When a negative becomes a positive!

 I tend to save every little piece of card stock scrap as I am making a card.  You never know when you need just a little bit of color or use it to add layers or punch shapes.  I mean, why waste a new piece of card stock when chances are I have just the right size in my scrap basket.  So, as I was playing in my woman cave I was going through  my scrap basket and realized I had a few of these "negatives" (you know, the paper that is left after using a die cut) laying in there.  And then inspiration hit me.....

Now the picture is horrible and I promise everything is straight - HA (that's what I get for taking a pic in a hurry).  But I thought this came out super cute and I used up some scrap in the process.  I paired this negative with the Sweetheart Mimi stamp (N135) added another layer for dimension and added a bow.  Super easy.

Do you save your scraps?  Have you came up with a fun way to use them? Tell us all about it.....

Getting to know the gal behind the blog...

Well, I'm sure by now ya'll know about the DeNami Facebook contest, looking for their biggest fan, and I'm sure ya'll are way tired of hearing me beg for your votes, lol. This is my last push...promise.

My little collage shows the Addict blog, Addict Facebook page, my stamp collection count (that has grown by 5 since then), the travel mug I use daily, misc household items like candles, boxes and tissue holders that I've made and even my charm bracelet. I did however substitute someone much cuter than me as a stand-in...you're welcome ;)  hehehe

Did you realize that this blog is not run in any way, shape or form by DeNami, it's not affiliated what so ever? I’m not on DeNami's design team, I don't get paid, and I don't get any perks. Well, I kinda take that back, there was one little perk, when Paulina Nakamura and the equally uber talented Beka offered to make this little blog chick-a-licious. Honestly I think they felt sorry for me and my pitiful attempt at blog designing, lol! I just love our new look and am so very thankful to them for hooking me up with all the cuteness.

The DeNami Addict blog started in July of 2011 and is the brain child of my bestie, Wendy. I came aboard about a week later. I have taken over these past 8 months due to her schedule being just too much right now so you rarely get to see her, but don't worry, she's still around and hasn't ran away to a deserted island with a chickie...yet! On top of my full time job, home & family, I personally devote anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a week running the blog...there's schedules to make, posts to write, challenges to finalize, cards to make...just so many behind the scenes things going on all the time that keep me plenty busy. I have strived to bring all of you inspiration, humor and updates about what’s going on in the world of DeNami Design. I not only run this blog on my own time, but at my own cost too…supplies to make as many cards as I make for the blog costs plenty, as you all well know. I run this blog simply because I believe in this company and their product and want to share the joy I get from creating with their stamps with everyone. I enjoy spreading the news about how wonderful DeNami Design is and I enjoy bringing inspiration to others and hope that they too will fall in love with this company as I have.  Did you know that I have participated in every hop and challenge since July of last year? I just love the hops and challenges because not only are they fun, but it gives me a chance to meet fellow DeNami fans and you all give me inspiration. I also love to help other bloggers when I can. Many of you have had questions from stamps to photography to blogging issues  and everything in between that I have helped with. In the world of crafting, I have found that a lot of crafters like to keep secrets on how they create a project, produce stellar pictures and other miscellaneous secrets to their success. I am proud to say that I am not one of those people and neither are the folks at DeNami Design. When you consider the facts that the folks at DeNami are accessible, very helpful and strive to bring us great products with lots of personal touches, how can you not fall in love with them?  In a world of big fish, a small little guppy like DeNami is still going strong, and for that, I applaud them. I for one am proud to be a fan.

 

 

I've really enjoyed getting to know a few of you fellow fans fairly well. You gals are amazing and I enjoy our e-mails and the friendships that DeNami has brought about. A few of you have been inspired to show your whole collection on your blogs recently...well, ya'll have inspired me to do the same!  Are you ready?? I  tried to capture all of the images as best as possible, but with a large collection it was pretty hard! :)  Keep in mind that if you have a stamp you'd like to see used, I'll gladly pull it out  and make a few cards to help push start some inspiration for you, just drop me an Email- DeNamiAddict@yahoo.com.

As of today, I officially have 296 random/single stamps, 35 Petit Four sets & 3 Trifle sets...if you break them down, that's a grand total of 460 stamps!

Misc. images:

Had to throw my lilac stamp in...it was hiding when I took the pic of the garden stamps, lol.

