Hey gang. . .well, we're heading out to San Francisco. Unfortunately, my DH don't want me to bring my laptop along. He says that he doesn't want to check in our baggages. Whaa! Oh, well that's a real bummers. That means no postings or blog surfing until I return on Tuesday.
Hope y'all have a nice weekend!!
Until later. . .
Card Details:
Good Morning Folks, I decided to start early today and post a card before life gets in the way. I really need to clean my up my "studio". It's becoming a mess - again!! Again! I can't believe it. I remember cleaning up and reorganizing my "studio" a few weeks ago. I can't seem to keep it clean and organized.
I do tidy up every day and "try" to put things away but with time, things start to pile up. I'm going to spend my day cleaning up and organizing my room. Nothing major but I can't work in a messy room and desk. It's very distracting. It drives me batty to have to work around things.
I started this card last night before I went to bed and finished it up this morning. Everyone were still asleep so I decided to take the opportunity to finish up the card before I cook breakfast.
Bodacious Bouquet is still a current stamp set although you don't see it in the current catalog. It's on the "dormant list" meaning you can still purchase it if you still want it. I don't see the rhyme or reason to the "dormant list" but oh well. I mean why couldn't they just have put it in the current catalog? I don't know. . .if anybody knows the logical reason, can someone clue me in.
I stamped the flowers with Bravo Burgundy and Cameo Coral, cut them out and with a sponge dauber, shaded the edge of the image to soften the edge a little bit. I then curled the flower with the end of my scissors (the handle part) and mounted them on to one another. I attached the brad to give it a 3D center. Nothing much else to the rest of the design other than what I typically do. I did use the Hodgepodge Hardware to enhance the design of the sentiment a little bit. Ahhh, all the little things do count. It really does.
Good Afternoon Everyone. What's a card sampler? Well, typically I don't
blog my samplers because I usually forget to do so. I usually make a card out of them and forget to take a picture of the sampler itself before I send it out to my customers.
Each month I give my "active" customers what I call card samplers or project samplers to highlight or provide a sample of an image or images of a current stamp set to give my customers card ideas.
The samplers are decorated stamped images usually ATC size, round like the one shown below, or sometimes card fronts, templates, or even full cards depending on what I want to feature for the month. If I want to feature a color combo such as the "in colors", I'll send out full cards.
I not only highlight the stamp set but also accessories such a embossing powders, crystal effects, brads, ribbons, whatever. It's a great way for customers to actually touch and feel the accessories. I would then make a card using the sampler and let my customer's know I blogged it so they can have an idea on what to create with the sampler. Many of my customers are out of state so it's a great way to show them what can be created with the stamp set because I can't "physically" show them in person.
I decided that I'm going to blog the following month's sampler and have my customers take a look at them in advance. 
This is October's Card Sampler of the month. I wanted to highlight the "Flaky Friends" stamp set. I haven't had a chance to buy the newer holiday stamp sets so I had to use an older but current one. Because Christmas is right around the corner, I wanted to feature a "Christmas" stamp set. My holiday order should be coming in soon so I can start working on the newer current sets. It's a killer when the old stamp sets retire. As demonstrators, like any other customer, we have to "buy" the stamp sets that we demonstrate to y'all and when the stamp sets retire, well we have to dig deep into our pockets to "rebuild" our collection. It's tough.
To create the fluffy snow, I used Liquid Applique and heat embossed it. I colored the image with markers and applied Crystal Effects over the colored areas. I stamped the background with the small snowflakes and applied Stickler Glitters on selected areas.
Hi Everyone. Today's Daily Special is "Tutorial Day". I just wanted to share this pocket card that I made last year for those who are new to my blog site and may have not seen this project. This project is called "Cocoa Pocket Card". You can use any sort of packet such as popcorn, nuts, tea, etc. but in this case, I used a cocoa packet. It's really easy to make and I made a whole bunch during Christmas last year. I used them as "party favors" for Christmas "get-togethers". I also included them in the Christmas boxes along with the Christmas Gifts that I sent out to my family in Hawaii and other parts of the US. They really loved them.
I'll make a few updated ones as Christmas rolls closer. In the meantime, I created a tutorial last year and I'm just going to "revive" it for those who haven't had a chance to try this great project out: Click Here for the Tutorial . Try it out and tell me what you think. It's really EASY!! Have fun!
Oh my goodness it's almost midnight. Time just flies. It's crazy. Anyway, I just wanted to post this card before I go to bed.
I love this hostess level 3 wheel "All About Gratitude". It comes as a bundle with another wheel and a hostess set and the bundle is called "All About Occasions Bundle". In order to get this set you'd need to host a party with a merchandise total or purchase a total of $500 or more of SU products. That's a lot of stamp sets and products!
Anyway. . .the big flower is from the "Big Bloom" stamp set which is not in the current catalog. There's a similar set called "Ginormous Flowers" if you were interested in purchasing a set with large flowers.
I stamped the image on to whisper white cardstock using the pink passion classic ink then I cut the flower out. I then punched the image again on to the Palette O' Print designer paper, cut out the center of the flower and mounted it on to the cut out flower using dimensionals to give it a 3D effect. I created a "faux button" by punching out a 1 inch circle and creating the center holes using the double circle punch. It's a great way to create a button if you don't have a large button on hand.
Anyway, thank you for visiting my site. I'm always happy to see all of you! Until later, folks! Goodnight!!
Hi Everyone! I altered a DVD size tin and created a accordion album for it. I posted it on Card Inspired because I didn't use any SU images. Check it out. I'm rather proud of it because it's the first tin/accordion album I created. I really had fun making it. I'm working on a few other projects . . .unfortunately, it takes time to make them. I'll post a card on this blog site sometime this evening.
Hope y'all are having a wonderful day!!
Good Afternoon Folks. . .I'm working on a few projects. Hope I'll get one of them done today. If I do, I'll post it today.
In the meantime. . .here's a great song to listen to by Nelly Fertado. Not her typical style but I love this song.
Until later. . .
Good Evening Folks!! Just a card I made this evening. It's another retired stamp set. I promise to make a card using a current stamp set tomorrow. I just love this stamp set and I really wanted to use it. Too bad it's retired. I think Stampin Up should have kept this Halloween set. I don't have a current Halloween set but I'm putting in an order this week and I'll order a few of the Halloween set. I'm a bit behind but it's been difficult because so many sets were retired last year and I'm slowly trying to build up my collection.
Anyway . . .I really like the web. Don't you think the spider looks more like a mosquito? I only realized at this very moment while looking at the picture that what I thought was a mosquito is actually a spider.
To add a bit of dimension to the spider image, I added Crystal Effects to the spider's hat. Do anybody still use Crystal Effects? I use it quite often because I like the 3D effect it gives to the image.
The scallop circles were created using my Craft Robo. I only own a square scallop punch which I bought at Michaels because it was on sale, otherwise all my scallop die cuts are created by my Craft Robo. It's great because I can cut any size scalloped shape using the electronic cutting machine.
Card Details:
Stamp Set: Web Wishes
Ink: Basic Black, Prismacolor Markers, Sakura Souffle Opaque Pen
Paper: Black, Only Orange, Whisper White, DCWV Fall Stack
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Craft Robo scallop die cut, Grosgrain ribbon, Black embossing powder
Good Morning Everyone! Hope everyone is having a happy Monday. I actually made this card last night but it was already too late to post so I decided to save it for today.
I made this card for Tracy's blog challenge at "Tracy's Happy Place". The challenge is to use a stamp that you have bought but never used. Be sure to drop by Tracy's FABULOUS blog site and check out the details to her challenge. There's a prize to be given out!!
Yah know, I have a lot of stamps that I've bought but never used. There's not enough days in a year or hours in a day to go through all of them.
But. . .for the sake of the challenge, I pulled this very old SU stamp set that I had bought but had forgotten about. When we moved from Hawaii to California, I put all my stamps in boxes and there are still a whole bunch of stamp sets still in boxes that I haven't opened yet. This stamp set is called "Costume Bears" and it's been retired forever. Because it's a holiday set, well it sort of goes into the "holiday" box which I only go through once a year. Poor stamp set has been neglected throughout the years. I'll buy new stamp sets and sort of forget about the older ones. This one has been unfortunately been completely forgotten so I decided to use it for Tracy's challenge.
I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol as well outline it with the Prismacolor markers. I then cut out the image and mounted it on to the mat using dimensionals to give it a 3D effects. What are dimensionals? Dimensionals, if you don't already know, is basically foam tape. The rest of the card is basically layering and adding a few elements to the design.
Mission accomplished!! I finished off this swap. I just have one more to make and I'm done and no more swaps to complete. Not that it's a reason to celebrate because I love swapping but I've been so behind and it's just a relief to actually say I've finished all of them.
Just another card using the "Fishy Friends" stamp set which is retired. It's such a cute set. Luckily, the Crab & Co stamp set is still current and is on the "dormant" list meaning you're still able to purchase a few sets from last year's catalog and mini catalog but it's not currently on the new catalog. If you want to know which ones are on the dormant list, just email me.
So with that being said, no need to fret if you still want to purchase the crabby images. There's a still a few "fishy" type of sets on the new catalog such as "Silly Sealife" and "Whale Wishes" which I'm planning to purchase one day . . .hopefully, sooner or later. I wish I had a ton of money and I can buy everything at once but that's not going to happen so I have to prioritize. What's on your wish list?
Card Details:
Stamp Sets: Fishy Friends, Crab & Co.
Ink: Prismacolor Markers and pencils with Gamsol, Basic Black
Paper: True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp, Creamy Caramel, DCWV Fall Stack
Accessories: Cuttlebug Tag die cut, Craft Robo Scallop Circle, Hemp cord, Grosgrain Ribbon, Slit Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch
Good Morning Everyone. . .today's Daily Special is "Retired Stamp Set". . .not really a special but there was a time when it was my Daily Special because I had more current sets available to use. Now that I have to rebuild my current stamp set collection, my Daily Special should be "Current Stamp Set" rather than "Retired Stamp Set".
There was a time when each day I would have a different Daily Special such as Anything But Cards, Shapes, Techniques, Tutorials but due to time constraints I haven't been able to follow a schedule. Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to what I was doing but for now, I'll squeeze whatever creation I can manage.
This card is just a simple card I made for a swap. I decided that I'm going to hold off on swapping for awhile. I've been behind and I feel a little bad about it. I don't like being unreliable but I think I sort of participated in too many things and realized later after committing to them, I really didn't have the time I thought I had.
Stamping tip: If you don't have a button readily available, just create a faux button with a circle, square or oval punch and use the "Double Circle" punch to create the holes. It looks like a real button from a distance. The design concept is still there regardless if you use a real button or create a faux button. The button on this card was created using a 1" circle punch and the double circle punch and I tied a ribbon through out it. I think it's a great embellishment for your card design.
Good Evening Everyone. . .well, I took a nap and felt better so I decided to sit down and make a card. I, again, used Pick-a-Petal. . .a current stamp set in this year's catalog. It's pretty versatile. If you scroll down to my previous posts, you'll see that I made a ladybug, a half flower and now this butterfly. I used the circle stamp that came with this set to make the body of the butterfly. I used SU Wireworks to create the antenna. I could've done a better job on the antenna now that I look at it.
The butterfly was pretty fun to make. I used the bigger petal but you can use the smaller petal to make a smaller butterfly.
Do you have a particular style of cardmaking? I don't have a signature style of card making that quickly can be identifiable as a consistent style. I see a few card makers that just by looking at the card, you can pretty much tell who the card maker is. . .they either gravitate towards flower images, super layered cards, very busy, very simple, etc. I don't seem to have a style. Can you identify my style if any? Sometimes it's hard to see it when you're the creator of the cards. If you do see a style in my cards, can you tell me what you see? I'm just curious if I have a particular pattern of cardmaking.
Good Afternoon, Friends. . . sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. I had a sinus headache a few days ago which developed into a cold. Bummers. I hate having a cold. . .well, who does, right? I spent yesterday nursing my cold. . .you know, taking vitamins, resting, drinking a lot of water, etc. I woke up this morning feeling a little better and decided to work on a card but I think I'm going to take a nap after I post this card.
I, again used the Pick-a-Petal stamp set but this time, I created a flower with it. The butterfly is actually the same flower as the center of the big flower but I removed one of the petals. It's an easy way to to create a butterfly using this stamp set rather than looking for another stamp set that has a butterfly stamp. I drew in the antenna. Try it out!
Anyway, nothing much else to card other than layering and a few other design elements. If I feel better after my nap, I'll probably make another card for my Card Inspired blog site. Be sure to visit Card Inspired from time to time because I do alternate posting cards on each site. There's a lot of cards and projects on that site too. It's not Stampin Up but you can find other sketches and card ideas on that blog site!
Hope y'all are having a great day!
Good Evening, Folks. I'm finally using a current stamp set! You say. . .hmmmph, it's about time. I know, I know.
I have a few current sets that I did purchase but they're all mixed up alphabetically with some of my retired stamp sets. I didn't put away any of the stamp sets that retired from the last catalog so I just pick a stamp set from the pile to use whether it's current or not.
Well, today. . .I happen to come across the "Pick-a-Petal" stamp set and decided to use it.
I wasn't sure what to create with this stamp set. I wanted to do something different so I decided to create a lady bug with the flower petals rather than creating a flower. I actually like how it came out. Initially, I wasn't sure how a lady bug looked. . .whether it had an antenna or not so I went on the Internet to look for an image of a lady bug and sure enough it had an antenna. Not exactly how I created the antenna on my ladybug but I figure a swirly one would look okay. Nothing much to this card but stamping and cutting out the images and mounting them on the card.
I want to make another card but I have to head out to tennis lessons and probably won't be back until 9:00 this evening so I probably won't have the time to make another card. Hope y'all are having a nice evening!!
Good Evening Everyone! Just a card I made this evening. Again another retired stamp set. This one is called "Flower Filled". I bought a bunch of retiring sets a few months ago when they went on the retired list but I haven't had a chance to actually make any cards with many of the stamp sets I bought. This one is one of those that I haven't had a chance to use.
I stamped the boots with the chocolate chip ink and cut out the image mounting it to the cardstock using dimensionals to give it a 3D effect. I also did the same thing with the blue flowers using the Bordering Blue ink and punching it out with a 1/2" circle punch.
I created the dots at the corner of image using the Crafters Tool Kit (paper piercer). The rest of the card is basically layering and adding a few other elements.
Hope everyone have a great day tomorrow!! Goodnight, folks!
Good Evening Everyone. Just a simple card I made for a card swap. The sketch for this card is a sketch courtesy of Gabby at "Confessions of A Stamper". Gabby is the manager of a group site that I'm part of. Stop by her new blog site and check out her fabulous creations.
The swap theme is to "follow this sketch" (the sketch below). The card is a quickie card I made because I had forgotten that I participated in this swap and needed to make a card quickly. The quickest way to go about it is to choose a stamp that I didn't have to color in. To spruce up the image a little, I applied stickles glitter to the ornaments and star. It took about 15 minutes to make this card. That's preety good considering I'm typically very slow when I make a card.
Good Evening Everyone. Here's the second Christmas card I made today! Yay! Mission accomplished. I was going to post this tomorrow but decided to post it before I go to bed. It's 10:00 but I feel really tired so after I post this, I'm hitting the sack.
I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and gamsol. If you scroll to the next post, you'll see that I used the same stamp set but created a different design. "Sleigh Full of Toys" is so cute. It's too bad this set is retired.
The green circle on the circle sentiment looks as if it's floating. . .in person it doesn't look as elevated as the picture appear to be. I think the shadow makes it look like it's extremely 3D. It's raised a little bit but not to the extent that it appears in the picture.
Anyway, it was fun making this card. I think I'm going to make a few more cards with this set then hang it up for the year. I have a lot of Christmas sets that I need to use before the season is over. I'll probably buy more of them so I better start on using the older sets. There's a few in the "Holiday Mini Catalog" that I'm really interested in purchasing. I wasn't going to buy any more Christmas stamp sets but there's a bunch of cute ones that I really like. I just can't resist.
Good Afternoon Everyone! I made a card today! Yay! This is the first time I've used the "Sleigh Full of Toys" stamp set. I bought it 2 months ago when it went on the retired list. I really love this stamp set. I think it's a really cute stamp set. It's actually quite versatile.
The blue background actually has a marbled appearance. I used the "Polished Stone" technique once again to create the marbled look. You can't really see it because my light source dulled the background when I took the picture. It actually is a bit darker in person. The rest of the card is basically layering the images and elements together.
This is a really simple sketch but I think you can do a lot with it by adding different elements to the design.
