With This Ring

Happy Memorial Day to all my US friends! We're having our usual family picnic today which is always fun!

If you remember, last week Kitchen Sink Stamps had a release of 2 new sets.  Today I have the second set, Multi-Step Wedding Rings to show you.   This card was quick and easy but would be a nice wedding or shower card, probably even an anniversary card!


The wedding rings come in 2 sizes in this set and I've used the larger pair today.  My card is 5" x 3.5" which the right edge cut with a scalloped edge die.  The recipe for my rings was taken from a mixture of ink recipes the other Crew members gave last week.  I played around a bit with the inks I had on hand and came up with:

All inks by SU!:  Step 3 - Crushed Curry (stamped off), Step 2 - Apricot Appeal, Step 1 - Creamy Caramel (stamped off), Step 4 - Creamy Caramel

Next week we'll have a new Crew Challenge for you - you can see the winner of this month's challenge today on the KSS blog!!  Be sure to visit the rest of the Crew today for lots of inspiration!  Remember to use coupon code JULIE10KSS when ordering to receive 10% off your order.  Have a wonderful day!

Angela • Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

Cardstock: Classic Laid (Paper Temptress), Terra Cotta Tile (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye, Stamps: Multi-Step Wedding Rings (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Ink: Crushed Curry, Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel (SU!), Black (Memento), Accessories:  Vintage Cream ribbon, Medium Scalloped die  (Papertrey Ink), Blush Pearls (Kaiser), Ticket corner punch (SU!)

Well Done! (SSS58)

Welcome to another Saturday Sketch from The Sweet Stop!  I hope you won't mind a few more clouds?  I know you've seen them here a lot but I cannot help myself! :)  Please be sure to check out The Sweet Stop blog for the sketch as well as all the great cards from the Sugar Babies.

I used the Up, Up & Away set from Papertrey Ink for my card.  The balloons were so much fun to color and arrange.  I stamped the medium one first and then masked it to stamp the smaller one (which is floating off farther in the distance).  The largest one was stamped twice, with one being colored, cut out and popped up with foam adhesive.

I played around quite a bit with the layers and colors for this one and in the end I went with black polka dotted paper for the mats.  The clouds were stamped with Fresh Snow on Spring Rain cardstock.  The white background panel was embossed with the cloud dies (simply flip them over to get a nice flat embossed area!) - what a great option with these dies!  The sentiment "sun" was cut out using Nestabilities Pinking Circles. Oh, and I added a bunch of bling to the large balloon and the corners.

Please visit the rest of the Sugar Babies and give the sketch a try yourself - don't forget to leave us a link!  I'll have my last post on the Flourishes blog tomorrow, until then have a wonderful holiday weekend!

All Supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted:

Cardstock: White, Spring Rain, Patterned Paper: Bitty Dot, Stamps: Up, Up & Away, Ink: Black (Memento), Fresh Snow, Accessories: Vintage Button, Cloud dies, Nestabilities, Copic markers, foam adhesive, rhinestones, ribbon (SU!)

Happy Birthday Alma!

It's been so long since I had a chance to play along with TCP Tuesday but when I saw that it was Alma's birthday this week I had to play along!  Alma is one of the nicest people you could ever meet and you always have fun when she's around!  Hope you had a wonderful birthday Alma!! :)

I pulled out the adorable Happy Camper set from The Cat's Pajamas to make my card.  The TCP challenge this week is to incorporate wood into your project.  I've seen some awesome real wood dp but I didn't have any so I used the Background Basics Woodgrain from Papertrey to stamp a woodgrain pattern on my cardbase.  I must have colored about 6 bears trying to find the right combination of brown that worked with my papers . . . but I ended up paper piecing him with kraft cardstock and his belly with the fun October Afternoon dp.  I added some color in a few places with Copic markers.  The grass was simply cut using paper snips.

I really like how it came out in the end! Maybe you'll get a chance to play along with TCP Tuesday and wish Alma a Happy Birthday!!

Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Stamps: Happy Camper (The Cat's Pajamas) Background Basics Woodgrain (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Button, Twine (Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities, Copic markers

Salt Challenge: Power to be Witnesses

Today's Salt Challenge is from Hazel and is based on Acts 1:8. Please take a minute to read her thoughts on the Salt blog.

