Thinking of You!

Good morning!  I have a quick post today with a quick card (well, in theory anyway!).  :)  Some weeks I have a bit of time to stamp something for one of the many other challenges out there and this week I happened to catch Nichole Heady's Make it Monday video.  Something so simple, hand drawing a frame around your card, and yet I hardly ever think to do it.

I recently got this great set All About You by Melissa Bickford for Papertrey Ink so this seemed like the prefect time to break it in!  I love the beautiful flowers in this set, along with all the great mix and match sentiments - Melissa does such a nice job! 

Nothing earth-shattering about this card but I do hope it will bring a bit of sunshine to the recipient's day!!  The colors are bright and cheery but not obnoxious - lol!  I love how the navy blue seems to tone down the other colors and bring some sophistication!  Thanks for visiting today - have a beautiful day!

Cardstock:  (Enchanted Evening) Papertrey Ink, (White) Neenah, Stamps:  (All About You) Papertrey Ink, Ink:  (Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Enchanted Evening, Ripe Avocado) Papertrey Ink, Accessories:  (Epoxy sticker), foam adhesive, black pen

TCP Tuesday 156 - A Latte!

Hello crafty peeps!! It's time for another dose of stampy fun supplied by our substitute Hostess With the Mostest Jenny Peterson (she's filling in for Jen while she recovers from a bad burn)!  The challenge this week is an inspiration - check out the great graphic!  Are you a coffee lover?? I sure am - I couldn't start the day without my fresh cup brought to me every morning by my sweet hubby (isn't that awesome?!)  But you know what I also love, vintage!   The vintage coffee tins in this picture reminded me of a great vintage coffee tin I have in my kitchen so I grabbed that and got to work.  Here's a pic of my tin. I love the colors and the great graphics so I used the coffee theme from the inspiration and the colors from my coffee tin.

I used PJ and his cuppa from A Beary Good Year - which really is a must have!!  I actually stamped PJ on a natural coffee filter (the cone type filter), which gave him some neat texture and a nice color!  Once I colored him very carefully with Copic markers, I cut and pieced him on my white panel.  I loved the style of lettering on my coffee tin so I used part of a sentiment from Like You A Latte but then stamped "Latte" using the Nightie alphabet set mimicking the drop shadow by stamping the letters twice. 

I added a bit of stitching around the circle and on the blue dotted panel.  The flowers were made using the Flower Button Cut-Ups die and the rest of my coffee filter.  I cut out about 6-8 of them and crumpled them all up before tying them together with a button and some Divine Twine.

So do you want to play along now?? Check out Alma's blog for all the pertinent details and be sure to pop in to The Cat's Pajamas Forum over at Splitcoaststampers and share your project with us there as well!  Happy Wednesday!

Cardstock: (Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy) SU!, (White) Neenah, Patterned Paper: (Little Boy) Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, Stamps: (A Beary Good Year, Nightie alphbet, sentiment from Like You a Latte) The Cat's Pajamas, Ink: (Black) Marvy, (Cantelope, Paris Dusk) Memento, Accessories: (Buttons) (Divine Twine) The Cat's Pajamas, Tools: (Nestabilities) Spellbinders, (Flower Button Cut-Ups die) The Cat's Pajamas, sewing machine

Howdy Kansas!

Good morning peeps!! I hope you all had a blessed Easter.  It was a busy weekend here which is why I'm posting late today.

So I have another card using a vintage playing card today.  I had so much fun making the one last week that I decided to try another version - this time I incorporated Kitchen Sink Stamps!  I loved the colors and graphics on these Kansas cards - very fun right?  It seemed only natural to pair it up with Multi-Step Cowboy Hat!

The patterned paper is October Afternoon - one of my favorite patterns and it seemed to go well with the colors and the vintage feel.

The cowboy hat is such a great image!  The sentiment is from the Multi-Step Cowboy Boots set - another great one!

Please take a moment to visit the rest of the KSS Crew today!  Have a wonderful week!

Angela • Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

Cardstock:  (Terracotta Tile, Dark Chocolate) Papertrey Ink, (White) Gina K Designs, Patterned Paper:  October Afternoon, Stamps:  Multi-Step Cowboy Hat,  Multi-Step Cowboy Boots) Kitchen Sink Stamps:  Ink:  Step 5 - (Soft Suede) SU!, Step 4 - (Frayed Burlap) Ranger, Step 3 - (Potter's Clay) Memento, Step 2 - (More Mustard) SU!), Step 1 - (Crushed Curry) SU!, (Rich Cocoa) Memento, Accessories:  (brads) Hedgehog Crafts, Tools:  Corner Rounder, (Ric Rac die) Papertrey Ink

Quite a Pair

Running a bit late this morning . . . which means I'll be running the rest of the day too - LOL! That's ok! I have a fun little number today (lol!) made using some of my new Echo Park papers and Mint Motif stamps from i {heart} papers.  I recently took a trip to a little antique "mall" of sorts in the next town over.  There was a whole basket of vintage playing cards and I was so intrigued by them.  Some of the pictures looked so neat it was shame to leave them just sitting there - especially when they were only $.50 a deck!  I have some projects I hope to try out with them soon but today I thought it would be fun to combine one of the cool cards with What a Card and I've Got Your Number from Mint Motif!

Isn't that Beach Club card just fun?!  The 2 top papers are from Echo Park's Playground line - love it!  The blue one (with the "waves" is from American Crafts).

The Blue Silk ribbon is also from i {heart} papers - I just scrunched it up with some water and then gave it a few squirts of Glimmer Mist to give a bit of depth. The little bling swirl is from Zva Creative - just gives a fun, sparkly touch!

 Thanks for stopping in today - hope you have a great day!

Cardstock: (Spring Rain, Black) Papertrey Ink, (White) Gina K Designs, Patterned Paper:  (Playground) Echo Park, American Crafts, Stamps:  (What a Card, I've Got Your Number) Mint Motif, Ink: (Black) Versafine, (Angel Pink) Memento, (Regal Rose) SU!, Accessories:  (rhinestone swirl) Zva Creative, (Divine Twine), (Button) Papertrey Ink, (Blue Silk Ribbon) May Arts, (Glimmer Mist) Tattered Angels, Tools:  Corner Rounder punch, (Medium Scalloped die) Papertrey Ink

Easter Greetings for TCP Tuesday

ETA:  Silly me forgot to mention this week AND last week that we have 2 brand new members of the Cat Pack - both are multi-time Swanky Stampers and just all around super duper stampers!!  So, please welcome Jenny Peterson  and Lori Tecler - YEA!! :)

Hello friends!  TCP Tuesday is in full swing this week (yes, I know it's a day late) and the fabulous Leigh is our Hostess with the Mostess with one of her awesome sketches!  You really need to check out her card and the rest of the Cat Packer's cards - they are all amazing!  Be watching this thread in The Cat's Pajamas Forum on Splitcoaststampers - that's where the cool cats hang! ;)

Mine's a bright one today so get ready . . .

I know, I should have made the Easter card about 2 weeks ago but I wasn't thinking straight so please forgive me.  Anyway, this adorable set, Spring Fling from The Cat's Pajamas is really a must have - Poochie in a carrot car?? Sprinkle in her Easter bonnet?  and the wacky threesome of penguins? What's not to {love}!!

I also used the new Grass Cut-Ups die - oh and just so you know the Easy Rosettes and Pinwheel Cut-Ups dies are back in stock so if you've been waiting, RUN!  :)

Leigh posted a great video tutorial about making clouds with a Copic airbrush system.  I don't have that (yet!) so I used a sponge dauber and basically did the same thing.   Aren't clouds just fun?!  Can you see that I add a bit of Sparkly Fluff to the bunny ears?  The paper is brand new Echo Park Summer Day that I picked up at i {heart} papers - the colors are so cheerful!!

Here's the sketch for you, obviously I flipped it but you just use it whatever way you like - give it a try!! :) 

Cardstock:  (Hawaiian Shores, Hibiscus Burst) Papertrey Ink, (White) Neenah, Patterned Paper: (Summer Days) Echo Park, Stamps: (Spring Fling) The Cat's Pajamas, Ink:  (Black) Marvy, Accessories:  (Ribbon) May Arts, (rhinestones) Zva Creative & Kaiser, (Sparkly Fluff) Our Craft Loung, Tools:  (Nestabilities) Spellbinders, Copic markers, sponge dauber

Celebrate!