Garden stamps:

 Borders & decorative:

 Chickies galore (non holiday):

A couple of the holiday chickies snuck in, what cheeky little guys...there are more chickies mixed in with my holiday stamps

Petit Fours (non holiday):

 Sentiments:

 Misc holidays:

Well, that's it for me and my ramblings. I do really appreciate you gals for visiting with me here on the blog and all of the wonderful comments that you leave, it means a lot to me. I hope you go visit the DeNami Facebook page and cast a vote for the gal you think is the biggest fan weather it be me or not. To vote, simply click on the picture of the person you think deserves the vote and "like" it. The contest ends 8/31/2012. Thanks again!!

Yesterday it was suggested to me by a fellow lovely & talented DeNami fan, Stacy, that maybe others would like to show their collections too. I think she was on to something. I've added my little linking tool to this post so that anyone who wants to link photos of their DeNami collection can. Here's a direct quote from Stacy...I couldn't have said it better - " just fun to see what others love about DeNami because I bet everyone's collection is a little bit different and unique in their own way"  I hope to visit with you and see your collection. 

When an email just won't do....

I admit it, I am a technology girl.  A bit of a "closet geek" if you will.  And with my hustle and bustle moving here and running there life these days - I tend to use email to stay in touch with my friends.  And while getting an email from a friend is always nice, I say, getting a handmade card from a friend is even better!

I used one of the cling stamps from the Ornamental Centerpiece Set (CL-GD007) and paired it with a stamp from the Ornamental Flowers Petit Four Set (PF50).  I also used crystal laquer on the center stamp (hard to see in the photo).

With this post I would also like to "challenge" you to make something and drop in the mail to a friend...for no other reason than just to say HI.  Then, come back here and tell me you sent one.  There isn't a "prize" other than knowing that you made someone smile.

Pastel flags

Hi everyone and happy Monday...Okay, I was trying to be up beat, but I hate a Monday just as much as the next guy....sigh. The weekend was way to short as usual! 

Today is the last day to enter the current challenge over on the DeNami blog. I really seemed to struggle with this one for some reason. I did manage to eek out another submission though.

I decided I wanted to make individual strips to make up my panel and came up with doing a tone on tone design. I played around with twines and ribbons but wasn't happy with anything I draped across the panel. After thinking on it a bit I decided that little flags might be kinda cool. I ran white twine around the panel and then attached it to the card base with foam tape. Then I stamped and fussy cut little flags then inked them up to match my panel. To give the card even more dimension, I attached the little flags with more foam tape.

Someone I know was in a car accident this past week and I think she's putting on a brave front but may not be as okay as she's saying. Having had my own very scary accident a few weeks ago I really know what she's going through. I thought I send her this little card...hopefully it can make her smile :)

 

 Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Dragonfly

Hi everyone...yes, I do know it's only Sunday. Trust me, I'm not trying to rush the weekend! I needed to pop in to post a card for the current DeNami challenge.

Here's one of my takes on this little sketch...

Sorry for the short post, but I gotta run. See ya'll tomorrow!

Elephants and ice cream...

Shameless plug for your vote on the DeNami's biggest fan contest...
All you have to do to cast your vote is follow the link to the DeNami Facebook post and click on my photo submission then click the "like" button by 8/31/2012, that's all it takes. Thanks everyone...You gals are awesome!

 

Biggest Fan Contest

 



Have you ever started out with an idea in mind but when you start your creation it takes on a life of it's own and becomes what it wants to be? Today's card is just that! I wanted to enter another card into Paulina's 10 minute crafty challenge (isn't it fun??) and came up with a little idea for what I wanted to make. This was truly going to be a challenge because I planned on fussy cutting, coloring and layering. I figured I could pull it off, but it'd be close. Well, the best of intentions and all that....way over an hour later, this is my finished project....

