happy new baby!

Hi there! It's been ages since I posted a card here ... I've lately only been making them for occasions and then generally forget to post (shame on me) but I'm back! This one's to a baby shower a few friends and I are heading to on Saturday so to be on the safe side I'm scheduling this to post then!

Brit's the daughter of a friend of mine at work. She worked in our Payroll department while going to Kettering University and her "Payroll Moms" (kim1 and kim2) adopted her too! Anywho, she's expecting her first born. A couple friends and I went in on a group gift and the inspiration piece for today's card is the super cute bag my buddy Pat picked up to stuff our smaller items into. I couldn't find my stamp set with the cute giraffe so I ended up using the bag and the only stamps used were the sentiments I used on the inside/front/back of the card. I PhotoShop'd the sentiment off that was on the bag, cleaned up some of the extraneous stuff (ribbons and wrinkles), then picked out the new sentiments, and voilà! Easy peasy concept, but it still took me a few hours... sigh... guess it's been longer than I thought since I'd stamped!

The inspiration piece:

stamps: SU's Made with Love, Stampendous' Hand-Stamped Arc (LOVE this stamp and like to use it on the back bottom of my cards... it's a rainbow-shaped arc that reads, "(heart)(heart) Hand stamped for you from my (heart)(heart)"; paper: Neenah solar white, CTMH's pewter ink

it's all about pink

It's all about pink for this gal - my stampin' buddy Pat - so I HAD to use pinks in a thank you card for her recently. This is my latest stamp set ... ok, TWO of my latest stamp sets ... 'cuz I got a $10 rebate offer from PayPal and ended up ordering two different bird/bird cage sets when I ordered, LOL! I had the DP on hand for inspiration already, and had been searching the Internet for a bird and bird cage stamp that I'd seen once in my travels and mistakenly lost the info from ... well, I've got PLENTY now! These are from Stampendous, and I just HAD to have IO's birdcage pyramid, don't you know ... more on that later!

stamps: Stampendous' birthday cages, tweet cages; paper: Basic Grey's porcelain DP, SU's Always Artichoke, Pretty in Pink card stocks, recycled white card stock from my work place; inks: SU's - methinks they were Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Ruby Red, distressed with Ranger's antique linen and SU's Cameo Coral

a repurposed life

Here's a card from our stamp camp held this past Friday, from materials intended for the cute apron card pictured below. I thought I'd rather make a more masculine card using the apples theme for my eldest son's teacher so I altered it a bit based on a sketch layout that I've since misplaced.


unless noted, supplies provided at stamp class - stamps: Stampendous' Everything Happy, studio g's series 25, paper: SU's Old Olive card stock; ink: studio g's shimmery black, Tri-C watercolor markers

one of my first stamps

... and one that I couldn't live without, this is the stamp that I generally put on the back of my cards. It reads "{heart}{heart} Hand stamped for you from my {heart}{heart}" and is Stampendous' J072 Hand-Stamped Arc, circa '98. I generally stamp it on the back of my cards and then sign my name under the arc. Jan (aka Witchy Woman) of Paper Tango blog fame wants to know what ONE stamp (not a set, mind you, and not SU) you would own if you were limited to one. I keep it in this purple-ish pink Easter egg and keep it with my everyday stamping tools.

It was EASY for me, Jan! But I'm curious ... how do YOU sign your cards?

happy b'day Kimmi!

My buddy Kim's b'day is Tuesday, and by the miracles of modern science - ok, well, that and timed entries - here's her card. She doesn't use Google's Reader (or other "reader" services) so my secret's safe for tonight!

She's a pink kinda gal so I went in search of pinks I had on hand and this is a DP I've not used ... so here you go, Kim! Happy Day! I happen to know that her DH bought her a Cricut for her b'day this past weekend, and asked whether she used her present yet when I saw her today. Nope - she's just perused the manual so far! Most of the gals I know who've picked up a die cut machine have gone w the Cricut. So many toys ... so little time, y'know?! Today's card is based on Clean & Simple Stamping's FTL49 sketch.


stamps: Stampendous' Everything Happy, SU's Heard from the Heart, Pocket Silhouette; paper: SU's DP from a paper share, SU's Old Olive, Ruby Red, and Whisper White card stock; ink: SU's Old Olive, Ruby Red and Cameo Coral; accessories: SU's Ruby Red grosgrain ribbon

meet my closet stampin' buds!