Hazel focused her thoughts on the power available to us through the Holy Spirit - power to witness to all we come in contact with, personally or even electronically!  Our circle of contacts is so much bigger now thanks to the internet isn't it?  Being able to share the our faith through the power of the Holy Spirit is amazing gift!

My ATC today uses an awesome stamp from Kitchen Sink Stamps, 3 Step Hearts, which I thought was so appropriate!  I chose to use the heart with the world image to symbolize the love of Christ that we as witnesses can share.  The text was printed from my computer.  I used some ink to distress the edges and even left the bottom corner curled up a bit to add to the aged feel.

Please take some time to visit the rest of the Salt team and if you are able, we'd love to have play along with the challenge and then leave us a link!  Have a great day  . . .  Fun things are coming next week - are you ready?!  :)

Cardstock: Blue (Bazzill), White (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: Making Memories, Stamps: 3 Step Hearts (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Ink:  Chai & Camomille tea stain ink, Spring Rain (step 1), New Leaf (step 3) (Papertrey Ink), Bamboo Leaves (step 2) (Memento), Accessories:  notebook punch, Twine (Papertrey Ink), foam adhesive

Prettie Krafty Wednesday (PWC 105)

Happy Prettie Wednesday!  Today's challenge comes from our girl Jackie and it's a color challenge - Red, Kraft & Green!  The featured sets today from Paper Pretties are Right on Par and Coffee Cool - both of these sets are 35% off all week!

My card uses Right on Par.  This set is awesome for all those fellows in your life who golf!  I don't have many - just my brother and brother-in-law, but still it's fun to play with this image and these colors!  It was a challenge to make it not turn out Christmas-y -LOL!  I was wishing that my hubby was a golfer because I think it would have been perfect to tie a golf tee in the twill instead of the button, but alas no tees in our house!  :)

Take a hop over to Jana's blog now and see what's she's got for you!  Have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Kraft, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup, Stamps: Right on Par (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Twill (SU!), Twine, Button, Scalloped die (Papertrey Ink)

Sending Love

When I saw the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge from Karen Giron this week I knew I had to make a card with it! Not only is it a super fun sketch but it's the perfect sketch to use with the Very Square stamp set from Mint Motif (designed my the super Kimberly Crawford).  I've told you before that I have a "thing" for clouds lately so when I saw that Very Square had a sweet cloud image I couldn't wait for the chance to use it!  I paired it up with the new Up, Up & Away set from Papertrey Ink.

Normally, I would have reached for some cute patterned paper when using this set but aren't the cloud squares from Very Square perfect?  That's one thing that's great about this set - it's a wonderful compliment to lots of stamps I already have in my collection!  I used Spring Rain ink which gave really nice coverage on the square. 

After stamping the kites I cut them out and popped them up over the partial sun image I had stamped on the background panel.  The sentiment is from Very Square Sentiments, the perfect go-along set!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful day! :)

Cardstock: Spring Rain, White (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Very Square, Very Square Sentiments (Mint Motif), Up, Up & Away (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Spring Rain, Hibiscus Burst, Lemon Tart, Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink), Cantelope, Black (Memento), Accessories: Corner rounder, Copic markers, Button (Papertery Ink), foam adhesive, gingham ribbon (SU!)

NEW Kitchen Sink Stamps!

Happy Monday - and it's release day at Kitchen Sink Stamps! There are 2 brand new sets for you and just in time for wedding season we have:

Wedding Couple
Wedding Rings

As usual, for our special blog reading customers we have a treat for you!  The official release is not until tomorrow, but Monday only you can order your sets at 20% off by using coupon code JULIE20KSS - cool! This special ends at midnight Pacific so don't wait! :)

For my card I used Wedding Couple - I just love this vintage-y couple! It reminds me of a photo I have of my great-grandparent's wedding.  Did you notice that the bride is holding yellow roses??  Maria has a great little tutorial for you today on how to accomplish "spot" stamping with your multi-step stamps so be sure to check that out - I can't wait to see it!!

