Category: Papercrafting

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!

I must say that I am having a shabby good time with these challenges from The Shabby Tea Room Blog! The challenges are putting me back in touch with my shabby chic side! I love the combination of a big floral print with a stripe with a checked pattern all in a beautiful muted color pallette. Does anyone else remember when shabby chic was all the rage? I loved loved loved Rachel Ashwell and her show and her books.

So, another week in the Shabby Tea Room contest for me! You can find their blog by clicking here. Go check it out…or better yet…enter a card too! This weeks rules only called for the use of chipboard. I went through my giant bin of chipboard shapes and found…a teacup! Also a cute little heart. That got me started, and served as my inspiration.

Here's a close up of the chipboard tea cup and heart. I covered the tea cup shape with patterned paper to look like an antique. Then I inked the edges with brown ink. I painted the tiny heart with salmon colored craft paint and then covered it in glitter to add a pop of sparkle. I had the button, ribbon and the rose in my bag of tricks already.

The process begins…

I am in LOVE with this blue paper. It is actually flocked and furry!! MMMMM.

A friend at work commissioned some Father's Day cards – which put me to the test. Masculine cards are something I don't do that often. If I do, it's usually leaves or trees or something made with the Cricut. I dumped out lots of stamping bins and found some good masculine images of boats and lighthouses. I wanted to enter the TESC challenge so this is one of the cards I came up with! You can find the sketch over at Taylored Expressions Blog! 

The Sketch Image:

I really wanted this card to have a vintage feel to it. I crumpled the cream paper with the central boat image and then flattened it out again. I distressed the edges with brown ink. I tore some of the blue paper to look worn also. The background paper reminded me of old mattress ticking or sail cloth. It already had the vintage look to it. Added some Scrapper's floss to mimic rope. You can never go wrong with red, white and blue as a color scheme. I like how it came together! The sentiment was printed on the computer.

How are you this lovely breezy day!? It is so beautiful today that I am uplifted and energized. Have you seen all the supah cute banner cards posted on the interwebs and blogs lately? I love that look because it's so cheerful and happy. Well… I've been wanting to make my own banner card for a long time…and lo and behold…it finally happened! One of my sweet friends just earned her Master's Degree and that calls for a HOORAY! Here is the card I made for her:

I attached the flags onto scrapper's floss and then popped them off the page with foam tape.

Here's the side view with a peek inside – there's a little birdie flying by!

Here are some of the materials I used! The giant cloud stamp is from Hero Arts (do you love that?)…The punch is from Marvy. The alphabet I used to spell hooray is an old rub on set from Making Memories. The little birdies are (what else) Martha Stewart punches.

Tonight is my monthly stamp club meeting! Yay! it's a group that gets together the first Wednesday of every month to potluck, stamp and gab and it's wonderful. I look forward to seeing those crazy gals each month. We do card swaps too – woohoo! Tonight instead of a card to swap, I'm bringing little paper strawberries that I made. Stephanie at Paper Garden had these as a make-n-take a long time ago and my little berry has been sitting in my craft room ever since – and now finally I made a whole bunch!

I cut the strawberries out of different red papers and the tops out of green polka dots! The sentiment is from Amuse stamps and the strawberry is an old Stampin' Up image. I colored the strawberry stamp with my water based markers from SU! in Rose Red and Green Galore.

My little strawberry patch is ready to go! Inside are dark chocolate kisses….mmmmm.

Close up of the sentiment.

Have a sweet day!

Today I have a little story, a card and a funny picture! Over at The Shabby Tea Room Blog I got an honorable mention for my last entry!!! Woo hoo!!! I love that blog and the entries are always beautiful and amazing. I was honored to be mentioned! Get it…snort snort. Anyhoo…I was excited about this development. It's the card I made last week with the pretty Victorian house and the shabby flowers.

My card for today was commissioned by my best customer – TJ. She needed a new home card for her gal pal in New York. We decided on a cool retro color scheme and then the ideas started flowing. Okay – how much, seriously, can you love the PTI couches, chairs, etc.??? Oy. Three Cheers for Chairs! (This is also a Moxie Fab Card Challenge!)

This little cozy scene used SEVEN stamps! LOVE it! I used my Copics to color in the rays of light from the lamp, the photo on the wall and the vase.

This is the inside. Both the sentiment on the front and the one on the inside were printed on my computer using a font called Annual. You know I had to make one more chair!! I really enjoy paper piecing these projects. Not too much detailed cutting.

OH! Okay, one more thing. This is a totally random reference and I know ONE other person out there is gonna crack up. I am a Bravo tv junkie. I'll just admit it right now. I also have recently become a DWTS junkie. Think of these two voices: Chad from Million Dollar Listing and Evan Lysacek… Am I right?? If you are the one other person that gets that – email me! I want to be your friend! Okay – bye now.

Hi everyone! I am so excited to report that Copic Camp weekend was a success! It's Sunday night and I'm taking a moment to sit down and let it all sink in. I'm re-acquainting myself with my boys who have been inundated by women all weekend! We had a great time of stamping, laughing, eating and learning together at Copic Camp. I taught two 5 hour classes on the techniques, tips and tricks to Copic Markers. There were 6 people on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. I know I had a great time! I'm pretty sure I got everyone hooked on Copics. Thank you to everyone who came! Your enthusiasm is contagious and I enjoyed spending time with all of you – and making some new stamping friends along the way. Stamping chicks rock! Okay, here are some pix to share…

Saturday's group:

This was Shauna's first card EVER! Good job girlfriend!

Caroline brought this beautiful cake to share with everyone. She is a fantastic baker/cake decorator. Um, only thing is, I forgot to take a before picture! Here's the after! It was delicious and didn't last long.

Shauna brought these gorgeous roses from her garden. Look how she put that pretty doily underneath the flowers to make a sweet bouquet. I am enjoying these flowers so much!

Here is Sunday's group!

This looks pretty serious… Markers everywhere and deep concentration…

Here's to a great week ahead – cheers! 

FRIDAY! GLORIOUS FRIDAY! We made it! Whew…had to get that off my chest. Lots going on with me this week and here it is FRIDAY! Today's card is my entry to The Shabby Tea Room blog contest #7 titled The Comforts of Home. They had a lovely soft image to work from that I fell in love with instantly. Can I just say that I adore this color pallette? MMMMMM. It was easy to get the old creative juices flowing for this challenge.

Here is the beautiful image! Could you just die? That stack of pretty quilts all piled up like that contrasted with the weathered wood. Go-jus. Really. It sets a mood for sure.

Here is my entry for the challenge combining the image with the sentiment "Comforts of Home." I incorporated most of the colors with the patterned paper and gave the feel of the stack of quilts via using different patterned papers.

I stamped my images in brown ink. Then I grunged up the edges of the paper with my distresser and some light brown ink. I took the image of the house and the sentiment and crumpled the paper a bit to make it less "perfect." I mounted the house with foam tape. The little flowers were part of a giant hydrangea silk flower….then I put some soft pink brads in the center. 

I am in love with this new edge punch from EK Success!!! Giant scallop – perfection.

Before I sign off for today – I want to let you know that I probably won't be blogging this weekend. I am holding my first ever Copic Camp weekend at my house! Classes from 10-3 both days talking about Copic Marker techniques, tricks and tips. I have 14 people coming and I am really excited about it. I love to share my, um, obsession about Copics! I'm making a nice lunch and we're doing two card projects too. I taught classes for four years at one of my local stamp stores, but it's been quite some time ago. I forgot how much fun it is to get ready and teach/share with other cool, crafty women. I will take pictures and post all about it on Monday!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Today's card is my entry for Taylored Expressions #110 sketch challenge. You can find her blog by clicking here. Seems as though everyone is into squares lately! Good thing I have a square punch so I didn't have to try to get all those squares perfect!