Anyway. . .I need to get back to making cards. My goal today is to make at least one more card today.
Before I go, I want to thank Desi for being such a sweet person. She contacted me a few days ago to thank me for my work on my blog sites and to show her appreciation she bought a bunch of Stampin Up products from me. Awww. . .I really appreciate the fact that she thought of me. I don't advertise on my posts that I'm a SU demonstrator because it's against SU policy to advertise or solicit customers. I've squeezed in a few hints from time to time but not really discussed it much. I guess Desi read my profile or my sidebar. Thank you Desi . . .you really made my day!! Really. . you're the absolute sweetest!!
Hello Everyone! I'm finally chippin' away at my long "to do" list. One of which was to post the RAK and Swap cards that I received in the past few weeks. You're like. . .how long can your "to do" list be. . .you're not working. LOL!!
Believe it or not but I have more things to do now that I'm not working. When I was working, my "to do" list was quite short because well, I really didn't have the time to do too many things other than go to work, do the chores when I'm off, take care of the kids, cook dinner, spend time with family and friends, and fit in some stamping time. Now that I'm not working, well . . . I tend to try to squeeze in projects and fill every minute of my time doing things that I couldn't possibly do when I was working. I'm sure you SAHM know what I'm talking about. When I was working full time, I watched more television than I do now. I rarely watch television anymore.
Anyway. . .I'm off the subject of the focus of this post. . .the card above is a RAK I received from Kim who has an awesome blog site called "My Angel Inspirations". The card actually is an envelope type of card and to open the card, the strip you see in the front slips off. Ingenious, isn't it? Thank you Kim for the lovely RAK.
Oh, wow! Check out the "Under the Sea" swap I received from Sonya! It's so cute. This is a "tri-fold" card she created. I love it. Sonya is living in the Netherlands. She is such a wonderfully sweet gal and I absolutely love her card. Thank you Sonya. . .your card is fabulous
Here is a super "twisted & demented" swap card from Gabby. It made me laugh when I received it. It's awesome! I love it. Gabby was also my swap partner for a "Fall" swap. . .scroll down for her other card. Thanks Gabby for the wonderfully hilarious card. 
Just another fall card I made using the "Polished Stone" technique using Adirondack Alcohol Inks. You don't need to use Adirondack inks to create this technique. Stampin Up reinkers with alcohol works the same way. I have a tutorial on my side bar to the left if you're interested in trying it out or click here.
I know the card is similar to my previous post (scroll down) but with a different layout. . . I wanted to show that by changing the layout but using similar materials, the look of a card can completely change.
Like the previous fall card I made, this one was created for a "fall swap" that I'm participating in.
I was suppose to sit down and make a bunch of cards today but it didn't happen as I had hoped for. I just don't know how people can find the time to make so many cards. I'm very slow in making cards these days! It's very frustrating.
Card Details:
Stamp sets: Fantastic Foliage, Holiday Wishes
Ink: Adirondack Alcohol Inks, Copper Leaf Pen, Handsome Hunter
Paper: White Glossy Cardstock, Old Olive
Accessories: Copper Glitter embossing Powder, American Traditional Designs Ribbon, JoAnn Copper Brads
Here's a simple card I made using the Polish Stone Technique using Adirondack Alcohol Inks by Ranger. It suppose to be a fall card but I ended up with Christmas colors when I combined the inks together. Oh, well.
It was fun making this card. I tried to keep it as simple as possible so not to cover up the background colors.
Do you remember the stamp set "Fantastic Foliage"? I think it retired last year or the year before that. It's a great fall stamp set. Hope yah folks kept yours. Although SU has a lot of great new designs in this years catalog, the classics are just that,. . . . 'classics". It never gets old regardless of the amount of years it's been retired.
I made this card for a fall swap I participated in.
Hope y'all are having a great day!!
Hope Everyone is having a wonderful Labor Day! I sat down and made this card this afternoon. I decided to make a non-holiday card this time.
This was a fun card to make. I liked the different shapes. I, initially, water-colored the image but I felt the colors weren't vibrant enough so I covered it up using Stickles glitter. I also made a mistake and smudged ink on the area around the image so I added the ribbon to cover it up. Yeah, the ribbon wasn't suppose to be there but I think it came out okay.
Posts
All Comments