I had a chance at the end of last week to play along with the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch.  The sketch looked fun and I had a new a la mode set that hadn't been inked yet!   The Color Throwdown colors were so pretty I decided to use them too so it's a twofer! :)

I can't remember the exact name of this a la mode and it appears to be out of stock right now, but keep checking back (and be sure to peek in on the MFT blog - it's peek week for the 2 new a la modes!! Yea!).  As you can see, I flipped the sketch and used my Big Pinking Border Cut-ups die from The Cat's Pajamas to make a cute banner at the top.   I also used the Easy Rosettes die to make the cute little rosettes and even the banner tag.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you are enjoying Spring whereever you are! :)

Cardstock: (White) Neenah
Patterned Paper: (Little Boy & Springtime) Echo Park
Stamp: (A la mode -can't remember the name) My Favorite Things
Ink: Memento
Accessories: (Glitter dots, pompom),
Tools: Copic markers, (Easy Rosettes and Big Pinking Border Cut-Ups Die) The Cat's Pajamas, sewing machine

Little Lamb

Good morning!  I hope you all enjoyed a great weekend and are ready to start a brand new week of fun! We have a birthday this week and Easter to look forward to!  I didn't have much time to stamp this weekend so I headed to the Kitchen Sink Stamps Forum to find some challenges again.  I used Makiko's Kitchen Pantry Challenge to use scor-ing on your card, and Lynn's 10 Minute Challenge from last week which was to draw a frame around your image.  I combined the two challenges and used a Nestabilities to score an embossed frame around my image!

You can see how quick and easy this card is! Change the ribbon and ink color and this could welcome any baby to the world!  Here's the close up,

The frame was made with my brand new Reverse Wonky Rectangle Nestabilities that I got from i {heart} papers.  It's always fun to work with new shapes! :) I was inspired by my own Flashback Friday last week when I highlighted this set, Multi-Step Little Lambs - such a sweet little guy!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Please visit the rest of the Crew today also.

Angela • Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

Cardstock: (White) Neenah, Ink: (Step 4- Going Gray) SU!, (Step 3 -Going Gray stamped off), (Step 2 - Going Gray Stamped off), Stamp 5 (Black) Memento, (Bashful Blue) SU!  Accessories: (Ribbon) Papertrey Ink, Tools:  (Wonky Rectangles) Spellbinders

Thank You

Phew, it's Thursday already?!  Wow!  If you're out and about in blogland you probably know of The Color Throwdown, a great blog run by some fabulous crafters who issue a color challenge every week.  Well last week's colors (CTD136) were Orange, Soft Sky and Kraft, some of my favs so how could I not play along?! 

You know another thing that's popular right now? Chevrons!  Their in the fashion world and the paper crafting world - sort of one of those looks that really never goes out style!  There is a super fun chevron (or you could call it a zig zag) stamp in the Beyond Borders set from Mint Motif available at i {heart} papers.  This was a super fast card but think how fast you could change the colors and whip up a bunch of these to suit every mood!

The woodgrain circle was made using What a Card and the sentiment is from Very Square Sentiments both from Mint Motif as well.  I used the Circle Nestabilities and Big Scalloped Circle Nestabilities to die cute the panels and added some bling from Zva Creative on every other scallop - love the bling!! :)

Check out the New Items section at IHP, new Echo Park 6x6 pads (and some 12x12 kits) arrived yesterday - it's ok for me to say this now since my order is in and shipped already!! Woo hoo, Kate is awesome!!  Have a great day!

Cardstock:  (White) Neenah, (Soft Sky) SU!, (Kraft) Papertrey Ink, Stamps:  (Beyond Borders, Very Square Sentiments, What a Card) Mint Motif from i {heart} papers, Ink:  (Soft Sky) SU!, (Tangelo, Rich Cocoa) Memento, (Frayed Burlap) Ranger, Accessories:  (Rhinestones) Zva Creative, Tools:  (Nestabilities) Spellbinders

TCP Tuesday 154 - Baby Falco Hop!

