A Fabulous NEW STORE!!!!!!!!

My friend Karen, aka jusgottastamp, just opened a BRAND NEW STORE!!! It’s through eBay, and is called Paper Manor. Here’s what she has to say about the store:
 

Welcome to my eBay Store! At Paper Manor, I carry the full line of BasicGrey scrapbooking supplies. I’m working to expand my lines all the time, so if you don’t see something send me an email.. Please feel free to pick and chose paper and accessories – we combine shipping on your same day order.

And here’s what I have to say about it: IT IS AWESOME!!!! She has terrific prices on her paper, and a GREAT selection of them! Karen is workin gon expanding her lines, and is terrific about communication via email. I’ve already placed my order, and can’t wait to get my hands on it! I (as usual!) goofed on my math, and she was kind enough to point out to me how I could switch up my order to get the best prices – woohoo!!! Also, I love that I can shop there and I am supporting a good friend AND fellow SCS’er!

She doesn’t know it yet, but I am planning on doing some blog candy in the near future, to celebrate all the fun stuff I’ve got going on this fall — my DD’s birthday, my 5 year wedding anniversary, and my 29th birthday. I think a gift certificate to her store will have to be involved!

Stop by her store when you get a chance – you’ll love it!

Combining Challenges

I’m pressed for time this week — my sweet little DD turns 2 today *sniff sniff* and I’m having a tough time believing it! We are having a small family dinner to celebrate Friday night, but nothing big — we’ve had some other not-so-good family things come up this week. DD is sad that not all of her favorite people can be here with her for her birthday, but the thought of presents is making it all better! And I am beyond emotional about how fast the past 2 years have gone…*sigh*! Since I’m in a hurry, I combined yesterday’s Color Combo and today’s Sketch Challenges. Both were terrific challenges – that’s what I love about SCS…always helping me grow as a stamper 🙂

Anyway, my dp is from Basic Grey’s Periphery line. I looooooove me some Basic Grey! The ric rac is Lil’ Davis – how great is the super thick piece? I love it 🙂 I sponged the edges of my main image panel to add some ooommpphh to it. I am pretty pleased with the way the card turned out – these were two terrific challenges!

Supplies: Stamps – Heartfelt Thanks; Paper – Bashful Blue, Old Olive, More Mustard, Naturals White, Basic Grey – Periphery; Ink – More Mustard; Accessories – SU Markers – Old Olive, Bashful Blue, More Mustard; Lil Davis RicRac, Copper Brad, Round Tab Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Sponge, Dimensionals

Squares, Circles, and Flowers!

This is my second CASE from starofmay’s gallery — that is one super talented lady!! She was a terrific choice for this week’s Featured Stamper. Check out her blog, also – very fun!

I cased this card from her gallery — another serious cutie! I used different dp (mine is from a slab from Hobby Lobby), because I am hoarding my Au Chocolate. I also used different stamps, ribbon, and added a prima. Also, my card is a 4.25″ square, instead of 3×3.

Supplies: Stamps – Baroque Motifs, Warm Words; Paper – Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Hobby Lobby dp; Ink – Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip; Accessories – pink crystal brad, ribbon from Starlit Studio, prima

A Stunning Simple Sunday CASE!

This week’s Featured Stamper was Kristina, better known as starofmay. She is an AMAZING artist – check out her supergreat blog, kwernerdesignblog! She photographs her work beautifully, and everything in her gallery is stunning. I had a really hard time picking a card to CASE today, so I narrowed it down to my *Fab Five* and plan to do them all!

The first one I did was this jaw dropping *Friend Bird Card*. Ummmm, hello?!! Could it be more gorgeous?! I agree – nope! I actually had a hard time trying to think of ways to change it, becuae I was so in love with her original. I ended up switching the cardstock to Confetti Cream, and doing a tent fold card rather than a traditional fold. I switched the stamp to the cutie patootie birdie from Natural Beauty – he is so darn adorable! I stamped him in Black Stazon, and used my Aquapainter and ink (Really Rust, Old Olive, and Ruby Red) to color him. Beneath his feet I spread a bit of Close to Cocoa. I colored one word from the sentiment stamp in the same set (with an Old Olive marker) and stamped it below and to the right a smidge.

Next I ticket punched the corners, and tied a piece os Close to Cocoa grosgrain ribbon at the top.  Aaaaaannnnddd….done! I spent hours after I finished this dreaming up other stamps I could also do this with — I love the simplicity, the cleanness, the white space — all of it!

A Quick Sympathy Card

I needed to make a sympathy card today, for a friend who lost her father to cancer this morning. I have a hard time with sympathy cards, which I think I’ve mentioned before. As I am sure she will be inundated with cards in the coming days, my goal was for this one to be a little less traditional and not so…..something.

