisa Chilton.  I love the clean lines and when I saw the square, I immediately thought “frame”.

I am in love with this instagram/polaroid picture trend so I decided to give it a go.  I started with the two strips of Washi Tape and then created the little frame using my paper cutter.  I stamped the chevron oval from Oh, Hello and then used my Beautiful Butterflies Die to punch out the butterfly.  The smaller one uses a Six-Sided Sampler hexagon and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.  The sentiment is also from Oh, Hello and I used the new little buttons!

Sorry for the short post!  The Convention preparation has begun in earnest and I am working on swaps today.  The Artisan Finalist group is planning one so that is my work for today (I am still just so excited about getting the call!!).

I love this sketch and there are some great cards from the design team today!  I look forward to seeing what you share with us too!  Thanks for stopping in today!  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Oh, Hello, Six-Sided Sampler; Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight; Ink:  Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Gingham Garden Washi Tape, Epic Day Washi Tape, Neutrals Buttons, Baker’s Twine

Another week gone so quickly and it is my favorite stamping day again!!  We have a fresh new sketch for you this week over at Freshly Made Sketches.  This one comes courtesy of the lovely Jen Brum.  Cool, huh??!!

I’m afraid that my card doesn’t do the sketch justice this week but some weeks are like that!  I have been gone lots.  Just got home from a trip last night and am now fighting a nasty cough/no voice.  Ugh!!  Summer flying is definitely in full swing along with weather delays and other things that make the flying days long and the sleeps too short.  In any case, I used the Gingham Garden DSP and cut the curve into it by hand.  I added the Stretch Ruffled Ribbon again because it drapes on the curve so well.  The flowers were fussy cut out of the DSP and I added the sentiment from Six-Sided Sampler.

I am hoping for some stamping time later today and tomorrow.  I will be participating in a fun blog hop with my upline’s group Hawaii Ink on Sunday!  Make sure you stop back then to see what we have to show you from the new catalog!!

Until then, so glad you dropped in!  I appreciate each of you and thank you all for the kind words you leave me!  Now make sure you get over to the challenge site!  There are some really cool cards by the DT this week!  See you soon!

Stamp:  Six-Sided Sampler; Paper:  Gingham Garden, Night of Navy, Whisper White; Ink:  Night of Navy; Accessories:  Scissors, Strawberry Slush Stretch Ruffled Trim, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Yippee!  It is Wednesday!!  Freshly Made Sketches day!  Our sketch this week is from lovely and talented Cindy Hall – another great one for using again and again.  There a lots of ways to use it.  You can stamp the big panel or use some DSP…the choice is yours!

I chose to stamp the big panel, mostly as an excuse to pull out my brand new stamps!  This one is Gifts of Kindness and it was right at the top of my “must haves” out of the new catalog.  I love this beautiful flower and the sentiments are some of the best I have seen (especially for thank you notes).  Of course I had to ink up with some new and returning colors so I pulled out Strawberry Slush, a new In Color, and Pear Pizzazz, a returning favorite.  Aren’t they pretty together??!!  That scalloped edge in the sketch said “Stretch Ruffle Trim” to me and I just had to use the Strawberry Slush version of it.  It is so pretty and so easy to use for a pop of color and texture!  Some Gingham Garden DSP in Daffodil Delight adds a little interest on the side and thought that a Vintage Faceted Button was a nice addition to the sentiment banner.  That sentiment is from Gifts of Kindness and that font is simply beautiful, don’t you think?

I look forward to seeing all that you create in the gallery this week.  After seeing the awesome creations from the DT, I know there will be lots of variety and fun things to admire!  Make sure you go tell Cindy how much you love the sketch too!

I’m so glad you stopped in today.  Hoping for some stamping time later today and to have something to share later this week.  Until then, have a fantastic week!  See you soon!

Stamp:  Gifts of Kindness: Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP; Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz; Accessories:  Strawberry Slush Stretch Ruffle Trim, Vintage Faceted Button, Baker’s Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals