Author: stampcatwg

Let Freedom Ring! Today I'm posting my 4th of July cards to share with you. I love making patriotic cards – as you've probably noticed from my blog! For my 4th of July cards this year I called upon an idea from a card I made a while back for Shabby Tea Room. (click here to see that card). This time I made the flag much smaller and also more geometric.

Okay, I have to say that making one of these was okay….but making 16 of them!? Not so much! I had no idea how long it would take me with all that glitter and cutting, and punching, and gluing! Oy. I do like how they came out though, so I guess it was worth it!! And I got to watch THREE movies…hahaha.

The card:

The Process:

The finished flag is 4" x 3". The blue part is a 1" square punch. the stripes are 1/2" wide. It was fun to combine two of my favorite things right now: polka dots and gingham! The Statue of Liberty is from Amuse stamps! I colored her with my Copics and then put on some 'mermaid' glitter glue. The fireworks were stamped in white ink and then glittered up!

Today's card was meant to send a happy hello to a friend who just moved to a new city. I wanted her to have some fun mail in her new mail box. I love this stamp set from Pink Persimmon with the little banners and the birdies to hold them. Each banner is a different stamp with a different pattern. Don't even get me started on the cute alphabet that fits just so inside the flags!! I know I will be using it a lot in the future.

I colored the little birdies in with my Copics and used Versamagic ink pads for the banners. The black ink is all Memento Ink.

This little butterfly fluttered by while Mark was out doing yard work! This was the only picture I could snap before she flew away…

Hi there! I have a cheerful fun card to share today! My friend Jilli Bling lives in a beautiful yellow victorian house out in the country and she was gracious enough to invite me and some friends over to stamp a while back. I wanted to send her a thank you card and I was so inspired by her wonderful home.

I used my Copic Markers to color the house in…and yes…it took me a long time! I used my glaze pens to add some dimension to the leaves on the plants and some of the yellow siding on the house. I used three or four shades of yellow to get just the right color. I kept the rest of the color scheme simple to focus on the main image.

I'm pretty crazy for polka dots lately…

Hiya! I found another great blog with a color challenge! This one is a color challenge and you can link to the Stamp Away With Me blog by clicking here.

This is the color pallette we had to work with – nice huh?

I used the super super cute PTI hot air balloon set with the cloud die. I used my versamagic inks in the orange, aqua and chartreuse colors and then made the baskets brown. I absolutely adore this stamp set!

I tried adding ribbon, some buttons, a charm…nothing worked…so I just left it sort of simple and clean. The images are so crisp and soft and I like the way the scallops add some dimension.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum Summertime!!! Woo hoo! Normally I'm not really a hot weather person, but this year, after all the rain, I am ready for it to be nice outside. I do love certain things about Summer: Sandals, warm evenings, fresh fruit and veggies, and being outside.

Today's card is my entry for the Shabby Tea Room Blog Week #14 Challenge – Summer Fun! I love the Shabby Tea Room challenges! I had fun with this one and I really am happy with my card this week. I hope you like it too! It's a long card – finished size is 8" x 4". I needed all that room for the letters…

I had these fun chipboard letters in the cabinet – have had them for a long time. I found some matching paper and some shells and ribbon all in this sort of retro Summer color pallette. Not your typical super bright colors. I sanded the paper to make it look like an old beach towel – all worn in. I stamped the palm trees in the same color ink as the paper. I tried Versamark ink but that wasn't dark enough.

Some of the supplies I used. I created my own fun little embellishment with the chipboard, some ribbon and a pretty shell. I've also had those shells forever! Glad to finally use them.

Good News! I was chosen as one of the Top Crops over at Taylored Expressions for my card from last week. (Challenge #116). Check out the announcement by clicking here! WOOO HOOO! Thanks Taylor! I love her blog so to be selected (again) is wonderful!

Today's card was made especially for my sweet friend TeaDub! I just knew she would like these little tropical cuties! I colored the image first and then decided to go all out tropical with the color scheme too. I love these bright sunny colors.

I colored the mice with my Copic Markers and colored the sun a nice yellow hue. I added some ultrafine prisma glitter to the sun to make it shine. The flower embellishment came with the glitter already on it. I used my nesties for the circle and scallop circle.

Aloha!

This weekend was pretty busy and I didn't get in very much stamping time (gasp!) at home. I needed a birthday card and so I combined a color challenge with a sketch challenge to come up with one. The sketch is from Taylored Expressions (#117) and the color challenge is from Embellish Magazine Blog. I'm not sure why I can never get brown to photograph correctly?? The layer on the card, the ink and the velvet flower are all rich chocolatey brown.

Taylor's Sketch Image:

Embellish Color Image – Yellow, Brown and Coral Pink:

I couldn't resist putting in a picture of my cutie patootie nephew Gabriel, who we saw at the BBQ on Sunday. He just had his one year birthday. What a face! Could you eat him with a spoon??? Oy.

Greetings and Salutations! Today I'd like to share a birthday card made with those ever popular and oh- so-cute Penny Black hedgehogs! Yup, I love 'em too. I've been collecting these fun stamps for at least 12 years or so.

Fun fact about me…I used to have a real live hedgehog! Her name was Emma and she was an African Pygmy Hedgehog. She lived about five years – which is a good life for a pygmy hedgie. She was such a fun pet! She had the cutest little feet and her tummy was soft fur. Too much fun! Only down side is that hedgies only eat live food – in the form of meal worms! EW. You know I loved her because I would go to the pet store every week to buy her food. Again…EW. Other than that she was cool and unusual and fun to have around the house!

Emma:

Here's my card to share today:

Can you tell that I am SERIOUSLY in love with that blue and white polka dot paper? I know, two posts in a row… The hedgies were colored with Copics and then I added some glitter accents to the balloons, present and flowers. This card, again, cute and simple. I let the image speak for iteself.

I started coloring the hedgies with E00 for their tummies and hands/feet. I then used RV10 for their cheeks. I used three or four shades of both warm grey and cool grey to fill in their spikes. No real pattern to it, just keep going until it looks the way you like.

Hiya! Today's card is for Stacey's Stamping Stage Color Challenge #33! Check out her blog – lots of cute ideas and cards, and I love her color challenges. I've entered her contest before. The one for this week just happens to be in one of my favorite color pallettes – blues and greens. Soft blues and greens, like the ocean or beach glass.

Here is my card:

My card turned out just sort of sweet and simple. The image is from Unity and I colored it with my Copic markers. Used BG000 for the water and G00 for the glass vases!

HELLO! Happy Monday…I have been a bizzy bee in the craft room today! I had the day off and, after cleaning up the house a bit and doing tons of laundry, I settled into the craft room with Mr. Buddy by my side. I redid my blog banner for Summer…you like? I took that picture in front of the most beautiful church in Lake Forest Illinois last summer.

The card I want to post today is for Taylored Expressions Challenge #116. I love her sketch challenges!

Here's the card – a nice cheery birthday message:

Is this little birdie too cute? He's from Whipper Snapper stamps. The banner and words are from Pink Persimmon stamps. I colored in with my Copics and then added a tiny bit of glitter in the center of the flowers. The sweet felt flowers are from Impress and I've had those for ages.

Here is the sketch image:

Close up of the coloring…

Hi friends in blog-land! I'm back after a super busy, super fun weekend full of crafty goodness. Sorry to have gone so long without a post! I'm back today with my entry for Taylored Expressions #114 challenge! For my entry, I made a thank you card! On a side note, my card for TESC #113 came in THIRD in the voting last week! If you voted for me, thank you! What an honor – there were so many cute cards.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my thank you card:

I used the stamp set "Enjoy the Ride" from Papertrey Ink to make my cute little VW car. The saying is a stamp from Impression Obsession. I used about 7 shades of green to get my car to look kind of old and beat up but still shiny. I had these funny clear bubbles that fit perfectly as headlights! Added a band of chartreuse ribbon and some buttons….

