Swap Showcase part 2

 Back with more Swaps! I gotta say, there are lots of fabulous ideas in these swaps! 

Loving this new Nautical stuff? I know I am! And look what Paula Wright made with it :)  (Nautical Expedition DSP #122343 $10.95 or as digital download #124111 $4.95 and The Open Sea stamp set WM #123030 $26.95 CM #123032 $18.95 or digital download #124112 $3.95 and White Baker's Twine #124262 $2.95)

 And a fabulous Medallion (#115223) with fun bling in the center :) This may have been a swap from the 2009 Stampin Up! convention I went to, but it is still good, and was made by Kay Lynn Kibbel. I was not able to find a blog for Kay....

Feel like some fresh ocean air and the wind whipping through you hair? That's what I think of when I see this :) (Sail Away  #123013 $9.95) This one is a Trina Caraway creation!

 Another wonderful idea for teachers... W have about 10 days of school left here so this is something I could use! (builder wheels Elementary Alphabet #123229 $4.50 and For Teacher #123230 $4.50)

 My favorite part about this card is that the flowers look like little thought bubbles, lol! Pamela Clarke made this adorable card. Sorry, no blog for Pamela either...

Wheee! Looks like a fun afternoon in the sun to me :) Charissa Syvinski aka Crissy made this one. (Recess WM #123090 $22.95 CM #123092 $16.95 and Celebrations DSP #117164 $9.95)

Wow! Love the pastels technique on this one! This uses the new Flower Garden embossing folder (#123113 $7.95) Another Trina Caraway creation! I can't wait to try this one myself :)

Swap Showcase part 1

I had put all of my recent swaps on display for the last club meeting and the ladies requested that I post them on my blog, so I will be doing that over the next few days!
This card was made by Cindy Elam and I just love the dramatic look of the black, red, and white here.  (Occasional Quotes- level 2 hostess set and Flower Garden embossing folder #123113 $7.95)

 This little lovely was created by Paula Wright! Love that new punch and she chose such juicy colors for this card too! ( Blossom Bouquet punch #122464 $23.95 and Hello Again #1137820 $12.95)

And are you looking for a way to make a difference and craft? Well look no further! For every Strength & Hope stamp set Stampin Up! sells, they will donate $2 (wood mount #118100 &17.95 clear mount #123660 &13.95) to the Breast Cancer Research Fund!  How awesome is that! 
And look what Sara Mattson-Blume made! It is so beautiful :)

I am sorry to say I do not have the name of the creator of this beautiful card, there was no info attached to the back when I looked and I know I didn't make it :) If it was you, let us know and I will add the info! This was made with the Elements of Style set (WM #118611 $27.95 CM #120045 $19.95). LOVE LOVE LOVE that set still! And I believe this is colored with watercolor wonder crayons.

My friend Kim Bolzenthal made this one, looks perfect for a teachers card to me! Or anybody that loves nice juicy apples :) She used the new builder wheel For Teacher (#123230 $4.50) and Tart & Tangy (#111514 $12.95)

This is another one done by Sara Mattson-Blume highlighting the new colors in embossing powder (Melon Mambo #123223 and Wild Wasabi #123224, also available in Tangerine Tango #123106 at $4.75 each) and the new Summer Splash stamp set (WM #123035 $22.95 CM #123037 $16.95)

You know, I didn't really like this set, until I saw this card of course!! Adriana Benitez made this one and I LOVE it!! (Proud Peacock WM #122020 $15.95 CM #122031 $11.95)

Ok, that's it for today! I hope you have been immensely inspired, as I have been!

Dazzling Friends

We are having Stamp Club tonight, but this isn't what we are making :) I thought we needed a little bling in our day today so this is what I am sharing today! I love this poppy-ish flower in Friends Never Fade, and I have seen a few things with the Sweet & Sour DSP lately so I wanted to use those colors.

