Friday, December 30, 2016

Stamp Off Hot Dog Tee Shirt

We are about to close 2016 with our final Stamp Off Challenge.
Buffy, Susan and I all look forward to continuing our
challenges in 2017, so we hope that you have a
safe New Year and return to check out our
Stamp Off Challenges each Friday.
 Our challenge today is to ring in the new year!
Given that we have new Occasions and Sale-A-Bration (SAB)
catalogs that kick off January 4th, we are featuring these
products!   Another words, New Year, NEW Rubbah!
 Soooo, I had a difficult time deciding which products to show
off, but the Custom Tee set with coordinating T-shirt Builder
Framelits Dies (on page 30 of the Occasions Catalog) won
out.  My favorite thing about these t-shirts is that you can
stamp ANYTHING on the front.  That makes it an ideal
bundle for creating very personalized cards, especially
for those challenging men in your life.

In this example, I used images from the Tasty Trucks
SAB set on page 12.  How often do you wish you
could imply that someone is a "Hot Dog"??!!  
I have several nephews that this could be sent to.  
Thanks to the t-shirt, I could
 mix and match to come up with this fun sentiment.

Now, please click on over to see what new products
Susan and Buffy are proudly showing off!!

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Sunshine Wishes Negative

The Sunshine Wishes Thinlits on page 194 are delightful
and easy to create with.  There are technique options for 
this product, including use of the positive or negative pieces.
It's also kind of entertaining to play with the
"puzzle pieces" to decide what you can create.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Friday, December 23, 2016

Stamp Off Personal Christmas Cards

I have got to say that Buffy and Susan have been
knocking it out of the park with challenge banners
and challenge cards.  I am so honored to be sharing with them.

 For our challenge today, we are presenting our own
Christmas card.  This is a hard one because I actually
made 3 different Christmas cards to send out (I get
bored producing a single version).


But I will have to stick with my favorite Holiday mini
bundle; Star of Light with the Starlight Thinlits Dies,
on page 9.  I love the elegance of this set,
with the ability to produce multiple layers of stamping
and 3-d goodness.  I used the retired In-Color Mossy Meadow
card stock with the delicious and current Sweet Sugarplum.
They are so pretty together!  Throw in some Silver
Glimmer paper and we are good to go!

Now that you have seen my Christmas card,
please hop on over to see the delights being
offered by my friends Susan and Buffy.

 

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Christmas Pines Z-Fold

I had made this card for a Stamp Off challenge with
Buffy and Susan, but ended up making a different card.
I used one of my fav bundles; Christmas Pines and
Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies on page 19.

I layered this card with strips from the
Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack on p 13.
It really is Warm and Cheery!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Joyful Nativity Christmas

The Joyful Nativity set, on page 35 of the regular catalog is lovely.  You stamp the word "Joy" and can then
add an image to the word.  It epitomizes the Christmas
sentiment in a single word, making this set work so well!

Monday, December 19, 2016

Star of Light with Festive Birthday DSP

This is a card that I made for a challenge and ended up
using another.  It features my favorite bundle, the 
Star of Light set with coordinating Starlight Thinlits Dies,
found on page 9 of the Holiday catalog.  The DSP comes
from the Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper pack
on page 173.  I really enjoy this DSP pack because it
works for so many occasions, not just birthdays!

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Christmas Pines Noel

From my perspective, the Christmas Pines set, with
coordinating Pretty Pines Thinlit Dies (p 19 of the Holiday
catalog) is a perfect Christmas set.  The images and
Thinlit Dies are reminiscent of my childhood in Wisconsin,
and the sentiments feature a pleasing font.  I really
enjoy this bundle because I can make a variety of cards,
with relative ease.  I hope that you enjoy this one!

Friday, December 16, 2016

Stamp Off Color Challenge Custom Tee

It's another Stamp Off challenge with Buffy, Susan
and Jackie!  More momentous is that we are almost 
ONE WEEK
away from Christmas.  It's so hard to believe!
This week, we are featuring a color challenge, requiring
one color from each SU color family.  What a fun challenge!
Alert:  this is a SNEAK PEEK!

