Hey There (Sunshine)

Hi stampy friends! 

Well, my latest Paper Smooches stamps arrived Monday and I've been dying to ink up this rainbow ever since it arrived!  The rainbow is from Paper Smooches Little Lady.  

You know what I realized as I was looking through all of my Paper Smooches stamps...  

Since the addition of Paper Smooches background stamps, 

I might never have to buy patterned paper again!  

Yup.  

I said that.  

I will eat that in a few days since I just ordered another 6x6 pad but honestly, with all the great background stamps out now, I'm loving creating my own patterned paper. 

I find it so much easier to use and I can create exactly the pattern I want and in the color I want. I also feel like I am getting way more use out of my stamps & inks!

It doesn't get better than that!

The kraft star background is from Primary.

The blue hexagon background is from Geo-Graphic

The yellow gingham background is from Debonair.

The sentiment is from Sentiment Sampler. 

Alright friends, that's it for now!  

Be back soon! 

:) More to share...

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

A Cut Above, Day 4

Can you tell I've been having fun with my dies? 

Oh my gosh, so much fun.  

I'm a little (ok, a lot) behind in my A Cut Above class homework... 

However, ever since my Papertrey Ink ordered arrived on Saturday I have been inspired by the new Winter Wisteria color!

(OH MY GOODNESS I'M OBSESSED WITH THAT COLOR!)  

I was determined to make something with it ASAP!  

I didn't intend on making this card for this class, which is all about partial die cutting until I realized what I wanted was the banner from the PTI tag #5 die, but longer... and then it occurred to me to just partially die cut it and ta-da!  Perfect-o - exactly what I needed!   

Side note: I cut the polaroid using my Silhouette.

I love how easy it is to create whatever I want whenever I need it and until that Lawn Fawn Say Cheese arrives at my doorstep, this will have to do!  PS- it is on it's way. :)

I also used the world's greatest stamp set Paper Smooches Party Posse and some wonderful patterned papers.   The sentiment is from Paper Smooches too... but I'm ready for bed so I'm not looking that one up right now. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  

Happy Birthday Hamster

Hello all!  

I'm taking a break from the A Cut Above class (even though I did use my Silhouette) to create a birthday card for a my friend's daughter who is turning 3 this weekend.  

My husband thinks we are ridiculous...  

that my friend & I are essentially making cards for each other.  

Well, he might be right but I'm hoping Rachel will like it!  

Oh my gosh, every time I stamp with this little Paper Smooches Hamster, I get giddy.  

Honestly, I don't know if a cuter stamp even exists!  He is SO stinkin' cute!  

I used my Silhouette to cut the polaroid window and then masked the background to stamp the dots (Paper Smooches Primary) and the clouds (Hero Arts).  I also added the Hero Arts Enelope pattern to the grass just to fill in the blank spaces.  

I love the way the masking in the polaroid turned out!  

I'm actually finding myself really enjoying masking. 

:)  

The hamster is from Paper Smooches Party Posse and the pennants are from Paper Smooches Hang Ups.  

I went to the Paper Smooches Sparks inspiration photos and found this Sparks challenge that I somehow never played in.... WHAT? How did I miss one?!?!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  

A Cut Above, Day 3

It's time to share the card I made for today's Online Card Class.

Day 3 is creating shaped cards with dies.  
 
I used my Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles to create this shaped card. 

 I used my new favorite stamp set, Paper Smooches Reflections, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler and this Paper Smooches Sparks inspiration photo, as I am entering it into the Paper Smooches Sparks Design Team call.   To enter, you can find more information here. 

Here's a close up of the card, as I did something I rarely do... I added texture!  

A while ago, my mother-in-law asked me to create some sympathy cards for her.  In general, this is just something I don't do... I dread them, in fact... 

...but my father actually passed away 1 year ago later this week so it's something that's been weighing on my mind.  My father and I weren't that close but I still think about him often.  He was a good man, close to nature so this card really speaks to me and reminds me of him.  It would have been a beautiful wedding or bridal shower card but my heart is absolutely elsewhere this week.  

Don't get too sad though...

Next week will be all about birthdays!  

