Stamping with Friends ...

Today a few of my stamping friends came over to "PLAY" & "SHARE"! It's always such fun to get together with these ladies. On the left is Lana Edwards (SCS: stampin bear) and on the right is Terri Snode (SCS: tesno or her BLOG).



Lana was sweet enough to bring her "Slice" machine and not only show us how it works but let us cut whatever diecuts we wanted for future use on our creations. She also shared some new Sugar Nellie images with us ... paper & ink was a flyin'!!!!




Terri also brought "goodies" to share. She knows my LOVE for vintage (and now I have Lana doing vintage too, teehee) ... so Terri brought several vintage images to share with us. After informing her that the "Ways To Use It" challenge over on SCS today was "Very Vintage" ... she spent a little time to choose JUST THE RIGHT image for her challenge creation.






She also brought an enormous amount of Halloween "goodies" ... not only all of these diecuts but also satin ribbon, pumpkin ribbon, leaf vine ribbon, and even tulle!! This is a photo of what was "left" after we picked it over, LOL!! She also brought some of her new images to share ... like I said, "paper & ink was a flyin'!"




Since Terri was working on a vintage card and I was running around doing everything "but" stamping, LOL ... Lana decided to put these cuties to use and make Halloween cards for her grandchildren. Check 'em out! Aren't they clever and just the cutest!!! You can click on any image for a "closer look"!!

Around 2:00 my friend Sandy, who is a postal delivery person (mail-lady), and a very talented paper crafter (but doesn't "do the computer thing") called to say she was done working for the day and was on her way to join in on the fun! She was happy to stamp some of the images that Lana & Terri brought to share and start coloring!! And as you can see, I finally stopped running around and started stamping, coloring & creating!! The last time I got together with friends to "PLAY" was out in Shipshewana, IN with the Stamp Simply ladies ... so in honor of that good time, I wore my "I Got Stamped in Shipshewana" teeshirt that the sweet & generous Janine Orchard had prepared for each of us. I thought maybe it would help get my mojo going ... it took awhile, but IT WORKED!!!

I know this has been a long post ... but I just had to share all the good time!! We also had a good lunch (I love to entertain!!) ... I made homemade potato salad, tuna salad on french bread with fresh garden tomatoes and fruit salad. It was yummy and not too fattening!! This last photo is just to prove what a crazy bunch we can be ... but very fun loving!! Poor Terri ... was today's VICTIM!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and letting me share my fun day with you!! I am SO BLESSED to have wonderful friends ... both locally and in cyberspace!!

*********

EDIT to orginal post ....

I meant to do a shout out to the other two wonderfully talented ladies who had hoped to join in on the fun today ... Crystal Irwin and Angie Cortes ... but due to their children beginning school this week and unexpected school commitments popping up ... they were unable to attend. Next time ladies ...

Fun with Friends

Today I had the pleasure of getting together with a couple of my friends ... Sandy Egbert and Linda Davis. First we met for breakfast at Friendly's (our usual breakfast meeting place) then back to my house for a little stamping, crafting, and gabbing fun. Sadly Linda had to leave early and wasn't able to get in on too much of the stamping fun and I don't have any of her samples to show you (maybe next time), but I did get some photos of what Sandy & I were able to come up with. I had asked her to bring over her "Valentine's" images since I don't have many of my own and wanted to do a few cards for this year. WOW ... she has a whole case of different heart stamps ... big - little - vintage - cutesy ... you name it, she had it ... WHAT FUN!!!



These first photos (watermarked for Sandy) are what she came up with. (Click on photo for larger view) The background paper on two is actually Pink Pirouette though it looks nearly white in the photo, sorry! The double matting is glossy black & silver metallic. This vintage heart image is by PSX ... she bought it at a garage sale awhile back for $1.50 ... can you believe that!!! The background stamp is a retired SU heart image.



The double card photo she made using a "blue-purple" vellum which she'd punched the border using the Martha Stewart border punch then ran it through the Cuttlebug using the "swiss dot" embossing folder. The card on the left has a 3d cluster of flowers and she's not finished with this card yet ... she has plans for the right hand side but was going to finish it off at home. The card on the right uses the same PSX vintage heart image only it was stamped in SU perfect plun then mounted on the silver metallic. The photo really doesn't do either of these cards justice!!!



--------


Now, here's what I came up with!


Basically, they are the same concept as Sandy's but I layed them out a little differently ... using Basic Grey designer paper for the background on the one ... glossy black background with Creative Memories hearts on another and I colored the rose on the main vintage heart stamp on a couple of them.


