A quick post for today. On a layover, hotel wifi is wacko and I am just trying to fight to get this posted. Ah, technology!!
The amazing Jen Mitchell has a sketch today over at Freshly Made Sketches that is perfect for anyone. That wide open space meant that I just needed to create something with watercolor. These fabulous fish from Picket Fence Studios are such fun and seemed perfect. I stamped on Fabriano Extra White Watercolor paper and colored using some Daniel Smith paints. The sentiment from a sister set called A Dose of Vitamin Sea really spoke to me and I thought it would work well here. The Frosted Droplets are a new product from Stampin’ Up and I liked their added texture.
Ok, like I said…super quick. More soon when I’m back to a functioning internet. Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!
Do you ever see a stamp set that speaks to you and you cannot even begin to resist it?! Yeah…me too. And my card today features one of those stamps!! I’m the sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches today and I created a sketch that was perfect for this image and this sentiment. Because, really….just look at them!!
As with most things that hit you as “must have”, there is a back story. Many of you know about my sweet little calico kitty named Kate. But do you know WHY she is Kate? Before her, I had an old man kitty who had been my friend for over 19 years. He was my sweet boy who was kind enough to adopt my husband and then tolerate the arrival of my two boys (albeit, with a 2 week hunger strike after the birth of the second). When he passed away, the house was too quiet and I was so sad. After a few months, DH told me that we were heading to the local SPCA to see if a new kitty would choose us. We narrowed it down and I was looking for another boy. After all, I said, I’m the queen and there will be no other. So I took the boys the next day to see which kitty really wanted to come home with us and there was this sweet little girl. And she took one look at us, realized we would do very nicely and demanded that we get her home immediately. So there was a princess. As luck would have it, there was also a new princess (well duchess but whatever) so we chose the name Kate. And here we are about 6 years later and the boys wore DH and I down asking for a second kitty. In a moment of weakness, I took them back to the SPCA “just to look”. Yeah, right. And thus a new kitty has entered the house. Another little girl. Naturally, her name is Meg (after the latest addition to the royal family). Kate is warming up to the idea of a sister but you don’t have to speak fluent cat to know there were some very unkind words uttered. In the midst of the early chaos (Meg has been with us about 3 weeks), I saw this stamp and yep. It just hit me as totally hilarious. And true. At least in my house. (and yes, I’ll share some pics here of Meg but I did put some up on Instagram when she first came home)
Ok now that I covered that seriously too long story, back to the card. This stamp set is from Picket Fence Studios and it is called Wicked Together. It is awesome!! I stamped this fabulous kitty in Versafine Onyx Black Ink and then heat embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder (SU). I chose this chevron paper from my stash as a background to the sentiment (stamped and embossed too). I tied on some purple twine and added a few sequins just for more dimension. But we know that all eyes are on that cat…as they should be!!
I hope you will find this sketch inspiring! As always the Freshly Made Sketches Design Team has outdone themselves and you need to hop right over to see their work. I’m so glad you were able to stop in today. Until next time, happy stamping!
I have a fun card to share with you today over at the Picket Fence Studios blog. Many of you know that I tend to hoard collect sentiments and this sentiment set called Crafty Friends is simply amazing. I though it would be great if I simply focused on it without any images but wanted the card to feel special enough to sent to a crafty friend.
Back in March when I was at Stamping Away, I created this background after I saw some inspiration by the awesome stampers who joined me. My friend Jill told me about a great way to use the Tonic Nuvo Glimmer Pastes. Using a background cover plate from My Favorite Things, I created a disposable stencil. All you have to do is lay it down on card stock just like any stencil and apply the paste. I got two cards out of it before it was a big mess and then could just toss it. If you do want to use the pastes with your real stencils, take care to wash them off immediately since the paste dries quickly. I used two colors here…so pretty!
My sentiment was stamped onto vellum with Versafine Onyx Black Ink and then heat embossed with Wow Black Glint Embossing Glitter. It has a bit of a shimmer and shine that regular embossing powder doesn’t have. Perfect against this background. I created this with this week’s CAS(E) this Sketch challenge as inspiration. Perfect for showing off great sentiments!
I will be sharing posts about every three weeks over on the Picket Fence Studios blog (as will all my fellow design team members) so we would love to have you visit over there for inspiration. Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!
I’m so happy to share this fun Christmas card with you today! I know it is hard for me to really think about holiday stuff right now but let’s face it, if I don’t start with the cards now, I’ll never get them done. I loved Amy’s adorable sketch this week from Freshly Made Sketches. Her little trio allows for so many options!