I turn 31 next week!!!!  Ack!  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

A Cut Above, Day 2

Time to share the card from today's Online Card Class, A Cut Above.

Today's class was all about window cards.  

This is something I generally don't do so it definitely took me out of the box, which is why I am taking the class, right?!?!  It's all about trying new things, different techniques.  

Day 2, Mission Accomplished.

:)

I die-cut the butterfly out of the card and the tag and mounted the tag on foam adhesive to give some depth.   (Well, before adhering the tag, I stamped the dots)

Then, I stamped the butterfly with houndstooth and adhered the butterfly die-cut on the inside of the card, so looking at it flat, it fits perfectly in the tag.  

The dots are Paper Smooches Primary and the Houndstooth, Tag & Butterfly Die, and Sentiment are from Papertrey Ink.  

I'm enjoying myself with this class... it's definitely pushing me out of my stamping box.  :)  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  

A Cut Above, Day 1

Just popping in super quick to share the card I made for today's A Cut Above online card class.  This is the first Online Card Class I've actually taken, so I'm excited to see how it goes.

I'll be trying my hardest to create a card for each lesson.  Here's today's!  It's all about pairing a die-cut with it's matching stamp.  

 I've used Papertrey Ink's Fillable Frames die & matching stamp.  

The sentiment, so pretty- isn't it, is from Papertrey Ink's Autumn Acorns and the flowers are part of the new Wplus9 Mother's Day Bouquet.  

That banner- it's actually a tag die that I have cut to make it longer.  

Alright, it's late.  Time for me to go to sleep! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

Pretty Flower Thanks

Happy Monday!  Hopefully everyone had a good weekend. 

I had a great weekend, full of lots of crafting time. 

Just wanted to share a card I made using one of my new Wplus9 stamps, Mother's Day Bouquet.  

Sigh, it is such a pretty set.  

Here's what I made with it. 

I went round and round as to where to put the sentiment but in the end, opted for something I've never done- I turned it sideways!  Ack!  I think I like it...  I think.  tbd.

I paired it with Papertrey Ink's Modern Basics Circles and Faux Ribbon.  The sentiment is from one of the Fillable Frames set, I think...  

I've been dying to break it out and when I saw the CAS-ual Friday's challenge 'Opposites Attract' (CFC #48), it gave me the perfect excuse!  PINK & GREEN!  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

Berries Thanks

I can't believe how much I have been using Paper Smooches Reflections lately.  I absolutely LOVE this set.  You'll see more of it from me very soon.  But in the meantime, here's a quick card I made.   

I actually I made this for the Paper Smooches Sparks Design Team search using this inspiration photo.

If you're interested, you can find more information about how to apply for the Paper Smooches Sparks Guest Design Team here. 

Tuesday Trigger: Three Little Birds

I just got my first order ever of Wplus9 stamps!  YAY!  

Well, not just... They came right after the last release, I just hadn't inked them up until now.  

I love love love the Label Layers 4 (here).  How cool is this set? 

Just sayin' a stamp set that has a sentiment "Hoot & Holla' '' = COOL.

HAD TO BUY!  

These stamp incredibly well.  Love that.  

I can say that I will positively be placing more Wplus9 orders in the near future. 

I took inspiration for this card from  this week's Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World. 

This trigger (here) inspired me in SO many ways.  

I love birds, but for some reason, just wasn't in the bird mood.

I love the masculine colors of this trigger so that's more of the direction that I took here.

I really tried the replicate the color of the grey-ish brown background in the frame and stripes and colored the sentiments to match the bird.  

  

To create the banner, I used Papertrey Ink's Background Basics Retro.  

I love these stripes- they are so handy.  I would even venture to say that I use now them more than *gasp* polka dots!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Tuesday Trigger: Sweet Surprise

Oh my goodness, don't you just LOVE it when a card simply comes together?  

That's something that NEVER happens to me.  

I'll fuss for hours over the simplest design.  

Moving something back and forth by less than a centimeter.  