Hello!  This TCP Tuesday is extra special and I think you'll all agree - what could be more special than a baby?!  Our very own Cat Packer, Tracy Falco recently gave birth to a sweet baby boy so Alma is our Hipster Hostess and we're hoping to show you lots of TCP baby goodness!  Wanna join the fun?  Just make a baby card in honor of Tracy and sweet baby Braden and add it to Alma's blog, you could win $10 Cat Cash and possibly even the Swanky Stamper title!

Your first stop on the hop should have been Alma, and you should have come here from Jackie's blog (don't want you to miss out on anything you know?!)  For my card today I used And Baby Makes . . . from The Cat's Pajamas.  What an adorable set with all the baby animals!  I've been loving giraffes lately as a baby motif so this set was perfect!

I used Jen's April SFYTT for the layout - great sketch!!  The dp is some old Making Memories I had in my stash but I couldn't resist the colors.

Buttons are perfect for baby cards right?  The Buttons Cut-Ups die came out along with the brand new Brown Sugar Divine Twine!!  I even did the inside for this one with another sweet sentiment from the set.

Now it's time to hop over to Leigh's and see what gorgeous baby goodies she's whipped up!  Have a great day friends!

Cardstock: (Soft Sky) SU!, (Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate) Papertrey Ink, (White) Neenah, Patterned Paper: (Garden Party) Making Memories, Stamps: (And Baby Makes . . .) The Cat's Pajamas, Ink: (Rich Cocoa) Memento, (Soft Sky) SU!, Accessories:  (Brown Sugar Divine Twine) from The Cat's Pajamas, Tools:  sponge daubers, Copic Markers, (Button Cut-Ups die, Felt) The Cat's Pajamas, (embossing folder) Provo Craft, corner rounder

Enjoy!

Good Monday Morning!  We had a simply gorgeous weekend here and had a lot of fun too!  What a great way to start a week even if it is a bit gray this morning!  So how about some color to perk us up?!

I am loving all the great challenges over in the Kitchen Sink Stamps Forum! It sure makes it a great way to make a card when you have so many jumping off points to choose from.  There is a 10 Minute Card Challenge, a Supply Challenge, a Stock-Up Challenge, and the 2 I used today, a Word of the Week and a Sketch Challenge.  And if those are enough there is a whole forum full of Inspiration categories!

I used 3 Step Hibiscus from Kitchen Sink Stamps today for some bright pretty color.  I'm totally addicted to the Picket Fence line from Lilybee Design that I got at i {heart} papers.  The colors are such fun combinations and it's made me appreciate purple again - I know sometimes we stampers tend to be afraid of purple, hee hee!

 

The Word of the Week is Enjoy so I used the sentiment from the Multi-Step Berries set - perfect!! But I also used the Hibiscus to convey something I would enjoy right now, a nice tropical vacation. LOL!  Wouldn't you love to be somewhere enjoying beautiful tropical blooms right now? I would!

Don't forget to visit the rest of the KSS Crew for plenty more inspiration!  And if you feel like shopping remember to use coupon code JULIE10KSS to receive 10% off your order anytime at Kitchen Sink Stamps!  ENJOY your day! :)

Angela • Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

Cardstock:  (Spring Moss) Papertrey Ink, (Soft Sky) SU!, (White) Neenah), Patterned Paper:  (Picket Fence) Lilybee Design, Stamps: (3 Step Hibiscus, sentiment from Multi-Step Berries) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink:  Light Purple flower - Step 3 (Grape Jelly, stamped off) Memento, Step 2 - Lulu Lavender (Memento), Step 1 - (Lulu Lavender, stamped off), Step 4 - (Lilac Posies) Memento, Step 5 - (Rich Razzleberry) SU!,  Dark Purple flower - Step 3 (Grape Jelly, stamped off ), Step 2 - (Grape Jelly, stamped off 2x), Step 1 - (Lulu Lavender), Step 4 - (Rich Razzleberry), Leaves - Step 3 - (New Leaf) Papertrey Ink, Step 2 - (Bamboo Leaves, 2x) Memento, Step1 - (Pear Tart) Memento, Accessories:  (Spring Moss ribbon) Papertrey Ink, (rhinestones) Kaiserkraft, Tools: (Nestabilities) Spellbinders

Just a Note

Happy Friday!  I had a chance to play a bit more with the TCP Tuesday challenge - I really like these colors together and since I was die cutting with the Home Tweet Home Cut-Ups from The Cat's Pajamas I had some pretty musical notes already cut!

