Fun new projects at Craft Project Central!

Hi all!  How are you guys doing? I'm working from home today, so I thought I'd pop in fo a quick post before getting my day started.  I've got some sneak peeks of 3 cute projects over at Craft Project Central.

First up is an adorable Flower Pot project created by Erika

Such a cute project to brighten your day!

For the chefs out there, how about a yummy recipe for Bread Pudding, compliments of Shelby:

She used the pretty Bliss set from the Sale-a-bration products that you can get for free when you buy $50 worth of Stampin'Up! goodies....time is running out though - this promotion ends on Thurs, March 31st!

And, to get you all ready for Easter, how about this pretty banner from Joanna:

These 3 projects are all available in the March issue at Craft Project Central.  If you'd like to subscribe, you can head over and check out the deets here.

Well friends, that's all for now.  Hope you guys have a fantastic day and I'll catch up with you in a little bit!  Toodles!

shadow box fun for this week's HSS Challenge 61!

Hi all!  It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for this week's challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  And, what a fun challenge it is!  Have you ever made a shadow box card?  Well, I think I may have made one once or twice EVER, so I was really glad to rediscover this fun card style this week.  Take a look at the challenge inspiration photo:

It' such a fun and festive presentation and I love that it can prop up on your desktop like a little mini stage.  It took me a bit to come up with an idea, but once I figured it out, the assembly was a snap.  Wanna see my full card?  Here you go:

It really is such an easy card to make, but packs a lot of wow to it!  My card is a super simple one to put together, too.  I had fun with punches making this little faux store front window.  I used the Decorative Label punch, Itty Bitty punches, and the 1 1/4" circle punch to create my awning, believe it or not.  All you need to do for the awning is start off with four 2"x1" strips of cardstock.  Then, you'll want to thread through the strip into the 1 1/4" circle punch so you can trim off one end of the strip to create a "scallop."  I then adhered these 4 pieces onto a strip of cardstock, aligning my scallops, then trimming off the excess on the straight edge side, and trim the side edges at a slant. Once I had the awning the way I liked,  I popped it up with dimensionals.  For my store front window, I used the decorative label punch.  You'll want to center the punch on the cardstock and insert the cardstock as far as it will go into the punch, then punch out the cardstock and repeat on the other side.  The resulting window is a fun curvy rectangle that you see on my store front!  Here's a look at the card from the side view:

All you need to do for this card is have 2 pieces of  a quarter sheet of cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" size).  Then score the ends at 1/2" and 1" on both sides and crease.  This is what gives your card dimension.  Punch out a shape on the front of the card and stamp on the back piece of cardstock, or create your scene - whichever you prefer!  Finally glue the ends together using the Multipurpose glue or sticky strip to ensure that the card stays together! Embellish the front as you like, and then you're all done!  It's a piece of cake...or chocolate, as you can see on my card {heehee}.  Here's the recipe for you:

{All you need is Chocolate Birthday}

*Stamp Set: Create a Cupcake, Eat Chocolate

*Cardstock: Sweet Stitches DSP, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Blushing Bride

*Inks: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo

*Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Now isn't this challenge worth giving a whirl just to try a new or different technique?  Or, maybe you're a shadow box pro - how about you share your talents and link your card so we can all ooohh and ahhhh!  Hop on over to the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge and check out what the rest of the fabulous and creative DT came up with!  Thanks for popping by for a visit.  Have a great day!



So excited to be {PUBLISHED!}

{photo from scrapbooktrendsmag.com}

Hi all!!  I am so excited to share that I have my very first card published in the April Issue of CARDS magazine!!! Woot woot!  You can check out my card on page 147 :)

I've had to keep this a secret for a little while now, but have been waiting to get my copy in the mail so that I could actually see it in print before spilling the beans! I've checked out the issue and there are so many amazing cards, I feel so honored to have my little card in there.

Hope you guys have a great Sunday!  I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!

Paisley Petal sneak peek!

