Happenings - September 2013

 

Well hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Happenings! If you're new here, on the first Monday of every month I just sit here and ramble about all sorts of stuff I find interesting and things I think you might want to know about. ;)    
I have some super exciting news I'm DYING to share but unfortunately I can't tell y'all about it quite yet, but look for a fun bit of news later this week!!

Well, ya know how I sent in an application for the DT call at Sweet Stamp Shop...yeah, I didn't get the position. However, it was the nicest "thanks but no thanks" e-mail I've ever received, lol!! But you know, that's alright, I can't win them all now can I? You can't let a little rejection get you down, ladies...you have to take it on the chin and keep reaching for that dream. :) 

Ohh my goodness, did you see the AMAZINGLY fun news over at Paper Sweeties??? The little "paper dolls" now have matching dies so you can cut them out!!! I was humbled & honored to be "in the loop" from the start on this little addition to the stamp line....what fun!! And as for the name (insert patting myself on the back here), I came up with Sweet Cuts ;)  I never come up with good names and have no clue how I mamaged that one, lol!!

And speaking of fun new products, DeNami is going to start carrying a HUGE line of dry emboss folders!!! When I worked in the show booth last month I knew they were toying with the idea, but wow, they're going to do it...fun fun fun!!!

A good thing about buying the folders either with a stamp order or even by themselves is that they really don't weight anything...shipping should be way reasonable! I can't wait to scope them out!

Did you have a chance to see the start to finish card video or the step by step card tutorial I had on the blog this past month? You can find all of my tutorials, tips & tricks, videos and other fun stuff by clicking the links at the top of the page.

I'm gearing up to start my fall and holiday cards right away. If there's any stamps you'd like to see used just let me know :)

I'll see you back here on Wednesday with another little card using the fun Peacock feather stamp!!

Nom Nom NEON Nom....

Lately as I walk through the stores I'm taken back to my teenage years...the 80's was full of great music, big hair and bright neon colors! From clothing, notebooks, hair accessories and nail polish...neon is {once again} HOT HOT HOT!

 

All this yumminess makes me want to grab a white shirt from my dads closet and pair it up with a loose pencil (skinny) tie, a wrap around belt. black leggings those thin nylon neon socks with the fold down cuff and a pair of black flats! Ahhh, those were the days.....sigh!!

 

While shopping at the "big red bullseye" store, I came across something that made my heart smile...neon Washi!!! I quickly snapped a picture and texted Paulina (From DeNami & Pretty Pink Posh). Ohhh the joy and wonderfulness those neon Washi tapes brought to me, I was in love at first sight! I quickly scooped them up into my cart! I would have probably tried to shank someone with some Cutter Bee scissors and tied them up with Doodle Bug twine if they dared touched my Washi...just sayin'. It would have been U.G.L.Y!

 

When I got home I decided it was finally time to order the fun neon inks that I saw Paulina using from Ellen Hutson (link on her Pretty Pink Posh blog - bottom right hand side).

 

Good thing Ellen Hutson has super fast shipping, I don't think my heart could have taken too a long wait! The day I received them I just HAD to make a little card. The little splatter and sentiments are from the Zombies stamp set from Sweet Stamp Shop was perfect for showcasing these fun colors....

After stamping my splatters and sentiment I added a few strips of neon Washi and finished it all off with some paper "twine", a little flag and a lime green button. Hope you love it just as much as I do :) 

Since I already had the stamps, button and paper twine (and kinda sorta the Washi) I'm entering this in the challenge over at Sweet Stamp Shop.

This week they've changed things up a bit, you can use one or both or neither of these pictures as a guideline....

 

That's it for me today. 3 day weekend...woo-hoo!!, what are y'all going to to do? I'm hoping to spend most of the weekend in my crafty area :)

whispy feathers

Well hello everyone and welcome to Wednesday!! Today I have 2 little cards to share with ya. Have you seen the little Peacock Feather stamp set that DeNami released back in July? Well, I FINALLY had a chance to play with them a little bit. I had no clue what to do with them but thought that they were lovely and just HAD to have them, lol!!

 

After a few little trial and errors that were, well, lets just say not pleasing to the eye, shall we ;), lol, I came up with 2 little cards that I'm very happy with....