You may have heard me refer to my scrappin' bud Kimmie (L) but I'm betting you've NEVER heard me refer to my stampin' bud Kathleen(R)! She'll be the first to say she doesn't do crafty ... BUT we've hooked her into this ongoing 6x6" calendar scrapbook / 2 card make-'n-take at a LSS, Karen's Creative Stamping. They both came up with great suggestions while we were brainstorming, and we've agreed to meet for additional classes soon. T'riffic fun and we'll have an album ready in no time!

Here's a close-up of one of our projects, a tent card using a fabulous Stampendous stamp.

no deets - all supplies provided by store

can you guess how old?

A gal I work with, Beth, along with her sibs will be taking her Mom out to a show and casino for her upcoming birthday and asked if I'd be interested in making a card for her. Well, it sounded like an inchie opportunity to me and is inspired by this card. I figured I could find a slot machine embellie at my LSS and a Lion King pic on the Internet ... and I had these cute cupcake stamps at home itching to be inked. So, I stopped by my LSS and picked up some new DP, and the rest, as they say, was history. I also ended up signing up for a "Mom & Me" mini photo book while I was there - just doin' my part to support the local economy!

I brought some work home but never got to that ... instead I stamped and made a quick green meal for St. Pat's Day. Tonight we opted for green eggs and ham (breakfast is my fav meal and I occasionally make breakfast-y meals for supper). I'd originally planned on reubens but realized we didn't have any Thousand Island, and was too lazy to venture out again, so punted!

stamps: Inkadinkado's Birthday Cupcake, Stampendous' Hey There Cupcake; paper: My Mind'e Eye Dreamy2 DP, A1's Natural White and Colormates' Medium Autumn Red cardstock; ink: StazOn's Jet Black, Tri-C Watercolor markers; accessories: pink ribbon, metal accent, iridescent ice on cupcake frosting

g'nite now - thanx for stopping by!

best witches

BEST WITCHES for a HAPPY HALLOWEEN ~ that's what the inside sentiment says! I picked up this cute holiday DP at my last LSS stop and the ribbon's some I had remaining from last year - dunno who put this stuff out - bats, ghosts, etc that are SO STINKIN' CUTE!

stamps: Stampendous mini witch shoes, studio g sentiments; paper: Imaginisce Halloweeny DP, SU's Green Galore, Vintage Violet, Whisper White & Paper Reflections' black cardstocks; ink: SU Vintage Violet, StazOn Jet black, Tri-C watercolor markers; accessories: Offray black and unknown bat ribbon

new H card

Not "new age" but "new H" - short for Halloween, natch'! This is my first Halloween card of the year. I'd picked up some new-to-me goodies at a garage sale held at my fav LSS yesterday but when I walked in I spotted some cute Halloween-themed paper and HAD to have it. YOU know how it goes!

I'd not intended to hide all the pretty paper but that's how the card developed. I decided the ric-rac ribbon was too cute to not add, and ended up drawing over the witches' stockings to match the orange in the ribbon and window. This card's inspired by Her Royal Badness, Sherry Cheever ... and you know me and card challenges; it's also for the CPS #79 sketch!

stamps: Stampendous' mini witch shoes, studio g's "trick or treat" (inside sentiment); papers: Reminisce's Verbal Creep DP, Paper Reflections' black, SU's More Mustard and So Saffron card stocks; ink: StazOn's Jet Black, PC-generated outside sentiment; accessories: Reminisce's diecut stickers and Rusty Pickle Big Top trims

triple play

My sister's wedding anniversary is this weekend, I wanted to play with a new stamp, and this combines a few challenges as well ... I THINK it's a triple header, either way we look at this!

Starting with Jennifer Meyer's OCC Inspiration Challenge, tossing in Hilda's Silhouettes and Allison's White-Out challenges, this one's headin' to the mailbox. Michelle Zindorf provided the inspiration for my using the marblizing stamp (side A in Versamark, side C in Cloud White), and Pat Jarbeau for this ribbon tying method - thanx, ladies! I love the silhouette stamps and the look of the 3-panel cards, so I used that but stamped the image in white on vellum to soften the effect, layered on yellow CS stamped with the same image using Versamark. The triple panel represents the rungs in the dining room chairs ... another "triple" reference, eh?!

stamps: Stampendous' Marble Texture Cube, SU's Essence of Love; paper: A1's Natural White, Bazzil's unknown soft white, SU's Summer Sun and Vellum CS; ink: StazOn Jet Black, Versamagic's Cloud White, Versamark; accessories: SU's (methinks?) So Saffron ribbon

read any good books?