Morning all!  Happy Saturday to you.  Before I head out for a run, I thought I'd drop in a quick card share and sneak peek for you.  How do you like the snippet above?  The sneak is that pretty Paisley Petal paper {say that 10 times fast!} that will be available with the Spring is Blossoming promotion starting on April 1st!  You'll be able to purchase this pretty DSP and or the Four Frames stamp set when you spend $20 or more in Stampin'Up! products.  The paper will be available for $9.95 and the stamp set will be available for $15.95 in Clear Mount or $20.95 in Wood Mount.  Right now, I have to say that the Four Frame stamp set is definitely one of my faves.  LOVE that it coordinates with the Decorative Label punch!!  Do you want to see the full card?  Here you go: 

The prints of this DSP stack are so pretty, I wanted to create a card that was able to show them off a bit.  The card shows 6 different prints that coordinate so well with each other, don't you think?  The birthday sentiment I used is from the Create a Cupcake stamp set.  It's such a sweet font and I love that it fits so nicely in the frame. Isn't the ribbon yummy?  It's the Victoria Crochet Trim, which I think creates the perfect vintage look.  I added the Antique Brad in the center to give it a little more vintage flair.  By the way - did you know that the glue stick works GREAT for adhering ribbon and fabric onto cards?  Just thought I'd share that little tip :)

My flower is made out of the 2 scallop circle punches - all you need to do is spritz them with water and scrunch it up, then let dry.  You'll get this pretty flower when you're done!  I threaded my button with a teeny sliver of DSP to pull in the colors of the flower.  Hope you like it!  Better get going for now - Gotta run before it starts to rain!

Have a fab day!

March Final Friday Winner!!

Happy Friday to you all!  Can you believe it's already the last Friday of March?  Goodness gracious - where does the time go? I have to say I had such a good time reading everyone's comments and I learned a lot about so many places all over the world, so THANKS TO EVERYONE that shared a little something about your local digs.  :)

Are you guys ready to find out who this month's winner is?  Let's have a little drumroll please..... This month's lucky winner of the Funky Four stamp set and 6x6 paper stack is....

Lucky number 24 who happens to be Texas JennyWren!

Congratulations to you Jenny!!!

Thanks so much to you all for a fun round this month.  It's so nice to find out more about you all.  I really am glad you guys played along and left me comments.  They really do make my day!

Just a sneak for next month...I am quickly approaching 200,000 blog hits {thaks to you guys!}, so I'm thinking I'm going to have a special giveaway next week.  In addition, I'll still have my April Final Friday Giveaway, as usual, of course.  Stay tuned!  Exciting stuff coming up!  Ciao for now.

U Stamp With Dawn and Friends - Classes, Clubs and Camps!

Woot Woot!  I'm excited to be participating in another round with U Stamp With Dawn and Friends as part of her Creative Crew for the Spring Edition - Classes Clubs and Camps!  Have you guys checked this out?  You can now sign up for the Early Bird Special here.

The current edition of Big Shot Brilliance is going on right now - here's a quick sneak at one of 2 projects I created:

This edition has over 40+ ideas with detailed instructions and supplies for you, too! If you're a Big Shot lover, this edition is definitely for you.  Enjoy!  Have a great day!

blissfully quick thank yous...

Hi there blog friends. Do these cards look familiar to you?  Well, I had some extras of the background paper from the butterfly cork card I created yesterday that I decided to make some Thank You cards!  I was so pleased with how these 3 came out, that I stamped one more sheet of the flourish to do a one sheet wonder!  The one sheet gave me enough pennants to create a cute stack of 14 quick and easy Thank You cards.

As you can see, it's so easy to create a pattern with the clear mount stamps.  I alternated Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red Ink to create this pattern.

Next, I cut the paper down to 1 1/4" x 4 1/2" strip.  Then, to create my ribbon tails, I used the 1 1/4" square punch to make them perfectly aligned {and streamline my process, too!}.  Then I stamped the punch border images using the sneak peek Four Frames stamps set {available April 1st!} and stamped the sentiment using the Fabulous Phrases stamp set.  Can I just tell you how much I am loving the Four Frames set?!  Too cute!  Here's a look at the 3 frames I used {I didn't use the bird one because it didn't center my "thanks" the way I wanted it to...but you can still see what it looks like in the first picture of my post}

Makes me want to do these Thank You cards in a bunch of different color combos!  So EASY!  So...after I put these all together, here are the cards I made.  Note that I didn't emboss the background paper in this mass produced version, but I still think this simplified version makes adorable quick Thank Yous!  Here's a look at the 3 versions I made:

Aren't these so cute and easy?!  Now, I'm starting to think about the next color combo I should do these cards in!  This is such a simple and clean design - it's definitely a great Thank You card to have on hand.  The stamp set I used is the Bliss Sale-a-bration set and the upcoming Four Frames stamp set that will be available in the Spring is Blossoming promotion starting on April 1st.  I'm telling you...if you don't have that Bliss stamp set, it's time for you to pick out your $50 of Stampin'Up merchandise so you can get the Bliss set for FREE!  Just sayin' ;)

Here's a look at the Bliss set:

It's too adorable to pass up!  Shop now at my SU! store so you can get it today.