For this card I dry embossed "script" on a panel and attached it to my card base. I cut a smaller panel and stamped some "script" before before stamping the pretty little Small Swirl Corner, large feather and my sentiment (all occasion stamp set) stamped the larger feather using a teal colored ink then highlighted it with a little dusting of chalk and added a few "ink drops" then popped it up on my card with foam tape.

Wish I could caputre how pretty this turned out....

For this example I started off distressing some white cardstock with plum and teal inks to create a whispy ombre effect. I randomly stamped the feathers using Versa-Mark and used a white embossing powder with little silver flecks in it (I think it's called Snowfall) and heat embossed them - tip: the heat embossing acts as a resist so you could actually do this in reverse order, the ink will wipe off the embossing with a dry paper towel. I finished it off with a sentiment using the same plum color I used to distress with.

Have you used the feathers yet...if so let me know, I'd LOVE to stop by and see what you've done with these pretty little stamps :)

Wreaths Galore!!!



Hello everyone! Were you able to catch my photo tutorial using the Winter Wreath on Friday? Just to show you how versatile this little wreath can be, I made LOTS of more wreaths, lol!! I have so many ideas in my head and wanted to make a ton more but, I simply ran out of time!!  Hopefully I can revisit this little wreath soon :)

 

Let's get started...

 

First up is a little elegant summer wreath. I made the one on the left first but decided it was too "muddy" so I made the one on the right...I like it much better.

Stamps used:
winter wreath
solid rose accents set
sweet saying stamp set

This next card showcases a brand new leaf set for fall. Warm rich tones make this little card perfect for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Stamps Used:

Winter Wreath

Thankful For You

Solid Leaves Set

 

 

I couldn't stop at just one Fall themed card. The problem is is that I wanted to use the little acorn and I thought it would get lost on the card with the large leaves. I just had to give the darling acorn its own card, lol! 



Stamps used:
Winter Wreath
Autumn Stamp set
Elegant Floral stamp set
Garden Accent stamp set
Thankful for you

 

I have to admit that I'm pretty smitten with this next card. Y'all know that Halloween is my favorite holiday, so there was no way I could resist making a Halloween wreath!! I have several ideas for a Halloween wreath and wish I could have made them all for you, but don't worry, Halloween isn't that far off!! ;)

Stamps used:
Winter Wreath
Halloween stamp set
Solid Rose Accents stamp set

I wanted to do a winter theme that wasn't Christmas. I wish you could see this one in person, it had lots of pretty shimmer to it thanks to using Brillance inks. Unfortunately the camera can't capture just how pretty it is. The little "jingle bells" are double stamped - since the Brilliance Platinum doesn't really show up well on white cardstock, I stamped them in a light grey then stamped them over again using the Platinum so that they would have the same shimmer as the wreath itself.

Stamps used:
Winter Wreath
Garden Accents stamp set
Small Solid Snowflake Circle

 

Well, even though I did the tutorial on a Christmas card, I couldn't resist doing one more. This time I have it on a little panel that I poped up with foam tape.

 

Winter Wreath
Winter Pine set
Christmas Greeting set
Classic Christmas set


Well that's it for me today! I hope my ideas have started you thinking and that you've come up with a few ideas too.  Let me know if you make a little wreath, I'd LOVE to stop by for a visit to see it :)

Versatile wreath

Hi everyone and happy Friday!! As promised I have a little photo tutorial, however, my camera is still being a real pain in my tushie and it would not throw me a bone what so ever...grumble grumble! :(    My pictures aren't all that great, but I didn't want to let y'all down so I pushed through it :)

As a lot of you know, I was lucky enough to be able to work in the DeNami show booth last weekend. I had the BEST time ever!! I met soooo many sweet DeNami fans and had a great time telling gals all about the yummy goodness that makes up DeNami...sigh, it was a dream come true! I also got to run the "make & take" table all by myself! I was demonstrating something that I don't pull out near often enough...Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pens. I showed gals how to use them to color, hold glitter and add lots of great dimension. The only downfall (if you can call it that, lol) of the weekend was that we were soooo busy the whole time that there wasn't two seconds to really "talk shop" with Nami. I would have loved to watch her create some beautiful cards and bounce ideas back and forth. But was a blast none the less :)

Nami had the brand new Winter Wreath pulled out and was making beautiful fall wreaths in warm and rich earth tones with lots of sparkle. She even used it for one of the classes she taught...wish I could have seen it!! Well, it gave me an idea, I wanted to do a little tutorial showing just how fun and extremely versatile this stamp can be and why I think it's now on my 10 must have list.