This little creation reminds me of my hair...since it's naturaly curly, it just doesn't do what I want it to do and this card isn't what I wanted it to be...but, that being said, I still like it :)

I started our with the concept of a CAS card just doiley, a piece of ribbon and the large elephant handing an ice cream to the small polka dot elephant. Somehow it all went sideways, lol! When layering, I always do "dry runs" to see how I really feel about it. I decided to add a few extra layers so out came the punches and polka dot cardstock, then I decided the light pink layer needed some love so I added the hearts. While inking up my heart background stamp I did a BIG oops. I dropped the inkpad on my doily...sigh. Since it was already attached to the magenta & polka dot panel, due to me being happy with it so I had to come up with plan "B" or honestly, "P" at this point, lol. I grabbed a make-up sponge and started distressing, I decided I could live with a pink doiley. I added the hearts to my larger punched circle to make everything match then finished attaching all of my layers. The elephants and ice cream are actually popped up on foam tape. That was no easy feat adding glitter ya know...remind me to add more foam tape next time, mmkay? One last little thought on this card...the bow, again, doing it's own thing. It was supposed to be catty-corner not straight, it ended up just covering the two pink rhinestones instead of doing what I wanted it to do...sigh.

 

Sometimes cards just don't work out, but stick with it and let it lead you...sometimes you'll find that the end result is still something to smile about :)

 

 

DeNami Sketch Challenge #13

Before I get to todays post I have something I'd like to talk to ya'll about. DeNami is currently holding a Facebook contest looking for their biggest fan. They asked for everyone to send in their entries by a certain date and I did along with 3 other gals. Now comes the voting part, it's done by fellow DeNami fans, YOU get to decide the winner! Ya'll already know how much of my life I devote to DeNami, this blog, Facebook page, items in my home, etc.. It can't be denied that I'm a HUGE fan! I would greatly appreciate you showing your support for what I do pretty much on a daily basis by voting for me. I not only run this blog to show my love and support for DeNami, I also do it for all of you. I take great joy in being able to bring you a little fun and hopefully a lot of inspiration.

 All you have to do to cast your vote is follow the link to the DeNami Facebook post and click on my photo submission then click the "like" button by 8/31/2012, that's all it takes. Thanks everyone...You gals are awesome!

 

Biggest Fan Contest

 



Now then, on with our regularly scheduled post, lol! I thought I'd try my hand at DeNami's current challenge...

 

Ohh my goodness, I'm gonna be up front and tell ya'll that this little sketch kicked my tushie! I've never met a sketch that didn't like me, but this little cutie certainly did not! I made several cards and they all looked the same and kinda, well...blah. I've finally came up with a little creation that made me smile. I hope it makes you smile too!

 

Did you notice the chickies hands?? I stamped him without hands, masked him off and made a "grassy" background using a couple different green inks. After I added the fence I placed his little hands back on so that it looks like he's holding onto it. I just love this little guy! :)  Also, since I don't own a speech bubble *gasp* I used the cloud stamp and a hole punch to make my own. To make the fence and grass, I free hand cut the angle at the bottom and I stamped the fence at the edge of the panel and cut parts of it out. Then tore strips of green cardstock, randomly stamped the mini grass image and layered them on top of the bottom portion of the panel. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should have used chocolate or kraft cardstock for that panel and eliminated all the coloring...DUH! But, like I mentioned before, this sketch was the death of me and I feel very luck to have accomplished what I did, lol! This card also fits the current challenge right here on the Addict blog...buttons. Have you entered yet????

 

That's it for me today, thanks for stopping by and please don't forget to vote (for me hopefully, lol!) for who you think DeNami's biggest fan is!

One track mind

So after doing my card for the blog hop last week, it seems I had "purple on the brain".  Since I already had the cardstock in hand I thought.....why not use it again and so I did.  And of course while I was on a roll - why not use some more chickies while I was at it!  This is the first time using this stamp and I think I will be using it a lot more in the future.

This card was super easy and quick too. I have been trying to use up some of my patterned paper and I thought this paper captured the whimsey of the chickies. 

A Day With the King & Queen of DeNami

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! On August 18th I not only went to my first ever stamp show, but I got to meet and visit with the owners of DeNami! Talk about some wonderful and gracious hosts...wow. I was lucky enough to be invited to just hang out for as long as I wanted (which was several hours, lol), talk with the family and listen to Nami brainstorm a bit. It was over whelming and awesome! I watched Nami demo some projects, was lucky enough to help set up for a class she was teaching, entertained by the boys and yes, spend some money on lots of  goodies, lol!! I even got to meet a fellow blogger & DeNami fan, Rae Ann. As promised, I took pictures for you gals. However, I didn't take as many as I should have because I was just so enthralled watching everything around me! Disney Land has NOTHING on the Denami booth!