I started with the cute sketch Beate posted on her blog, Fresh and Fun, for this weekend.  The fantastic dp is by Daisy D’s – from their Attic Heirloom Swatches collection. I got it at Jacksonbelle’s store (link at right)! For the Chocolate Chip base, which is my also my background, I sanded it with a sanding block until it was soft, super smooth, and a bit shiny. Then I swiped a Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Spot in the same direction over the cs until I acheived my desired effect. It looks cooler IRL! I also distressed one edge of the mellow moss panel and kind of rolled it over a bit – kind of hard to see in the pic.

Hopefully this is soothing – that was my hope. I like it!

Supplies: Paper – Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, Daisy D’s Attic Heirloom dp; Ink – Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip; Stamps – A Quiet Life; Accessories – Hodgepodge Hardware, Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter

Using Some Old Favorites

I found the time to complete this week’s sketch challenge (SC142 – details here) the other night – what fun! Rox71 posts the best sketches every week (see master thread here)- they really help me gets some ideas going! I knew this week I was super busy, so I had hoped for a sketch that I could *simplify* – and do a quick card with.

This card uses several of my favorite things – Chocolate Chip, Naturals Ivory and Always Artichoke cardstock, Au Chocolate dp (been hoarding it!), the Lovely as a Tree  and Baroque Motifs stamp sets (which I think are hands down THE most versatile sets in existence – you can do masuline cards, girlie cards, holiday cards, fall cards, sympathy cards, pretty much anything you can think of), and sponging to dirty up my edges – my most favorite technique (and the easiest to do)! Check out the Lovely As A Tree gallery  and the Baroque Motifs gallery at SCS – tons of creative ideas for these sets!

Other than the cutting of the leaf, this whole card took maybe 15 minutes to do – so its quickness adds another favorite thing about it to my list! I love fall and I love the dark, rich colors that come along with it. I am so thrilled to be breaking into my fall colors!!! The base of the card is Creamy Caramel, and I used the same ink to sponge the Naturals Ivory panel. I then sponged a little touch of Always Artichoke ink on there for some additional color. To color the leaves I used Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, and Always Artichoke ink  and an aquapainter. I got the adorable ribbon from Starlit Studio, and frayed the edges for some fun. One side is more frayed than the other.

Roses in Fall

I was feeling all inspired, so I thought I’d try to find another fun sketch challenge to do. BadSherry is hosting the “Just Because We Wanna” challenge this week, and it is a sketch! What luck!

I’m loving fall colors, and cannot wait for fall to officially arrive. So I rock ‘n rolled (here’s a tutorial from Jeanne S – she is the RIW master!!!!) my roses in So Saffron and Really Rust, stamped them on Very Vanilla, and layered it on a piece of So Saffron. I added some Prima dp to another piece of So Saffron, and put both pieces on a Really Rust card base. I dug out a Hodpepodge Hardware small oval and paired it with this gorgeous two tone ribbon I got from Starlit Studio.

To complete the card, I used the word window punch and anchored it with a big eyelet that came in my Crop-a-dile case (what a Hobby Lobby find!).  I really really really like this card!!!

I am making an effort to carve out time to stamp. And not shut myself in my stamp room when I do it. So even though it is more work, I’ve been bringing my stuff for each card into the living room to hang out with DH. It’s so nice to chat with him while I work on cards!

Materials: Paper – So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Really Rust; Ink – So Saffron, Really Rust; Stamps – Roses in Winter, Small Script; Accessories – HPH, ribbon, ticket corner punch, word window punch, large eyelet

A Little Something French

I think that the little 4.25″ square cards are so darn cute! I love square cards, but never make them because I a) don’t have the envies for them at home and b) am too cheap to pay the extra postage required to mail them! But these little cuties fit right on into the envies I already have, so they are a perfect solution for me! I made this one using Beate’s awesome Weekend Sketch. And as usual, it was a fabulous one! And I swear – it is impossible for me to go to her blog, Fresh and Fun, and not be inspired by something I see there! I love it!

I went for an aged look on this card. My base is Very Vanilla, sponged with Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel. Next I put a piece of Close to Cocoa on an dused the ticket corner punch to jazz up the edges. I rock-n-rolled the fleur-de-lis in Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip for a distressed effect. Carte Postale is such a great set – so many uses for it! The dp is from a great slab I picked up at Hobby Lobby this weekend – by Scrapworks. I finished the the whole thing by adding two small primas and a piece of green organdy polka dot ribbon.

Mmmmm…Chocolate!!