I also pulled out my 3 Step Hearts & Roses set from KSS to make the background panel - I used both sizes of the rose and stamped it randomly over my cardstock.  Once the roses were done I ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot folder.  Here's the recipe for my roses and couple:

Roses: Step 4 - Summer Sunrise (PTI), Step 3 - Dandelion (Memento), Step 2 - Barely Banana (SU!), Step 1 - Lemon Tart (PTI)

Couple: Step 6 - Black, Step 5 - Frayed Burlap (Ranger), Roses - Summer Sunrise (PTI), Step 4 - Frayed Burlap (stamped off) Roses - Dandelion, Step 3- Shell Pink (Adirondack) Roses - Dandelion (lightly), Step 2 - Dessert Sand (2 times) Roses - omitted, Step 1 - Dessert Sand (Memento) Roses - Lemon Tart (PTI)

I added the sentiment on the inside so that it would detract from the pretty couple.  I used one of the sentiments in the set, "Forever In Love" - great sentiment for an anniversary card!

I hope you take a few minutes to visit the rest of the KSS Crew - they'll all have cards using the new sets!

Angela • Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

Cardstock: Lemon Tart, White (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Wedding Couple, 3 Step Hearts & Roses (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Ink: Summer Sunrise, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), Frayed Burlap (Ranger), Shell Pink (Adirondack), Dessert Sand, Dandelion, Black (Memento), Accessories:  Sheer Ribbon (May Arts), foam adhesive, Nestabilities, Swiss Dot embossing folder (Provo Craft), Pearls (Kaiser)

Fanciful Flourishes

Hello!!  Just popping in to let you know that my Limelight post is up on the Flourishes blog today.  Here's a little sneak peek but you'll have to pop over to see the whole thing.  I've done 2 different style cards using the same great stamp set from Flourishes! 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Take Care (SSS57)

Happy Weekend!  It's a beautiful weekend and I'm laptopless - LOL!  (sorry, that just struck me as funny).  My laptop is in the shop having pooped out on me yesterday.  I'm hoping it's just in need of a cleaning and file shifting but we'll see.  The bonus is that I've gotten more things done - sad, but true! :)

Ok, so it's time for the Saturday Sketch from The Sweet Stop.  I used a cute from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Peek-a-Boo Sophie.  I think she's just adorable and really fun to color!!  You can't see it behind the image but the blue paper has clouds on it . . . so, I used one of the new cloud dies from Papertrey for my sentiment - fun stuff!

Sorry to be quick, but please stop by The Sweet Stop to view the sketch and the cards by all of the Sugar Babies.  We'd love to have you play along too - just leave a link so we can visit!  Thanks so much for stopping by - see you tomorrow!!

Cardstock: Soft Sky (SU!), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: TCP Studio and My Little Shoebox, Stamps: Peek-A-Boo Sophie (digi - Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) sentiment from Everyday Button Bits sentiments (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Ribbon, Cloud die (Papertrey Ink), Copic markers, Nestabilities (Spellbinders), foam adhesive

Prettie Wednesday . . . revisited!

So sorry I never got back yesterday with my Prettie Wednesday card - Wednesdays are our busiest day here and it just never happened! But I couldn't just not post so . . . .  Remember the challenge was to make a card inspired by your blog banner and the 2 sets featured this week are Look Out World and Beach Bum. 

My blog banner is pretty "girly" I think - or at least not easily translated into a boy-ish card - lol!  But I think I managed to come up with something that works.  I used Beach Bum and went with the basic colors of my blog and the arching shape of my banner.

I scored the cardbase every 1/2" to mimic the background of my blog - the green stripe. I think this little image is just adorable - anyone with boys I'm sure can totally see their little guy here with his goggles and flippers on! *grin*  The waves at the bottom are just the negative space of a scalloped border - love that dp!

Thanks for coming back today!!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Woodland Collection Mini Dot (TCP Studios), Stamps: Beach Bum (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Copic markers, Medium scalloped die (Papertrey Ink), rhinestones (Taylor's Tiny Twinkles), Clear Glaze pen

Prettie Banner Inspired Wednesday

Hello my friends!! Sorry to say I have yet to finish my card for today. But I can tell you that the Prettie Challenge today is to make a card inspired by your blog banner. The featured sets from Paper Pretties this week are Beach Bum and Look Out World and as always both sets will be 35% all week!

Head over to Jana's blog - I'm sure she has some eye candy for you! :) 

Shabby Chic CAS and Mint Motif!

I'm sure you've all seen by now that the fabulously talented Kimberly Crawford has released her own line of stamps, Mint Motif, through iheartpapers.com.  I was lucky enough to actually win both her new sets last week during the release festivities and just received my sets yesterday!!  Very Square and Very Square Sentiments are so much fun!  When I saw that the CAS challenge on SCS was shabby chic I knew my new stamps would work perfectly!!