Like many of you gals, I've really only ever had dealings with the super sweet and wonderful Paulina. I voiced concern to her that Nami wouldn't know who I was and if I went up to her and introduced myself she'd look at me like I was a crazy stalker and call security. Paulina told me I was crazy! Well, I had nothing to fear, as I walked up to the booth and pretended to look at something while trying to gather my courage to introduce myself, Nami looked up and said "Are you Tina?". When I said yes she immediately jumped off her stool, came running around the counter and gave me a big hug! Ohh how I love that she did that, I was put at ease immediately! I can't believe she recognized me from a picture that she's probably seen just a time or two on the Internet. Just amazing :)

Here's a few pictures from my day...

 I should have brought a bath towel to sop up all the drool...wet clean-up on isle 2! I could live in that booth and be happy ever after....sigh. Who needs prince charming with all that yummy DeNami goodness around??

I spent quite a bit of time watching Nami create some magic...

I was also lucky enough to help her set up for and watch her teach a class....

This was truly a weekend of firsts! I decided to make a little "haul" video. Please bear with me on this, lol. I've never made or posted any type of video before. I've also made a DeNami Addict You Tube page in hopes of posting more videos in the future. And don't forget all the wonderful videos that DeNami has on their You Tube page as well!
Surprisingly only two little oops' (that I noticed); I was looking at the ice cream stamp instead of the camera viewer so it went off center a bit and the other one was where I stumbled on a word. Not bad for a first timer :)

I was fortunate enough to speak quite a bit with Nami and Gary. They are so sweet for taking the time to meet with me and let me hang out. My most important question for them was.. "How do you do it, you're on the road for weeks at a time and that's extremely hard, what keeps you going?" Gary's answer, "Our customers. Seeing our customers happy and enjoying our product gives us the strength to keep going."  I think that was well said. This is a great company who loves all of their customers and truly enjoys bringing us happiness! I just can't sing their praises enough and feel like I'm one lucky "chickie"!

Tips & Tricks - August 2012

Today  I want to talk about using some of the larger DeNami stamps using the same technique that I showed you in my  very first Tips & Tricks post where I changed up my sentiment. I can't say that I'm frugal, but I do try to make the most out of all my purchases. This little hobby of ours can get quite out of hand price wise as we all know too well!

I love the large images because I can take portions of them and still come up with a darling focal point to fit my card no matter the layout. Sometimes you have room for the whole stamp...sometimes you don't. Why am I suddenly craving a Mounds candy bar??? Aaakkk! ;) Large stamps are like a 2 in 1. On this card I simply used 3/4's of the large brushed hibiscus stamp. It still draws your eye and makes you think hibiscus flower, but doesn't over take the card.

This is the card I made for DeNami's summer themed blog hop a while back. I used the right hand side of the winter tree to make a little summer scene. I simply masked it off using tape, inked it up, pulled off the tape and stamped.

Don't be afraid of those larger stamps, there's always a way to make them work for your project!

I hope I was able to give you a little inspiration to try something new. Take your stamps in a whole new direction...who knows what you'll be able to come up with, but I bet it's going to be great!

I'd love to see what you've come up with so be sure to let me know! Thanks for stopping by :)

Paulina's Challenge

Tina has been participating in (and quite frankly ROCKING) a number of challenges recently and I thought I would try my hand at a few.  So for my first challenge I decided to head on over to Paulina's Blog for the ....

So like many others, I first had to come up with an idea and of course it had to have bling!  As I was looking through my stamps I decided to use one that I really like but haven't used....ever.  Now is as good a time as any.  I laid out my supplies, set the timer, and proceeded to race against the clock.

Total time: 5 mins 32 secs

I was really surprised at how fast this card came together - especially with the fuzzy cutting.  So, whatcha think?  And this card really delivered in the bling category too.  It really shimmers in the light.  I think I like it!

Everyone loves a little treat

Have you ever seen a messier more jacked up post than yesterday's?? Man, I was seriously having a BAD time! Glad it's over!! Happy FRIDAY everyone!! It's been soooo stressful at my day job that I was thinking (more like wishful thinking) that yesterday was Friday! As I was about to go to sleep Wednesday night I thought, "Oh no, I have to change tomorrow's blog post!" See, I made a card for Paulina Nakamura's 10 minute card challenge and I wanted to post it for Friday so I could enter the challenge without having to wait till Monday. I jumped out of bed, took a picture of my card, edited it, unscheduled Friday's post, wrote a whole new post for the challenge card and since it was after midnight by then...just published the post and linked my little 8 minute 43 second creation. A few hours later (4hrs to be exact) when I had to get up for work, it dawned on me that I'm an I.D.I.O.T! Today is Thursday....sigh. All that for nothing!! Well, crap happens...right? :S   On with the "real" Friday post...that was rescheduled at 5:30am Thursday morning so I wouldn't forget, lol!