 For my colors, I picked Crushed Curry, Pacific Point,
Wild Wasabi and Basic Black.  I love the Custom Tee set
with coordinating T-shirt Builder Framelits Dies bundle
on page 30 of the upcoming Occasions Catalog.  What's better,
is that the Sale-A-Bration catalog has a FREE coordinating set,
Designer Tee, on page 19.  The combination of these two
sets makes for many, many card or scrapbook options.
  
The many "add-ons", like collars, ties, pockets
and suspenders enable different looks, to go with
21 different sentiments (combined).  My favorite is the
"I Think I Can" conversation bubble with train engine.
Again, if you buy the bundle in the Occasions catalog, 
you are $5 away from
earning the FREE SAB Designer Tee set.

Now it's time to click on over to see what Buffy and Susan
have done for this challenge.  I love their great ideas
and know that you will, too. 

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Cookie Cutter Gingerbread Boy

Guess I'm on a roll with the Cookie Cutter bundle
on page 6.  These images are just too cute.
Recently, Stampin' Up! has been having a wonderful
end of the year sale, which is where I got this 
lovely Christmas velum DSP.  I've already used
most of it up, it's so delicious.
 
Anyway, the Cookie Cutter bundle makes for a
very quick card, especially when you can layer it
on great product!

Monday, December 12, 2016

Cookie Cutter Santa Card

Here is another card made with the Cookie Cutter Christmas
set and coordinating Cookie Cutter Builder Punch (p 6
of the Holiday catalog).  This bundle makes for a really 
quick card!   In this sample, I didn't even color the
Santa, but simply embossed him in Copper Embossing
Powder.  I also added a little strip of the Cooper Foil
Sheet (p 47), to coordinate back to Santa. 

Sadly, I can't remember which set the sentiment comes from! 

Friday, December 9, 2016

Stamp Off Sneak Peak Lift Me Up

Hey stampin friends.  It's another Stamp Off challenge
with Buffy, Susan and Jackie.
 
Today, we are doing a sketch challenge.  I recently received
a collection of new product that will be available
in January, so this is a sneak peak!
 
   My hands-down favorite set out of the upcoming
Occasions catalog is the Lift Me Up set with coordinating
Up and Away Thinlits Dies on page 10.  The resulting
hot air balloons work for vintage or CAS (Clean And Simple)
styles.  With 3 sizes to pick from, you can combine
these balloons, or use them individually.  
 
For this project, I used a Watermelon Wonder card base, 
with strips from the upcoming FREE SAB Carried Away 
Designer Series Paper.  This DSP has balloons on one side,
patterns on the other, so that it works perfectly with the
Lift Me Up set, as well as others.
 
It's hard to see, but I added Wink of Stella to the balloons
and clouds, so that they sparkle!  It makes for a happy card!
 
So now hop on over to check out what Buffy and Susan
have done with this sketch challenge.  Their cards
are delightful!!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Cookie Cutter Eskimo

On page 6 of the Holiday Mini, you will find the
most enjoyable Christmas bundle; Cookie Cutter
Christmas, with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch. 
They are such a warm and wonderful collection of products.
In the card above, I simply stamped and punched out the
Eskimo, and then colored him with my aqua painter.

He was popped up on two die cuts from the Lots of Labels
Framelits on page 193 of the main catty, used as a sandwich to form a Night of Navy frame.  The sentiment
comes from the Snow Place set on page 30 of the main catty. 

