Just add ink ...

It's truly amazing what adding a little ink to designer series paper can do:

This is one of the fantastic dsp pieces in the Dainty Flowers pack and it's free with a $50 purchase during Sale-a-Bration. The piece on the left is the paper as it comes and the piece on the right has been colored using Granny Apple Green and Balmy Blue ink using a blending brush. I really think that the addition of the colors give it quite a 3d appearance. Haven't made anything with this yet, but stay tuned ...

I am busily cutting paper for my cards for Sassy Stampers and Stamp Camp North. Both are really fun events and if you click on the links, you will see information about how to get signed up.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

My babies are turning 17! I decided to make them birthday cards that are, admittedly, below their grade level, but since they are both still babies in my eyes anyway ...

They were born a couple months premature and were in the NICU until their actual due date. Here they are way back when:

They lived with us for several months when they were toddlers and it was great to be able to interact with them on a daily basis.

They have grown up a bit since then:

Getting pictures of them these days is not an easy task. These were taken at our Christmas get together at Uncle Brian and Aunt Margy's house.  They have both grown into wonderful human beings. Julian is very, very tall. Taller than his father and his grandfather and coming very close to being as tall as his older cousin. Isabella is such a talented artist and a great companion at stamp camps!  They live with their dad and younger brother very close to us, but are pretty busy with their own lives these days. Happy, happy birthday to both of them!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Stamp Camp North - February 2023

Stamp Camp North is coming up on February 11 in Westminster, Colorado and I am so loving the Adorable Owls set, I had to use it. Here's my card:

The card base is Fresh Freesia with a layer of Petal Pink and then some strips of dsp from the Dandy Designs pack that is free with a $100 order from Stampin' Up! during Sale-a-Bration. There are some absolutely wonderful papers in this huge paper pack. I stamped the owl and colored him with blends and then scanned him and printed him out. I then cut him out using one of the dies from the Stylish Shapes die. The image was then mounted on a scalloped circle cut from Petal Pink. The sentiment is stamped in Fresh Freesia on a Basic White piece cut using a die from the Pretty Pillowbox die set. I added a couple of gems to give it a little bling! The sentiment is from an old Paper Pumpkin stamp set and has a few sentiments that will fit in that label. Not sure what I will do on the inside yet.

Here are the details about this very fun event:

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

More Beautifully Happy Fun

I am in love with this stamp set! I made more cards using it and used all the sentiments in the set as well as another stamp. Here are the cards:

These were fun and used lots of different colors of paper and ink. I used papers from my stash of card blanks and inks that I thought would work well with those colors. Busy today cutting paper for the Sassy Stampers stamp camp and also need to get a card designed for Stamp Camp North which is coming up on Feb. 11.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Sassy Stampers Stamp Camp - February 2023

Sassy Stampers is having a stamp camp on February 4, 2023 in Longmont, Colorado. I have put the details for this fun event down below.  Here's my card:

The card base is Balmy Blue followed by a layer of Petal Pink on which is layered pieces of Designer Series Paper from the Dainty Designs and Country Floral Lane packs. I cut the largest circle from the Stylish Shapes dies from Balmy Blue card stock and then cut the next size circle from Petal Pink and embossed it using an embossing folder. The picture doesn't show the Pretty Flowers embossing folder as it was lost at the time I made this card. The hearts and leaves are punched from the Country Floral Lane dsp using the Country Bouquet punch. The small oval was cut using the Double Oval Punch and stamped in Sweet Sorbet ink with a sentiment from the Dainty Delight stamp set.

The cleanup/organize project in the Craft Cave is progressing, but I am still having problems finding things. Once you put things in their proper places, you then have to remember where those proper places are!

Here are the details about this very fun camp:

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

A Beautifully Happy adventure

One of the Sale-a-Bration sets that can be earned with a purchase through the end of February is called Beautifully Happy. This is a gorgeous set that includes some 2 step stamping. I just had to play with it! Here is some of the cards I made:

I am really loving all the 2 step stamping sets in this new set of catalogs! I used Basic White for stamping the images then used (top to bottom) Fresh Fresia, Balmy Blue, Polished Pink and Pacific Point. On the top card I used Highland Heather for my card base but all the others match the color of the flower. The leaves are stamped in Granny Apple Green. I added a single small flower on the inside that matches the flower on the outside. These were quick and easy to make. I put the big flower in a MISTI and then eyeballed the flower and leaves. Fun, fun, fun!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe! 

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Crazy Card Chics - January 2023

The Crazy Card Chics are making kits for our campers to create 10 gorgeous cards. Here is my contribution this month:

The campers will have the option of several different sentiments for their project - Happy Birthday, Get Well Soon, Happy Anniversary and Thank You. The card base is Rich Razzleberry with a layer of Old Olive under the designer series paper (dsp) which is from the Dainty Flowers pack that can be earned with a $50 purchase through the end of February (or until the supply runs out). This paper pack is absolutely gorgeous, so I have a feeling it will go quickly. There is a strip of dsp across under the sentiment which is a Rich Razzleberry scalloped oval with an oval sentiment. This strip was cut off the top of the dsp panel when I wanted to fit it to the card.