Not so long ago I made up some treat boxes that I received as a little bonus in a DeNami haul (Don't ya just love that sometimes they do that?!) and how I used nothing but scraps to make them. Well, I was on a roll so I thought I'd make up a few more!

For the 2 petit four boxes I simply punched a few squares and a circle with my Marvy scallop punches, made something like I would for a focal point on a card then adhered it to the little box. Did you notice all the bling on the "gift" treat box...I puffy heart glitter and DeNami's onyx glitter is FAB! I can't remember which blue I used, but I'm pretty sure it's Misty Blue.

I also pulled out some glassine bags to play with...

These little bags are so versatile! Most of the time I attach them to the inside of a card with my ATG and stick cash or a gift card in them. These are just a touch bigger that credit card size. For the fishing chickie bag I just made and attached panels, like a little mini card. For the butterflies I stamped directly on the bag using Staz-on ink. I stamped the butterflies on white cardstock, colored and fussy cut them out then adhered them randomly to the bag with a little craft glue.

I hope I gave you a little inspiration to try a few for yourself. They are sooo easy peasy and fun to create! There's a large selection of boxes and bags under the "accessories link" on the DeNami web site.  Let me know if you create some of your own, I'd love to see them!

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will, I'm going to the stamp show in Collinsville, IL, it's just a few minutes away from St. Louis, MO! I can't wait to meet some of the DeNami family and I'm sure I'll probably start hyperventilating when I see all the stamps! I promise to take pictures for ya'll! I'll see ya back here Monday morning!

Hope I didn't forget anything on my product list!

10 minute challenge

The Great 10 Minute Challenge

Ohh my gosh, Paulina and a friend of hers are channeling their inner Tori Spelling and have thrown down the gauntlet for sure with a little challenge they are having! They want us to make a card in 10 minutes...wow, can that really be done?? I mean, it's not unheard of for me to spend 2 hours on one little card...but 10 minutes?? I decided to see if I could do it....

First off I had to come up with a plan. I knew I wouldn't have time for coloring or to fuss with a yummy bow so I needed an alternative to both of those elements. I decided to pull out a few of my "frame" stamps and a blingy ribbon slide. 

I had the following items on my desk before the start of the project:

• full sized pieces of DeNami cardstocks
• ink pads
• stamps
• ribbon slide
• ATG 
• paper trimmer
• edge punch

It was so late when I edited this and I was waaaay tired. Here's a much better picture. Don't even ask how I got it looking so neon when it's a hot pink/magenta color...it was a rough night! :)

I started by folding my card base then cut my panels. I punched the edge of the focal panel then stamped the "flowers" and attached it to the green panel. I pulled ribbon from my ribbon storage area, layered it and added the ribbon slide then attached it to the panels. I then attached the finished panels to the card base. When I looked at the timer I saw all of this only took a total of...wait for it, wait for it...8 minutes (7.59 to be exact)!! I thought the card was missing something and still had 2 minutes to work with so I pulled some rhinestones from their storage bin and added them to the flower centers...that added only 43 seconds to my time. 8 minutes and 43 seconds, who'da thought??? This was sooooo fun! I had a great time making this little creation and challenging myself.

This isn't related to the challenge, but someone asked me a question yesterday that really has me thinking....

"If someone was buying their first ever DeNami stamp, which stamp would you tell them to buy?" They're all great and work so well with each other, but to pick one stamp, talk about a hard challenge! What a question, right? So, gals, what do you think it should be and why?

Blogger edit...ooops
My pick: Any of the "thinking of you" sentiments. The fonts that DeNami uses (mostly Nami's own handwriting) is sooo pretty and this sentiment works with any stamp weather it be DeNami or not and it is so versatile that you can use it for birthday's, special occasions, sympathy, etc.

PS: There are still a few spots open for the DeNami "back to school" blog hop on September 9th, have you signed up for a load of fun yet??

Thanks so much for stopping by!