 Now let me say I am shabby-chic-challenged.  It's true, honestly!  But with Very Square it was easy!  These cute little (1.75") squares of different patterns are perfect for the mixy and matchy that is shabby chic.

I stamped my two squares with Spring Moss ink and used one of the sentiments from Very Square Sentiments.  Now I have the new formulation of Spring Moss ink - the hybrid, and found that this almost chalk-like ink gives the stamped image a much softer, shabbier look.  

The little rosettes were another project I've been wanting to try.  My buddy Joanne has a wonderful tutorial for these rolled flowers on SCS.  Instead of using patterned paper for mine, however, I used a piece of cardstock stamped on both sides with Very Square.  By stamping both sides of the paper you get to see patterned on both sides of the flower!  (On the smallest flower I even stamped the sides differently - one side is Sweet Blush, the other is Berry Sorbet.)  Another little change I made was that I started with a scalloped square (cut out with a Nestabilities) to make my rolled flower. It added a few little petal like bumps to the flower that are kinda neat!  A self-adhesive pearl was added to the centers of the flowers.

That's it for today - I ran out of time yesterday so I'm itching to give the sets another try!  Each of the patterns is so fun, there's even a square with little clouds - aaaaaahhhhh!!! :)  Thanks for visiting today - I appreciate it! :)

Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Very Square, Very Square Sentiments (Mink Motif), Ink: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), Black (Memento), Accessories: Large Scalloped Die (Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities, Pearls (Kaiser), Lace (Melissa Frances), foam adhesive,

Aloha!

I'm in a tropical kind of mood this week!  The weekend's weather was perfect - the sunshine was wonderful - and this whole week is supposed to be nice!! I decided to make a card using 3 Step Hibiscus from Kitchen Sink Stamps.  The card is 3.5" x 5" and I stamped the "Aloha" stamp (from 3 Step Aloha) all over using Versamark ink. 

I stamped the 2 hibiscus flowers with these recipes:

Large flower: Step 2 - Summer Sunrise, Step 3 - Hibiscus Burst, Step 1 - Sweet Blush, Step 4 - Scarlett Jewel


Smaller flower - Step 2 - Hibiscus Burst, Step 3 - Raspberry Fizz, Step 1 - Sweet Blush, Step 4 - Scarlett Jewel 

Leaves: Step 3 - New Leaf, Step 2 - Spring Moss (old formula ink), Step 1 - Spring Moss (new formula ink)

The dp is the fun Dotty Biscotti from Papertrey - I can't put it down!  I think it would be fun to make up a bunch of these with all different colored flowers and papers!

Please visit the rest of the KSS Crew today and remember to use my coupon code if you plan on shopping at Kitchen Sink Stamps!  JULIE10KSS gets you 10% off your order.

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

Cardstock: Kraft, Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink), White (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: Dotty Biscotti (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: 3 Step Hibiscus, sentiment from 3 Step Aloha (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Ink: Black, Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush, New Leaf, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Nestabilities, Medium Scallop Die, Hibiscus Burst Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), foam adhesive, rhinestones (Kaiser)

Flourishes Limelight

It's Sunday and time for my Limelight post for Flourishes!  I had so much fun with this project and took lots of pictures!

Here's a little sneak peek for you but if you want to see the whole project please head over to the Flourishes blog! While you're there check out their newly released sets - they are amazing!!

Have a wonderful day!

RAWR

Happy Saturday!  It's time for another sketch from The Sweet Stop and this week our sketch has a spin - "For the Guys."  Well it worked out just perfectly this week because I just got my Little Loveosauras from My Favorite Things - he's toooo cute!! What a perfect set for any "guy!" :)

I started by stamping the image on a Perfect Panel, also from MFT, and again directly on some dp from My Mind's Eye (the Stomp Collection).  The green dp is slightly textured and grunged up a bit so I thought it would be perfect dinoskin! So I paper pieced Jack's (he's named after my friend Joanne's  son) little suit making it easy on myself by not cutting out the spikes, those got colored with Copics. I bought this great dp a while ago just knowing someday I'd make a dino card!! 

Aren't the colors very "guy-ish" but yummy?!  I added some dino-texture to the cardbase by using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, Tiny Mosaic.  The sentiment was stamped using Fresh Snow ink and I even finished the inside of the card! The two sentiments go so well together!