I squeezed in some stamping today! Yay! While the little one napped, I brought my stash into the living room and watched football with DH. The windows were all open – it was a glorious day. Really!

The Sunday Featured Stamper is Zindorf, who has an outstanding gallery. I have been an admirer for quite some time – once, on an emotional day, I came across one of her cards that struck me as so beautiful I burst into tears (it was this one, if you are curious)! I pm’d her and told her, so she probably thinks I am crazy. Anyway, the first card I chose of hers to case today was called Sillouetted Carte Postale. Truly a work of art!

I changed alot about the card, but tried hard to keep its “essence” the same. I changed the color scheme from Pomegranate, Black, and Gold to Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, and Silver (same as my living room!!). I used slightly different stamps (Carte Postale and Oh, So Lovely), and left off her beautiful lower panel because I couldn’t find a single stamp that gave it the same feeling hers did. I also changed the ribbon treatment, and went with eyelets as opposed to brads. I stamped the bg in silver, and then inked up the fleur-de-lis and stamped it off a couple of times before stamping it on top of the french script – to make it look opaque. Then I dragged the edges on the silver pad. I sponged Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, and Close to Cocoa on my Very Vanilla panel. My fleur-de-lis on this panel is stamped in Bordering Blue and colored with a silver gel pen. I love the card I made – I think it is totally different from hers, which means I’ll have to case it again to try and get it right!! Thanks for the inspiration!!!

Stamping on Candles!!

Who knew this was so stinkin’ easy??? Why didn’t anyone clue me in sooner???? I love it!!!! I am totally doing the happy dance —> about this fun and easy gift to make! So if you know me, be prepared to get one of these as a gift in the near future! This whole thing started when my friend karen (kthaman) decided on this as her challenge for VSN. Details about her challenge are here in her chat thread, and the Master Challenge thread is here. Check them out!

She linked to a great tutorial (which can be found here) with super easy to follow instructions. And I actually had everything I needed (except the candle!) here in the house.

For the first candle I did, to the right, I stamped the hibiscus flower from Do the Hula in Tempting Turquoise ink on my tissue paper. I cut it out, put it on the candle, and heated! There are 4 flowers on the candle. I left it plain because the candle is small. My second candle, which I like waaaaaay more, is a taller candle. I stamped the largest image from Thankful Thoughts in Black Stazon on the tissue paper, and colred it with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen. The tutorial suggested markers, but I liked the soft look the crayons/blender pen achieved. On the backside of the candle I am planning to go back and add a sentiment, but I haven’t decided which one yet. I tied a piece of brown polka dot organdy ribbon (courtesy of the fabulous Jacksonbelle) around it, and was done!! Even my DH liked this one – which I consider to be high praise!

Farewell Thyme & Beate’s sketch!

This soothing little card came from Michelle’s (eliotstamps) genius idea for a VSN challenge – to make a card that indicated leaving or departure. I just think this is one of the coolest, out-of-the-box ideas for a challenge ever!! She has a cool blog – The Crafty Cat – you should check it out! The details about her challenge are here, on her chat thread; the Master Thread for VSN is here – all of the challenges can be found there.

I also used Beate’s weekend sketch for this card (the sketch can be found here) – as usual she shared a fun and striking sketch! My base is Kraft cardstock, and I added a layer of True Thyme. I have had this fun dp in my stash for quite awhile, and I figured it went along with my plan perfectly. I broke out Travel Post, and stamped “postcard” on the bottom of the dp in Basic Brown, the little compass on the Kraft, and the hotel emblem on the scalloped circle. I used Blush Blossom to stamp the key on the dp, and Mellow Moss to stamp a postmark. I layered my scalloped circles of Mellow Moss and Very Vanilla on dimensionals, ticket punched the dp, used a marker for the faux brads, and my ribbon is brown organdy polka dot! So fun and simple, and I love love love the soothing tone of the whole card. Thanks for checking it out!

Saffron Pines

This is the card I did for Melinda’s (WonkaIsMyCat) 1:00 pm EST VSN challenge today. Details are here, in her chat thread. And if you didn’t know – it’s VSN weekend!!! The Master Thread has links to all of the challenges as they are posted – please join us!

Basically her challenge was to include as many textures on your card as possible. I am sure I could have crammed more on here, but I really liked it just like this – simple. So I quit while I was ahead! I’ve had this pine paper hanging around forever, and welcomed the chance to use it today. I am planning to make some more of these super simple cards for Christmas — love the way it came together so quickly!!!

Supplies: Paper – True Thyme, So Saffron, Pine dp; Ink – Versamark, So Saffron; Accessories – Linen Thread, Velvet ribbon, saffron eyelets, fingernail to distress, cuttlebug & texture folder