You already know I love CAS cards and this one is pretty straight forward. I have to mention first how much I love the Neenah cardstock from The Cat's Pajamas store!  It's 110# weight and it's so perfect for cardbases as well as layers and coloring!  I just had to restock my supply and this time I got the natural white as well which is a great soft cream color!

I simply used a ruler to drawn in the staff lines and then used my Scor-Pal to score a box around the inside of the card.  Then I used my die cuts, using 3 different methods!  The orange one was stamped with the coordinating stamp from The Tweetest Things, the Aqua one was also stamped with another coordinating stamp but then sponged for a bit more definition and pop!  The yellow one was die cut from patterned paper.  I finished up by stamping the sentiment and adding the two aqua rhinestones - done!

If you're playing along with this week's challenge, be sure to add you card to Alma's blog on this post and while you're at it, stop by the TCP Forum and have a chat with us!  Have a great weekend peeps! :)

Cardstock:  (White) Neenah, Patterned Paper:  Cosmo Cricket, Stamps: (The Tweetest Things) The Cat's Pajamas, Ink: (Black) Marvy, (Broken China) Ranger, (Tangelo) Memento, Accessories: (rhinestones) Kaisercraft, Tools:  (Home Tweet Home Cut-Ups) The Cat's Pajamas

You're So Sweet!

Good morning!  I have another CAS card for you today - this time using FTL134 from Clean & Simple Stamping.  This sketch could be fun for so many things! I know buttons come to mind or flowers perhaps?!  Me, I thought chocolate chip cookies! Seriously! :)

I just love this adorable cookie from Sweet Hearts from Mint Motif available at i {heart} papers.  The heart shaped chips are so cute!  I also used some fun new paper I picked up at IHP.  It's Jillibean Soup Dutch Mustard Soup - love the colors in this one!!

I also happened to have recently received my 12 NEW Copic markers from IHP!  Boy was I excited to see these - the colors are really pretty and definitely fill in some gaps!  I used E81 for the base of these cookies and it's the perfect cookie color!

The sentiment was heat embossed using white ep since the cardbase is dark.  Finally, it was looking a little bare so I added some pretty Silk Ribbon to the side.

Thanks for visiting today - busy day ahead for me but the reward is a couple of fun days coming up with visits from people I {heart}!  Have a beautiful day!

Cardstock:  (Dark Chocolate) Papertrey Ink, (White) Gina K Designs, Patterned Paper: (Dutch Mustard Soup) Jillibean Soup, Stamps: (Sweet Hearts) Mint Motif, Ink: (Rich Cocoa) Memento, (Fresh Snow) Papertrey Ink, Accessories:  (White embossing poswer), (Silk Ribbon) May Arts, Tools:  Copic markers, corner rounder punch

TCP Tuesday 153 - Yum!

It's TCP Tuesday and time for a new challenge.  This week Sony is our Hostess with the Mostest which means a ultra-cool color combo is on tap!  Sony always picks yummy colors and I went a little crazy with this one, hee hee!

  See?  Yummy, right?  You all know I love orange and then with the teal and yellow . . .just divine!  I have 2 cards to share with you today  - 2 very different cards.

First is a quick & easy CAS card that was inspired by a card by Kim Hughes in a recent Paper Crafts Magazine.  The layout looks so neat that I had to try it myself. 

Just use fun colors and pick some cool patterned paper - what a super simple and fast card!  I used the new Simply Said set from The Cat's Pajamas for the sentiment.  This set is a must have!! All the great sentiments that we always need and in such pretty fonts too!  I also used some Cut-Ups dies, Buttons and Inside Pinking and some of the brand new Brown Sugar Divine Twine  . . . aaaaahhh, {love} it!!