The card with the solid glossy black background was actually done by accident. I had several pieces laid out putting "this with that" and I just happened to lay this on top of the black background by itself and thought "wow ... that looks great, okay let's do one like that" and here you go!!






Now this was an idea we both really liked! The PSX vintage heart image was stamped on red cardstock with Versafine black ink and embossed using detail clear embossing powder. This card was done using 3 different sized rectangle Nestabilities. The smallest being the size that the image was cut from ... the next size up was used to cut the opening in the front of the card and ... the next size up was used to cut the glossy black from which we layed the "middle sized diecut" ontop of and cut again to give us the frame we overlayed on the front of the card. Did you follow that??? The heart stamped red panel is actually on the INSIDE of the card. Doesn't this look cool ... you should see it in real life ... awesome. We both make a couple of these!!

Isn't it great fun to get together with other ladies and share fresh ideas and "stash"!! We will certainly have to do this again ... maybe next time a few more friends (and family members - that mean you my sweet daughter) can join in too!! Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!!

Sharing a friends creation ...

My friend, Linda Davis had this great card idea rolling around in her head for awhile now and I told her she'd better get it down on paper before she either forgot ... or someone else came up with it (which may have already happened).

Anyways, here is the cute card idea she had! The front is a House Mouse image and she used alphabet stickers for the "Say Cheese" sentiment. Laying them at different angles really gave it a cute whimsical look. She also ticket punched the corners, added Colorbok metal dots and did a little paper piercing to set the corners off. A little sponging helped to color in some of the "white space" and really gave it nice eye appeal.

NOW FOR THE "WOW" FACTOR: On the inside of the card is a "mirror" so when the little girl opens up her birthday card, the first thing she would see is herself ... is that a cute idea or what!! To hide the mechanics of the mirror mounting, Linda has embellished with these adorable "foamy" Blossoms & Leaves by Creative Impressions. She has also added little pearls in the flower centers ... all girls like flowers & pearls!!

Now isn't this a cute, clever card my friend has done! Linda doesn't have a blog but she does follow mine and would love to hear your thoughts on her creation ... please show her some love and leave a comment!! Have a GREAT day everyone!!

Nestie Embossed Cards

I recently joined in on a new site called Paper Craft Planet and was so inspired by a set of cards created by JessJean that I had to make a couple for myself.

I have always used my Nestabilities for cutting but never took the time to figure out how to use them for just embossing! Well, when I saw jessjean's cards (and she gave instructions) I just had to give it a try and here's what I came up with. I used two ovals to emboss but will have to try it with just one! The santa image is from Crafty Secrets - Vintage Christmas and the cardinal is from SU - A Cardinal Christmas. Add a few prima flowers and some ribbon and there you have it ... instant card!!

It is just amazing to me how much inspiration there is out there ... and I'm trying to draw in as much as possible!! Hope somewhere along the line I have given you inspiration!! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!

"Cheater" Card

Happy Sunday afternoon all!!

To a true stamper, this is definately a "cheater card". The only stamping involved is the sentiment. I've had this paper (DCWV 12x12) for ever and it is so pretty, I just HAD to make it into a card. I didn't know how else I would use it ... if you use it scrapbooking, you cover the beautiful scene up with your photos.

It will work perfectly for that need it in a hurry card! Thanks for stopping by!!

Stamping Fun with a Friend!

I finally made time last evening to do some stamping with my friend Sandy. While she was compiling a beautiful Thomas Kinkade holiday gift set, I was busy jumping around from one thing and another! Here are a couple of cards I was able to get completed.

My friend Tammy (stamphappy) had some older stamps that she let her friends go through and take what we wanted and when I saw these cute little bunnies, I just had to have them. Aren't they sweet!!! After stamping the image on glossy white paper with India Ink Black, I colored it in using my inking nibs and SU inks. The framing was made using a negative I had left over from another project and the background pine paper is from a DCWV pack of 12x12 scrapbook papers. The words are from Hero Arts and I used my oval scalloped Nesties to showcase this sentiment. This card was fun and easy and I know exactly who I want to send it to!!

This next card was made for the challenge over on The Vintage Veranda site. If you like vintage, you MUST check out this site ... these ladies are awesome in their design and style. It's a new site and has LOTS to offer!

For their second challenge, they are looking for cards/projects dealing with HARVEST. Thanksgiving dinner always deals with the recent harvest in my family and when I saw this Fall cotton scrap by Crafty Secrets, I just had to have it for my card. Isn't this turkey-dude hilarious!!!