The feel of lush flowers cascading down the side was what I was going for. I made it a birthday card as I will need about 12 birthday cards in June! That's a whole lot of birthdays, huh! The Baker's Twine just felt like the perfect touch.

• Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Word Play
• Paper: Rose Red, Whisper White
• Ink: Pumpkin Pie Rose Red, Early Espresso marker
• Other: 2 way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Rhinestone Basic Jewel, Early Espresso Baker's Twine

Inside are more poppies scattered at the bottom and plenty of room to write the recipient a lovely note :)

If you would like to order any of the supplies used in the card, just head on over to my demo site and you can order at any time!

Baudette Vendor Adventure!

Today I am in Baudette at a Vendor Adventure!! Kind of like a mini vendor fair. I decided to have a make and take and this is what I brought.

 Please excuse the poor photo quality, I took it with my Blackberry without my usual set up for lighting :) I used some more of the Mellow Moss from the Grab Bag I got last month and finally inked up the Fast and Fabulous set :blush: I have had it since the new catty came out and just now used it! I actually really love it in the green tones as a bushy kind of plant here. 

• Stamps: Fast and Fabulous, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain BG
• Paper: Mellow Moss (retired), Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede
• Ink: Pear Pizzazz, River Rock, Soft Suede
• Other: Designer Label punch, Large Oval punch, Word Window punch

So, if you are in the Baudette area today, stop by the VFW until 5 pm for our open house! And remember you can order anytime on my demo website :)  

So whatever happened to that Shopping List?

Why am I showing a picture of an old project? First off, I apparently didn't take any individual pictures of the shopping list, lol! And I have to give you a little update on this project. I hung the shopping list on my fridge shortly after making these projects in July last year. We ran out of paper on it about a month ago and my boys keep reminding me that we need more paper in it! They use it all the time to write stuff that we have run out of or just need. And it still looks just as good as the day I hung it up there (except my little butterfly fell off :(  ) Well, I still had a little stack of the paper left, so I popped the staples out of the finished project, used my perforating tool from the Cutter Kit to make them tear-out-able like I did before, stapled the new stack together, and used Sticky Strip to attach them back into the project. I had stapled the first pad in, but there is a magnetic strip there now and I just don't think the stapler would go through that.  

Here is what I wrote in the Blog Hop post for this project:

In keeping with the whole Earth-friendly theme here, I made the notepad out of all those pages leftover in a notebook at the end of the school year and cut them down to 3-1/2" x 10-1/2". I then perforated the top with the cutter kit and stapled them together. I stamped the leaf image all over the Tangerine Tango paper. I even added ribbon loops on the bottom to hold a pen or pencil! The little butterfly is sponged with Shimmer paint for a little extra shimmer, and there are rhinestones in the centers of the flowers. Don't forget, you can click on the picture to enlarge it!

• Stamps: Funky Four 
• Paper: Tangerine Tango, Early Espresso, Pear Pizazz, Whisper White
• Ink: Tangerine Tango, Pear Pizazz, Early Espresso
• Other: Clearlits Scallop Rectangle and Beautiful Wings Embosslit with Big Shot, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Basic Rhinestones, Pear Pizazz stitched polytwill ribbon, magnet sheets, Sticky Strip.

Everything on this project is still available and you can get them on my demo website  :)

SIlly Faces page

I am trying to use my MDS more, and one of the most recent available downloads was a whole pile of stitches! For those of you who have followed me for a long time, you know that before I outlined everything, I put stitches around everything :) So fancy stitches of all sorts just gets me all giddy!! I only used a couple kinds of stitches on this page, but you can't use them all at once, now can you?
The journaling reads:

                  Charlene and Kaylee are cousins but they really act like auntie and niece. I love that they love each other so much! I think Kaylee will jump on Charlene until forever :)

I used the Cheerful Treat Digital DSP and a whole bunch of digital embellishments, including Delightful Digital Tape, which I love!