Monday, December 5, 2016

Santa's Sleigh

The Santa's Sleigh Thinlits Dies on page 24 (with coordinating
Santa's Sleigh set) is an incredibly elegant set of dies.
They enable many techniques, as well as 3-d Christmas
projects.  This is a very quick and straightforward card,
in which I layered die elements made out of  
Gold Foild Sheets and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer
Paper.  The card base is embossed with the
Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Stamp Off Hey, Chick Double Z

Wow!!  I've been so busy, that it feels like weeks
since I've posted a Stamp Off Challenge with
Buffy and Susan.  Time sure does fold over on itself.
Today, our challenge is to make a Double Z Fun Fold card.
To prepare for this challenge, I went to 
SCS (Spitcoaststampers) for this tutorial.
 This is a sneak peak of a SAB/Sale-A-Bration set that
will be available FREE with purchase beginning January 4th.
It is called Hey, Chick and I love this set.  
It is smart AND sassy.
Stampin' Up! is making colored pencils available in
January, so this is a great FREE set to practice your
coloring skills on.  I colored this image with stamp pad ink
and an aqua painter.  I did use a blue Watercolor pencil
to outline the figure to make it stand out.
The ovals on this card were produced with the new
Stitched Framelits and the Layering Ovals Framelits
on page 193. They coordinate perfectly! I used the
Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder on page
195 to add color (but not embossed texture) to the card panels.
The colors used for this card are Crumb Cake,
Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral and Watercolor paper.
Here is the inside of this card. I do have to apologize
as I did a different kind of Double Z fold.  Buffy and Susan
were on the same page.... I was not!

So now it is time to hop on over to see what 
Buffy and Susan have done with their Double Z Fold cards. 
I wouldn't be shocked if Susan used the Hey, Chick stamp set,
because we often experience unique mind melding moments.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Flourish Thinlits with Sliding Star Framelits.

Sorry I haven't posted regularly.  I have lots of cards
to post, just have been too busy!

This card uses two of my favorite products; the Flourish
Thinlits on page 194, and the Sliding Star Framelits
on page 192.  Both coordinate with lovely sets, but
 can also be easily used in conjunction with a variety
of products, as in this example.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Stamp Off Grateful In the Meadow

Welcome to our little Stamp Off challenge,
sponsored by Susan, Buffy and myself.
I hope that you had a happy Thanksgiving!

Today we are doing a card of gratitude.  Given that I
have so much to be grateful for, I love the idea of making
a Thank You card for a friend or family.

 For my card, I went with a fall theme, and started with the
In the Meadow set on page 129.  I used the colors from
the Warmth & Cheer DSP paper stack on page 13 of the
Holiday catalog.  A Watercolor paper oval, created with the new Stitched Framelits was perfect,
layered on top of a Garden Green oval cut out with the
Layering Ovals Framelits on page 193.  I love the result of layering
shapes from these two products.  I needed to add some
texture and did so using the Festive Textured Impressions
Embossing Folder on page 195.

The sentiment comes from the retired Good Greetings
from Stampin' Up!  That set is a keeper!

Now please hop on over to check out the cards
prepared by Susan and Buffy!!

 

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 21, 2016

On Stage Swap Card

Several weeks ago, I took a trip to Arizona to visit my Mom.
Visiting my Mom is one of my favorite things.  Her home is
delightful and we are good "roomies".   We both enjoy visiting
the symphony, museums and healthy restaurants.  Additionally,
Mom has fruit trees in her back yard and if you hit the season
right, you can go out and pick fresh berries or oranges.
My other fav is the fresh pineapple from local stores.

While in Arizona, I also attended a Stampin' Up! event
called On Stage.  It was an event where the 2017 Occasions
Catalog and SAB Catalogs were shared.   
We had the joy of receiving a copy and
seeing product demonstrations.
 
When a demonstrator attends a Stampin' Up! event, 
we swap cards!!  While waiting in line for registration,
people scurry about, cards in hand, excited to get
new ideas!  

Above is the card that I swapped.  I used the Sunshine Wishes
Thinlits on page 194, the coordinating Sunshine Sayings
stamp set on page 97 and Seaside Texture Impressions
Embossing Folder on page 195.  

Needless to say, I got some great swaps and enjoyed
my On Stage event a great deal.  I will post a couple of
sneak peaks of upcoming product, but please check out
the majority of these samples, starting in January.
There are some really exciting sets and products coming
your way!!  
  