I chose this cute little snowman from Let It Snow by Honey Bee Stamps. I love this stamp set and all its fabulous sentiments. I stamped the snowman and flakes with Momento Tuxedo Black ink. I added the line on the bottom of the snowman for coloring purposes using a Copic Multiliner. Some quick coloring with my Copics was all he needed. I cut him and his flakes out using the coordinating Let It Snow Dies and then stamped the sentiment from the same set onto white card stock. I used some striped paper from my stash to finish the sketch. I love this one!
I’ll be back on Friday with a post for Picket Fence Studios. Until then, I’m out flying around so look for me if you are traveling! The summer flying has been a bit crazy with all the weather. If you are out and about…pack your patience (and chocolate for the flight attendants never hurts!). Until next time, have a great week.
As with all great adventures, you have to find the end to start a new beginning. And that is where I am now. After almost 12 years of being a Stampin’ Up demonstrator I have decided it is time to leave. There are a number of reasons, some personal and some professional, that brought me here. But first…allow me a small trip though my years.
I was first introduced to stamping through some friends in my neighborhood. They convinced me to come to a Stampin’ Up workshop pretty much kicking and screaming. After all, I told them, I’m not crafty. But I went and found that I could actually make something I liked and I had fun. Hmmmm. So I went to another event and stamped some more and eventually was a hostess and bought enough to make, well, nothing. This was in the days before kits, you see. As part of a one year assignment to Columbus, MS, I met my dear friend Brandi. She was hosting a stamping event at a local coffee shop and I convinced some others to go with me. I loved what we made and was happy to create with Brandi. Over the year, she convinced me that I should give being a demo a go. So for my birthday that year, I asked for my starter kit. (There may have been some days that my husband regretted the decision to get it for me, haha!!) And so it began. Eventually, I was able to go to a Convention in Salt Lake City and I met some of my online friends in person and met my friend (and second level upline) Lisa too. Now Lisa is a smart and business minded stamper and she asked me about my goals. And gave me some space to consider them. She knew that with my flying schedule, the business side would always be a challenge. She and Brandi cheered me on as I decided to enter the competition for the Artisan Design Team.And they were there when I was actually chosen for the team. I could not have guessed how much this ADT group would come to mean to me. They will always be a part of my heart! I grew so much creatively over that year but I also found that my business was going in the other direction. I enjoyed focusing on the process of making things. Other opportunities have presented themselves and I found myself wandering further from the “Stampin’ Up Only” way of making cards. But I adore my SU friends and stayed “for just a little longer”.
I finally came to a place where I knew it was time to make the decision to leave. Again, a few things factored in but the biggest is that I want to explore other opportunities. I can’t do that with one foot still in the door so I officially resigned last week. While I haven’t had any SU orders from my blog in a while, I still want to share with you some contacts in case you need a Stampin’ Up demo.
All of these ladies are super talented and kind and wonderful and….. You get the point. A word of caution….Brandi has a way of convincing you to take a chance! Take her up on it!! Lisa has an amazing blog and creates videos that will blow you away. And Michelle is local in Northern VA for those who would love to attend in person classes. There is no wrong choice and they would love your business!!
I very much hope you will continue to follow me in my crafty adventures. You, my followers, are a big part of why I continue to grow. It takes courage to share creativity and you have always made it a little less intimidating with your sweet comments. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! Now…on to the next chapter….
Happy middle of the week! I’m a bit belated (if you were looking at the challenge this morning) with my card for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches. I had about 11.3 seconds in the last week to make a card but I just HAD to pull this set out. Thank heavens that the awesome Narelle gave us a super sketch for this week!! Her layers (she really is amazing with layers) were a great way to show off some new things.
You see, this stamp (and some lovely friends) all showed up to my mailbox on Monday as part of my new adventure of being on the Picket Fence Studios Design Team. *Insert whooping and hollering here* I look forward to having lots of time to play but I really wanted to be able to share the good news here. So….a quick card. I stamped the flower and the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black in and put them on a base of Smoke Gray (SSS). To add a little bit of color I thought these sweet blue sequins were just perfect. They are from the Shark Bite collection, also from Picket Fence Studios.
Here is a picture of the whole team….according to my husband, I’m Peter Brady of the Brady Bunch…..we may have just aged ourselves irrevocably. Ok, well off to see if I can find a few minutes to actually craft! I’ll be back soon. Until then, thanks so much for stopping in.
Hi everyone! I’m back from a bit of a summer break and I’m thrilled to be able to share the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Our sketch hostess is Karren Johnson and she has created the perfect clean sketch to get me inspired after my time off. Karren always has the most beautiful coloring and design on her cards so it is no surprise that she gave us a sketch that allows for lots of creativity.
