Hi stampers!  I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  I'm going to be taking a blogging break until the new year.  I need a little time to recharge:-)  And I haven't had much stamping time so I'm OUT of things to share anyway and I've got a lot on my to do list for the next week or two.  Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I've not fallen off the face of the earth!  I'll be back before you know it!  I'll leave you with a picture from our Christmas!

Happy holidays!

Hi stampers.  Hope you are having a fabulous Tuesday!  It's time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week we have an inspiration photo for you and here it is:


Cupckaes!  As IF we need any more treats after Christmas huh?  :-)  I KNOW I don't but thankfully this week's challenge is calorie free, hehe!  So, break out the frosting...I mean paper and create something inspired by this picture!  But before you do that check out what I made!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Create a cupcake, bring on the cake
Paper:  Very vanilla, lucky limeade, pool party, calypso coral
Ink:  Pool party & calypso coral
Accessories:  Edgelits, cupcake punch, dazzling details, twitterpatted buttons, circle punches, lucky limeade organdy ribbon (SAB), polka dot embossing folder

How fun!!??  I just had to pull the fun cupcake punch out this week.  I love that little thing!  There are also a few sneak peeks from SAB and the Occasions Mini Catalog in there too!  How about a little twitterpatted button cupcake topper?  Or a little organdy ribbon bow?  I LOVE the DSP from the SAB catalog and thought this little striped piece was very festive and oh so yummy!  My last little sneaky peek is that coral scallop!  Isn't it cute?  It's a cool little "edgelit" and the scallops have scallops..oh my, just too cute!!!  Add some dazzling details "sprinkles" and my cupcake is ready to eat!!!

Now head on over to the HSS challenge blog and bake up your own project:-)

Happy stamping!

Hoping everyone has a very merry Christmas!  Thanks so much for following my blog!  Your kind comments are just like Christmas presents...all year long!  Thank you for taking the time to leave me nice words, I read each and every one of them and you all make my day!  And thank you for letting me share my passion for paper with you:-)  Here's a Christmas card for you (click on it to get the full effect)!


Love ~ Mindy (and Jon:-)

Hi stampers!  Happy Christmas Eve!  I know everyone's busy (so far I've run four miles, made a pumpkin pie cheesecake, pizza dip, cleaned the house and baked cookies, lol) but I just had to share what I made today!  I finally used my Sweet Pressed Cookie stamps and they turned out so well!  I used the sugar cookie recipe that came with the stamps and I didn't THINK I liked sugar cookies....well...guess who can't stop eating them, ha!

The cookie stamps are very cool!  My hubby even agreed when I let him make a couple!  You get a wooden handle and then three silicone cookie stamps!  They leave a raised image on your cookie that is just too cool!  You just make balls of dough and stamp away!  They do take a bit of practice to get the cookie pressed to the right thickness and evenly but it was easy! 

Check them out!


Now, I made some without sprinkles and some with.  For the ones without I know some people had trouble with the dough sticking a bit and had to dip the stamp in sugar but mine didn't seem to stick.  I did not refrigerate my dough either like some have said.  I think I'll try that next time just to see if there is a difference!  For the ones with the sprinkles I took the stamp and turned it upside down and poured the sugar over it then wiped the excess off with my (clean, hehe) finger.  I then took the dough to the stamp and pressed down with my hand until I had the stamp covered.  Then I flipped it over and finished pressing it on the cookie sheet!  Viola!  Sprinkles only on the raised images!

And you know me, as a stamper I can't just GIVE some cookies away.  I HAD to package them up all cute!  I used some retired ribbons I had laying around and a stamp from Grateful Greetings and our cello bags.  It was quick and easy and super cute...I need some kids to do this stuff with, hehe!

I hope everyone likes them!

Wishing you all a merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ!

Hi stampers!  So stampy time has been limited around here lately thanks to work and the holidays!  Sadly, I can't find anything new lying around to share....at least from this year! 

So, I'll show you a card I made last year that I don't think I ever shared.  Now, I cased this card from somewhere but since I didn't show it, I didn't save who made it SO...if it's yours please let me know as I don't like casing without credit!  But I really wanted to share something today and I'm all keyed up after Christmas with my dad tonight!  Too busy thinking of ALL the things I have to do tomorrow since we stayed pretty late and I'm not going to get done tonight what I thought I was:-)  I hope the pumpkin pie cheese cake I'm going to bake will have enough time in the fridge before we eat it tonight.  I should really share the recipe with you too, it's SOOOO good and I don't even like pumpkin pie!  Maybe next week!

This is a card I made last year using the cute Santa set from the mini.  That set was so cute and vintage!  I sure wish it had made it back in the big catalog!  I wanted to play with it again this year but never had the chance to get it out!  But here's a pretty picture anyway!

Hope you all have a merry Christmas Eve!

 sadly, I don't think it will happen!  Hi stampers!  I don't normally like snow BUT I always like when it snows on Christmas Eve and Christmas:-)  Although, normally I want to wake up the day after Christmas and have it gone, hehe!  It snowed last year and was so pretty but it stuck around way too long:-)  But it looks like this year will be snow-free.  Guess we'll have to settle for this little guy instead:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Button buddies, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  Whisper white, bashful blue, real red
Ink:  Basic black, real red, pumpkin pie markers
Accessories:  Northern flurry embossing folder, neutrals buttons, baker's twine, white taffeta ribbon

I've had this little guy sitting around for a while and I guess it's the perfect time to share!  Button buddies has to be one of the cutest sets ev-ah!  How fun is he?  I love that it works with our buttons and tons of other embellishments like brads and the shaker frames!  The images are also totally cute on their own too!