I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!  Have to get to work.  Have a fab day!

Sale-a-bration {BLISS!}

Hello there!  Did you know that Sale-a-bration will be coming to an end next Thursday, March 31st?  Well, it's true!  This is your last week to scoop up any of the exclusive Sale-a-bration sets or take advantage of the free product(s) you can get when you order $50 or more of your fave Stampin'Up! goodies.  Today's share is a card I made with the pretty Bliss set.  I love the flourish from this set, not to mention the fancy sentiment, too.  Here's a look at my full card:

It's my first time using the cork with the dies, so that was pretty fun, too.  It's funny - I've had the cork sheets for a while now and have had the intention of using them, but you know how that goes, right?  At least for me, sometimes I've got all these ideas I want to try out and only have time for making one or 2 of them.  I'm glad I finally did use the cork with the butterfly stamp - so fun!  Now that I've busted open the package, you'll probably see more projects using these cool cork sheets!  Here's a closer look at the butterfly - the cork sheets are about 1/8" thick and they go through the Big Shot suprisingly easily!

I've also been getting a lot of use with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I think it adds so much to the project - makes the paper look like it's woven upholstery - it's a great faux look!  Since we're talking about the background, I really love making patterns with that flourish.  The clear mount stamps make background patterns such a breeze!  Here's the recipe for you:

{Butterfly Bliss}

*Stamp Set: Bliss

*Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Sweet and Sour Specialty DSP

*Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red,.Crumb Cake

*Accessories: Cork Sheets, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon, Antique Brads, Curly Label Punch, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Wanna do your last minute Sale-a-bration shopping?  You can hop over to my Demonstrator Website an shop from the comfort of your own computer ;)  Thanks for popping by for a visit today.  Hope you have a fab day!  Oh, by the way - today is also the last day you can play in this month's Final Friday Giveaway!  If you haven't already, click on the Final Friday link and leave me a comment.  This month's Winner will be announced on Friday!

Ciao for now!

Blossoms are a bloomin' for HSS Challenge 60!

Hi there blog peeps!  Ready for this week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments?  It's flower filled and fun!  How do you like the little snippet of my card so far?  I went with a retro-ish color scheme that's a little out of my element, but I'm pleased to say I'm really happy with the outcome!  Before you see the full card, let's take a look at the HSS inspiration photo:

Doesn't that look fun?  I'm a big fan of ranunculus, so I love this inspiration image.  Now, here's a look at my full card:

How do you like my retro blossom tribute?  I have been wanting to do this color combo since I saw a a textile pattern in this palette last year.  And, more recently I also saw this cute retro jacket from BodenUSA in the same color scheme:

{photo from bodenusa.com}

It's a little funky and maybe even a little on the bold side, but I like it!  Hope you do, too.  Now, back to my card -I used all kinds of fun flower punches and dies.  The large white flower background is from the Island Floral Bigz die and the Melon Mambo flower layered over top is the Fancy Flower Extra Large punch.  For the black flower centers an smaller Melon Mambo flowers, I used the Boho Blossoms punch, and then used the Itty Bitty Punches for the cute teeny blossoms.  I had fun with the Basic Pearls as my flower center embellies - I used all 3 sizes.  And, to create my backdrop, I used the Top Note Die on the textured More Mustard cardstock.  How about the cute little punch I used for my sentiment?  Do you recognize it?  It's a modified version of te Decorative Label Punch!  I loved the idea I got from Mary Fish's blog post, that I had to give it a try.  Here's one parting look at my card:

{Retro Island Blooms}

*Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes

*Cardstock: Textured Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Textured More Mustard

*Inks: Melon Mambo

*Accessories: Top Note Bigz Die, Island Floral Bigz Die, Boho Blossoms Punch, Itty bitty Punches, Decorative Label Punch, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for peeking in today!  Would love for you to play along with us this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  How about hopping over to check out all the fun blossom inspiration projects from the rest of the DT and then sharing your own creation with us?  Can't wait to see what you all come up with.  In the meantime, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this color combo - love it or no?  You can be honest :)

2 new projects at Craft Project Central!