The bowl image is also by Crafty Secrets ... in their Little Chef set. I used the Fiskars postage stamp scissors for the edge on the red panel (since I don't have my SU scallop border punch yet) to mimic the edge of the "What's Cooking?" panel.

Well, that's all for today. Hubby's sitting next to me working on HIS computer for work and mentioned he's getting hungry so ... better go get something prepared!!! Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a peek ... ALL COMMENTS WELCOME!!! Happy Stamping My Friends!!!

Same Image - Four Different Cards

I enjoy using my Stampscapes images for "guy" cards but they will work for "girls" cards just as well. I think EVERYONE enjoys nature!!

I stamped this image onto glossy white cardstock using India Ink Black ... then using sponge pods, colored it with various SU inks. For the sky, I used the large sponge pods and swiped lightly with the summer sun .... then another pod for the pirouette pink ... then another pod for the soft sky. The sun was done by using the large sponge pod in Summer Sun ink and stamping over the image.

It's fun to see how many different variations you can get by using the same image design. Hope you like my "little collection". Thanks for stopping by!!

A Few EASY PEASY cards!

Here are just a few cards I made the other day for no reason other than I wanted to try a couple techniques I had seen around the blogs & SCS.

This teal colored card was so easy to do but I think has a great "WOW" affect. I saw it on someone's blog (who saw it on someone's blog) ... and I had to give it a try! I will have to edit this post later when I find the piece of paper I wrote down WHO the someone was so I can give proper credit!! Anyways, all you do is stamp your image using Versamark (a darker color of cardstock works best) ... clear emboss ... then with a sponge applicator, swirl white craft ink over/around your image to give it a "misty" appeal ... then wipe with a dry soft cloth to buff up the embossed area. EASY-PEASY!! Isn't this great!

Here is another EASY PEASY card using the new SU scallop punch. This was showcased on SCS last week for the Wednesday Technique. This technique also works with other border punches (i.e. Martha Stewart, Fiskars, EKSuccess) although you may have to increase your template size a little. For this card, my square was cut at 2-3/4" ... then just center your square and punch on each of the four sides! I chose to use an outdoor theme and stamped the center of the square using my pinebranch stamp by Just for Fun. The bird is from the Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas set and was stamped on glossy white with India Ink Black then colored using SU inks. I cut him out with a swivel craft knife and popped him up with dimensional tape. The card base is SU old olive and the designer paper is DCWV. You could use any width ribbon with this technique ... I chose to use the small brown plaid so I wouldn't cover up too much of the dp. I think this turned out to be a great GUY card (and you know we're always looking for guy card ideas). What do you think of this one??? Be honest ... ALL critics are welcome!!

And in case 2 cards today wasn't enough ... here is a third! And again, this is an EASY-PEASY card to do. My image is actually the journal portion of an image from the Crafty Secrets Christmas Images & Journal Notes booklet which I matted on glossy black. I just added the Santa & sleigh for a little more affect! The right side of the card was Cuttlebugged using the snowflake embossing folder then I swiped Memories silver ink across the embossed images. I used a Stampscapes tree stamp on the left side to mimic the tree in the image. A little black sheer ribbon and silver cording and there you have it!!

Okay ... I'm sure you've seen enough from me today! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Enjoy this gorgeous FALL weather ... the snow will fly before we know it! Thanks ya'll!!

Guy Card for the Chemo Angels

Splitcoaststampers Cards for a Cause challenge this month is to benefit an organization called Chemo Angels ... please go to the forum and check it out. There was some concern expressed that they don't get enough GUY cards so here is at least one that will be going in my bundle of cards. If you are interested in participating in this challenge and have difficult finding it on SCS, let me know and I will gladly guide you in the right direction.

I just love making scenery cards using my Stampscapes stamps. It is a really easy process and always produces a great looking product!! This is done using ONE main stamp and just adding the geese and crane. I used a small sponge pod and SU inks to do the coloring ... matted it using a negative portion of the new SU diecut and mounted it onto hunter green cs. Easy-peasy!! Oh yea, I added a little rafia to carry out the "woodsy" theme. Thanks for taking time to look and please comment ... I love hearing what you have to say! Happy Stamping All!!

Ooops ... I almost forgot to mention ... please come back tomorrow for the card I made for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simple challenge on her blog. Tommorrow's challenge is going to be SO COOL ... you won't want to miss it!!