Are you ready for Christmas?  I'm usually set by now but I feel like I'm playing catch up this year!  I think I've put off a few things since I know it's on Sunday and I'll have Saturday to do a FEW things (but I think I've put TOO much off to cram into a few hours).  I finished wrapping the gifts I have (still need a few more dangit) and made tags for them tonight.  Going to try to finish shopping before work tomorrow and then Saturday I need to fit my workout in AND deep clean the house all while making some cookies with our new cookies stamps and a pumpkin pie cheesecake!  I think I'll try to make the cheesecake Friday night so it has time to chill but we are doing Christmas with my dad that night so we'll see how that goes:-)  Why did I do this to myself????  And we don't even have kids....yeesh...what's it going to be like when we do???  I hope you're doing better than me!  And I hope we can both find some time to stamp over the holidays!!!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers and happy Tuesday again!  I can't believe another week has come and gone and CHRISTMAS is THIS WEEKEND!  Of course I'm still kind of in the Christmas stamping mode so I have yet another Christmas card, hehe....sometimes I make them even AFTER Christmas!  Anyway, we have a FUN challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Click the link to check out the FUN FOLDS!


I'm pretty much a traditionalist when it comes to card making but that's why a challenge like this is great!  It pushes you to do something different!  I'm really liking unique folds now!  So go ahead and check out what the rest of the design team did (they always make A-MAZ-ING stuff) and find a fold you like and play along!

Like I said, I'm still in full on Christmas mode (maybe because I'm STILL not done with my shopping...eek...let alone having anything wrapped and under the tree) so here is my easel card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Grateful greetings, many merry messages
Paper:  Very vanilla, lucky limeade, island indigo, calypso coral, pool party, blushing bride, silver glimmer
Ink:  Same as papers, tea stain distress ink
Accessories:  Stocking accents die, circles number 2 die, border punch, elastic cord (retired), fine glitters (retired)

I had some more ornaments laying around from my Shiny Brite inspired card I posted last week so I wanted to use them up...especially since I FOUND some Shiny Brite reproductions while Christmas shopping Saturday AND they were on sale!  I picked up a box for myself (hehe...another thing to collect) and one for my dad and step mom as they have a whole Christopher Radko tree and I think they'll like them!

Easel cards are by far my favorite fold I think!  They are super easy (you can find a tutorial on SCS) and they are cute!  Please excuse my crooked Christmas greetings...I don't know what happened!!!  I embellished my ornaments to look similar to Shiny Brites in fun retro colors using glimmer paper, fine glitters and sticky sheets.  I also added a bit of retired elastic cord.

Now head on over to HSS and play along!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Time for another Mailable Monday card!  I'm preparing my cards to send out today and I sure have to go through them to find ones that I can mail for no extra postage or a padded envelope, ha!  Looks like a lot of people may get hand delivered cards, hehe!  We just have too many fun accessories to pile on cards I guess! 

This card is a simple one I made a while back for a color challenge but I missed the entry date, hate when that happens!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Tidings of joy
Paper:  Very vanilla, river rock, early espresso, neutrals DSP stack
Ink:  Early espresso
Accessories:  smooch illuminate accent ink

I kept this one way simple!  I love this set but have put off doing much with it since it involves a LOT of coloring!  So, I thought I'd try a different way to use it by leaving it uncolored.  I think it turned out well!  I did cut out the star from river rock and then coated it with the illuminate smooch to make it shimmery.  It should go through the mail nicely:-)

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Sorry for not having more to share this week.  It's been a bit crazy with work and preparations for Christmas!  I'm trying to get my shopping done and failing!  I'm failing at stamping cards too...either I have a headache or just plain feel un-creative this week!  I made a few cards the other night and was not happy with many of them - HATE that!  Anyway I did manage to make a few that I liked.  I'm going to try to make some more Christmas cards this weekend and then try to get them all ready to be mailed by Monday.  Then I plan to keep stamping through Christmas and start my Valentine's too...we'll see how that goes.  Maybe I'm just Christmas carded out!  Maybe my fun Occasions Mini stuff will freshen my mojo up!  Anyway....

This card is a bit "country" which is not normally my taste but I think it's somewhat coming back into style as of late.  I made one like this a few years back as well after being inspired by a card I had seen at my upline's meeting!  I also need to get to work on using up that holly berry paper that I ordered late in the season...only a few more days to crank out the Christmas cards!!!!!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Pennant parade
Paper:  Very vanilla, wild wasabi, real red, early espresso
Ink:  Wild wasabi, early espresso
Accessories:  Heart trio and round tab punches, dotted scalloped border punch, dazzling details

Doesn't that heart trio punch just make the cutest little Christmas tree???  I sponged the edges for depth and dimension and added some dazzling details to make it really shine!  Half of the round top tab punch makes a perfect little tree stand/pot too.  I used glue dots to adhere the hearts, I highly recommend using them for small pieces like this!  A very simple very cute little card!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers! I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.  I used to love putting up the Christmas tree at both of my grandma's houses!  They both had cool old ornaments...you know the ones I'm talking about....shiny brites!  I'm not sure if either one of my parents has any now but I remember them so well and the cool vintage looking boxes too!  My favorites were the ones that had the silver or gold middles that sloped inward and I like the bells too. I guess the ones with the indented parts were called reflectors. Remember these?

I love everything about shiny brites aside from the fact that they remind me of fond memories with my grandparents!  I love the shininess, the shapes, and the bright colors!  I did a little research and found some interesting history about them too (I'm geeky like that).  You can read it HERE.  I'm sure there is more info out there.   Christopher Radko now makes reproductions and I just may have to get some of those.  I should really should ask my parents if they have any as well!