My next door neighbors have 2 cats and a house that we "sit" whenever they're on vacation. Well, Maria collects mice - not real ones, but those of a ceramic, painted, stone, etc variety - and also reads voraciously! I'd picked up this Max stamp at least 6 months ago and intended to use it on a card for her. Well, sooner or later I get around to doing what I intend ... honest!

They'll be returning soon so I made a "welcome home" card of sorts based on LaurenM's Saturday sketch and for Caardvarks' purple challenge. It's an acetate card, hard to tell from the scan but more apparent from the smaller pic of the card slightly opened. The base of the card is acetate, and opens to the left. Printed on the acetate is the "Read any good books lately?" sentiment; the rest of the card is mounted, centered, on the inside of the acetate base.

stamps: Stampendous' Max Books; paper: American Traditional Designs' Welcome Baby printed pastel vellum, ColorMates' medium outdoor olive cardstock, Karen Foster Story Time Collage DP; ink: StazOn Jet Black, Tri-C watercolor markers; accessories: Prima hydrangea flower, lavender dotted swiss organdy ribbon

what's brewing?

This is my QuicKutz take on SU's Like it a Latte stamp set, whipped up into a gift card holder for Beate's weekend sketch challenge (WSC38).

I'm geeked with how well the gift card coordinates with the DP, especially since I had left the gift card at work when I went in search of DP!

stamps: A Muse Artstamps' What's Brewing (inside sentiment), Stampendous' Hand-Stamped Arc (rear); paper: Deja Views' Timeless Collection, ThePaperCompany's clear vellum; ink: StazOn Jet Black; tools: Marvy corner rounder punch, QuicKutz w mug die

Happy Thanksgiving!

Angel's started a weekly challenge, and for this first one, there's absolutely NO STAMPING! I picked up the sequin ribbons in 3 different colors - gold, rose sheen (looks more like dark brown to me!) and white iris) from a recent outing to Jo-Ann's and the antique gold stickers from a Nat'l Scrapping Day road trip with some friends.

stamps: none; paper: a really pretty medium brown textured cardstock and white cardstock from stock on hand; ink: none; accessories: Stampendous Class A-Peel Stickers - Thanks Leaves, Fall Trees; CTMH White Daisy organdy ribbon, Novtex's gold 6mm sequins ribbon

Angelosity's Sketch 31

Just making this post under the wire ... with 15 more minutes to post during this day ... here's my post for Angelosity's daily challenge. I WAS just checking blogs before hitting the sack and then the circles down the center of today's sketch spoke to me. You see, I'd just picked up this ribbon from Michael's this past weekend!

Short on details 'cuz I just tossed everything back into it's storage ... stamps: Stampendous' Santa Trio, PAPERTREYink's Green Thumb; paper: red and white card stock from stash on hand; ink: Brilliance's black, waterbased markers on hand; accessories: Artic Antics ribbon

World Card Day - Oct 6

So, how'd YOU celebrate World Card Day?

I'd signed up for a QuicKutz club project at at my LSS. Just as I was about wrapping up my piece - more on that later - and making plans to hit some local craft stores w my buddy Pat, my DH called telling me to call another bud, Claudia. Claudia in turn suggested a field trip to a few stores south of us that I'd not yet visited, so Pat, Claudia, and another card-makin' bud, Katy, got together for a whirdwind tour of 3 shops in the Troy area.

This is my favorite make-and-take project, which we completed at the Archiver's located in Sterling Heights MI.

stamps: Stampendous; ink: Brilliance graphite black; accessories: black flocking; tools: 2-in-1 glue pen

get well to 1 of my fav peeps

My buddy Claudia is a needlepoint and card-making extraordinaire ... tho' she's mainly into card-making lately. She recently started a blog too, and shamed me into uploading some entries!

I'd made a get-well card for her recently where I used one of my favorite stamps - it's a Stampendous stamp of a few agapanthus flowers - and one of my favorite color combinations - red, white and black. Methinks I could get into gardening if it weren't for the constant weed upkeep - these things are beautious!!

So ... here's to your continued good health, Claud!!