Cardstock:  (White) Neenah - from TCP, (Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)  Patterned Paper: Echo Park, Jillibean Soup, Stamps: (Simply Said) The Cat's Pajamas, Ink: (Rich Cocoa) Memento, (Broken China) Ranger, Accessories:  (Brown Sugar Divine Twine) The Cat's Pajamas, (rhinestone) Kaiser, Tools: (Inside Pinking, Buttons Cut-Ups dies) The Cat's Pajamas


Next is a card using the new set The Tweetest Things and matching Cut-Ups, Home Tweet Home.

  A few more layers on this one and a bit of stitching was added.  This set is so pretty and really can be used in so many different styles!  I wanted the chance to use the staff paper I've had on my desk for a while now!

Be sure to leave your link on Alma's blog if you get a chance to play along this week.  Remember there's $10 Cat Cash up for grabs every week as well as the chance to be the next Swanky Stamper of the Month!  Have a great Tuesday my friends!!

Cardstock:  (Kraft, Vintage Cream, Harvest Gold) Papertrey Ink, Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye, staff  paper, Stamps: (The Tweetest Things) The Cat's Pajamas, Ink: (Black) Marvy, (Crushed Curry) SU!, Accessories:  (Button, Hemp Twine) Papertrey Ink, (Twill) SU!, brads, Tools:  (Apron Border, Home Tweet Home Cut-Ups dies) The Cat's Pajamas, (Nestabilities) Spellbinders, sewing machine

Bold Hydrangeas

Welcome to Monday again! :)  But it's Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday so that makes it much better right?! Yes!!  Today I'm sharing my card for Thursday's Word of the Week challenge in the KSS Forum.  If you're looking for a way to stretch yourself, these Word of the Week challenges may be the ticket - give it a try!  The word last week was BOLD and I had so much fun making this card!  I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do so I went and looked up Connie's Friday sketch from this past week and got to work. 

I used 3 Step Hydrangeas and it's been so long since I used this set but I love love love the results you get with it!  Those hydrangeas look pretty enough to pick!  I used stems from the Multi-Step Lilacs set.  So what is BOLD about this?  How about those bold, non-traditional colors? I love them!!  The steps I used were:

Turquoise hydrangea:  Step 3 - Bermuda Bay (stamped off) SU!, Step 4 - Bermuda Bay, Step 2 - Bermuda Bay (stamped off 2x), Step 1 - Broken China (stamped off) Ranger

Purple hydrangea:  Step 3 - Rich Razzleberry (stamped off) SU!, Step 4 - Rich Razzleberry, Step 3 - Rich Razzleberry (stamped off 2x), Step 1 - Lilac Posies (stamped off) Memento

Steps & Leaves:  Step 3 - Always Artichoke - SU!, Step 2 - Kiwi Kiss -SU!, Step 1 - Kiwi Kiss (stamped off)

The patterned paper is some new Jillibean Soup I got from i {heart} papers - love the new 6x6 pads!!  Once I got it put together I felt it really needed some pretty ribbon so I used some silk ribbon and Glimmer Mist to make it the color I needed.  I'm ashamed to say I've had 3 new bottles of Glimmer Mist which were part of my Stamping Royalty prize package from Paper Crafts Magazine last year.  I was kind of afraid to use them - what do you do?? But I remembered seeing others die silk ribbon or seam binding with them and it was so easy and fun!  You might be seeing more of this! 

I didn't put a sentiment on the front of this one, I'll be adding that to the inside when I decide to send this one out!  Thanks for visiting today! I hope you have a great Monday! Check out the rest of the KSS Crew for more pretties! :)

Angela • Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Makiko • Maria

 

Cardstock:  (White) Gina K, (Kiwi Kiss) SU!, Patterned Paper:  (Blossom Soup) Jillibean Soup, Stamps: (3 Step Hydrangeas) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, Always Artichoke, Kiwi Kiss) SU!, (Lilac Posies) Memento, (Broken China) Ranger, Accessories:  (brads), (silk ribbon) May Arts, (Glimmer Mist) Tattered Angels, (Pearls) Zva Creative Tools: (Nestabilities) Spellbinders, (Polka Dot embossing folder) Quickutz