Simple Stitches & Corners  #126025 $4.95

Delightful Digital Tape  #125752  $3.95

So, if you want to purchase these wonderful downloads, just head over to my demo site and order them and you can download them right away! Don't have My Digital Studio yet? Don't worry, there is an Express version that you can purchase and download too. Check out all the specials for National Scrapbooking Month while you are at it!

Woodgrain Nature Walk for Father's Day

Does everyone else love the Woodgrain background stamp as much as I do? I think it is so versatile. It can convey a feeling of nature, strength, green/conservationism, or masculinity. LOVE it! 
I thought I would try it with Nature Walk for a Father's Day card and I like how it turned out. 

I did the same thing with the inside of this card as I did for the Bees for Father's Day card cuz I love that too :) I believe I used Crumb Cake ink for the Woodgrain here. 

• Stamps: Nature Walk, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain BG
• Paper: Mellow Moss, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
• Other: Decorative Label punch, Signo white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

I got the Mellow Moss in a grab bag over on the Clearance Rack, which was chock full of card bases and embellishments from previous kits SU had put together. Pretty cool, huh?! 


And I challenge you all to get that Woodgrain stamp out and make some goodness with it :P

Go Grad Circles!

Graduation time is upon us! Time to pull out all 2 of my graduation sets ;) I didn't even buy this set until it retired, I don't know why since I had a kid graduate myself last year, and 2 the year before! 

I have seen alot of lines of circles lately and I really like it! I mixed it up a little and added texture to the circles, Perfect Polka Dots on the large circles, and Lattice Square on the small ones. The Baker's Twine adds so much, I think :) 

• Stamps: Go Graduate, Word Play, Grunge Rock
• Paper: Peach Parfait, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
• Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Peach Parfait, Basic Gray, Soft Suede, various others
• Other: Big Shot with Perfect Polka Dots and Lattice Squares embossing folders, 1-3/8" Circle punch, 1¼" Circle punch, 1" Circle punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Stampin Dimensionals, Signo white gel pen

  Inside the card is a flap to hold money, a check, or a gift card. I cut the cardstock 7x8½" then scored at 3½" and 7". This fit well in the long envies I bought on clearance somewhere a while back :)

So, have I got you thinking about getting your grad cards done? Oh, and the Go Grad set is still available as a download for My Digital Studio, so if you love it and don't have it, you can still get it that way ;) Just go to my demo site and order online!

Floral Garden Long Note

I am still using up the card bases I got in my grab bags, and this was the card I designed for stamp club for tha April club meeting. I didn't buy the Fabulous Florets set that coordinates with this embossing folder, but I do have Fifth Avenue Floral and that goes perfectly with it also!

Inside has some flowers stamped along the bottom edge too.

• Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
• Paper: Certainly Celery, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight
• Ink: Certainly Celery, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight
• Other: Big Shot with Flower Garden embossing folder, Scallop Trim punch, Signo white gel pen

 Here is another version using my improvised polka dot stamp- the inside of the O in LOVE from Filled With Love stamp set.

And the inside of this version :)


Have a Happy Sunday! I am off to work :)

Rose Trifold Wedding Cards

I am going to the wedding of a almost-niece of mine today! It is the same wedding I made 150 book box and 150 black cupcake wrappers with Platinum Shimmer paint debossed into them with the Lots of Love Letterpress plate.... yeah, LOTS of work. This was my wedding gift to her :)

So then I had to make a card for her and I wanted it to be extra special. Then I remembered the card my daughter made with me a couple years ago. That was what I needed!! The original idea came from Barbara Jean Smith.

So this is the card I made. Actually, I ended up making 2 Crumb Cake cards and a Regal Rose card so I would have some on hand. Each one has a slightly different grouping of little punches flowers.

• Stamps: Occasional Quotes, Fifth Avenue Floral, Word Play
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Naturals White
• Ink: Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Crumb Cake
• Other: Big Shot with Manhattan Flowers embossing folder, 1¾" Circle punch, Fancy Flower punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Rhinestone and Pearl Basic Jewels, Blushing Bride polystitch ribbon, Crumb Cake ½" Seam Binding ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Inside I finally got to use this fantastic sentiment from Occasional Quotes! I stamped the big roses on the envie too and outlined it with Early Espresso marker.