S-P-O-O-K-Y ...

Last week while friends & I were visiting stamping friend Tammy at Toyrifix, my friend Linda Davis purchased this Cuttlebug spiderweb embossing folder and was kind enough to let me borrow it. (THANKS LINDA) I don't want to keep it long (Halloween is right around the corner) so I made a couple quick prints and here is a card I made.

I inked up the inside of the folder before running it through the cuttlebug ... actually I did the wrong side and this is kind of "inside out" from what I was expecting but it still has a really cool affect!! The house and witch are from SU "Home is Where the Haunt is" set and the spiders are stickers I had in my scrapbooking stash. Such an "easy-peasy" card yet so cute!! Thanks for stopping by my blog today ... please come back again!!

Quickie Cards...

Here are a couple quick & easy Christmas cards I made today!

The card on the left is simply matted designer paper with an image from SU Lovely As A Tree stamped & embossed in the left corner and a ribbon tied on the right side. Very easy peasy!!

The card on the right is relatively easy with the exception of coloring the image. Of course you can always stamp an image like this in "sepia" to give it that vintage look and not have to do coloring. The base card is a duplex green/ivory cardstock which I have bordered using a silver Pilot marker. The sentiment is stamped in silver, and the snowflakes are stamped with Versamark and embossed with Ranger silver embossing powder. Thanks for stopping by!!

Bringing old & new together!

Here is what happens when you play around with old stuff and new stuff!!

First the old stuff = the bird image is from a See Ds set I bought at Pat Catan's a long time ago for $1 and the picture holder tabs have been in my stash forever!

Now the new = the paper & ink are one of the new IN colors from SU called "Pacific Point" ... the background was made using a new (to me) Crafty Secrets stamp set called "Flourishes" and the ribbon I purchased from my friend, Tammy at Toyrifix.

I used my Nestabilities for the framing then double matted it on glossy black and gold metallic. I really like how this looks, hope you do to!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Black & White Elegance

This is a card design that popped into my head the other evening while sitting with DH watching a little TV and I instantly ran downstairs to the craftroom and starting putting it together (before I forgot what I was thinking)! You know how that is, right!!! Well, it was nearly 10 pm when I did this (we go to bed at 10 pm), so I got all the pieces together and finished it the next morning. Actually it was a good thing to "sleep on it" because that's when I got the idea to put the pop of color by using the rose stem.

The dp is by The Paper Studio and the top panel was made by using a piece of ivory cs, running it through the Cuttlebug using the Textile embossing folder, then using the Martha Stewart floral border punch. The medallion was made using my Nestabilities oval & scalloped oval diecuts. The center panel is a scrap piece of the designer paper. The sentiment is by My Sentiment Exactly and the rose is by Stamp of Excellence. I colored the roses using my SU watercolor CRAYONS and a spritz of water then cut them out with my handy swivel craft knife. I'm very pleased with the outcome of this card. What are your thoughts???

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog! I hope you enjoyed your visit!!

STAMPFEST

WOW ... what a great time I had this past Saturday at what I call an all day "stampfest". Friends Lana Edwards and Kris Turner in Wadsworth, OH put this together and Lana was gracious enough to open her home to us for the day!! (Lana is the lovely lady in the blue shirt and this little "onzie set" was one of her projects!)

Everyone brought "goodies" to munch on (some REALLY good stuff) then we stopped for lunch and had Papa John's Pizza! I met several new friends that I hope to be able to stamp with again ... all are very talented and sweet ladies!!! I do regret not gathering all the ladies together for one really good photo ... there are a few ladies I didn't catch in action shots and for that I am sorry!!!

There were a couple of projects I didn't get time to do (getting slow in my old age I guess) but here is the bulk of what was done. So many great projects ... sorry I can't remember WHO did WHAT exactly so I can give proper credit ... but you know who you are and you did a GREAT job!!! Each person brought a card/project for everyone to do ... some ladies brought 2-3 projects ... WHAT FUN!!!

Any of you SCSers out there will recognize the card using the "Zindorf" style of brayering. Michelle Zindorf was actually supposed to join us for this fun day of stamping ... but due to a schedule blooper, she and her friend were not able to attend! Shucks!! Maybe next time!!! Either way, in her honor, we all gave her "unique technique" a try ... I'm very happy with how mine came out!! (For those of you not familiar with Michelle, it's the blue scenic card with the moon.)

Thanks so much ladies for all the fun, food & fellowship!! Let's do it again real soon ... and you are all invited to MY house this time!!!