Anyway, sorry for the long trip down memory lane but those ornaments inspired this card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Grateful greetings, Tree trimmings, music notes (wheel)
Paper:  Very vanilla, pool party, calypso coral, blushing bride, silver glimmer
Ink:  Pool party, calypso coral, blushing bride, more mustard, versamark, tea stain distressing ink
Accessories:  Stocking accents die, circle punches, blushing bride pleated satin ribbon (occasions mini sneak peek), pewter embossing powder

I used the stocking accents die since the ornament reminded me of the shiny brites.  On the coral ornament I sponged my glimmer paper with more mustard ink to make it gold!  How cool is that?  I also sponged each ornament in it's respective color and then tea stain over that.  I even distressed the ribbon with the tea stain ink.  I thought the muisc wheel would make the background nicely vintage as well.  The card base is also sponged with pool party and tea stain and the vanilla panel is tea stained as well.  I did goof up the spacing of my ornaments and hangers a bit on the blushing bride one but maybe you'd never have noticed if I didn't just tell on myself, no?  Oh well, that's what makes a hand made card one of a kind right? :-)

Shiny brites just may inspire many more cards!!!!  I wished I had thought of this earlier in the Christmas card making season, ha!  I'm off to go look at more pictures of them and reminisce!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  It's time for another challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week the challenge is "An old fashioned Christmas".


I love vintage, especially for Christmas so this was right up my alley.  I did have trouble deciding what to use though!  We have so many great old fashioned sets both current and retired!  I just may have to do a few more projects with this theme!!!!  I finally settled on Bells & Boughs and the Christmas Collage background stamp.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Christmas collage, grateful greetings
Paper:  Crumb cake, cherry cobbler, watercolor
Ink:  Stazon, versamark, various for watercoloring, crumb cake, river rock, cherry cobbler, tea stain
Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, waffle paper, crochet trim ribbon, circle and designer label punch, cherry cobbler dazzling details (occasions mini sneak peek)

I think the waffle paper looks very old fashioned so I pulled it out to make some ruffles around my main image.  That stuff is really easy to use and mold into about any shape you need.  The card is also sponged with crumb cake ink and then I sponged some river rock over that.  I also rubbed the tea stain ink from the distressing kit over the crochet trim to dirty it up a bit.  Did you know we now carry ink refills for those now?  Yup, we do!  My final detail is another little sneak peek into the occasions mini catalog.  I put some CHERRY COBBLER dazzling details there on the holly berries!

Now, head on over to HSS and check out the challenge and all the other samples from our fabulous design team then play along!  And have a happy old fashioned Christmas!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  I've got another sneak peek from the Occasions Mini Catalog and a big smooch for you!  Well, smooch spray anyway, lol!  We now have smooch in blushing bride and it's sooo pretty and sparkly and perfectly pink!  Remember though, to spray LIGHTLY.  This card looks pretty good but I was a bit heavy handed on it's mate....oopsy!  You can also get a better look at the new pleated satin ribbon (have I mentioned how cute it is????). 


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  P.S. I love you (occasions mini), Grateful greetings
Paper:  Crumb cake, whisper white, blushing bride (textured), Everyday enchantment (SAB)
Ink:  Crumb cake, calypso coral
Accessories:  Everyday enchantment ribbon & brad pack, blushing bride satin pleated ribbon, blushing bride smooch spritz (occasions min), full heart punch, Illuminate smooch accent ink

Isn't that paper scrumptious????  It's from this year's Sale-A-Bration offerings meaning you can get a pack of it FREE (along with other fab items) for every $50 spent between January 24 and March 31!  It's probably the prettiest DSP I've ever seen SU offer!  And FREE!  Squeeeeeee!  The little brad on the heart is also a SAB item and they are adorable too!  A bit hard to see but I highlighted a few of the hearts in the big heart with some of the illuminate smooch accent ink.  A super simple but super cute V-day card...and how cute is that little cupid image from the PS I love you set????

Hope you enjoyed the little sneak peek!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Happy Monday!  I'm going to try to start a little theme here on Mondays called "Mailable Monday".  If you know me or follow my blog you know I like to pile lots of embellishments on my cards.  And while it makes them super cute it also makes them a pain in the you know what to mail:-)  And I always have a hard time finding a card I can easily mail when I need one....so, I'm hoping this little feature each week will help me to up my stash of simple and mailable cards...now, if I can just remember to make a few each week, haha! 

This week I have a take on another card I featured last week using the sketch I liked from Freshly Made Sketches.  I've been wanting to pair together real red, pool party, and whisper white for a while.  I love the combo with the bright winter white. 


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Christmas greetings, jolly bingo bits
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, pool party, in color (2011-2012) DSP stack
Ink:  Real red, pool party
Accessories:  circle punches, dazzling details

I just love these mittens, I think they are so cute!  I added a touch of dazzling details to the little star on each one although you can't see it well in the picture.  I also love the greeting from Christmas greetings, it's such a fun font.  I used pool party here but I also think baja breeze would look great.  Sometimes I need cards like this to remind me that less can be more!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  I have an early Christmas present for you!  A sneak peek from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog!  The catalog has some really fabulous stuff in it as they always do!  Now, while it's mainly themed for spring holidays I managed to use some of the goodies I got to crank out another Christmas card!  It just goes to show that you can use just about anything SU offers for whatever occasion you need! 



Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Heard from the heart, Bells & Boughs
Paper:  Crumb cake, real red, wild wasabi, pear pizzazz, blushing bride & Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Ink:  Real red
Accessories:  Pleated satin ribbon, Hearts collection framelits dies, Fashionable hearts embosslit (all sneak peeks), dazzling details, illuminate smooch accent ink

It's hard to see in the photo but I did stamp the poinsettias from bells & boughs on the heart in real red.  I also adhered the new pleated satin ribbon (OMG, it's SO cute) behind the heart with glue dots.  Also hard to see is that I put some accents on the little embossed hearts with dazzling details and smooch accent ink.  I think all this Valentine's stuff made a super cute Christmas card and heard from the heart had the perfect sentiment!

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks and Merry Christmas a bit early:-)  There will be more peeks to come!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  I've been busy in the craft room so there may be lots-o-posts this weekend:-)  I loved the challenge this week over at The Colour Q.  I've been especially into all things fun, funky, and bright for Christmas so this challenge was right up my alley.....