When I saw the horizontal panel, the first thing that came to mind was watercoloring. So I went with it. I used my Daniel Smith palette from Simon Says Stamp (lots of little dots to allow you to find your favorite colors!) and chose a soft color scheme. I made an ombré gray and then added some little hydrangea petals from Mondo Hydrangea colored in purple with a bit of green. The sentiment from the same set fit perfectly across the bottom of the colored swash. I thought about adding more bling or details but then I felt it was perfect just as it was. You can’t really see it but the purple watercolor is called Amethyst Genuine and has a bit of sparkle in it. Gorgeous!
I needed a clean card to warm back up! Over the last two weeks, I have not been in my stamp room. We had a family vacation to Florida (yes…it was crazy hot and humid, haha!!). We conquered three parks and enjoyed some pool time. And most fun, we even managed to sneak a surprise visit in with my mom! That was a highlight of the trip, for sure. After vacation it was right back to work. This is the busy season for sure and the weather has been no one’s friend. I definitely needed some stamping time!! I’m back out today but hoping for some more craft time next week. Lots of fun things in the works! Until then, thanks for stopping in and I’ll see you soon. Hope you’ll join in our challenge this week!
The summer fun continues around my house and we have been busy, busy! Hope you are having a great week too. Our sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches is courtesy of the lovely Kim Singdahlsen. I love her style…always something really special about her work!
I saw a circle and at first I thought flower (of course). But I thought maybe I should stretch a bit so I flipped through my stamp sets and came upon Happy Birds by WPlus9. It was PERFECT! So I colored up this little cardinal and pulled out a previously inked and cut out panel. I knew I was right to keep this stack of unused extras! I thought the sentiment was funny because the little bird has a slightly grumpy look to me (although my 15yo swears he looks happy). To add a little more interest, I embossed the base of my card with a circles folder from SU.
I hope you will enjoy playing along with us this week. Please stop by and say and extra thank you to Caly Person for all her inspiration this month. It has been such a joy to have her along! Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!
I hope your week has been great so far. Here today with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. We have a wonderful challenge this week from sketch hostess Linda Callahan. Just like with every card Linda makes, this sketch lends itself to fun and whimsy…and lots of creativity.
As soon as I saw the circles, I thought about flowers and I thought these from the Posie Fill In Set were perfect for the job. I love how they layer (even without their cool background that comes with the set). I stamped them in Altenew Ink and chose the Coral Berry and Forest Glades. I find it is easiest to stamp the outlines first and then the inside solid image. They line up really easily. For the flowers, I added the centers after the other layers. I used my Misti to make short work of all the stamping too. After pondering just using a plain white base, I thought it might be fun to create a more interesting background. I pulled out my Distress Oxide Ink in Peacock Feathers. I inked up a large clear block and spritzed it with water then used that to add the ink to Watercolor Paper. I let the first layer dry a bit and then stamped a little extra ink down to add the splatters and details. Conveniently, there was a bit of a white area left on the side with matches up with the sketch so I chose not to add another layer. The sentiment comes from the same set as the flowers.
Flying tons this week. The busy season is really upon us airline people! Have a great rest of your week and I’ll see you again soon! Thanks for stopping in.
Happy Wednesday to you! I hope your week is wonderful so far! I had pretty much a perfect 4th of July last week. We went to the Washington Nationals baseball game. They lost but the game was still fun. Then we went down to the National Mall. To cool off, we visited the Museum of Natural History…one of my favorites (but glad I don’t have to choose one). Then, the big fireworks event! And what fireworks they were! After recovering for a day, we drove for a quick weekend to visit family in Cleveland. The boys and I have enjoyed the last couple of summer days by going to the pool and getting ice cream at a local gem called the Moo Thru. So, you can see that I have summer on the brain.
Perfect for this amazing sketch by Jen Mitchell over at Freshly Made Sketches. Jen’s clean style always has special touches and this sketch reflects that wonderfully. For the rectangle part of the sketch, I obsessed over the idea of this bike. I love this bike and it seems to say summer to me. This comes from a set call Beautiful Ride by Simon Says Stamp and has lots of fun accessories that go with the bike. I chose a little bag to fill with flowers. I stamped them all in Momento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic Markers. The sentiment is from the same set….love it! I added a few Sparkling Clear sequins and put the image layer on a Real Red base.
I hope you are enjoying your week. I’m back to work today. Maybe I’ll see some of you around the country. Don’t forget to peek in if you are on a United Airbus! Thanks for stopping in today. See you again soon.
Supplies (affiliate links included):
Stamp: Beautiful Ride (Simon Says Stamp); Paper: Thick Whisper White (SU), Real Red (SU); Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers; Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Ride Dies (Simon Says Stamp), Misti,Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Dimensionals (SU), Mini Dimensionals (SU)
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A quick post for today. On a layover, hotel wifi is wacko and I am just trying to fight to get this posted. Ah, technology!!
I chose this cute little snowman from 