Please take a minute and pop over to The Sweet Stop where you can view the sketch as well as all the cards done by the Sugar Babies.  Course, you could visit their blogs too! :)

 Korin Sutherland
Audrey Gonzales
Andrea Vernagus
Candace Mitchell
Renata Elenbaas
Nancy Brown
Kathy Paige
Dana White
Kelli Caslow
May Guest Sugar Baby Debbie Standard
 
Thanks for visiting today!  Have a fabulous day!

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Kiwi Kiss (SU!), White Perfect Panel (MFT), Patterned Paper: Stomp collection (My Mind's Eye), Stamps: Little Loveosaurus (My Favorite Things), Ink: Black (Memento), Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink),   Accessories: Ribbon, Nestabilities, Copic markers, foam adhesive, Tiny Mosaic embossing folder (Provo Craft)

Salt Challenge: First

I'm late, I'm so late!  Running behind in everything today so I will just let you know that today Tanis picked the Salt challenge this - Putting Him First.  Please take a moment to read her excellent words and perhaps the comments of a few of the design team members.  I have been particularly convinced of my own shortcomings in this area lately!  Doing lots of things, even good things, but what do I do well - what do I give my best to?  Do I put God first in all things? These are the things I've been pondering. 

I went simple and used the verse Tanis pointed us to, Matthew 6:33.  Have a wonderful day my friends!

All Supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted:

Cardstock: Kraft, Hawaiian Shores, Patterned Paper: Dotty Biscotti, Stamps: Background Basics Tin Type,Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Fresh Snow, Accessories:  Hawaiian Shores Felt, Ric Rac die, Butterfly Die, Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Rhinestones (Zva Creative), corner rounder punch

Prettie Perkie Wednesday (PWC103)

It's Prettie Wednesday and this week's challenge is from Wendy.  She wanted us to make a card using only colors from the Earth Elements palette (SU! colors or similar).  The featured sets this week are Look Who's Perky and Happily Every After from Paper Pretties and both sets are 35% off all week!  If you arrived here from Christie's blog, great!! If not, head over there now to start the hop!

I actually am a bit challenged when it comes to these colors, I have a hard time getting excited about the color palette (except when Fall rolls around) but then I found that this Jillibean Soup dp that I love has Earth Element colors in it!! Love it!  So for my card I used Look Who's Perky.  It's a fairly quick card, the final size is 3.75 x 5."

I stamped, colored and die cut the main image and then diecut the Kiwi Kiss frame slightly bigger.  The frame was paper pieced and added with foam adhesive.  I tied a piece of ribbon around one side of the frame and added a few black rhinestones (I had no idea when I bought those how many times I would actually reach for BLACK rhinestones!! ). 

Here's a shot of the inside which is where I put the sentiment and another strip of the dp.

Take a hop over to Jana's blog now and enjoy the rest of your day! Thanks for visiting! :)

Cardstock: Ivory (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper:  Juillibean Soup, Stamps: Look Who's Perky (Paper Pretties), Ink: Black (Memento), Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Glaze Pen, Stardust pen, black rhinestones (Kaiser), paper piercing tool

Soaring By . . .

The CAS challenge this week on SCS is a sketch challenge inspired by a great card of kmahany.  I needed to play with this adorable Fly Away set by my sweet friend Becky Oehlers for Papertrey Ink.  Remember how I told you that I've been so drawn to clouds lately? I'm seeing clouds everywhere - love it!! When I saw the sketch I thought it would be perfect for a strip of cloud paper and Becky's cute airplane!  I stamped the solid airplane with Hibiscus burst ink and carefully cut the plane out.  I stamped the little star on the tail again using Ocean Tides ink, punch it out with a circle punch and added a bit of Glossy Accents for some shine!

Now, I also just got some goodies in the mail today from My Favorite Things and one of them was the brand new Die-namics Cloud Trio Die.  I had to give them a try so I die cut them using white paper and ran the clouds through again using the Swiss Dot embossing folder - cute cute!!

We posted a new challenge on the Children's Challenge Corner blog last night so if you have crafty children go take a look!! There's a prize being offered by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  Have a great day my friends - thanks for visiting!!

Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Follow the Cloud (My Little Shoebox), Stamps: Fly Away, sentiment from Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Hibiscus Burst, Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink), Black (Memento), Accessories: foam adhesive, Die-namics Cloud Trio die (My Favorite Things), Glossy Accents (Ranger), Swiss Dot embossing folder (Provo Craft)