....and then I got to the part where it said that the challenge this week is for something other than a card....say what????  Well, I have to say that cards are my first love BUT I did manage to come up with this cute and simple little treat holder using the pillow box die (which holds three Hershey's miniature candy bars perfectly....although I don't have any to fill it with since my hubby regularly eats my stash, hehe):

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest of wishes (hostess)
Paper:  Crumb cake, pear pizzazz textured, whisper white
Ink:  Poppy parade
Accessories:  Scalloped square and designer label punch, whisper white taffeta & pool party ruffled ribbon, basic pearls, pillow box die

Isn't it cute?  And these could be made up pretty quick if you need a lot of them too!  I may make them for my friends at work!  I did sub pool party for Caribbean (because it's retired of course and I didn't feel like digging it out as I keep them hidden away) and pear pizazz for celery (simply because I like it better, hehe).  BUT since I'm me and I really liked this color combo I HAD to make a card too so you get a bonus project.  I should have made them coordinate but each project kind of took on a life of their own!  And yes, I'm currently obsessed with Polar Party...buy it NOW, you NEEEEED those cute critters and trees!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, four the holidays
Paper:  Crumb cake, pear pizzazz, pool party, poppy parade, watercolor
Ink:  Pool party, staz on, various for watercoloring
Accessories:  Stripes embossing folder, scalloped squares duo die, scalloped dotted punch, pool party ruffled ribbon, in color glimmer brads

Isn't it cute?  Now, the line art and cutesy/country style of this stamp is not normally my thing BUT this one really grew on me and I think I'm liking the style more.  It seemed outdated to me at first but you know how things are and what was popular once always comes back around!  I wish I had kept all the leg warmers I'd had as a kid since they are back in now, ha!  Back to crafting my weekend away!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Say what?   Did I mean perspiration???  No, I mean pinspiration....so what the heck is that you ask?  Well it's what I call it when I see something on Pintrest that inspires me to make a card:-)  Lately, I've seen a LOT of things there that get my creative mojo going.  Right now there are a ton of holiday pictures posted and they can provide lots of ideas. I'm mainly drawing great color combos from them at the moment. 

Take this one for instance:  crumb cake, garden green, & pool party.  I just LOVE it!  It's so wintery and fresh!  It makes a great card, see:


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, pennant parade
Paper:  Crumb cake, garden green, in color (2011-2012) DSP stack, watercolor
Ink:  Crumb cake, garden green, pool party, white craft
Accessories:  Silver smooch accent ink, circle punch, pool party ruffled ribbon, houndstooth & stripes embossing folder, basic pearls, modern label punch, white embossing powder

I had a hard time deciding which embossing folder to use here!  I was going to go with the snow burst folder or the linen one but in the end I thought the houndstooth was more "woodsy" and fitting with my inspiration picture and color combo.  I did know I wanted to use the stripes folder for the main panel in crumb cake.  I also sponged it lightly for added depth.  I colored in the stars lightly with the smooch accent ink.  I wanted to make them yellow but I didn't want to add any more colors and I thought the silver would be more with my theme.  I think I like it! 

Polar party is a fun set to color so it might be popping back up on the blog again!  I just love those trees!  It's kind of a style that I don't normally like and is outdated but I think it's coming back and I kind of like it:-)  Funny how things come and go and tastes change!

Now go find your own pinspiration!

Happy stamping (and pinning, hehe)!

Hi stampers!  Still in denial over here that it's creeping ever closer to Christmas!  I think I've mentioned before that I'm way behind on my Christmas stamping.  Sometimes I have to work, sometimes I don't feel well and others I just plain feel lazy and instead of stamping I lay on the couch:-)  I need to get a move on!  Not to mention I need to like buy some gifts, hehe!

Anyway, I've had this card made for a while now as I seemed to be in more of a Christmas mood a few months ago than I am now!  I made it using an expired challenge sketch...they are fun to play along even if they are over:-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Merry & Type
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, pear pizzazz, island indigo
Ink:  Markers - real red, pear pizzazz, island indigo
Accessories:  Circle and scalloped circle punch, polka dots embossing folder

I kept this one simple so I could easily mail it and because I used a bright and bold color pallete!  I thought this set would be perfect for a bold color scheme.

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  I told you right, that I've been stuck on a certain color combo as of late?  Well you saw my card this week from the color challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments....it was my color combo and I'm totally obsessed with it!  It makes such fun and fresh holiday cards!  Again, they seem to have that retro feel.  I guess I shouldn't say I'm in a rut because I really like these colors and the cards I'm making with them but I do need to branch out...someday:-)



Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Stitched stockings, jolly jingles wheel
Paper:  Whisper white, pear pizzazz, blushing bride, real red, pool party, red glimmer
Ink:  Pool party, real red, blushing bride
Accessories:  Stocking punch, circle punch and die, real red taffeta ribbon (retired), polka dots embossing folder

I used some fun stuff here!  The pink circle is stamped with the jolly jingles wheel.  I tend to forget about my wheels but they make such fun accents!  I also love the stocking punch and it looks so cute with the glimmer paper!  I'm also really liking white right now.  Design wise a large expanse of white can be super pleasing to the eye!  The Sale-A-Bration catalog will be coming out soon and it has great use of white space!

So, do you recognize the sentiment????  Hmmmmm???  It's from the jolly jingles wheel too!  I bought a second wheel and cut it up *GASP, I know* and used our new cling mount foam to make regular stamps out of them.  HOW cool is that?  If I have any interest I could do a video on how to do this. 

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers! My card today was inspired by the challenge over at The Friday Mashup.  The challenge for this week is to make a shaker card and we all know I love me a shaker card!  I also love the new mica flakes and shaker frames since they make it easy to make a shaker card!  You get a HUGE tub of the flakes too, so those things are a good value!  I also used a new stamp set (new to me anyway) called Polar Party.  The card is inspired by a card from the Holiday mini but I just switched out the stamp sets.


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, distressed dots
Paper:  Watercolor, pool party, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder (textured)
Ink:  Stazon, pool party, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder
Accessories:  Circle punches, window sheets, polka dot printed brads, dazzling details, shaker frames

Thanks for visiting!  Now go shake it up yourself:-)

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday!  It's time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  This week is a fun color challenge!  I'm totally obsessed with this color combo right now:


I think it's totally fun and trendy and it's fun and bright too!  It's kind of got a retro 60's and 70's feel to it too.  I've seen a lot of holiday decor at Target and other places in these hues as well.  So, I've been making Christmas cards with these colors of course.