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Friday, November 18, 2016

Stamp Off Pretty Pines Thinlits Color Challenge

Wow November is flying past!  Buffy, Susan,
and I have another Stamp Off Challenge for you,
this week, a color challenge.
  In my head, these are Christmas colors, 
so that's what I went with, especially with all the lovely
Christmas products in the Holiday Catalog.

 For my project, I made kind of a Charlie Brown tree,
using the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies on page 19 of
the Holiday Catalog.  I made the largest pine branch
into a tree, with a portion of a pine cone as the stand.
The "peace" sentiment comes from the 
Christmas Greetings Thinlits on page 192 of the
annual catalog.   The new Seasides Textured
Impressions Embossing Folder on page 195 makes
a perfect, wintery background.   Finally, I added
Fancy Frost Sequins on page 37 of the Holiday Catalog.

Now hop on over to see what Buffy and Susan
did with this challenge.  Christmas cards perhaps?  Or not!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Flirty Peakaboo Flourishing Phrases

As I've mentioned before, Flourishing Phrases (p 49), and the 
coordinating Flourish Thinlits Dies are two of my favorite
products.   This project also features two of my favorite 
In Colors: Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Stamp Off Negative Space with Leaflets Framelits

I'm glad you're here, to check out my Stamp Off
Challenge with Buffy and Susan!

Today we are playing with negative space.  Not negative
people (because Susan and Buffy are special, delightful ladies),
but the creation of a shape in the top layer of a card,
that is colored or layered beneath.
I am often challenged to come up with a sympathy card,
because emotion or concern for the other, messes with
my creativity.  Since the leaves have been falling,
I was really inspired to create a negative space with the 
Leaflets Framelits on page 193.
 I felt that this beautiful plaid from the Warmth & Cheer DSP stack (on page 13 of the Holiday Catalog) set the perfect mood.
The sentiment comes from the Flourishing Phrases set
on page 49 of SU annual catalog.  This set has
a selection of wonderful sentiments.  I forgot to take a picture
of the inside of this card, but the corresponding message
appears within.
The Garden Green Baker's Twine comes from the Trio Pack
on page 16 of the Holiday catalog.
Now click on over to see what Susan and Buffy 
did with their negative spaces!!
 

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Glitter Embossed Wondrous Wreath

I can never get enough of Christmas cards.  Given interesting
supplies, I could make Christmas cards from October to December.
Speaking of interesting, SU offered Emerald Envy and
Real Red Glitter Emboss Powder on page 7 of the Holiday catty.
I love the stuff.  It's hard to take a picture of, but packs
a ton of sparkle.  This glittery sparkle works great with
the Wondrous Wreath set on page 32 of the Annual Catalog.
I just added a touch of Red Glimmer Paper (p 175) and
a Glimmer Paper bow from the Pretty Pines Thinlits dies
on page 19 of the Holiday catalog.
I really like the two bows in this Thinlits Dies set, because they
are thin and act as a great replacement for a traditional bow.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Cookie Cutter Eskimo

Cookie Cutter Christmas, on page 6 of the Holiday Catalog
is a very enjoyable set.  The bonus is the Cookie Cutter
Builder Punch that makes all the fun easy to cut out.
This little fellow is layered on the Warmth & Cheer
Designer Series Paper (page 13).

Friday, November 4, 2016

Stamp Off Christmas Pines Pile

Welcome to our first Stamp Off Challenge for November.
Susan, Buffy and I put down the rakes long enough
to bring you another challenge!
 
This challenge is called "Pile it on" because I've noticed
a design style that is difficult to explain, but involves
putting a collection of products in one location on the card.
Piling stuff on, so to speak.
 

 Once I selected the Christmas Pines set, with coordinating
Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies (on page 19), this card came
together fairly quickly.  My style tends to be CAS,
so I piled my bits and pieces on a Whisper White layer.
 
I needed sparkle, so added some Sweet Surgarplum
3/8" Glitter Ribbon and Fancy Frost Sequins (both on page 37).
The stars from from the Enamel Shapes on page 177.
 
Now click on over to see how Susan and Buffy 
Pile On!