Okay, so I have to tell you about my weekend! Friday night after work I headed over to the site for the Annual Rubber Stamp Convention put on by my friends at A Stamp in the Hand. Kat, Wendy and Joyce came in from LA and I was anxious to see them! We went out to dinner and gabbed and caught up. Saturday morning I went over early to get situated at the Rubber Stamp Concepts booth. Harry  hired me this year to do demo's and make-n-takes for him. Cute necklace project with ecoboard and foil! You guys are not going to believe that I didn't take ONE picture at the stamp show! It was so crazy busy the entire time that I barely had time to go to the bathroom. The day flew by. I went out to dinner with ASITH gang and Judikins gang and we had Thai food. The best part was this amazing coconut ice cream with toasted almonds and caramel sauce. OMG. My "I don't want any dessert" turned into "yes, please!" THANKS KAT! Got home around 9:30….

I got to meet some of you that follow my blog on Saturday and that was wonderful! I was amazed that some people recognized me because of my new apron! Yay! Nice to meet all of you – and thanks for your support. Leave me a comment if you have time!

Woke up early on Sunday morning and went out to a nice breakfast with the DH and then he dropped me off at my friend LG's house. So, four crazy stamping girls headed off to Berkeley for a day of paper shopping! Whew. It was a perfect day. Beautiful weather, good company, and great shopping.

I think that's the weekend in a nutshell. Well….this morning this is what was waiting outside at 5:30 am!!! Three big deer in the street! I know these pictures are terrible…but it was still practically dark out. I'm surprised they came out at all. Usually the only wild life on our street is skunks, raccoons and the crazy turkeys!

Hello Everyone! Today's card is my entry into the Taylored Expressions Challenge – #113. I liked this sketch - cuz there's a lot going on! I had purchased, but not used yet, a new paper pack from Die Cuts With a View. It's called Songbird and I got it at Michael's. It has some really cute little sentiments and the colors are great. It also has some sparkle to it!

Here is the sketch image:

Here is my take on the challenge!

A side view and a little peek inside! I added lots of dimension with all the layers and my favorite foam tape. Isn't that bird the cutest thing? The sentiment only said "Happy" so I added "Birthday" with a PTI stamp and some brown ink.

Close up of the flower embellishments:

One thing I do a lot is make my own embellishments out of patterned paper. This paper pattern scale is way too big for a card. But, the flowers individually are perfect for adding on to a card! I cut out three of the flowers and popped them with foam tape. I also cut out extra leaves to add to the top part of the card since I liked that little extra green for balance.

This is an extra card I'm throwing in – just a simple card with a nice sentiment – not too busy but nice nevertheless. I colored the Stampin' Up image with my Copic markers and then cut the shapes with my nestabilities (LOVE them). I cut the card out of the giant sizzix square – also from Stampin' Up.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain…for purple mountains majesty, across the fruited plain…America, America, God shed His grace on thee! What a great song and what a nice sentiment as we enter the most patriotic of seasons – Summer! We have Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and then Labor Day – all purely American traditions.

Today my card is my entry for The Shabby Tea Room, Week #10 Challenge. The "rules" were to use either Stars & Stripes or Red, White and Blue. So, of course, I did both! Funny that I had just made a Red, White and Blue card a week or so ago…hmmm…must be something on everyone's mind. It's a great combo – how can you go wrong?

Here is my card for today:

I started by making the big flag in the background. I simply tore strips of bazzill paper to make a rough flag. I used silver star shaped brads to make the blue part. Reminiscent of one of our first flags. I had the old travel tags that say New York and Boston. I stamped the sentiment in Denim blue Adirondack ink. The background is kraft paper with stars stamped in white pigment ink.

The stars and stripes flying proudly in our front yard! God Bless America!