 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

"Swap Card January 2023

My fellow demonstrator Cathy Hansen facilitates a swap for the January-April mini catalog and January-February SAB catalog. Each time a new catalog comes out, she hosts a swap and the cards are all wonderful! Here is mine for this swap:

This card uses the Two-Tone Flora stamp set and dies along with sentiments from the Framed Florets stamp set. Card base is Balmy Blue with a layer of Basic Black and then a layer of Basic White that was embossed using the Pretty Flowers embossing folder. The floral images were two-step stamped in Balmy Blue/Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight/Mango Melody and Flirty Flamingo/Polished Pink and then cut out using the appropriate dies. The leaf sprig was stamped in Garden Green and cut out using the die. The scalloped circle was cut out using the Layering Circles dies and the white sentiment piece was cut out using a die from the Stylish Shapes die set. I also made a sample using a Highland Heather/Gorgeous Grape combination on the smaller flower. Here that is:

I think that one will go in my stash and I like the pink one better. I am a big fan of anything purple, but in this case I think the pink looks brighter somehow.

It's snowing again here. It started last night and we have 6-8 on the ground now. It is supposed to stop by 5:00 p.m. but ... it's due to come back to town on Friday. Yuck. Our wonderful neighbor plowed our sidewalks and driveway with his snowblower. What a champ!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Playing with Dainty Flowers DSP

One of the items in the new Sale-a-Bration catalog is the Dainty Flower dsp pack which is free with a $50 order. Here are two cards I made playing with this gorgeous paper:

I am totally in love with this paper! Every sheet is a complete delight. I also have the stamp set/die bundle and will post some cards using those soon. The card base is Sahara Sand with a layer of Basic Black under the dsp. The bottom card uses a sentiment from Framed Florets and the top card uses a sentiment from Something Fancy. I pulled out some really old die cut flowers that I got from Michael's and used my blending brushes with Blushing Bride and Rich Razzleberry and topped them with some gems and popped them up with dimensionals on the bottom card. The top card uses some gold glitter dots as an accent.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Couple of Valentine's Day cards

Valentine's Day is also my wedding anniversary so I don't tend to make too many 

valentine cards. This year I decided to make a couple though:

The cat card uses a new stamp set called Love Cats. The owl card uses the new SAB stamp set Adorable Owls which is free with a $50 purchase. I had to make a few modifications on the owl as I didn't want the birthday hat and I wanted him to be holding a heart. Thank goodness for Photoshop Elements! Both were fun to make and I plan to play some more with them soon.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Actual Card for SCN - January, 2023

Here's the card I ended up using for this month's Stamp Camp North:

The only thing I changed up from the possible version was the sentiment. I also offered a love sentiment in case they wanted to use it for a Valentine. The sentiment is from the stamp set You Are Amazing from SU (retired).

The camp was great fun and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I brought my granddaughter Isabella again this month and this time I remembered to take a picture! Here she is and also the drawing she is working on:

As you can see, she's very shy! I bring markers and paper for her and she never ceases to amaze me with what she produces! She's been coming to stamp camps and classes with me since she was about 10 and she's now getting ready for her 17th birthday. She's amazing! Maybe next month I can get a picture where she shows her face.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!   

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Possibles for Stamp Camp North - January 14, 2023

The stamp set is from the new January-April 2023 Mini Catalog and is called Petal Park. It's a two-step stamping set and is so fun to work with. I set it up on my Misti which made it really easy to line up. Both cards use Old Olive for the leaf outline and Pear Pizzazz for the solid sections. I used two different Pear Pizzazz ink pads though and one was much juicier than the other. The top card uses Polished Pink and Blushing Bride and the bottom card uses Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather. The sentiments are from the Framed Florets stamp set. I added some gems and called it a card! After I took this picture I added some Wink of Stella to the flowers and it really made them pop!

The Craft Cave cleaning and reorganization is coming along nicely. Who knew there was actually a floor in here! DH is helping out by moving and reassembling some tall stainless steel shelving units that have wheels so I can move them around if I need to. One is already full and in the room, the other is nearly full and we will move it in here once I get the space cleared out where it will go. I should have taken some "before" pictures, but I was much to ashamed of the mess!

Here is the information about this fun camp:

Be sure to get your registration in as this is a very fun activity and you will end up with some gorgeous cards!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Happy 2023!

I saw this card on FB and had to give it a try. I changed up some things, but the message is still the same - Happy New Year 2023!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and hope that 2023 brings each of you your fondest wishes and that all your dreams come true. Not altogether realistic, I know, but my wish for you all the same. DH and I plan to spend the evening at home eating crab legs and not fighting the snow and cold!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Sassy Stampers Stamp Camp - January 7, 2023 Longmont, Colorado

This is the card the campers will be making at my table. I wanted something bright and cheery as we begin this 2023! The card base is Balmy Blue with a layer of Polished Pink and then a piece of dsp from the Fitting Florets designer series paper pack. I used Balmy Blue ribbon and added a scalloped oval in Polished Pink with a Bright White layer stamped in Polished Pink with a Framed Florets sentiment. Both ovals were cut from the ovals die set. The white stamped oval was embellished with gems from the Fine Sparkle Adhesive Backed Gems pack. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Snowed In!

We were gifted with a wet and heavy blanket of snow overnight. Luckily we did not lose power or our internet/tv/phone services. Others were not as lucky. I know that PA and NY state had a lot more than this, so we feel pretty lucky (and we really need the moisture)! We lost a big branch in the backyard and the grape arbor is a real mess, but otherwise we are very fortunate. The bird feeders out front have been busy with birds clearing the snow off and having their breakfast!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

15 Years Ago ...

15 years ago on December 29, 2007, I started this blog. It's been with me through lots of changes and experiences and I am grateful for all of you who come to visit and all of you who leave me comments. As I embark on another year I can't help but think about the journey I have been on to get here and all of the things I have done and all the things I still want to experience. The future looms ahead of me and I am excited!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!   

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus and best wishes for any other holiday your family may be celebrating. We are in a bit of a deep freeze but it doesn't seem to have dampened spirits around here. I hope that you and your families are all safe, warm and happy!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!  

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.