How does a card that's practically one layer, has lots of bling for the holiday season and takes only about 5 steps sound?? I'm going to start off showing you how I made a pretty little Christmas card (it's not that far off ladies!!) then on Monday, I'll showcase several other cards I've made ranging from everyday to several holidays just so you can see the true versatility of this one little image.

I gathered a few supplies:

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 5 1/2 X * 1/2 and fold in half to form an A2 sized card base. Stamp the wreath on the center using a medium brown ink color.

  

Using two different green inks, fill in the wreath with the pine sprig from the Winter Pine stamp set.  Then, using a dark brown stamp the pine cone from the same stamp set. Add the berries from the Classic Christmas petit four set in a reddish color to finish filling it all in. *Don't be afraid to layer those ink colors!!

Using the same ink that you stamped the wreath in, stamp a little banner on a piece of scrap white cardstock. Stamp the Noel sentiment from the new Christmas Greetings stamp set along with some berry accents and fussy cut.

 Using one color of Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen or Crystal Lacquer & glitter at a time, add accents as desired. I ended up adding a couple of additional colors that I didn't picture in my supplies list. * I added some Strawberry Freeze along with the Cranberry and some Cirtone along with the Evergreen for some contrast.

Once your giltter is dried attach your sentiment using foam tape (or you can do this step before you glitter) and add a pretty little bow.

Here's my finished card...

Just 5 easy peasy little steps is all this card took. Don't forget, I'll be back here on Monday with a fun line up of other cards using easy basic layouts and this very versatile wreath!



Howdy Pardner'

 Well hello everyone :) and welcome to Wednesday...woo-hoo, that means the week is half over and I can see the weekend in sight!! ;)

Unfortunately I'm still having camera issues so I haven't taken any pictures of my newest work, but that's okay, this way I'm forced to show y'all some goodies I made a while back and hadn't gotten around to! 

I actually made this little guy right after the stamps were released at the beginning of the year!  There's just always so much to share with you gals that my little cowboy kept getting shoved aside!

 

Cowboy Chickie is too cute for words isn't he?? And then when you pair him up with the fun Petit Four sets (Southwest stamp set, Cowboy stamp set)  you really have something!! If memory serves me right, this is the first card I made using my beloved Gingham Background stamp....sigh, love at first use!! ;) hehehehe See how versatile it is...I used it here for a bold & fun western theme and you've seen me use it all the time for floral, shabby chic and girly girl themes. You can have it bold and stand out like this or soften it and have it as a pretty little accent like I did here...what a perfect little stamp for your DeNami stash!

Well, that's it for me today, I will see you back here on Friday with hopefully a little photo tutorial if my camera decides to behave nicely :) and I'll tell you all about my adventures at the stamp show this past weekend.

A little sun and a margarita...that's all a girl needs

Hi everyone! Today I have a little card to share with you that I made for The Shabby Tearoom blog. I was lucky enough to be abole to guest design because I had won a challenge :) The inspiration over there is mind boggeling...WOW! And contrary to the name, it's not always "shabby". While I love me some shabby chic eye candy, I can rarely pull it off, :(  however, I just do "me" and submit that...it's loads of fun!!

Anyway, I was given this picture:

 

For picture inspiration you can draw from the colors, theme, textures...what ever speaks to you in the picture. The one stipulation we had to abide by was to use a metal object. This picture immediately made me think of the Mimi Lounging stamp from DeNami! Only problem...I DIDN'T OWN THAT STAMP!!! :o *gasp* That's horrible isn't it?? Well, what's a girl to do but ORDER IT! ;)  Hey, I'll use any excuse to order me some DeNami yummyness, lol!!!

 

 

Here's my card and a little gift to go with it...

 

I plan on eventually sending this to my Niece, Amanda. This all fits her perfectly :)

 

 

A little close up...





 I'm going to admit that at first I had a few issues with Mimi. The way the stamp is, is that she always on a bit of an angle. This leaves a lot of "white space" in 2 of the corners of the panel you stamp her on. I ended up playing around with layouts for over an hour and then had to sleep on it. I finally came up with this and was pretty content with it. The little paper clip originally came with a different ribbon on it. I simply changed that out so it matched the rest of the ribbon :)

 

That's all for me today...see y'all later :)