Here is the sketch layout:

Here is my card! I tried to make it sort of country and fun at the same time.

Something I have been wanting to try for a long time is using my Copic markers on kraft paper. This is my first attempt at that! I had thought I would use darker colors to make up for the darker paper…but the opposite turned out to be true. I used lighter colors! For the birdhouse I used two shades of mustard yellow and then made hatch marks with my blender pen to make it look weathered. Lastly, I got out the white gel pen to add some highlights.

For the inside I just stamped the front image again and didn't color it…added a happy hello!

Here's another quick and simple card I made - thought I would throw it in too! Love those stamps from Cats Pajamas! How cute is that little cowboy??

Gotta run…too much good tv on tonight. Lost and DWTS results show…and Biggest Loser… Ack! And I still have some chores to do…and eat dinner…bye!

Hi everybody! For the past two days we have been cleaning and doing yard work non-stop. Whew. I'm about done with all the chores for a bit. It's beautiful outside and it was time for a good old fashioned Spring cleaning at our house. We even did the windows. How great does that feel? I love it – afterwards! haha. Everything is in tip top shape and sparkly.

Given that we have been cleaning and doing chores…I have not had time to stamp anything this weekend to post on the old bloggy blog. However – I thought it would be a good time to share pictures of my craft studio! What the heck, it might not be this clean again for a while!

This is the view from the door as you walk in. The table on the right is a new addition and I like it for extra stamping room and for when someone comes over to stamp with me! The bins right in front on the main table hold all of my necessities: scissors, adhesives, glue, bone folder, exacto knife, etc.

The shelves were all here when we moved in. The people who owned the house before us worked from home and this was their office. The only drawback of my room is that there is no window in here. I have track lighting above and some flourescents under the cabinet.

My 'office' area with my laptop and my printer.

The main stamping table area up close. Love the pink phone from Pottery Barn kids! Gotta have tv to watch movies while stamping! My colored pencils, brads, and embellishments are right above.

This was the closet for this room! Now it is stamp, paper and photo storage. On the bottom rack are all of our family photograps by year and event. The next shelf up has all of my Stampin' Up sets from the last 16 years. I don't really get rid of them. You never know when you might want an oldie!

My craft studio is actually two rooms combined into one big room. Again, this was like this when we moved in. Love that long counter and also there is a sink! The door leads out to the backyard. This was a porch and the former owners enclosed it to make their office larger. The opening is for a sliding glass door. On the right in the clear bins is all of my 12 x 12 paper stored by category. My friend JRR made the beautiful Welcome sign that hangs in the doorway!! Love that!!

That's a LOT of paper!!

P.S. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE the Container Store???

This is my die cutting and paper cutting area. I have my Cricut and my Cuttlebug out where I can use them often. The dies and such are stored right there too. I love my giant steel edged paper cutter!

When we moved into our house every room had shag carpet! EVEN THE KITCHEN! No, I'm not kidding! Cootie factor was high. Needless to say, we replaced all the carpet before we moved in. I picked out this patterned carpet for my craft studio to make it pretty and feminine. I didn't realize it at the time, but it also hides the dirt very well!

Stampin' Up sets and photo storage:

I keep all of my ink together here. That way I can always find what I need. Each drawer has a different brand of ink. Top drawer is for Memento and Brilliance. Next drawer is for Versamagic, etc.. On the top are the ink pads I use all the time.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my craft studio! I spend a lot of time in here. In fact, if Mark isn't home I have been known to spend the entire day in here – lunch and all! There is a 1/2 bath right outside the door, so technically I don't have to leave! I just need a mini fridge and I'd be all set! I am so lucky to have such a great place to stamp. I remember back to when ALL of my stamping supplies fit into this little red toolbox I bought at Target. Those days are over!

I would love to see what your stamping/crafting space looks like! If you leave a comment, link me back to a picture of your room!