 This card came together in less than 5 minutes.  The only decision was WHICH of the fabulous 3 backgrounds from Paper Smooches Geo-Graphic I wanted to use.  This card also features Paper Smooches Reflections, which I hate to admit is the first time I have actually inked it up, and Simply Said.  

End result- must make this card again in every color for every occasion. 

Totally CAS and totally my style. 

I created this card for this week's Tuesday Trigger, Sweet Surprise, over at Moxie Fab World.  Thanks Cath for the incredible inspiration.  Loving it!  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  

Happy Easter

Wishing everyone in blog-land a joyous Easter! 

This is a sweet CAS Easter card I made featuring Paper Smooches Spring Fling. 

I love this bunny running with the carrot.  :)   So fun.  

This fits perfectly into this week's CAS-ual Friday's challenge, here!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Easter.  

Birthday Doggie: Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge

I'm having so much fun pulling out my existing stamp sets and figuring how to use them in new or different way.  :)

I needed a card for this weekend- my son was invited to a birthday party for one of his fellow classmates who is turning 4 so here's what I came up with.

For this card, the doggie (eek- so cute!) and gift came from Paper Smooches Santa Paws and the sentiment is from Party Posse.  I'm really trying hard to no longer hoard my 6x6 pads of patterned paper, so I pulled a few sheets out from Echo Park's A Boy's Life.  
Oh, but the doggie is actually stamped using Papertrey Ink's BB Gingham, stamped off once to make it the perfect shade.  

I realized about halfway through making this card that it works perfectly for the current Paper Smooches Sparks challenge, see here.

I know the yellow is a little off from the orange but I've always been a bit of a rule breaker...  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.  

A little something called Stamping Royalty...

SOMEONE PLEASE PINCH ME!

I still can't believe it!  

 I was selected as one of the 2012 Stamping Royalty winners in the Thanks category! 

You can see the announcement on the Paper Crafts blog here.

There are no words to describe how excited I was when I got that email from Paper Crafts!

I jumped up and down in my cube at work, ran outside and screamed, and then teared up a little...  Pretty sure my co-workers think I'm nuts.  

I probably read it about 15 times within the first hour of receiving it... 

and maybe another15 times each day throughout this entire week! 

Really, I still can't believe it.

So again, someone please pinch me! 

I am thrilled and honored and can't wait to share my card with you... 

but since I can't (you'll see it in the Nov/Dec 2012 Paper Crafts issue!), I'll tell you about the strategy for the cards I did send in...

(1) Every card I sent in truly focused on stamping with almost always some cool stamping technique.  I figured, it's gotta be called stamping royalty for a reason, right?  

(2) I also really looked at my stamps and tried to use them in unique ways.  

(3) Lastly, I made sure they were executed perfectly.  

My winning card took probably 12 tries because I kept smudging my ink and getting inky fingerprints on my card.   No joke, I have the pile of fails in my craft room.

Thank you, again, Paper Crafts Magazine for picking my card.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my excitement with me.

Have a great day!

Shell-ebrate Goodtimes

I've been setting all sorts of goals for myself recently and one I'm pulling back is to really try and use all of my stamps in the sets that I purchase, and perhaps even use them more than once!  It's a biggie.  

So, I pulled out a set that I absolutely love- Paper Smooches Party Posse.  OMGeeeee!  I love this stamp set.  It's gotta be in my Top 5.  

I also used Paper Smooches Geo-Graphic to create the hexagon background.  

It's pink and girly and all the things that make me happy.  Sigh.  So happy.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Can't wait to share more this week...  Yes, I have MORE! 

Whale Spots

Just popping in to share a quick card I made using Paper Smooches Surf n Turf!

I love the way this little 'blue' whale card turned out!

 

I used a 1" circle punch to create the lighter blue dots and some paper I've been hoarding. 

I love the scalloped edge too.  :) Just adds a little extra something. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!   

Thanks Teacher

Hi All!  

Sorry it's been so quiet from me lately...  I've been super busy with the kids and birthday parties and just life in general!  

Anyways, I'm popping in to share a cute teacher card I made with Paper Smooches Smartypants set.  I love this stamp set!  So fun.  :)

I masked the books to create some piles and a super cute little bookworm popping out.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!