This is the Regal Rose version. I love that ruched ribbon look! I don't use it often enough. I am sooo happy that they are carrying over the Seam Binding ribbon :) Love that stuff!!! Can you see the rhinestone on the ring? I think it is the perfect touch.

And inside again. 
So do you need any of these supplies? Just hop on over to my demo website and get what you need anytime!

USWDAF Classes Clubs, and Camps

I am a Guest Designer for the Classes Clubs and Camps edition of UStampwithDawnandFriends.com  and this is my project, a set of projects for a club! I hold a monthly club myself so this was not too terribly tough for me ;)

Here is the 12x12 page. I was leaning towards masculine/Father's Day projects. I wanted it to be versatile enough that it could be used all the time though.

The blocks were printed using My Digital Studio and more elements were added to them. I have instructions on how to score and cut these on my tutorial.

And this is a special book card with several pages in it to add a special memory and a gift card, money, event tickets, or specially made coupons to.

This is one of the pages. I used several different stamp sets on this particular card so that I could match stamps to the gifts to be given :)

I had to make my own envelope for this card as it is kind of thick, but I included the directions for this also on my tutorial.

If you are interested in seeing the tutorial, go to http://ustampwithdawnandfriends.com/ and you can this and SO MANY MORE awesome projects for 24.95! There will be at least 40 sets of projects, and most likely more.

Bees For Father's Day

Time to be moving on to our next group of card giving events! Father's Day, Weddings, and Graduations! Boy howdy, it's time to get a move on! 
I had gotten 3 of the $15 grab bags from Stampin' Up! recently and part of what came in them was a large stack of Mellow Moss cardbases. Mellow MOss used to be one of my favorite colors, and I am sure that I was not alone :) It goes VERY well with Soft Suede, and look how great they both work with Nature Walk....now gone, but I still love it!
The bee stamping on the Mellow Moss is done with Always Artichoke stamped off once so it wouldn't be overwhelming.

Inside the card, I stamped the plant image and a non-SU sentiment that I think goes very well with this set. It would be super easy to print this sentiment from your computer to add to your card. 

• Stamps: Nature Walk, Teeny Tiny wishes
• Paper: Mellow Moss, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory
• Ink: Soft Suede, Always Artichoke
• Other: Designer Label punch, Signo white gel pen

So there it is, a nice mellow card for Dad  :)  What do you think?

Pacific Surf!!

I participated in a swap with the new Summer Mini stamp sets, and this is one of my swap. I really love how it turned out :) This is a super fun stamp set called Summer Splash all about the ocean/beach. The surfboards are all the same block of stamps, but I got the clearmount version and cut mine apart so I could more easily make them different colors. This is one of those cards that just came together so fast and easily, I just love it!

 Here is a side view. You can kind of see that I popped the main image up a little, which is helpful when you have lumpy ribbon tucked under the edge :)

• Stamps: Summer Splash, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Paper: River Rock, Pacific Point, Soft Suede
• Ink: Pacific Point, Peach Parfait, Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Soft Suede
• Other: Signo white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Polystitch ribbon in 3 colors

And the inside. I couldn't resist adding some little surfboards in there too :)
Until next time, I wish I could say "Surf's Up!" but I live in Minnesota. Not too much surfing going on here, lol! Although funny story, my hubby was watching the X Games on TV a few years ago and they had a drawing through our local cable network, and he won!! And the prize was a SURFBOARD with X Games logo on it.... how darn funny is that since we are as far from the ocean as you can get on this continent, being right smack in the middle of it as we are!! You know, I think that silly thing is up in my closet in the box it came in. He had to go pick it up even, they weren't going to pay to have it shipped ;) Ok, now that I remembered this little story, I think I should find that thing, take some pictures, and make a scrapbook page. What do you all think?