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Pennant parade, Bright Christmas, distressed dots
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, blushing bride (smooth & textured), pear pizzazz, pool party
Ink:  Real red, pear pizzazz
Accessories:  Candy Cane Buttons (retired), circle and scalloped circle dies, basic pearls & rhinestones, crochet thread, pennant builder punch

I have a bunch of the candy cane buttons left over from last year so I had to stick one on here!  I love that little pennant punch too, it makes such fun Christmas trees!

Now, click that link up there and head on over to see what the rest of the design team came up with and then play along with us and link up your card!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Happy Monday!  I can't believe another one's here already:-)  The weekends are NEVER long enough are they?  And I still can't believe it's coming up on Christmas!  I don't have many gifts bought yet, I haven't finished decorating the house inside OR out, and I'm way behind of Christmas card making!  I better get busy, especially on the gift buying since a lot of things I can only find online and on the card making since I have a lot of un-inked stamps!  :-) 

Although I had fun in Chicago I'm always a bit sad when I can't stamp on the weekend.  I WISH I could take everything I own in the car since I had a three hour trip there and back.  I could have done some serious crafting in 6 hours:-)  So, after all the unpacking, laundry, cleaning my studio (it was OUT of control in here) I got down to business.

I loved the simple yet cute sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  This is another one I'll have to file away for future use.  I already have ideas for it!  Too bad I probably won't have time to enter the oodles of other cards I plan on making with it:-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Jolly bingo bits, Polar party
Paper:  Very vanilla, real red, wild wasabi, lucky limeade, Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Ink:  Real red, basic black
Accessories:  Circle punches, dazzling details

I kept the card simple because....well...just because I liked it that way!  I finally cut into the Holly Berry paper I just got too.  See...lots of stuff that needs to be used over here!  And I'm pretty predictable...I used Jolly Bingo Bits here as it's just perfect for the three little shapes.  I love that set and need to use it a lot more.  It's great with OR without the bingo card.  I also inked up the sentiment from Polar Party which I also just got, tee-hee.  Finally, I couldn't decide whether to use wasabi or limeade so I made one of each.  I must have spent too much time with my ever-indecisive mom this weekend, lol!  I LOVE her but she is way more indecisive than even me!!!!  Let me know which one you like better.  I think I'm leaning toward the limeade a teensy bit more than wasabi.  

I think I should start a new thing on my blog and call it Mailable Monday since I'm forever in need of cards I can throw in an envelop and mail without extra postage or a special envie or anything:-)  I have a bad habit of piling lots of stuff on my cards!  Maybe I'll do it...if I can get organized AND if I can remember to NOT pile everything in sight on my cards, lol!

Happy stamping!

As a side note I am aware that my blog background is making it a bit difficult to read my blog and I'm sorry.  My idea did not turn out quite like I had intended but making a background takes a fair amount of time and I've been short on that lately and then out of town over the weekend.  I'll change it when I get a chance to work on it so please be patient.

Hi stampers!  I have a "guest designer" for you today!  My MOM!!!!  Now, this is kind of a big deal because I didn't think she had ANY interest in stamping.  She LOVES my cards and I often give her cards to send to friends and family but she didn't really "get" my obsession...er...I mean, hobby!  Well, she was at our house Friday night before our annual Christmas trip to Chicago and I was showing her things I had made and I asked her if she wanted to make a card....and she said YES!  :-)  I was so excited and we had a lot of fun working on her cards. 

I found her a sketch and a color combo to use and she chose Tidings of Joy as her stamp set.  I did tell her we'd keep it simple and not color it since it was already late and we had to be up really early to leave for Chi.  I knew she'd like that stamp set as it was religious, cute, and had some barnyard animals in it.  You'll notice one of the cards has a circle....well, we had to revamp the second one because her favorite animal the chicken got cut off, hahaha!  Now that she's retired and moved to our farm I'm really surprised she doesn't have some chickens already!!!  Anyway I helped her but she did everything herself and they turned out totally cute and she really liked stamping!


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp sets:  Tidings of joy
Paper:  Whisper white, river rock, early espresso, island indigo
Ink:  Versamark, early espresso
Accessories:  Linen embossing folder, circle punch and die, gold embossing powder

Please excuse the poor picture but it was late and dark and my pictures don't turn out so well at night.  And I had to photograph it before she took them with her, lol!  I had her emboss the main image and she thought that was  like the coolest thing ev-ah!  I should have recorded it as I'm sure we were pretty funny.  I think she thought "what the heck" when she stamped in versamark and when she lifted it up and she couldn't see it, lol!

It was fun stamping with my momma...it may be the first and last or maybe not, who knows.  She surprises me now and then, hehe.  I do think she "gets" it now, the creativity of it and the fun of it.  She was really proud of what she made and I was proud of her too!  She even knows who she is going to send her two cards too:-)  Now, how can I get her to really get into it and buy lots of stuff from me????  LOL!

We had a good time in Chicago like always!  We got up there pretty early for us but it seems like the day was over faster than ever.  How does that happen?  And it finally didn't rain (much) or snow on us either!  It actually feels kind of strange because it's usually FREEZING when we go and it was in the 50's yesterday!  Doesn't feel like Christmas time to us, lol! 

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  I know I haven't been posting as often lately...it's that time of year....busy time that is:-)  I'll try to do better.  And I don't actually have the blues but my card sure does:-)

I haven't stamped all week for no good reason other than I've just been plain lazy!  But I wanted to get some challenges in so I made myself sit down last night at NINE and work on a card.  I don't usually start stamping that late but I was determined to get something started AND finished!  So, I combined the Sweet Sunday sketch which was adorable this week and the pretty color challenge over at the Colour Q.



Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Delicate doilies, Christmas greetings
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, night of navy, marina mist, subtles DSP stack
Ink:  Night of navy, marina mist, bashful blue, versamark
Accessories:  3" circle die, scallop circles die, snow burst embossing folder, northern flurry strip, whisper white taffeta ribbon, marina mist polka dot scalloped ribbon, pewter embossing powder, dazzling details, regals buttons, frost white shimmer paint

I just loved how it turned out!  I've been wanting to use the doily set for winter for a while and this was perfect.  My favorite part is the embossed panel.  I took a sponge wedge (I cut my stampin' sponges into 8ths...my very frugal momma would be proud, lol) and got it damp and then dipped it in the lid of my frost white shimmer paint.  I then dabbed it on some scratch paper first to remove the excess and lightly tapped it all over the paper.  That snowflake pattern looks FAB with this technique!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!  I actually managed not to stuff myself silly this year!  And remember all that cream cheese that was in my fridge last week?  The cheesecakes were SOOOO good!  I forget every year how good my pumpkin cheesecake is!  We had two meals in about four hours time so I made sure to go lighter at lunch (than normal anyway, lol) and all I had for "dinner" was some green bean casserole (because it was the one thing I really like that we don't usually have at my mom's family) and TWO slices of my cheesecake, lol!  Quite a balanced diet, no?

And sorry for not having more to share with you over the "long weekend" but it's never a long weekend for me, it's usually a short one as I always have to work the day after Thanksgiving and on Saturday as well at a basketball tourney.  So sadly, stampy time was limited!  BUT I declared yesterday Sweatpants Sunday and got to stamp quite a bit!  I've got a lot of projects due this week so I mainly worked on them but I did get one "for fun" card done.

I combined the Create With Connie & Mary color challenge with the Inkspirations sketch challenge. 




Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Petite pairs
Paper:  Night of navy, lucky limeade, river rock, 2011-2012 in-color DSP stack
Ink:  River rock, lucky limeade, versamark
Accessories:  Scallop circle & circle punches, petals-a-plenty & stripes embossing folders, lucky limeade ruffled ribbon, polka dot brads, pewter embossing powder, basic rhinestones, silver smooch spray

This one turned out better than I thought it would while I was working on it (love that).  I have to say that night of navy is one of my least used colors.  Not sure why but I just don't use it much so it was fun to challenge myself to make it work, especially with this rather unique color combo.  I also took a little liberty with the sketch but the basic idea is pretty much the same. It's hard to see in the photo but I sprayed the navy CS with the silver smooch for a little sparkle because it looked kind of flat.  Sponging on the "wreath" really made the embossing pop as well.

Thanks for a fun challenge ladies!

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  It's Tuesday which means it's time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I can't believe it's going to be December this week!  I got the tree up on Saturday before I had to go to work.  We had a "wee" bit of trouble with the lights this year and after TWO trips to the store I gave up so I'll have to fix the tree later this week.  We didn't get the lights up outside and I wish we had as Saturday was nice and warm!  And I still have some more decorations to put up inside as well.  What about you?  Have you decked the halls yet?  Well, if you have or haven't we have a fun challenge for you this week!



You can make an ornament or use ornaments to make your project.  It's up to you:-)  Wanna see what I made?




Stampin' Supplies:
Stampin' Up Designer series fabric, coordinating ribbons, elastic cord (retired), Styrofoam balls, ornament hanger thingies (technical term right there)

Aren't they cute???  I don't sew but I was "SEW" excited (sorry, hehe) when SU started carrying fabric last year because there are "my thing".  I make them every year for Christmas.  It all started back when I was in grade school and my dad wanted to make Christmas ornaments for the kids choir at church that he was (and still is) in charge of.  He found these and he taught me how to make them too.

They are super easy (I'll try to shoot a video soon, I just didn't have time with the holiday and having to work over the holiday weekend too).  Basically all you do is take squares of fabric and a Styrofoam ball and stuff the edges down in the ball with a dull edge.  We use a butter knife (haha).  It works well and is kid friendly!

So, start decking the halls and show us what you come up with!

Happy stamping...I mean ornamenting:-)

Happy Thanksgiving stampers!  I managed to fit one more Thanksgiving card in this week but can I tell you a little secret?  I totally forgot to send any!  Well I remembered on Tuesday that I hadn't gotten them all ready to mail on Sunday, which was my plan.  Well by then I didn't have time so I think I'll just hand deliver some today and that will have to be good enough:-)  I'm really terrible about actually MAILING the cards I make, lol! I think it's an affliction that affects a LOT of stampers;-)

And I'd like to take a minute to say that I'm thankful so much for this hobby and Stampin' Up as well as all of you, my friends and blog readers.  I read every comment that you leave and they really brighten my day!  I seeing an email come through that says new comment!  I love having a creative outlet and a hobby to keep me from being bored!  I have also met so many wonderful friends thanks to stamping and Stampin' Up!  My life would not be the same without it and all of you!

Ok, sappy-fest is over:-)  On to the main course....which is fat and calorie FREE around here (too bad my lunch and dinner within four hours of each other today will NOT be, lol).  Probably high in fiber too since it's made of paper!  ;-)



Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Falling leaves, warmest of wishes
Paper:  Very vanilla, island indigo, more mustard, lucky limeade
Ink:  More mustard, island indigo
Accessories:   Houndstooth and stripes embossing folders, gold and illuminate smooch inks, circle and scallop circle punches, modern label punch

The color combo for this card is right from the color coach, love that thing!  I also wanted a lot of texture since I knew I was keeping the layout fairly clean and simple.  I couldn't decide if the gold smooch or the illuminate smooch would look better on the leaves so I did one card with each!  I like them both!  Which one do you like better?