Hello there blog friends - I'm back with a quick little post.  Wanted to let you know that there are 2 fun new projects over at Craft Project Central.  Here's a look at the latest additions to the March subscription issue:

This adorable octagonal treat box holder and Easter card are lovely creations by Kim.

And, my dear friend, Sharon Field, created this fun set of Recipe cards and Easel card - bon appetit! 

You can subscribe to Craft Project Central by visiting the site here.  Enjoy!

PS - it's still pouring over here!  No sunny California day today. :(

{Workshop} cards!

Good morning all! It sure is a dreary day here in Southern California.  Rainy and windy this morning.  Definitely an inside day, for sure {brrrr!}.  For today, I've got a couple of card shares from the workshop I did yesterday for my friend Kaye and her group of stamping friends.  It was a fun afternoon of stamping!  We made an Easter card and a Birthday card from stamp sets in the Occasions Mini catalog.  Here's a closer look at each card for you:

For the Easter card, I used the Easter Blossoms stamp set and stamped the branch in Regal Rose and the sentiment in Pear Pizzazz.  If you look closely, you'll see that there's a touch of shimmer on the flowers - that's from the Smooch Pearlized ink.  So subtle and pretty!  All you need to do is dab on a bit on the petals and it adds a bit of glimmer and dimension to the flowers.  And, of course, the Framed Tulips embossing folder adds a nice touch of dressing up the card.  Super easy peasy!

For this card, I used the Nature Walk stamp set and went with a neutral color palette so that the Birthday card can be used for a masculine card as well.  I stamped the bird image in Early Espresso, then added color using a sponge dauber to fill the bird in.  All you need to do is dab the sponge dauber in Crumb Cake ink and apply the color to the bird in a circular motion, starting in the middle of the image and working your way out.  Then, I lightly shaded around the bird's feet with the dauber to give a little bit of a shadow on the ground.  Hope you like these!  These are 2 nice and simple cards that you can whip up in a jiff!  Here's the recipe for you.

{Happy Easter Blossoms}

*Stamp Set: Easter Blossoms

*Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose, Whisper White

*Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose

*Accessories: Basic Pearls, Smooch Pearlized Ink, Itty Bitty Punches, Pretty In Pink Taffeta ribbon, Framed Tulips Embossing folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

{Nature Walk Birthday Wishes}

*Stamp Set: Nature Walk, Occasional Quotes

*Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Botanical Gazette

*Inks: Early Espresso Classic Ink Pad and Marker {for the eye}, Crumb Cake

*Acccessories: Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Corner Rounder, Modern Label Punch, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Sponge Daubers, Stampin' Dimensionals

Hope you all have a fantastic day!  Thanks for popping by!

The virtual doors are open over at Big Shot Brilliance!

Hello there peeps! How are you guys?  Hope you had a great week.  I know I am sooo glad it's the weekend!  To kick it off, I have something fun I wanted to share - the Big Shot Brilliance event is LIVE and open over at UStampWithDawnAndFriends!  It's definitely worth checking out - lots of amazing projects using the Big Shot!  I'll give you guys a sneak of my projects when they go live on the site.  I've gotten the chance to preview most of the projects and let's say they truly are phenomenal {in my humble opinion, that is} :) 

I don't know about you, but it's getting late for me here in my neck of the woods, so I'm gonna call it a night.  I'll catch up with you guys in a bit! Toodles for now.

Lucky St. Paddy's Day March Madness!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!  Do you have your green on?  Just thought I'd pop in with a quick card wishing you luck for the day.  Plus, it's the start of March Madness, so good luck to you on that as well!  I filled in my brackets last night and hopefully my teams will fair better than last year. 

Also wanted to wish my Momma a Happy Birthday!  Along with my niece Amanda and good friend Laura that are celebrating bdays today, too!

{Lucky You}

*Stamp Set: Sweet Treats

*Cardstock: Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Nursery Suite Specialty DSP

*Inks: Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz

*Accessories: 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Regals Buttons, Linen Thread; black double stitched grosgrain ribbon {non-SU!}

That's it for now. Hope you all have a fab day!

a dose of {Mojo}

Hello again, bloggie peeps!  It's been a LONG time since I've played in a Mojo Monday challenge and when I was blurfing earlier today and saw how cute the sketch was, I just had to play.  I even had a concept in mind ready to put to paper!  Wanna see?  First, here's what the sketch looks like:

And here's my interpretation:

I really love this color combo - it's so happy don't you think?  The pretty DSP is the Sweet and Sour Specialty paper.  LOVE it. How about the pretty scrunchy flower?  Its made out of the 2 scallop circle punches.  One layer of the big scallop and 2 of the smaller.  To make the petals pop a little more, I made a little snip towards the center of the scallop at every 2 scallops all the way around.  So fun and easy.  Here's a close up of the bow and fun brad:

Hope you like it!  Here's the recipe for you:

{A Little Mojo Just For You}

*Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes

*Cardstock: Sweet and Sour Specialty DSP, Very Vanilla

*Inks: Melon Mambo

*Accessories: Jewely Tag punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch, Scallop Circle punch, Sweet Stitches Brads, Sweet Stitches Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Tastefu Trim Bigz XL die, Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Thanks so much for popping by!  Hope you have a fantastic day! :)

New Petal Cone Project on Craft Project Central!

Hey there blog friends!  I wanted to pop in today with a new project  by Nelia that's available on Craft Project Central.  How cute is this basket made using the Petal Cone Die?!

This adorable creation is one of the projects available in the March Issue at Craft Project Central.  Hop over to find out more or subscribe!



spring is in the {AIR!} at HSS Challenge 59

Hello there bloggie friends!  I'm happy to say I have gotten over my little sick spell and I am finally back to normal - YAY!  It's so not fun being sick.  AND, I've also discovered that it's definitely much more fun to craft when you're in good spirits!  So, with that in mind, how about we take a peek at this week's challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments, shall we?  You got a peek at my card above, now let me show you this week's inspiration photo:

Doesn't this collage just conjure up all things SPRING and pretty?  I think so!  It's chock full of happy and bright images of this beautiful season. {Plus - can I get a woot woot for the LONGER DAYS?!} As you can probably gather, I got some of my card inspiration from the eggs and the green and yellows found throughout the photos.  Here's a look at my full card:

What do you think?  Hope you like it!  I used the pretty decorative eggs from the Easter Blossoms stamp set, which I am really growing fond of!  The eggs look lovely and delicate in these soft pastel colors.  I added just the teeniest of embellies - the tiny pearls from the Basic Pearls pack.  So sweet!  And, my new fave stamp set is the Four Frames stamp set, which I'm previewing here...it's a set of frames that coordinate with the decorative labels punch.  Yummy!  If you're a fan of the decorative label punch, then I think you'll absolutely LOVE it :)  Here's the recipe for you:

{Springtime Eggcitement}

*Stamp Sets: Easter Blossom, Four Frames

*Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White

*Inks: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight

*Accessories: Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Decorative Label Punch, Daffodil Delight Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Itty Bitty Punches, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Stampin'Dimensionals

Now that you got your dose of spring, I hope you'll come and play along with us.  Pop on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments to get some more inspiration from the DT and get your creative juices flowing!  I really do love seeing all the submissions...hope yours is one of them :)

Have a fabbie day, dear friends.  I'll catch you guys later!

Quick cup of java

Hey there peeps!  It's late for a cup of java, no? Well, I thought I'd just pop in real quick and share another one of these coffee cards...boy let me tell you - I'm serving these up like a world class barrista!  So fun and easy.  This one happens to be filled with my regular - Soy White Mocha Latte, easy. :)  That happens to be my drink of choice.  Doesn't this Birthday Coffee card look fun in Concord Crush?  I really like using the 6x6 In Color paper stack for these coffee cards - the prints and colors are fun - and you can make these for any occasion!  Cheers! {and goodnight!} :)

I'll be back bright and early with this week's Hand Stamped Sentiment's challenge!  Ciao for now.

March Guest Designer at Craft Project Central!

Hi all!  Happy Saturday to you!  I am very excited to share that I'm a Guest Designer this month at Craft Project Central and I am so thankful to Jacque for giving me the opportunity!  The picture above is the Springtime Vintage Scallop Circle Card Set set I created.  All the details to create this pretty little gift box are included in the March issue.  There are lots of creative projects in store for you.  Here's a look at what's been posted so far.

This adorable Clearly for the Birds box set is was created by Tammy.

And this cute Bird House and bag project was created by Monika.

And, last but not least, this sweet bookmark gift was created by Naoko.  You can hop on over to Craft Project Central to subscribe and get the deets on these fun projects!! 

Enjoy your weekend, dear bloggie friends!  I've been trying to nurse my little cold here, so I'm hoping to shake this bug soon.  I'll catch up with you guys in a bit! Ciao for now.