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Turkey day!  I'm trying to decide if I want to go shopping at midnight.  I have to say I'm not keen on the idea.  I've always liked getting up early to go so this feels like cheating and I feel bad for those who have to work at midnight!  I feel like we skip over Thanksgiving too much by starting Christmas too early and I really feel like this is moving in on Thanksgiving!  Don't get me started on all the decorations out before today either, hehe!  Maybe I'll stay home and stamp;-)

Happy stamping

Hi stampers and Happy Tuesday!  Is everyone ready for turkey day yet?  Know how you can tell that it's Thanksgiving time at our house???  Because there are SIX packages of cream cheese in the refrigerator!  LOL!  I always make this awesome pumpkin pie cheesecake for at least one of our dinners so that's two packages and now my hubby has this obsession with red velvet cheesecake he found and it takes FOUR cream cheeses between the cake and the icing, hahaha!  He's totally stealing my cheesecake thunder as it's my THING for family dinners but whatever.  I told him I WAS doing the pumpkin cheesecake no matter what:-)

Anyway, since it's Tuesday that means it's time for a new challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week's challenge is WINTER WONDERLAND! 


This one is right up my alley!  I can't wait to break out the tree and decorations of Friday! I have to work Friday and Saturday but I hope I can find the time to deck the halls!!!  So, break out all your glitter and bling and make your own winter wonderland!  Here's a little bit of inspiration to get you started:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Sweet Snowglobe, Christmas greetings, distressed dots
Paper:  Whisper white, garden green, real red, bashful blue
Ink:  Garden green, real red, bashful blue
Accessories:  Circle punches, scallop circle punch, dotted scallop border punch, window sheets, basic pearls, snow burst embossing folder, mica flakes, vanilla smooch spritz, dazzling details, shaker frames

The snowglobe stamp (um, which I totally forgot was in the current catalog, duh) is just perfect for a winter wonderland scene AND to use with the shaker frames!  I've been wanting to make a card using these things for a while!  Just be careful not to over fill with the mica flakes, a little pinch goes a long way!  It won't look right or shake well with too much "snow".  My embossed panel is smooched although it doesn't show up in the photo and I outlined all the scallops with dazzling details.  This was a little trick I saw in my plus fun class at convention and need to do it more often!

So, now head on over to HSS and check out the rest of the winter wonderlands and then put the turkey preparations aside for a few and play along with us! 

Happy stamping!

Hey stampers!  Big stuff going on in my online store!!!!  SU has some black Friday deals TODAY for 24 hours only!  Hurry over to my online store and beat the crowds and grab some great deals!  Up to 60% off on some items!





CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING!  Remember, this sale ends at midnight tonight so don't forget!  So head on over and get a head start on black Friday shopping!!!!

Happy shopping and happy stamping:-)

Hi stampers!  I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!  I can't believe that it's going to be Thanksgiving in a few days!  I haven't had a whole lot of time to stamp lately and yesterday was no exception as I had a continuing ed class all day but I got some inky time today!  I also stayed up late stamping on Thursday night.  If you follow my blog you'll remember me posting that my great aunt was in the hospital that night (she's fine and thanks to all who left kind notes and prayers for her:-) and I was worried about my parents driving back home so late.  So, what's a stamper to do?  Stay up late and make cards until you know the parents are home a-ok:-)  I got a few cards done even with the "late start" that night and the card I have for you today is a bit of a special one. 

I made it for my cousin and her husband who was just diagnosed with cancer and starting chemo this week.  And I don't usually ask much of my blog readers but I'd really appreciate it if you could keep them both in your thoughts and prayers!  Now, I have a LARGE stockpile of cards all ready to go but I didn't seem to have any "manly" thinking of you cards.  I know a flowery card would have been appreciated just as much but I'll always take any excuse to make a new card!  I kept it pretty simple both because of time and the tone of the card. 


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Lean on me, borderlines
Paper:  Watercolor, crumb cake, river rock, marina mist
Ink:  River rock, marina mist, stazon
Accessories:  Circle punch, dotted scalloped border punch

I haven't used this set much yet but I really like it and it's nice to have when I need it.  I used my simply scored to make a couple of score lines under the river rock strip although they don't show well in the photo, they add a little more interest to the card.  Other than that I kept it very simple.

Enjoy what little is left of the weekend before the chaos of Thanksgiving week starts!  I've got to cram some stamping in before Wednsday to get my hubby's birthday card done:-)

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Well I'm actually surprised to say that I have something to show you!  As I may have mentioned, I have not been in the mood to stamp much lately and then I took Friday and Monday off to go help my mom with her new house (I will be happy to NEVER hang another curtain rod, lol) so I knew I wouldn't get much stamping in over the weekend.  And then of course things took more time than I had anticipated so I stayed until Monday morning when I was planning on coming home Sunday afternoon.  That's how things go right?  But I have to say the house looks AMAZING!  My mom has finally learned to listen to me about home decorating, lol! NOW, if I could just get them all moved in there which they still are not:-)

So, I sat down last night and vowed I was going to stamp...I even skipped my workout which was not a good thing:-)  I did get one card done (I cased it which I don't normally do but sometimes doing that helps me get back into the groove) but then my mom texted me and was sad because she was with my great aunt in the ER in town (I knew they were coming since my aunts son was out of town and my mom is "next on the list" and of course offered to come but mom said I didn't need to) and said she was sad because it brought back sad memories of all the time she spent with my granny in the hospital:(  Well, I couldn't let her sit there and be sad, especially when I live like less than five minutes from the hospital AND since she moved away I never pass up a chance to see her (even though she'll be in town today through the weekend, hehe).  I spent about two hours there and was glad to be able to support my mom and help explain all the medical mumbo jumbo.  My aunt is ok for the time being, has a blood clot in her arm they are trying to dissolve.  But it just figures that the night I am resolved to stamp that my aunt would fall and her son would be out of town and we'd be on call:-)

So by the time I got home it was late and I "should" have gone to bed but I was kind of keyed up and also worried about my parents driving back to the farm so late.  My step dad gets kind of sleepy since he gets up around 4 am (which is just plain NUTS for a retired person if you ask me, lol).  I wanted to make sure they made it home ok so I stayed up and stamped!  I'm paying for it now (sleepy) but I did get a couple of cards done!

The one I have to show you today combines two challenges again.  I have a bunch that I want to do again this week and am again short on time with working late Friday night and then having a class all day Saturday!  I really wish there was a pause button on the clock and or calendar this time of year!!!!  So, I used the sketch challenge from Mojo Monday this week and the color challenge from The Paper Players.  I have to say that I LOVE both of these challenges and will be used again and again!!!!  I'm in a rush to get to the gym early for once today so I don't have time to post the pics of the challenges but click on the links to hop on over and check them out!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bright Christmas (retired), distressed dots, music notes wheel
Paper:  Very vanilla, river rock, always artichoke, riding hood red
Ink:  River rock, always artichoke, riding hood red
Accessories:  Neutrals buttons, basic pears & rhinestones, petals-a-plenty embossing folder, northern flurry strip, linen thread

You'll have to forgive my use of another retired stamp but I have SO many that I love so I have to pull them out from time to time and seemed like last year's holiday mini had so many wonderful stamps!  And you all know my love for word stamps:-)  The card is pretty straight forward.  I did do some sponging on the two colored strips.

So, thanks for sticking with me this morning....was a bit chatty wasn't I?  And now you know more about my life than you probably want to:-)  But at least I finally have a card to share!  Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  It's Tuesday again and time for another fabulous challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This time it's a technique challenge: 






This was a fun challenge and also another new technique for me!  If you're new to bargello as well there is a great pictorial over on Splitcoast.  Basically, you just cut strips of paper (usually DSP) and glue them down in random patterns to a base.  Then, you cut that into strips and then line those strips up in any pattern you want. 

I thought that the spice cake DSP would be just PERFECT for this technique and very timely since it's just about Thanksgiving...which I don't even want to to talk to think about since I cannot BELIEVE it's the middle of November already!  Where does the time go, especially between Halloween and Christmas!!!?????  Anyway, here is my card:



Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Gently falling, tiny tags
Paper:  More mustard, pear pizzazz, soft suede, very vanilla, spice cake DSP
Ink:  More mustard, pear pizzazz, soft suede
Accessories:  Scallop circle and circle dies, jewelry tag punch, linen thread, gold smooch spray

Since the bargello is pretty geometric I wanted to use a different shape so I cut the whole thing out of a circle when I was done.  I also sprayed the whole thing with the gold smooch spritz.  It's very pretty and shimmery in real life!  Other than that it's pretty self explanatory!  Now, I have ONE tip....make sure you glue down the ENTIRE strip when you are laying down your DSP layer....I wasn't thinking and didn't and when I went to cut my sheet apart tiny pieces went EVERYWHERE!  LOL!  It was kind of like putting a puzzle together!!!!

Now head on over to HSS using the link at the top of the post to see what else the DT came up with and to play along! 

Happy stamping!

Hi stampers!  Well, my mojo seems to be sticking around!  Today's card is for the KAPOW Kreative Challenge.

Isn't it pretty?  I think this is one I'll have to file away for future use as well!  And I did a holiday card but I think this one would be great for a patriotic card too but everyone knows I'm in full holiday crafting swing:-)

So I thought the little chubby snowman from Snow Much Fun would look great all decked out in these colors.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Snow much fun, petite pairs
Paper:  Sahara sand, whisper white, baja breeze, not quite navy, real red, watercolor
Ink:  stazon, sahara sand, baja breeze, not quite navy, real red
Accessories:  2.5 inch circle punch, northern flurry embossing folder, basic pearls, holly berry bouquet buttons, dazzling details, smooch accent ink, crochet thread

So I have heard some talk lately about this set and how about how snowmen don't have feet....so I cut his poor legs off, lol!  Most of this card is pretty basic but I did make the "snow" my punching out a few circles and just free-handing some drifts which I outlined in dazzling details and then scribbled on a bit with the smooch accent ink for some extra sparkle.  A button and a few pearls and I called it a day!

Happy stamping!

Thank goodness I've found my mojo!!!!!  I've had a serious lack of crafty ideas the past week and a half and was about to lose my mind.  My husband even asked if I was "ok" because he didn't hear "stampy noises" coming from my studio and he said that I just kind of wandered around the house looking dazed and lost and came downstairs and "bothered" him, lol!!!  I guess that's when you know it's serious!

I wanted to stamp last night but ended up with a terrible headache and then actually got sick in the middle of the night.  I even had to skip the gym today as it always takes me about a day to recover from one of my headaches.  I was willing myself to feel better by lunch because I had a date with one of my best friends (I've known her since pre-school!) today and didn't want to miss it!  Luckily I felt good enough to go and it felt good to get showered and get out and we had a great two hour catch up!  So, since I was feeling good from that I decided I'd try to stamp and it worked!

In celebration of getting my mojo back I made a card for not one but two challenges!  Sometimes I have an idea for a color challenge but then have a hard time putting together a sketch or the other way around....so I used the color challenge from the Colour Q Challenge and the sketch from the aptly named Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.



 I don't like to combine too many challenges into one card BUT I like to double up when I'm drawing a blank on one or the other elements.  And I really liked both of these challenges and thought they would work together seamlessly.  What do you think?

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Day of gratitude, distressed dots, netting
Paper:  Whisper white, soft suede, peach parfait, dusty durango (regular and textured - retired), spice cake DSP
Ink:  Soft suede and peach parfait markers, dusty durango (retired), soft suede, peach parfait
Accessories:  Dusty durango polka dot ribbon (retired),  5/16ths brads

I don't know what it was about this color combo but I'm in love and plan to use it many times with many stamp sets.  It's a great fall combo although I may switch out dusty durango for cajun craze since it's retired.  I know I try to use mostly current products but it can be fun to go back and get old stuff out and play around with different color combos!  It sure helped me out of my funk/slump!  I think the sketch was super fun too and works great with DSP!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by today!  I hope I can keep ahold of my mojo for a while so I can crank out a lot of stuff to show you!  Happy stamping!